This Week in American Sports: The Mariners Are Winning
We’ve been a little distracted by the World Cup for the past 10 days, watching pretty much every match with the help of headphones on our work computer. Despite odd looks from coworkers, we’ll continue to cheer when appropriate. Yes, New Zealand just scored a goal, and I WILL MAKE YOU AWARE OF IT. Meanwhile, under our noses, the Mariners have provided some mercifully vuvuzela-free entertainment.
Ending spring with a surge, the M’s have willed a four-game win streak into the books, matching their longest of the season. We can thank the pitching staff for this. The bats, not so much. In three of the four wins, the scores have read a lot like the daily World Cup results - 2-1, 1-0, 1-0 (am I watching the Mariners or Ghana vs. Serbia??)
Credit Jason Vargas’ solid road effort in St. Louis, then Cliff Lee and Feliz’s back-to-back complete games. Soaking up the juju, Ryan Rowland-Smith threw a shutout Sunday for his first victory of the year, and suddenly everyone thinks they’re Sandy freakin Koufax. In all, M’s pitchers have only allowed two runs this streak. Add to that, they swept the Reds, who lead the National League in runs, hits, home runs, and batting average. Not too shabby.
Now it’s summer, perhaps not by the temperature, but so says the calendar and those wonderfully naked cyclists in Fremont. But perhaps more gratifying, depending on your tastes, than their cameo in Seattle will be that of former M’s manager Lou Piniella.
Piniella brings his melancholy 31-38 Cubs to his old stomping ground Tuesday, and we do mean stomping in the literal sense. We only hope something, anything will light his endearingly short fuse, and we’ll be treated to the classic Piniella fireworks show we’ve come to know and love.
As much as we adore sweet Lou, we love a win more (oh how much more common they were when he was around). Jason Vargas will try to repeat last week’s gem against the Cubs, and maybe, just maybe we’ll celebrate a win streak that requires a whole hand to count.
For now, enough about crazy American sports. Must run, Honduras is threatening against Spain. Run, Danilo Turcios! Run like the wind!
