Mariners Moose Tracks, 9/26/22: Eugenio Suárez, Dane Dunning, Cleveland Clinch, Rihanna

Sep 26, 2022 - 2:00 PM

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Hello there. It is I, your friendly site editor, here to serve up this morning’s batch of links. We can only assume current U of Oregon student Becca is still picking her way across the ashes of the wasteland of what used to be Oregon’s campus after their thrilling-slash-heartbreaking late comeback win over WSU on Saturday. Apologies to the Cougs in the LL family. In a rough Seattle sports weekend, y’all might have had it the roughest.

Today is a much-needed off-day after yesterday’s game, a miserable affair that rivals only the “Poo Pie” game for me in recent Mariners debacles. I encourage you to spend the day, as the kids say, touching grass, and definitely far away from Mariners Twitter, which seems to become an animal that eats its own tail on the off-days, and likely an especially feral one after yesterday’s loss. Don’t worry; we’ll have any relevant news for you here, and some other bits and bobs throughout the day. On to the links!

In Mariners news:

• Here’s exactly the kind of Mariners story you’re probably interested in reading today: from the Seattle Times, a look at a day in the life of T-Mobile Park groundskeeper Tim Wilson.
• Here’s another one from the Times, good vibes I promise: Eugenio Suárez is eyeing a return to the lineup as soon as this Tuesday.
• At LL, we have a saying: “write the recap the game deserves.” Since there is no way to pick up a cow pie and smear it on these electronic pages, Shay wrote this instead, and I really appreciate her ability to bring wit and levity to what was a pretty devastating loss. Give the recap a read, if you haven’t.

Around the league:

• The Texas Rangers will be without starter Dane Dunning when they come to Seattle for this series; he’s been shut down with season-ending hip surgery.
• A potential post-season rival for the Mariners, the Tampa Bay Rays, have suffered some poor injury luck of their own: RHP Shane Baz is done for this season and next, as he’ll need TJ surgery; and 2B Brandon Lowe is done for the season with what’s being called a “back issue.” Backs! So troublesome!
• While the Mariners were busy throwing up on their shoes yesterday, the Guardians clinched the AL Central yesterday. Look upon these posts from Covering The Corner with envy. Popping bottles looks like fun.
• Elsewhere in the NL East, things are...uhhh...not this good.

Real tough look for your site editor, who daringly picked the Twins to win the AL Central this year. But everyone else picked the White Sox, so who is more wrong? (Me, it’s me).

• Speaking of those White Sox: both Luis Robert and Tony La Russa are done for the season. I’m betting one of those people is more missed than others by White Sox fans.
• Don Mattingly and the Marlins have mutually agreed that this, his seventh year as Marlins skipper, will be his last. Our pals at Fish Stripes have all the info for you here. Remember when the Marlins were the hot team to beat in the East? And the Mariners, despite having a nearly equal record at the time, dropped a series to them in late May? Yeah, me neither.
• Also in NL news, the D-Backs have shut down long-struggling lefty Madison Bumgarner for the year in order to get a look at some younger arms as they look to jump-start their own rebuild. Righty Drey Jameson and lefty Tommy Hunter will get more looks with the 33-year-old MadBum on the shelf. Bumgarner is signed for two more years with the DBacks.

Kate’s pick:

ICYMI, Rihanna (who used to date Matt Kemp, baseball tie-in achieved) has been confirmed as the headliner for this year’s Super Bowl halftime show. I would like to know if there is a petition to bring out Tom Holland to guest on “Umbrella”, and if so, where do I sign.