I like the Mariners in this match up I think they have an overall more talented team and they start the lefty Thursday morning with Jason Vargas going up against Oakland who he had a 3.86 ERA against last year despite a 1-3 record. To me the Mariners have many more dangerous hitters in their line up. I really like Ichiro's approach and he has said he's more determined this year and had a better off season it really showed with his 4-5 performance. Ichiro in the #3 hole they can afford to do that the way Ackley came on to end last year. He's your perfect #2 hitter very patient. Behind Ichiro is Montero the big bat who gets on base along with the prospect Carp. All in all there are many more dangerous parts and Oakland was 28th in the league last year vs. LHP with a .651 OPS. Though the Mariners were bad vs. RHP and they'll face Colon a major question mark this season I believe they have improved their offense. We also can't ignore the bullpen and the Mariners did not lose anyone out of their bullpen that was better a year ago and they added veteran lefty George Sherill to the mix. what looks like a pitchers match up I believe we see some runs as both teams had 15 hits on Wednesday.
