Things I did instead of starting this recap, a woeful 7-3 Mariners loss to the Rangers:<\/p>\n
Made a cup of coffee. Just one cup to get me going!<\/p>\n
Decided I deserved some chocolate syrup in the coffee. A treat for the recapper.<\/p>\n
Checked Slack, Bluesky, Twitter. Maybe someone else has some fresh insight on this team that will spark something that isn’t just baseball sucks dressed up in nicer language.<\/p>\n
Made a second cup of coffee because chocolate-laced coffee disappears quickly, it turns out.<\/p>\n
Thought about how the Rangers hitters seemed to have the Mariners’ pitchers figured out all weekend long, pouncing early and often and doing damage.<\/p>\n
Thought about how that approach really didn’t matter when George Kirby<\/a> was grooving sweepers and sliders middle-middle, putting the Mariners in first a 1-0 hole, then a 4-1 hole, then a 7-2 hole, effectively wiping out any chance at a comeback despite some early signs of life from the offense, which shut down after that against Kumar Rocker<\/a>, who demolished Mariners hitters with his slider and looked unhittable over his last four innings.<\/p>\n Thought about how George Kirby, who gave up four (4) homers today to Rangers hitters, once looked unhittable against Texas<\/a>. <\/p>\n Checked to make sure the chart posted properly. Read the comments. Felt bad.<\/p>\n Debated a third cup of coffee. Filled water bottle instead.<\/p>\n DM’d a bit with Sam, the site manager for Purple Row. Sympathized about how tough it is to run a site when the team sucks. Got and gave pointers on dealing with “doomers” in the comments because that is the level we are at, needing advice from people who have to deal with the literal Rockies<\/a> on a daily basis.<\/p>\n Thought about the Dodgers<\/a> series looming and the real chance the Mariners will go 1-6 on this roadtrip.<\/p>\n Checked chart comments again. Felt worse.<\/p>\n Forced self to think about a positive thing about this series. Positive thing: Colt Emerson with five hits against just three strikeouts this series against a tough slate of Texas pitching. <\/p>\n Considered if trading a lost 2026 season is worth it if Cole Young<\/a> \u2013 who had six hits this series, didn’t strike out once, had the hardest-hit ball in today’s game at 111 mph, and looks locked in as the leadoff man \u2013 becomes the Mariners version of Jose Altuve<\/a>.<\/p>\n