The Texas Rangers, sitting at the top of the AL West, travel to Safeco Field for a three-game series against the Seattle Mariners. Cliff Lee won't be facing his former team, having pitched on Sunday against the Angels, giving up four runs and nine hits in eight innings and earning a loss. Although they lost two out of three in Anaheim, Texas still sits pretty on top of the West, with eight games on both the A's and the Angels.
Texas is so far above our beloved Mariners that it's not even worth mentioning. At this point, Seattle fans should be seeking a win not because it will improve the teams standings, but so that it will prevent another fanbase from becoming unbearably obnoxious. The Rangers have never won the American League and haven't won the West since 1999. The Mariners have been more impressive more recently than that. We fans need something to hang on to. Go Oakland, go, go!
Seattle has dropped seven in a row. The team can barely get a runner on the basepaths, much less to the base--and then that runner often gets picked off. But rejoice, ensaddened fans: Rob Johnson has been sent to Tacoma and Adam Moore has been called up. We take the good news where it comes. As for everything else, well, at this point it's just amusing baseball. How bad can it get, really? That's why we're watching and following right now: a morbid interest in seeing the many creative ways the Seattle Mariners can lose.