Brandon League comes on in relief for the Mariners in the bottom of the 11th to try to close the 3-1 lead over the Athletics. League gets the first two outs, but Seth Smith lines a ball just by League for a two-out single.
Update: Kurt Suzuki strikes out swinging, and the Mariners win the first game of 2012 3-1.
Suzuki whiffs (appropriately) to end it. Gotta admit, as a purely partisan Texas Rangers fan, the game was reassuring. I expected both Seattle and Oakland to stink offensively, and they both look beyond terrible.
There are questions about the Rangers staff, but they should have no problem stuffing these wimp teams. Now the Angels are another issue…
Just to elaborate a little further (and to make Seattle and Oakland fans even angrier at me) last year the Rangers pounded the A’s 13-6 and the Mariners 15-4 in the season series. They also handled the Angels pretty easily, 12-7.
The biggest reason for the lopsided results was that Texas just clubbed the division into submission. They outscored the Angels and A’s by about two hundred runs on the season, and the Mariners by an almost ridiculous three hundred runs. And yeah, I know, some of that is just the ballpark. But a lot of it is real.
Against the rest of the league Texas was just a little above .500. So it’s important that the Rangers keep the offensive superiority in the division. On the evidence of this game (and I know it’s only one measly game) they should have no problems with Oakland and Seattle.
But the Angels may be a little trickier (wink).