“Bullpen Day” vs. “Reigning AL Cy Young winner” does not sound like a recipe for success, or for a fun day at the ballpark, period. Yet somehow this scrappy band of Mariners marshaled their forces, rowed their little hearts out, and defeated the multi-headed monster of the Cleveland lineup led by the white whale of Shane Bieber—the kind of frontline pitching ace the Mariners of recent vintage seem always to be getting steamrollered by, yet rarely sending to the mound themselves.
With the Mariners’ propensity for getting no-hit, it seemed reasonable to set one’s expectations for this game against Shane Bieber as “don’t get no-hit.