SEATTLE — With the pomp, circumstance and routine-upsetting distractions that come with the first home game of the season — regardless of the date — expecting anything beyond chilly temperatures, dry conditions and a packed house might seem a bit foolish.
In the first seven games of the 2022 season, the Mariners had proven to be just as unpredictably varying as the Midwest weather conditions they’d played in each day.
The biggest fear in such a momentous occasion is a noncompetitive clunker of a drubbing — something Seattle hasn’t been immune to in past seasons. And with the game being against the Houston Astros, a team that has bullied them over the past few seasons, well, disappointment was a distinct possibility.
