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

=== Crawling Out of the Coffin Dept.  ===

John Jaso's desperate pleas for a bat finally became too much for Eric Wedge to take any longer.  Skip rolled his eyes and sighed.  He laid a stick of hickory down on the dirt nearby, chuckling to see whether Jaso would find it.  

He did.  Creepily inspired, Jaso went on to accomplish the impossible on Wednesday night.  No, we're not referring to his getting into the lineup.

In the 8th inning, on a 3-2 count, Alexi Ogando reached behind his ear and threw the kind of high-spin, located 95-MPH fastball that Michael Pineda deployed to make SSI infamous.  Kidding!  No, we're not.  ... Ogando located it waist-high, on the hands, a jam pitch out of a Tim Burton movie.

John Jaso peered intently at the pitch, cheating not one iota, read the pitch diligently, and ONLY then .... SNNNNAAAAPPPPED the bat head out in time to whistle the ball down the line into the corner.  Nelson Cruz lumbered into its general direction, spread his arms like Rocky Balboa trying to catch the chicken, and by the time he'd wrung the ball's neck, Jaso was at 3B.

When was the last time John Jaso played, would you please for the love of all that is John McGraw, tell me when is the last time John Jaso swung a bat in anger?  How many hitters in the major leagues are CAPABLE of pulling that Ogando jam pitch without cheating on it?  Even if they've been playing every day?

(For those who just joined us... Pitch Sequence 101 is soft stuff away, hard stuff inside.  Toughest fastball to be quick to, is the inside fastball.  The batter has to have the bat farther along its path to get the barrel to it - so has to launch earlier.  Check the replay.  You can visibly see Jaso read the pitch before he swings.)

In one glorious swing, John Jaso brought Dr. D down the aisle for the altar call to three catchers.  :sniff: Tito, hand me a tissue?

.

=== Fly By Your Instruments, Not Your Instincts Dept. ===

With 7 precincts reporting, here's where we are.  Let's check the luck stats on the Seattle Mariners lineup:

What that means is this:  the Mariners are putting tough at-bats on, just about the toughest at-bats in baseball.  They make you throw a strike, and when you do, they sting the ball.  Kyle Seager is the prototype Mariner thus far, as opposed to Nelson Cruz being the prototype Ranger.

C'mon, man.  The Mariners are #3 of 30 teams in line drive percentage.  Against the pitchers they have faced?  You don't get to call that a hapless lineup.  They are out there making life tough on good pitchers.  Just because they've run into good pitching does not mean you get to rag them for doing battle against bad people.

...........

Lucky win?  The M's had 11 hits, of which more than half were doubles and triples.  They had more hits and bases than Texas on Wednesday.  They were unlucky not to score the last two days.

...........

True, it is bleedin' tough to win without hitting home runs.  The M's have gone into Texas and, in three games, hit zero home runs.  Surprising that they're in as good a shape as they are.  You can't spot teams a 6-0* lead in HR's in a series and win the series.

Also, the M's have the fewest* batting strikeouts, and fewest walks, in the league, because they don't yet scare pitchers.

..........

The M's have not hit home runs this series for these three reasons, in order of importance:

1. They've faced Yu Darvish, Neftali Feliz and [Colby Lewis on a great day].
2. Their lineup (notably Montero, Saunders, Smoak) is out there trying to hit first, and hit for power second.  This is correct.
3. Their HR/F rate is just unlucky.  No team finishes with a 4.8% homer to fly ball ratio.

.

=== Gratuitous Cross-Sport Shtick, Dept. ===

In golf, if you are rusty or playing your first tournament or have the flu, worst thing you can do is pull an oversized driver out of your bag on the first tee.  You'll be asking for a mulligan after you miss the ball.

So you use your 3-iron, knock it in the fairway, get loose.  After you're smiling, grab that 1-wood.

That's what you are seeing out there.  The Mariners are taking the ball back up the middle, spitting and snarling, getting their rhythm.  The pull, and the power, takes care of itself.  This is classic Ted Williams, kiddies.  Get your groove before you cut loose.

They said of Jesus Montero:  he's a hitter first, and a power hitter second.  You've been watching him.  He's swatting for singles right now.  He's not going to finish with 0 homers.   Justin Smoak has ripped 9,000 line drives back up the middle the last four games.  Give him credit for having an idea out there.  Dr. D LIKES athletes who think during game action.

Believe it or don't, that's what the M's have done.  The results have been spotty.  The approach has not.