Texas

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Rauuuuuuul, Dept.

After "HR - Ibanez 2 (6)" in the Bronx on Wednesday, he went on ESPN's Quick Pitch and praised his teammates highly.  "We've got a bunch of gamers and fighters, and we're enjoying playing together," he sez.

Granted, Rauuul has always been an org guy, a leader in this respect.  But his statement is also accurate.  The Mariners do have gamers now.  Kyle Seager is a "gamer."  Obviously Rauuul is.  You can name your own list, and it isn't a short one.  

.............

The average fan, like you and me, probably has no way to comprehend what it's like going from AAA to ... well, to being on ESPN, to walking out into triple-deck stadiums, to playing in front of 12 slo-mo TV's, to going up against all of the computers and scouting reports that tear a player's strike zone limb-from-limb.

It's got to be another thing entirely, to go into the city of New York and play in Yankee Stadium.

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=== Brandon Maurer ===

Took a 1-0 game into the 7th inning, against a tough LH lineup, in Texas.  

Even the two runs were excusable solo shots.  If there are "No Doubters" and "Just Enoughs," what is it when a fan takes a ball out of Franklin Gutierrez' glove?

The other solo shot was to right center; CJ Wilson left Texas and moaned ruefully, "if it's in the air to right center, it's gone."  

Except for those two swings, the Rangers didn't get much of the ball.  They sat back on the ball, hit most fastballs to the opposite field ...

SSI's diagnosis held firm for the second game.  Maurer needed to establish the fastball and get less of the plate with the slider.  What happens when you do that, against a lineup that was looking for offspeed?  You get a bunch of blonked, ugly balls in play, and a deserved .120 BABIP, three hits and two strikeouts.

Even Lance ".600 SLG vs RHP" Berkman got a 3-1 pitch and a 2-0 pitch, IIRC, and blonked both of them.  Bunch of weirdly missed pitches.  That's what happens when you're passive and the pitcher's aggressive.

if the M's had scored 5, you'd have said Maurer locked down the Rangers.  In Arlington.  In back-to-back looks.

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Q.  What would make you compare Hisashi Iwakuma in any way to an MLB pitcher with over 100 WAR?

A.   He's reminding me of Greg Maddux in the same way that Chris Sale is reminding me of Randy Johnson.

The opposing pitchers he has just faced, back to back to back, might be the three best in the league right now, and all pitching for ALCS contenders:

• Justin Verlander, Detroit - W, 2-0 (decision to pen)
• Yu Darvish, Texas - W, 3-1
• Chris Sale, Chicago - L, 3-4 (decision to pen)

The only scalp you'd really like to see to added to that would be Felix's.  Maybe Hisashi can figure out a way to pull that one off too.

We won't even count the #2 pitcher for the A's, also defeated by WBC-san this year; you don't put a deer rack on the same wall with your trophies of man-eating tigers and 2,000-lb. wildebeest.

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Q.   Why only two strikeouts today?