Game 3 - The curious case of Joe Saunders

For the first two games of the season, the Mariners trotted out pitchers who looked like world-killers. For their third game against the Oakland Athletics they put out somebody that looks like a gas station attendant and the whole team came crashing back to earth after a 2-0 start.

Oakland controlled their Wednesday night game against Seattle and won 6-2 and the Mariners looked like the baseball team we've all come to know and love... and wish they could get runners in scoring position.

Joe Saunders (pictured right, and he did not win a contest to wear a D-backs jersey, that's how he actually looks) was touched up for 4 runs and 7 hits in just four innings of work. Not a stellar outing by any stretch of the imagination - but still it shouldn't have been an insurmountable lead by the retooled Mariners offense, right?

The M's got two home runs from Franklin Gutierrez and Mike Morse in the first inning but the bats could muster just 5 hits in the game. Gutierrez took the fourth pitch of the game and deposited it in the seats, and Morse got his third homer of the season but alas, it was not a sign of things to come. Jesus Montero was 2 for 3 for Seattle as well.

The M's haven't started the season 3-0 since 1995. However, Seattle (2-1) will trot out spring training phenom Brandon Mauer against the A's today (in about an hour). No doubt fans should be interested how he does in his first career start. Hopefully he doesn't look like he should be changing oil at a Jiffy Lube.

(Buy a Joe Saunders Diamondbacks Jersey, because from the looks of it, he wont be in a Mariners jersey very long.)