Mariners Game 162 Preview: DET at SEA

If you’re reading this, then know that you have come to the end of the 2022 Mariners regular season. Regular season, we have to clarify, because these Mariners are headed to the post-season. The energy at the park here today is of subdued excitement, the kind of anticipation that one might feel before boarding a plane for a dream vacation or starting a highly-anticipated new job. The drought is over, and now we’re on to what’s next, whatever that might be.

But first, this: Game 162.

Lineups:

This is what’s currently on the Mariners site, but it’s likely Jarred Kelenic will be substituted for by Taylor Trammell.

News and notes from Scott Servais’s presser:

• Jesse Winker is headed to the IL with a neck issue. It arose a few days ago and the team was hoping it would calm down but it didn’t. An MRI showed there’s a disc issue in his back, and although Servais said it’s “nothing too serious,” it is there and “we need a healthy team, and guys who can go out and play.” This neck issue for Winker is similar to a nerve issue that bothered him earlier this season and seems to be something he’ll need to address in the off-season.
• OF Taylor Trammell has been recalled and will be replacing Winker on the active roster.
• “Pitching-wise, you saw yesterday’s adventures. You might see even more adventures today. It’s tWe’re not going to do anything that hurts our chances to go to Toronto as rested as possible with our pitchers.
• Marco will take the ball today, and then Marco will take the ball again today, and we’ll see where that takes us.
• Dylan Moore and Jarred Kelenic are still sore after being hit by pitches yesterday—DMo wasn’t in the starting lineup at all initially as he was hit twice, and it looks like Kelenic is going to be given some extra rest with Taylor Trammell up. “They’re going to be ok,” says Servais, but if they need to be used in the game they will.
• Servais on playing on the road for their first playoff run in two decades: “I know you go on the road and the environment, the momentum can sway against us at some point in Toronto. I do feel very strongly, my belief in our group, that we will work our way through it. And that happens because you’ve got really good players, you’ve got good character guys, you got a team that really pulls together and leans on each other. It’s not a group of individuals. This is really a true team, and that’s what gets you through the tough times, and we’ll have a few of those in this next series, but I’m looking forward to it.”
• Servais says he was “in awe” of how his players played yesterday, citing how tired players are, how banged up they are, and then they pulled out the two wins and suddenly have a chance to win 90 games. Proud Midwest Dad mode, activate.
• What did Scott say to his team to get them ready for the playoffs? He wouldn’t say exactly, but he did say that at the end of the 14-game winning streak, he addressed the team and told them to look around the room: “the people in this room, those are the people you’ll spend the next three months with, and you’ll never forget the next three months of your life. No matter how long you live, how much baseball you play. The first time you go through a playoff run—I can remember my first time, that entire team, the feelings the emotions the highs the lows—all you have to do, because everyone outside of the room has an opinion, but the people inside the room are the ones that really matter, and you lean on each other, and this team does a really good job of that.”

Today’s game info:

Game time: 1:10 PT

TV: ROOT Sports NW

Radio: 710 Seattle Sports

Stream: MLB TV (out of area); fuboTV (in area)