Mariners v. Twins, live blogging Opening Day

Here are the official game notes, the first pitch comes in about 25 minutes. There’s an error. It says Miguel Batista is the oldest player on the M’s roster. Ken Griffey Jr. is the oldest, not Batista. I’m excited to see Griffey.

Pitching matchup: Felix Hernandez v. Francisco Liriano. Liriano is coming back after losing 2007 and most of 2008 to elbow surgery. He was good and improved through the 76 innings (6-4) he posted late last year. Felix has had excellent Opening Days the last two years; Liriano is a fine opponent for the still-young Mariners ace. It’s cold in the Twin Cities, so the advantage goes to Felix, who has pitched well in the cold. (Doh! Minnesota’s current stadium is a dome — next year, the temperature will make a difference.)

The starting lineup for Seattle:

Gawd, that was an awful FSN music video, “go,” that bodes ill for the new era.

And the first pitch is an inside ball from Liriano. Season underway!

Chavez, Gutierez ground out. Liriano’s fast ball is snapping, and the ground balls suggest he’s going to be effective tonight. Sweeney’s free-swinging at-bat ends with a called strike on a checked swing. M’s go down 1-2-3.

Ouch. Felix walks the lead-off batter, Denard Span. He’s looking a little out of control. The fly ball by Casilla suggests Felix isn’t keeping the ball down. Morneau’s hit shows Felix is getting a little more control — nice fielding by Jose Lopez.

Holy crap. Felix took a bad step and seems to have injured his ankle or calf. He’s limping off his delivery. He’s staying in the game. He’s not sitting in the dugout, so it’s still sore.

Jr. at bat, moving Beltre to third. Sacrifice fly by Jose Lopez scores Beltre — first run of the year. Branyan ends the inning.

Felix back and pitches a strong 1-2-3 inning. This is starting to feel like a solid outing. If the M’s can keep the defense up…. 

Liriano pitching a very good game. Nice movement on his pitches. Felix, however, looks incredibly calm and in control now.

In the bottom of the third, the Twins got close, but Felix pulled it back with a K. Nice.

At mid-fourth inning, Twins have left eight men on base compared to one for the M’s. This is a good trend. Seattle’s defense is definitely upgraded. Keeping runs down will increase the win ratio substantially.

Jr. at bat: Another Opening Day home run. Believe that ties him for the record now. Yes, Mr. Griffey, we are very happy you are back. Seattle is up 2-0 after the top of the fifth.

But in the bottom of the fifth, Felix hits his crisis moment. Three men on, no outs, with Cuddyer and Morneau coming to the plate. Felix gets Cuddyer but gives up a fly ball to short center to Morneau, scoring one. Then Felix gets out of the inning. Felix has eight ground-outs to two flyouts, which means his pitches are working on Opening Day.

Gutierrez sends a ball just over the wall, beyond Carlos Gomez’s glove–this kind of power would be welcome all season long. He’s got an under-rated bat, I think. Mariners lead 4-1 after six-and-a-half. Now the Twins have left 16 men on base to the M’s one. Excellent defense, M’s. Felix seems to have aggravated his ankle covering first. I’d be surprised if he comes back in the 7th. And, yet, Felix comes back in the 7th, starting with breaking balls. The kid is maturing, mixing pitches to go further in the game. Another 1-2-3 inning for the young King.

Kenji Johjima leads off the 8th. We’re seeing the 2008 Kenji, so far, not the WBC Kenji. He’s put the ball in play in both at-bats before this, but was thrown out and flied out; and now gets on base with a hard liner up the middle. Now, he’s .333 on the day. Maybe we’re seeing the WBC Kenji. Yuniesky Betancourt, though he has shown better plate discipline during the Spring, is 0-3 today, grounding into a double-play this at-bat. Dave Simms is talking about Yuni batting all over the lineup, but he still looks like a bottom-of-the-order guy to me.

Felix returns for the 8th! This long effective start is great news for fans. He’s still putting the ball into the glove with a pop. Good movement on his fastball this late. Morneau’s fly-out, though a good stroke, shows how well the ball is dropping out of Felix’s hand. Miguel Batista, who is not the oldest Mariner today, is warming up for the 9th. Brandon Morrow is also up and will likely close the game.

In the Ninth, Gutierrez shows patience at the plate, drawing a walk. This kid is very good. I think he’ll be the big addition we look back on, despite Jr.’s return this year. With a veteran like Ken Griffey Jr. to lead them, these youngsters are going to lay a solid foundation for the future in 2009. But, first, Jr. gets one more at-bat. Fitting. He walks and Wladimir Balentien will run for him. Now, Jose Lopez, who has two RBIs, gets his shot at making an Opening Day mark.

A passed ball lets Gutierrez and Balentien advance to third and second, respectively. Lopez hits a foul to left that Denard Span makes a great attempt to catch. Lopez gets the ball past the left side of the infield to score Gutierrez. Three RBIs on the day.

A Twins fan just avoided becoming a shish-kabob with a bizarre under-the-arm catch of a broken bat. Non-fielding play of the day.

With a five-run lead, Batista will close. Branyan goes 0-4 on the day, flying out weakly to end the M’s half of the ninth. 

Batista is solid. A rare misread by Adrian Beltre gives Joe Crede a base hit. But Batista throws filthy heat to strike out Carlos Gomez. And with  Branyan stop, Don Wakamatsu earns his first win.

First thoughts on the M’s in ‘09: A solid defensive upgrade will pay dividends, but the pitching remains a concern after the #1 and #2 starters. If the offense can continue to score five or more runs a game, the team will be better by 12 to 15 games this year with this pitching. Jr. is back and it is good. Felix was efficient with his pitches, making the prospect of several complete games very likely this year. I won’t be blogging games later this week, but this was a good first game of the New Era, despite the crappy FSN music video. I guess they can keep playing it, maybe once more.

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