8/26/2018: Open Game Thread

A snakey Sweepsmas to you all.

The late-night heroism of the 2018 Mariners returned last night to make today a rather surprising Sweepsmas. The ever-aloof Mike Leake will face off against his crotchety but brilliant alter-ego, Zack Greinke. Mike Leake is one of two Mariners pitchers with a home run in their MLB career (sup Félix), and the only one with multiple. In fact, he has six. What I didn’t entirely realize prior to researching this, is that Mike Leake can hit tanks.

Like... moonshots.

Here’s hoping for some of that magic this afternoon.

Seattle is running with their “all lefty, all the time” lineup, with a never-ending cascade of southpaw swingers in the back end of the order. For his career, Greinke has pitched a shade worse against lefties than righties, but his heavy changeup usage means he tends to garner plenty of grounders if lefties aren’t able to get the ball struck solidly. Seattle has had some success this year against this type of pitcher, as their penchant for contact in all situations has led to better contact than some all-or-nothing swingers might elicit, but even at age-34 Greinke remains one of the Diamondbacks’ best pitchers.

Gametime: 1:10 PM PT

TV: ROOT

Radio: 710 AM

Online: MLB.TV Free game of the day!