Seattle Mariners-LA Angels of Anaheim: Cheers and Jeers from Series No. 6

Cheer: The Seattle Mariners take two out of three from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for the second time this season!

Jeer: Whatever new approach Jarrod Washburn has been utilizing escaped him today, throwing 98 pitches, 57 for strikes, in 5.1 innings. Washburn earned six runs off two home runs and three walks while striking out no one.

(Jered Weaver has still not learned how to do his best big brother imitation. After that contract we gave Jeff Weaver, Jered owes us somehow.)

Cheer: The Mariners are 12-7 and have a three-and-a-half game lead over the Texas Rangers. The division favorite Angels are 7-11 and at the bottom of the AL West standings.

Jeer: We’re still in April so anything can happen from here on out as the playoffs don’t start for a while.

Cheer: Russell Branyan is back and had a great series, going 5-for-12 with two home runs and a few walks, and making GM Jack Zduriencik look like a genius for picking up a quality first baseman for nothing.

Jeer: Ronny Cedeno must still be hurt because he didn’t appear in this series while Yuniesky Betancourt had a pair of hits over 12 at-bats that featured no walks, keeping his season streak of zero walks alive.

(I only caught one of the three games due to softball so I can’t comment if Yuni’s defensive range came back or if he positioned himself any better. I’ll take a guess and say it was probably hard to watch.)

Cheer: $12 million man Carlos Silva got a win on the season pitching five innings, spreading out three earned runs, and lowering his ERA to 6.14.

Jeer: According to Pitch F/X, Silva's sinker still has no sink on it. If he doesn’t find it fast he should just retire from baseball and save the Mariners, his family, his country, and himself from some serious embarrassment.

Cheer: Line drive hitting Adrian Beltre is still the unluckiest hitter alive with a batting average of .176 and a Batting Average of Balls hit Into Play (BABIP) of .208. Generally, the percentage of balls that are put into play that become hits averages around .300. Beltre is not a .176 hitter.

Jeer: Last year Beltre’s BABIP was .280, which means his bad luck is continuing. What the heck!

(Maybe we should just sign him to an extension now. His defense is still top tier at third base and that alone is worth the money. If he ever stops having bad luck, it’ll be a large bonus.)

Cheer: In the first two games of the series our lackluster offense scored eight and nine runs respectively.

Jeer: We got shutout in game three by Jered Weaver. The first two games were against starting pitchers who most of the general public had never heard of before the spring training injuries to John Lackey, Ervin Santana, Kelvim Escobar (still in recovery), and untimely death of Nick Adenhart.

(Praise to the Mariners for taking advantage of a bad situation in Los Angeles!)

Cheer: Erik Bedard went 6.2 innings with six strikes outs, zero walks, and two earned runs.

Jeer: It's bittersweet because Bedard's stock is rising. The chances of resigning him are going out the window because of his rising price tag and his trade value will sky rocket if he continues his success through June. Meaning we lose an ace pitcher for future gain, or we keep him and hope for good fortune and health during a very possible playoff run.

Double Jeer: Adam Jones, who was traded for Erik Bedard, is playing awesome and is under contract with the Baltimore Orioles for another three seasons.

Final Cheer: The Mariners next series is on the road against the Chicago White Sox who are 9-9 on the season. Monday’s game features Chris Jakubauskas and John Danks, Tuesday we get to see Felix Hernandez, and Wednesday we’ll see Erik Bedard again! The Mariners should aim for series win!