This is a preview of the Joe Sheehan Baseball Newsletter, an e-mail newsletter about all things baseball, featuring analysis and opinion about the game on and off the field from the perspective of the informed outsider.
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Just like that, the Mariners are in first place, the memory of losing 14 of 20 long gone. They took a big dose of Vitamin A this weekend, sweeping the collapsing Angels to extend their winning streak to nine games and grab a one-game edge over the Astros in the AL West.
Notice! The pitching has righted itself since a disastrous trip to Steinbrenner Field to start the month: a 2.16 ERA and 2.74 FIP in the ten games since then. Yes, that’s schedule-aided, but some part of winning is shutting down the teams you’re supposed to shut down. The bullpen I have been yammering about for six months has had a great ten-game run, with a 44/4 K/UIBB and just one homer allowed. Everyone but Eugenio Suarez is hitting, too.
What’s Left? 3 @KC, 3 @HOU, 3 vs. COL, 3 vs. LAD. Hey, more teams that can’t hit. Even that final series against the Dodgers is likely to play much softer than it looks, as the Dodgers will probably be locked into playing in the first round, which starts 48 hours after the season ends. This weekend’s series with the Astros is enormous, as whoever wins it also wins the tiebreaker between the two teams.
Notice! The pitching has righted itself since a disastrous trip to Steinbrenner Field to start the month: a 2.16 ERA and 2.74 FIP in the ten games since then. Yes, that’s schedule-aided, but some part of winning is shutting down the teams you’re supposed to shut down. The bullpen I have been yammering about for six months has had a great ten-game run, with a 44/4 K/UIBB and just one homer allowed. Everyone but Eugenio Suarez is hitting, too.
What’s Left? 3 @KC, 3 @HOU, 3 vs. COL, 3 vs. LAD. Hey, more teams that can’t hit. Even that final series against the Dodgers is likely to play much softer than it looks, as the Dodgers will probably be locked into playing in the first round, which starts 48 hours after the season ends. This weekend’s series with the Astros is enormous, as whoever wins it also wins the tiebreaker between the two teams.
