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Q.  M's go down 3-0 ... and then the BOTTOM of the order erupts.  5 runs in the 3rd inning, and before there was a single out.  Just one of those things, no?

A.  Just one of those things, No.  The lousy half of the lineup played really well for five at-bats in a row.  It wasn't just Dr. D's interpretation, though of course that is unimpeachable.  Blowers (one of the most accurate color analysts we've heard) remarked on the quality "approaches" as they occurred and refrained on it after the fact.

Thusly:

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1 LOGAN MORRISON, if facing a sidearm lefty you unnerstan', had (previously) as much chance of drawing a BB as --- > Russell Wilson does of drawing Paul Allen's appreciation with a WHY NOT ME? salary guarantee speech.  

The sidearm lefty -- Dr. D has gloriously transcended the need to learn the players' names, as Sweet Lou before him had done -- threw 5 out of 6 consecutive tough pitches to LoMo.  As Blowers (and John McGraw) would tell you, you learn a lot from a hitter's "Takes."  Somehow LoMo resisted three separate tempting ideas, each just off the plate in different areas and tossed the bat away.  Slap me silly and call me Sharpay.

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We read on some saber blog or other that leadoff walks are better for the offense than the defense.  They're especially good when you're down by 3 runs; that part Dr. D just made up on the spot.  :: bows, waves, buried in roses ::

The pernt is, LoMo could have just as easily fouled up the opportunity.  LH-on-LH, he looked great.  This one time, we sez. 

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2 MIKE ZUNINO took an inside pitch right back up the middle.  It sharply slid between second base and the shortstop.  Blowers praised Zunino for executing Edgar's coaching, "hard up the middle."  Very true, the sharp grounder coulda hit a fielder for a DP, but that's a theoretical observation.  More to the point is whether Edgar is making any headway with guys like Mike Zunino.

Still, that was the least impressive AB of the 5-0 blitz by the light armor vehicles.

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3 CHRIS TAYLOR got a 1-1 pitch over the middle, low, and used his KBIZLT swing to lace a screaming meemie to RF.  True, it was a "ground ball."  It's Dr. D's fantasy that every SSI reader would get a chance to watch a "grounder" like that sizzle by his mitt some day.

Blowers also praised the "inside-out" swing highly.  Leave us not forget he wheels out this swing and approach even though coming off the bench, with timing disrupted.  Taylor's gonna have a career, we tells ya.  Kewwllll ballplayer.

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So, a leadoff walk and then two singles.  You're down 3-0 but you loaded 'em up, nobody out.

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4 AUSTIN JACKSON quickly went in the hole, 0-2 count.  The center fielder comically walked 10 yards to RF.  Logically, the Tigers' pitcher (you thought we were kidding about Sweet Lou?) then threw Jackson an inside cutter that he was forced to pull.  Jackson gave it a medium-strength pop, and it popped just over the LF wall.  Grand slam.

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5 FRANKLIN GUTIERREZ let an outside pitch travel and "hit it where it was pitched," as Ty Cobb would tell you.  He hit the ball hard and far, over the fence.  In right center.  Dr. D read somewhere that when a RH hitter drives the ball hard to right center, he's tough.  He thinks he read it on the scoreboard in 2001, when Bret Boone hit 37 homers here.

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It's an odd coincidence that we were just about to write a separate article, Props and Slops, on the theme of --- > which Mariners are loose and confident at the plate, and which are up there grinding their bat handles and back molars into sawdust.  Here is the short version of that article:

• Relaxed M's, thinking in the box:  Cano, Cruz, Seager, Smith
• Tight M's, scared spitless in the box:  Other Mariners

Dr. D was just! about! to write! this! when suddenly, WHAM all the other Mariners looked like Seth Smith at the plate.

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Are there any dots here to connect? 

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Let's say that Dr. D was a high-school basketball coach.  Let's say that his really talented basketball team was 7-and-10, and committing 32 turnovers per game, and making 62% from the foul line.  Let's say that all his players were really tight, and playing really lousy.

Let's say that Dr. D went away for two games.

Let's say that suddenly --- > his team, coached by the assistant, won two 30-point blowouts with 7 turnovers per game and shot 88% from the foul line.

Let's say that the two big stars played the same whether Dr. D was there or not -- they're secure in their jobs -- but everybody else finally relaxed into their best games.  Would this please Dr. D the coach?  Well, he'd have one question.  Are there any mirrors around.  

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Could be, instead, that Edgar's gaining traction.  Could be, instead, that the warm weather helps the offense.  But then, that's why we started the article the way we did.  In any case, there's a coupla games where the collateral damage made it to the kill zone.

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-- MARK LOWE -- 

The M's paid saberdweebs had fun with a junk stat when Lowe came in.  Third Mariner Ever to run a 0+ ERA at this point in the season (Hasegawa, JJ Putz).  Now, you know and I know that the difference between a 0.75 ERA and a 1.25 ERA is purely luck.  Fine, whatevah, they're just noodlin'.  But what had me chuckling was that Lowe just got here ... didn't he? ... and Hasegawa threw like 50 innings by this point.  The screen said "In July" and "Minimum 10 Appearances" or somesuch.  HEH!

But.  Check it out and ... Lowe does have 26 IP in.  And after the screen shot, Lowe promptly struck out every batter he faced, causing Dr. D's chuckle to snerf so fast that he blew a sinus.  Anyway:  Lowe is throwing 44.0% sliders (!) and maintaining a run value of +3.83 team runs gained (!!) per 100 sliders thrown.  That's kind of like if Marshawn Lynch ran 401 times next year ... and averaged 6.1 yards per carry.

We get it:  his slider has been the sourge of the American League.  The punch line:  the game before, their graphic pointed out that Lowe is the QUICKEST Mariner, at 94.7 MPH average.  He is now throwing as hard as he did when he first came up with the M's, and was a young relief star.

The M's get a guy like that as their #4 reliever, and that means what to you?  It means your team holds 1-run leads after 6 innings.

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-- M's DEFICIT HITTING --

Tacoma Rain has a question.  First, I have a question:  TR, you know you can link to your stuff here, right?  With impunity.  Anyway, the Q:

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- See more at: http://seattlesportsinsider.com/comment/108786#comment-108786

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We feel your pain, brah.  It's the same thing as asking, "Could somebody please tell me how to synthesize life."  They've got a whale of a lot of minds on it, and the same amount of computing power, and they're applying a lot of leverage to the problem.  So far without the results they want.  If you're the guy to figure it out don't blab it on a chat board.  Sell it! ;- )

The M's have a lot of data, a lot of computing power, a lot of sharp minds on the problem.  YES the Mariners have lots of hitting talent.  Yes they are getting a lot of good AB's.  No it is not translating into runs.  Their batting with RISP is .204, theoretically impossible. Their BABIP is very low and their hard-hit balls are high, theoretically a contradicition.  Their scrub players are trying too hard, theoretically a problem of poor sports pschology.  Nobody knows why.  You don't, I don't, and very obviously nobody paid by the Mariners knows why.

Life is complicated,

Dr D