harmony

Zac Lowther allowed no runs through five innings his last start: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=lowthza01&t=p&year=2021 ... and had a quality start (6 IP, 1 R) earlier this month.

Oakland righthander Frankie Montas is 0-1 with a 5.25 ERA in two starts against the Seattle Mariners this year. FWIW the former Red Sox farmhand looked fairly strong when I saw Montas pitch last month: MLB Gameday: Padres 4, Athletics 5 Final Score (08/04/2021) | MLB.com WWW.MLB.COM Follow MLB results with FREE box scores, pitch-by-pitch strikezone info, and Statcast data for Padres vs. Athletics at Oakland Coliseum The Athletics might be due: The Mariners have won 11 straight against the A's, the longest winning streak in MLB history against an opponent that was 10+ games over .500 entering every game of the streak.

Late last night I kept thinking about being in the lower level down the rightfield line at T-Mobile Park earlier this month in Seattle for the rubber game of the three-game series (and season series) with the Red Sox. Tied game, two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Jake Bauers at first base, and Jarred Kelenic hits a screamer that lands just foul down the rightfield line. Had the ball landed fair, the speedy Bauers would have been off running for the potential game-winning run, testing the powerful arm of Hunter Renfroe. Instead, the Red Sox won in an extra inning. Every team has its "what ifs" each season. Let's enjoy the final days of the 2021 regular season.

Correction: With Tuesday's win the Seattle Mariners are 88-70, a half game behind the Red Sox, with four games remaining.

Hard to top the misery on this forum.

This year the Seattle Mariners posted a 19-15 (.559) record against AL East teams. https://www.espn.com/mlb/standings/_/view/vs-division The Yankees were the only AL East team with a winning record against the AL West this year. And, as moonslav noted, the AL East teams boosted their records with the easier draw in interleague play this year. Since 2018 (including the "all-time great" Red Sox club), the AL West has a winning record in head-to-head competition against the AL East (although it's a virtual tie).

True ... ... although since June 13 the Mariners have a positive 14 run differential while the Red Sox have a positive 31 run differential over the same period.

Time to cherry-pick arbitrary dates. Since August 21 of last year, the Seattle Mariners are 106-84, the Houston Astros 105-86 and the Boston Red Sox 104-86. Since June 12 of this year the Mariners are 56-35 while the Red Sox are 49-42. The Red Sox are likely headed to the postseason while the Mariners probably won't advance past the regular season for the 20th year in a row. That's life.

Poor Matt Andriese is available again after being designated for assignment Tuesday despite striking out the side Monday evening in the 1-2-3 ninth inning of Seattle's 13-4 win over Oakland. MLB Gameday: Athletics 4, Mariners 13 Final Score (09/27/2021) | MLB.com WWW.MLB.COM Follow MLB results with FREE box scores, pitch-by-pitch strikezone info, and Statcast data for Athletics vs. Mariners at T-Mobile Park

Deja vu. The 2018 Seattle Mariners posted an 89-73 record with a negative 34 run differential. The 2021 Mariners are 87-70 with a negative 52 run differential. Despite the 89 wins, following the 2018 season Seattle management decided to "step back" by trading Edwin Diaz, Robinson Cano, James Paxton, Jean Segura, Mike Zunino and Alex Colome. The reported reasoning was that the Houston Astros and Oakland Athletics appeared too formidable to overtake in 2019 or 2020. Fast forward to today and the Athletics seem vulnerable with an arbitration class that the A's probably can't afford. The Astros are no longer the club that finished 14 games ahead of the Mariners in 2018. Historically the Mariners have not had the fiscal constraints of the Athletics. Like the 2011-13 Astros, who were criticized for low budgets while losing 324 games, the Mariners have been saving their money for the appropriate time to spend. This offseason may be the time for the Mariners to spend on the free agent market to complement the developing core.

Indeed the franchises may be headed in opposite directions. Or not.

The Seattle Mariners have 87 wins with a 2021 payroll of $81.8 million while the Oakland Athletics have 85 wins with a 2021 payroll of $89.2 million: https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/payroll/ FWIW the Mariners are 13-4 against the A's this year after Monday's 13-4 thrashing.

If not Edwin Diaz, how about Seattle reliever Diego Castillo, who has AL East experience (and is the same age as Diaz) but who remains under team control for three arbitration years? Diaz has an ERA of 3.25 and an ERA+ of 127 in 341 career appearances while Castillo has an ERA of 2.97 and an ERA+ of 141 in 188 career appearances. The Seattle bullpen will welcome Ken Giles and Andres Munoz in 2023 but the problem is that the Mariners and Red Sox do not match up well in a trade.

From Sunday's MLB Trade Rumors chat: https://www.jotcast.com/chat/mlbtr-live-chat-11501.html

Would the Red Sox be interested in closer Edwin Diaz if the Mets clean house in the offseason? Diaz remains under team control for one more season working off his 2021 salary of $7 million.

It's hard to top the misery found on this thread.

Veteran reliever Joe Smith will be available after posting a 2.04 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and .188 BAA in 22 apperances to date this year with the upstart Seattle Mariners.

Life was fine when the two league champions met in the World Series immediately following the conclusion of the regular season.

That would be accurate if arbitrarily measured by the longest postseason drought. But please note that this year the Red Sox have won 88 games with an Opening Day payroll of $182.5 million while the Seattle Mariners have won 86 games with an Opening Day payroll of $81.8 million. The Mariners haven't finished with a better season record than the Red Sox since ... well, since last year. Baseball America currently ranks the Seattle farm system No. 1 even though the Mariners have graduated seven former Top 100 prospects over the past two seasons. Best wishes in the postseason.

The Mariners needed the Red Sox to sweep the Yankees this weekend. Seattle hurt its chances Saturday by losing to the Angels 14-1 in true Mariner fashion but finished the 10-game September road trip with an 8-2 record.

FWIW the Red Sox have a losing record (46-47) against teams with a record above .500 but a 13-4 record against the floundering National League East: 2024 MLB Standings and Records: Regular Season | MLB.com WWW.MLB.COM The official standings for Major League Baseball including division and league standings for regular season, wild card, and playoffs. The Seattle Mariners have a 41-37 record against teams with a record above .500 but a 9-11 record against the daunting National League West.* As three games separate the teams in the Wild Card standings, we'll never know what would have happened if the Red Sox had drawn the NL West in interleague play and the Mariners the NL East. Good luck in the postseason. * In defense of the AL East, its teams dominated AL West teams in the final two months to finish with an 82-79 record in head-to-head competition against their West opponents.

It's a long shot for the Seattle Mariners. With this week's four-game sweep in Oakland, the Mariners are 6-1 on their current 10-game road trip with three games remaining in Anaheim. For the third time in four years the M's are likely to be eliminated in the final week of the season. Props to the underdog.

In their four straight wins this week the Seattle Mariners have needed only nine combined innings from the bullpen as starters Logan Gilbert, Tyler Anderson, Marco Gonzales and Chris Flexen have all posted quality starts. Managing a bullpen at this point in the season is easier if the relievers are not overworked. The Mariners will likely miss the postseason for the 20st straight season.

I should get some sleep to prepare for the three-hour drive to Wednesday's rubber match of the three-game series (and the season series).