Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
August 20, 2007
Seattle's Schedule

The Seattle Times points out the Mariners are in for a very rough part of their schedule.

The Mariners now face a daunting stretch in which they play 17 of their next 20 games on the road, starting tonight with the opener of a three-game series in Minnesota.

"It's not something you're crazy about, but we're going to make it into a positive," Mariners manager John McLaren said. "We'll be together as a group.

"We know it's ahead of us, we know it's a challenge. There's no use dwelling on it. It's something we've got to do. We just have to stay together, be mentally tough, and make the most of it."

It is a three-week ordeal that bookends a critical three-game island of a showdown at Safeco Field next Monday through Wednesday against the Los Angeles Angels, and it is rife with potential danger.

They make a swing to Minnesota and Texas, back home, then to Cleveland, Toronto, New York and Detroit (they face the Indians in a snow makeup). Why couldn't go from Toronto to Detroit directly is beyond me. But Texas is the only team in this stretch with no playoff hopes. While Toronto and Minnesota are on the fringes of the wild card race, beating the leader is a great way to get back into the thick of things.

The real question is, how long can Seattle keep winning close? They've only outscored their opponents by 15 runs this season. Over the next three weeks, only Minnesota and Texas are worse than that, and the Twins only by two runs. And the team hasn't improved in that category under McLaren, as they've scored and allowed 209 runs since he took over.

So this is the test. Seattle is faced with the teams it needs to beat to make the playoffs, none of which are without flaws. But Seattle is a combined 23-29 vs. this group of team this season. They'll need to turn that winning percentage around to make the post season.


Posted by David Pinto at 08:08 AM | Team Evaluation | TrackBack (0)
Comments

I look at the run diffs - Seattle +15 vs. New York +160 - and it looks like Mickey Mouse vs. Godzilla. Don't bet on the rodent against the lizard.

The saving grace is that the Yankees have a tough schedule, too. But they just dispatched Detroit three out of four, outscoring them 25-14. Yeah, the Tigers have been down lately with the literal and figurative flu, but the Yankees look awful strong right now.

Posted by: Casey Abell at August 20, 2007 12:48 PM
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