The Saunders' steal the show!

Joe Saunders was nicknamed Safeco Joe as he entered yesterday's game with a record of 7-0 at Safeco Field and Michael Saunders made his return from a sprained shoulder. Joe began his night by getting the Orioles 1-2-3 in the top half of the first, Michael's night began just as well, on the second pitch he saw he smashed a fastball to right field for his second HR of the year and extended his hitting streak to 8 games. So with the Michael Saunders HR Joe Saunders had the lead to work with and was able to get another 1-2-3 inning and had an easy 3rd inning. In the top of the 4th was when Joe got into trouble, with 2 outs Joe gave up a single to Chris Davis and then Matt Weiters took Saunders deep and the Orioles took a 2-1 lead. In the bottom of the 4th the Mariners went to work with Mike Morse leading off the inning with a base hit and Jesus Montero walking. After Justin Smoak popped out Jason Bay doubled down the left field line that drove in Morse and moved Montero to third. Robert Andino was able to get ahold of a pitch and lined it to right field that scored Montero.

Joe kept the Orioles at bay by getting two straight innings of going 1-2-3. In the bottom of the 6th inning the Mariners got some insurance runs. The inning began with Smoak singling with a broken bat soft line drive to left field, after that there was an injury delay but the funny thing was that the injury was because home plate umpire Alan Porter threw the ball hitting Zach Britton in his throwing shoulder......now how could you throw a baseball at a guy who isnt paying attention? Well Britton was fine as he threw 4 practice pitches and was cleared to continue. Bay singled for the second time in the game, next Andino did his job and moved the runners over with a sacrifice bunt. Now surprisingly Brendan Ryan was to line one into right field that scored Smoak, following that Michael Saunders was able to beat out a ground ball and on the play Bay was able to score. So here we are, 2 outs and Kyle Seager is at bat, Seager last year was so clutch in 2-out situations and he came through in this one by tripling and driving in Michael from first. 

Joe Saunders finished the game off the game by not allowing another run and going the distance for the first complete game by a Mariners pitcher of the year. During the post game interview Saunders apologized for his poor pitching performance in Houston......well apology accepted Safeco Saunders! Saunders during the post game interview got a traditional Gatorade dunk as some of the bullpen guys dowsed him with the Gatorade cooler. In tonight's game the M's was able to get 11 more hits thus raising the team's batting average from .218 to .240. Jason Bay also raised his batting average to .269, the Mariners have been batting .295 over the last 8 games so this is a real sign that things are starting to pick up with this club. The M's put their winning streak to a season high 3 games and improved to 12-16 and moving up to only 5.5 games behind first place. 

NOTES: Dustin Ackley was given the day off because of the left handed starter. Joe Saunders improved his career of pitching in Safeco Field to 8-0 with a 1.74 ERA.

Felix win's it for a fallen friend

I know I'm late on this blog but bare with me, Saturday was a tough day for me. I attend the funeral of a fallen friend of mine who was taken from me and the people who loved him. During the funeral both his mother and father had amazing words to say about Mike. They told us stories about how he loved everyone who was in his life and he was a great American solider that was taken from his friends and family too soon. 

At about 20 minutes before the service was over they showed a slideshow of pictures of Mike of his life during the slideshow I tried to hold everything together but when a picture of Mike and myself appeared when we played baseball during our senior year that is when everything just pored out. 

I couldn't hold it together and i thought i would cry loudly but i held myself together and after the service i hugged his twin brother Steven and said "its going to be tough but he is with God and is being taken care of", during that emotional hug Steve managed to make me laugh in the way Mike would make me laugh by saying "you know Mike would be laughing at both of us right now cause were crying like a bunch of big babies". 

That was Mike a guy who could make you laugh when you were feeling like shit and a man that you could trust with your life. I can honestly say that Mike Lowery was one of my best fierce friends that i ever knew and everyday ill miss him until the day we meet again in heaven.

After the funeral i made my way back home and as soon as i got home i immediatly took to the social media. I sent to tweet to the Mariners asking if they would ask Felix Hernandez (@RealKingFelix) if he would dedicate his pitching performance to Mike. I sent that tweet because both times when Mike was over in Iraq and in Afghanistan, when he got the time he always asked me how the Mariners and the Seahawks were doing and whenever i would tell him that Felix pitched I think he would get even more excited as he always loved to know how the best pitcher in baseball did. T

he day of Felix's perfect game i sent him a message telling him that Felix had made history and threw a perfect game against the Rays. It took him 3 days to see my message and as soon as he saw that message he responded to me by saying "NO FUCKING WAY! Thats awesome! I really wish i couldve seen that shit go down! Thanks for telling me Mike always appreciate updates from you". 

2 hours after the funeral i attended a gathering at Mike's mothers house for a celebration of his life and an hour before i left i recieved a DM on Twitter. When i opened the DM i just about fell down and cried, it was Felix, and he had said that he would dedicate tonight's performance to Mike and that he would guarentee a win in the process. 

That night i watched the game with Mike's family and friends as i told them what Felix had told me and they were watching every pitch. Felix's first were both easy enough but in the top of the 3rd inning Chris Iannetta lead off the inning by homering to left field and then later in the inning Mike Trout drove in another run with a sacrifice fly and the Angels took a 2-0 lead. Felix shut down the Halos for the rest of his night and in the bottom of the 6th inning Raul Ibanez lead off with a walk and then Jesus Montero crush one to center field and tied the game up at 2-2 and then in the bottom of the 7th inning is where the magic came into play. 

Both Kyle Seager and Mike Morse lead off with singles and the M's started off the inning well and after Justin Smoak struckout Kendrys Morales came through and singled home what would be the go-ahead run for the Mariners and giving them the 3-2 lead. 

Felix threw 8 strong and terrific innings as Tom Wilhelmsen came into the top of the 9th to close out an emotional game for me watching. Wilhelmsen got the job done as soon as that third out was recorded i broke down and cried for 2 minutes as Felix kept his promise, he had thrown an amazing game for Mike and had giving him a win as well. About an hour after the game when i got home from the celebration i had recieved another DM from Felix saying "This one was for your bud Mike. My he rest in peace with God and i will pray for him and his family every day". 

Felix is an incredible man. He cares so much about the city of Seattle and the M's fans that he went out on the mound and pitched in memory of someone who only cheer for him but never met in person. He promised me that the team would win and he kept his promise, this game was not only one of the best game's i have watched all year but it was also the hardest game. I say that because I know Mike wouldve loved to have seen this game in person. 

As I have said and so many others to me Mike will be missed, he is no longer suffering and is in God's pressence now and will be watching over each and everyone of his friends and family until the day we all see him in heaven. I want to thank Felix Hernandez for pitching for Mike on Saturday and for making me love baseball even more. 

This was the first time i have ever cried after a Seattle Mariners win, but they werent tears of sorrow or anger they were tears of happiness and joy. Mike this game was for you.

RIP Mike Lowery May 30,1990-April 9,2013

Power of the beards didnt help.

Well Aaron Harang took the mound for the Seattle Mariners Friday night against the Los Angeles Angels. Now Harang is one of those pitchers that you say "oh crap why must he go on the mound tonight?".  Well Friday night was bearded hat night giveaway for for the Mariners, so the power of the beards should've helped the M's win this ball game right, right? Well, that wasnt the case. Harang was horrible!!! In the first inning the Angels struck first, both Peter Bourjos and Mike Trout singled to lead off the inning and then Albert Pujols drove in the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly and the Angels took the early 1-0. Thats all the Angels would get in the 1st inning then in the bottom half of the 1st it was the M's turn to try their luck against C.J. Wilson. Wilson has had great success against the Mariners with a 11-5 record in 50 games, 13 of those games he started in. The first inning was all too easy for Wilson as he got the Mariners hitters out in order. Harang got into more trouble in the top of the second, after giving up a single to Brendan Harris, Hank Conger took Harang deep and the Angels took the 3-0 lead. 

The M's went 1-2-3 again in the bottom half of the inning and in the top of the 3rd the Angels would get two more runs coming off the two-run homerun by Mark Trumbo and now the Halos had a commanding 5-0 lead. Harang was able to get out of the inning without allowing another run but after the third out his night was done and Hector Noesi would be brought in in the 4th to pitch. The bottom half of the 4th is where the Mariners got things going as Kyle Seager extended his hitting career high hitting streak to 15 games. Kendrys Morales singled followed by Mike Morse walking then loading up the bases for Justin Smoak. In Smoak's career he is 2-23 with the bases loaded, well make it 2-24 as he struckout for the first out of the inning. Kelly Shoppach helped the M's by "taking one for the team" as he was hit by a pitch that brought in Seager, but that's all the Mariners could manage as Robert Andino and Endy Chavez both struckout to end the inning. The M's managed to load the bases up again in the next inning, but once again the M's continued their struggles with hitting with runner in scoring position and Smoak put his 2-24 career batting with the bases loaded to 2-25.

The bottom of the sixth was the inning the Mariners took advantage of Wilson. Shoppach and Andino both were able to lead off with hits, Andino doubled after Shoppach singled and Chavez sacraficed home Shoppach and so the M's now trailed 5-3. Brendan Ryan put down a suicide bunt down that Andino scored on. The M's went into the top of the 7th only trailing by 2 runs and in need of Noesi to shutdown the Halos, it didnt go the way they planned as the Angels got an extra run and extended their lead to 6-3. Charlie Furbush was then called into duty to try and keep the lead to just three, he was able to get out of the inning without allowing another run. Now the M's had to get some work done and get some runs with only 3 innings to work with. Smoak in the bottom of the 7th was thrown out at home plate trying to score and that ended inning for the M's. The 9th inning for the M's saw Morales starting off the inning by getting on 2nd after Mike Trout dropped the ball in left field but after Smoak walked with 1 out both Shoppach and Dustin Ackley grounded out to end the game. 

NOTES: Both Kyle Seager and Dustin Ackley extended their hitting streaks to 15 and 7 games. Hector Noesi put his ERA down to 1.23. The Mariners went 1-12 with runners in scoring position.

The Rookie and his bats

Brandon Maurer had one hell of a challenge tonight, the Los Angeles Angels. A team that has Mike Trout, Josh Hamilton, Albert Pujols, and Mark Trumbo. Basically, a team with a crap-ton of power hitters but hey not only do the Angels have power in their lineup they are also the #1 hitting team in the American League, so how bout that for the rookie pitcher. Well Maurer decided to shutdown that #1 hitting team tonight. His night began by striking out the first two batters including Trout and got Pujols to ground out, not bad huh? 1-2-3 inning for the rookie and so now it was time for the bats to go work. The first inning didn't see any work except for Endy Chavez leading off the inning with a single. So Maurer went back out for his 2nd inning of work and faced Josh Hamilton for the first time in his young career and was able to get Hamilton out with a ground ball right back to him, Maurer gave a single to Trumbo but on the replay on TV um lets just say Trumbo was OUT! Maurer was able to finish the inning off with a fielder's choice and his 3rd strikeout of the night. Both teams went down quietly, the M's in the bottom half of the 2nd and the Angels in the top of the 3rd.

Now I didn't notice this until the bottom of the 1st but Carlos Peguero started tonight's game and I was thinking "oh crap there's 3 or 4 extra strikeouts for this starting pitcher", but Peguero decided to shut me up by literally golfing a lead off homerun in the bottom of the 3rd inning. Now that wasn't the most impressive thing about the homerun, not only did he hit a ball that was in the dirt but he hit that ball 451 ft WOW!!! The Mariners were not done in the bottom of the 3rd inning, Jason Bay singled after Carlos's long HR and not long after that Chavez singled for the second time in the game. Kyle Seager then came up and hit a nice liner to centerfield that scored Bay and the M's took a 2-0 and extended Seager's hitting streak to a career long 14 games. Maurer continued his dominance in the 4th but got into a jam in the top of the 5th and with only 1 out and 2 on Maurer was able to get Peter Bourjos to ground into a big double play and keep the shutout going. In the top of the 6th inning Mike Trout lead off with a single but was retired not long afterwards as he tried to steal a base but Kelly Shoppach fired one to Dustin Ackley to cut down the speedy Trout. Pujols then singled up the middle but Maurer got the 3rd member of the Angels Big 3 to ground into a double play and get out of that inning.

In the top of the 7th Maurer night was finished after giving up a single to Howie Kendrick and hitting Brendan Harris so Eric Wedge brought in Carter Capps; who has been the most reliable reliever in the bullpen for the M's. Maurer walked off the field to and even 13,000 fans cheering for his most brilliant performance of the year and Capps helped his starter out by getting Chris Iannetta to ground into the biggest double play of the game. The bottom of the 7th inning began well as Justin Smoak walked and Ackley singled to right field, Kelly Shoppach got Smoak and Ackley over with a sacrifice bunt. After Peguero's golf HR the Angels decided to load the bases by intentionally walking him, Bay then came up and knocked in both Smoak and Ackley with a line drive to left field and the M's took a 4-0 lead. The bottom of the 8th saw Chavez leading off with a single for his 3rd hit of the night, Seager then unloaded and put one in the right field seats for his 3rd HR of the year and the lead was now 6-0. Tom Wilhelmsen was then brought in not in a save opportunity but merely just to get some work in and did the job by getting Pujols and Hamilton to ground out and striking out Trumbo. 

NOTES: This win tonight but the Mariners record to 9-15 for the season and putting them to 7 games back of the Texas Rangers for first place. On another note Taijuan Walker pitched tonight and went 7 strong innings and striking out 7. Maurer has posted a 1.89 ERA over his last 3 starts. Wilhelmsen after tonight put his ERA to 0.90 with his 1-2-3 inning tonight.

100th win away from home

Well how bout this its 1:36 AM in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and I'm getting started on a blog that should've been done by now! Oh well, today has been full of awesome eventful things. For starters tonight was my first ever Major League Baseball game that wasn't at Safeco Field. Yup, I attended a Washington Nationals game and I just have to say Nationals Park is one of the prettiest ballparks ever, but not as pretty as the Safeco. Anyways, you should have seen just all the looks I was getting since I went to a Nationals game wearing a Ken Griffey, Jr., jersey and a Seattle Mariners hat. Now I kinda almost started a fight since I gave some Washington Redskins fans grief as I decided to put on a knee brace and I put on my Russell Wilson jersey and I limped and asked them "Hows that Rookie of the Year doing?". Dick move I know, but I can thank my buddy Alex @ALarson12thMan for giving me that douchebag idea. 

Well I told my blogging buddy Ben (@Shakabrodie) that I would try and getta pic with Gio Gonzalez doing his non-trademark pose Sharking. Now not only did Gio take a pic but he tossed me a baseball to boot. Gio your a great guy and thanks for the baseball to and for taking that pic for me. That wasn't the only highlight in this first visit to Nationals Park, I somehow ran into two, count-em two Mariners fans, but they were in Nationals gear so they were safe from the weird looks. Now that wasn't even remotely awesome as when I found out that these two Mariners fans were UW Huskies and WSU Cougars alumni! How bout that? I mean what the hell are the odds that I would meet up with two Mariners fans that are both alumni's from UW and WSU at my first WASHINGTON Nationals game? THAT'S JUST IRONIC, on a scale of crazy and insane!!!! Well, during the Cardinals batting practice I developed a dislike of Adam Wainwright......and I say that because when I asked very nicely for a baseball he didn't throw it all because I was wearing a Mariners jersey. Talk about being a jackass huh? 

Well, after batting practice I ran into another special person, a runner from this year's Boston Marathon and I shook her hand. So basically my first Nats game was starting off incredibly well. Well, the game began off really well to, and I got to see Anthony Rendon's first major league hit and RBI. The Nats lost 3-2 though but it was still a fun game to watch and afterwards I decided to catch up on the Mariners game by watching the M's game from start to finish. Man I was hoping for win when I kept looking over to the around the majors scoreboard at the Nats game and was hoping that Felix would finally win his 100th major league win and the bats would wake up and provide Felix with decent run support tonight. The game began off on the right track as Justin Smoak singled home Kyle Seager, who singled, and the M's took the early 1-0 lead.

Now Felix went to work on the Astros by only allowing 5 hits, giving up no runs, and striking out 9, marking the 3rd time this year that Felix has struck out 8 or more batters. Now the Mariners bats woke up as they pounded out 12 hits and hit 3 homeruns. Jesus Montero hit one of the longest HRs of the year which was measured at 441 ft WOW! Now Rick Ankiel had the only run for the Astros as he hit his 5th HR of the year. Basically, tonight was a great night! I did some sharking, met, chatted, and got a baseball from Gio Gonzalez, met 2 other Mariners fans in DC, met a Boston Marathon runner, watched my first Nats game, and finally rewatched Felix win his 100th game as a Mariner and for his career. I hope that Mariners fans get to watch #200 and 300 very soon and a World Series ring for Felix. 

Flashback Friday.....ok Saturday really

I know I said every Friday I would write a flashback blog about a really awesome sports event that I witness but I've been on vacation ok. Now for the past week has been tough for not just for me but also for this country. Before i begin this blog i want to say thank you to all the men and women who helped bring the mad man who decided to hurt this great country. Now right now as i write this im watching the pregame ceremony in Boston and i have so many tears in my eyes because im so proud of this country. Not only for not living in fear but for becoming stronger and supporting the great city of Boston after that terrible bombing at the Boston Marathon that has left 5 people dead and over 180 injured. I want to say this, stay strong America and Boston make sure you let everyone know who wants to hurt this great nation that we as Americans will never get weak we only get stronger and we unite as one to fight the evil in this world.

Now let me get down to business and write this blog. The date is April 15, 2012. Yeah just last year. I attended the game in Seattle and the Mariners faced the Oakland Athletics and my DVR at home was recording the History Channel. Why you ask? Well, last year on that date marked the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Yeah I know who cares right, well I care being a Titanic enthusiast. During most of the day I was watching nothing but the History Channel since they were showing nothing but brand new Titanic specials. Before I went up to Seattle I had enough time to even watch the movie Titanic, and by the way it's my favorite movie ever........Of all time. Now as I was going up to Seattle I actually had a really cool conversation with the bus driver about that. I told him that I know almost everything there is about Titanic, so he quizzed me and he was just as an expert as I was. You see in 1996 my 2nd grade teacher gave me a book to read (to shut me up HAHA) and there was 4 pages on the Titanic and it intrigued me to learn more about the history about the event that would be called the greatest maritime disaster in history. My second grade teacher was the best teacher I ever had cause I not only had her for second grade but I had an additional 2 year with her and in those 2 years she bought me 5 books on the Titanic and over those two years I became a genius on it and my love for the ship and it history grew even more.

Now getting back to the bus driver asking me questions......I answered every question he gave me correctly. He was even amazing of how much I knew on the ship and the history to go along with it. He was saying that he hoped to get me on the drive back to Tacoma after the game. So now I was at Safeco and ready to enjoy another fun filled night in Seattle. You know even if the Mariners lose a game I always enjoy spending 6 hours in Seattle, cause for some odd reason Seattle just makes me feel happy, me and my buddies Alex (@ALarson12thMan) and Austin (@austin329) always have fun when we go up there. 

So now I had about an hour til the gates opened at Safeco for a special night as well. It was Jackie Robinson day as well! So I got to wear a cool jersey that I only wear on that day....…I should wear it more though. I brought out my green Mariners 42 jersey with the name Robinson on it, I get so many "awesome jersey" remarks whenever I wear it. So while I was waiting for the gates to open I asked if anyone knew what anniversary that day marked.......Typically no one said Titanic so I informed them and had some cool discussions with them. Then the gates opened and I ran my ass in the stadium to get to a great position to catch some batting practice homers. I came so damn close to 3 baseballs that were hit by Dustin Ackley, Josh Reddick, and surprisingly Chone Figgins. Even though I didnt catch the homers I did get two baseballs that Charlie Furbush kindly threw to me, and I say threw to me because I was basically the only one that was perched in center field seats. Blake Beaven started the game and he went against Graham Godfrey in from of 19,950 fans. 

Now the pregame ceremony was awesome! I cant remember threw the first pitch but I do remember the awesome Jackie Robinson ceremony. The game began very well for Beaven, he went 1-2-3 in the first two innings and in the bottom of the 2nd inning the M's struck first. The inning began with Kyle Seager doubling to lead off the inning, now I was sitting in right field seats and the double came just inches away from my glove! Now Brendan Ryan did something that I was never expecting.......He hit a line drive homerun and put the Mariners up 2-0! Now Beaven got into trouble in the 3rd inning but he managed to get out of it and in the bottom half of the inning Justin Smoak pounded one about 6 rows behind me and about 9 rows away from me and the M's now lead 3-0. Now the top of the 4th was a nightmare for Beaven.......and I say that because with two on Erik Sogard hit a line drive shot to right and the A's tied the game back up at 3-3.

So there I was seating with two drunk Mariners fans behind me complaining and saying that this team sucks blah blah blah well I stupidly decided to tell to shut the fuck up and watch our team comeback and win this game. Well, since they have had plenty of $8 beers in them they called me some pretty foul names and said that this team is going to lose, now I should've bet them that they were going to win cause if I did I would've won the bet cause in the bottom of the 5th those stupid drunken fools shut up real quick and started cheering loud and I mean loud. The rally began with Figgins walking and then Ackley grounded out but thankfully Jemile Weeks had a throwing error and Ackley was safe. Now because this is April 15th Ichiro is still on the team and he helped the Mariners out by doubling to deep right field and Figgins scored on the play and the M's now lead 4-3. Smoak then lined a ball right to the pitcher and Ackley was able to scored on the throw to first and the lead was now 5-3.

Beaven then took over and shut down the A's until in the eighth when Tom Wilhelmsen was brought in to hold the A's not close because our closer was the heavily tatted Brandon League at the time. Wilhelsmen basically was a closer already cause after he walked Coco Crisp he went 1-2-3. Now we move to the top of the 9th and League was called to shut the door on the A's. League got the job done and I went home a happy M's fan and so did most of the people at Safeco Field, I say most cause you know there was Athletics fans there. Well, like I said earlier in this blog I got the same bus driver as I had from the ride up and we spent the whole ride back to Tacoma talking about Titanic. By the time I got home it was 12:30 at night and I spent 4 hours watching the Titanic specials I had on my DVR. Last year on April 15th was great and I have more flashback stories every Friday and I promise that this upcoming Friday I will be posting not only a recap blog about the Mariners game but a flashback blog.

2 Days of Excitement

Ok so i may not have been in Washington state but that means as a die hard Seattle Mariners fan i just have to watch my team harder and in a different state that doesnt care about Seattle sports. Well, I've had two great days of watching the Mariners on MLB Gameday. On Wednesday I watched Felix Hernandez have his best outting of this season against the Detroit Tigers! Actually it was the best pitching performance I've ever seen the Mariners pitch. I mean 14 innings and our pitching staff struck out 21 batters, but we couldnt pull out the win in 14. That game i saw 40 strikeouts by both teams.......thats just some crazy shit! I mean 40 strikeouts, that is MLB 2K14 stats! Im really glad Felix didnt lose the game, no what lost the game was Brendan Ryan cause he had a very rare f*** up, as he misplayed a ground ball for an error. Now looking back at that error.....it cost the Mariners a 1-0 win and Felix winning his 100th win of his career. Now on a positive note Dustin Ackley sort of found his swing as he did go 2-5 in that game. Felix finished the game with 12 K's along with Matt Scherzer. Felix struck Prince Fielder out 4 times! 

Now yesterday was another great game and i had the honor of watching parts of the game thanks to MLB Network. Now our best pitcher (so far) took the mound, Hisashi Iwakuma. He went against the formers Cy Young and AL MVP Justin Verlander. You know when Verlander is on the mound your bound to either see; A: strikeout at least 10 batters, B: a no hitter, or C: a shutout. Now the Mariners decided to ruin 2 of those options i put out but they didnt ruin the 10 strikeouts thing as Verlander struckout 12 Mariners! Mike Morse, Justin Smoak, Ackley, and Kelly Shoppach all struck out twice and Jason Bay struckout 3 times and the last strikeout victim was Endy Chavez. During the game Iwakuma was looking like his awesome self and went 6 strong innings and didnt give up a run and he struckout 2. Now Iwakuma could've gone longer then 6 cause he only had 70 pitches after the 6th inning but because of a blister on his throwing hand he was taken out. In the top of the Carter Capps came in and had to work with some tough bats at the plate. He got the Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera to line out but Prince Fielder lined a ball to centerfield over Chavez's head and ended up at 2nd base. So the go ahead run was standing at second and Capps was forced to walk Victor Martinez, now he had to deal with two more tough hitters in Jhonny Peralta and Alex Avila.

Capps struck out Peralta and that was a huge strikeout and then got Avila to fly out to Morse and ended the threat the Tigers presented. Now in the bottom of the 7th Verlander got his 11th and 12th strikeout by getting Shoppach and Ackley swinging. Robert Andino singled to left field and after a mound visit to Verlander with two outs Eric Wedge made one of the smartest moves all season, pinch hitting the .167 Brendan Ryan for Mr.2-out clutch Kyle Seager. Seager made 15,742 cheer so damn loud as he ripped a line drive down the left field line.....and i really wish we Andino's speed instead of Smoak's speed in that 14 inning loss because Andino scored all the way from first and the M's tasted first blood in the game. Chavez then came up and singled in Seager and the Mariners now had a nice 2-0 lead. Now with 2 runs in Capps had some work to do.......keep it! Capps got the first out by getting Omar Infante to fly out to Bay, but Don Kelly singled to left field. Capps didnt let that one hit get to him as he got Austin Jackson and Andy Dirks to strikeout. After the bottom of the eighth was done Tom (The Bartender) Wilhelmsen ran onto the field with his usual Voodoo Child theme song. Wilhelmsen had 3 huge big bats to get out; last year's Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera, the 4 time All Star and slugger Prince Fielder, and another 4x time All Star and former Silver Slugger winner Victor Martinez. Wilhelmsen showed way he's one of the best in saving games by getting Cabrera to ground out, Fielder to fly out, and Martinez to ground out and closed his 6th game of the year. 

The Mariners have yet to be swept at home. Now Dustin Ackley over the last 5 games has raised his batting average 61 points! Now just let me ask you guys a question shall I? Who thinks Justin Smoak's career is finished? Cause to tell you the truth im ready to see Mike Zunino play in the bigs. I think he's ready cause Smoak isnt. Smoak isnt even a major leaguer!!! He's like Carlos Peguero, he'll do excellent in Triple A but when it comes to the big leagues he's gone! Smoak has had 1,316 major league at bats and has a pathetic .223 career batting average. Well getting off Smoak the Mariners go into Texas today to start their first series with the Rangers in Texas. Now here's my prediction about this series; since the weather is going to be nice and hot i see the M's hitting some HRs in this series and sweeping the Rangers!!! We'll see right Mariners fans? Yup we will. 

First Win Is Always a Good Win

On the day before Jackie Robinson day the Mariners squared off against the Texas Rangers for the series finale. Brandon Maurer would take the mound after coming off 2 difficult loses against Nick Tepesch. Maurer began the first inning off very well by striking out 2 batters and not allowing a run in the first. The second inning Mitch Moreland doubled home Geovany Soto and the Rangers took the early 1-0, but Justin Smoak decided to hit a one out double to get into scoring position, Kyle Seager then doubled home Smoak to tie the game at 1-1. I'm really glad my dad had MLB At-Bat otherwise i would've had to watch the gameday on MLB.com. So back to the game shall we? Maurer continued to have a strong start then in the bottom of the fourth inning Raul Ibanez decided to give Maurer some runs by hitting his second homerun of the season and the Mariners took the lead 2-1.

In the top of the fifth the Rangers decided to go to work. Leury Garcia tripled with one out and thats what got the inning started for the Rangers. Elvis Andrus reached on a fielder's choice as Dustin Ackley made a nice throw home to get the speedy Garcia so Maurer now had two outs. Andrus stole second Craig Gentry was then hit by a pitch then Lance Berkman ripped a single up the middle that scored Andrus and the Rangers tied the game at 2-2. Gentry then scored on a passed ball that put the Rangers up 3-2. The Mariners now had a job to do.....get home some runs. Seager decided to start just that by doubling in the bottom of the sixth with one out. Jesus Montero, who is struggling this year, came up big by tying the game at 3-3 with a single up the middle scoring Seager.

Montero was able to advance to second on the throw from Nelson Cruz. That is what surprised me the most! But the Mariners weren't just done yet. Dustin Ackley who has also struggled this year came through in the clutch and drove in Montero and the M's took the 4-3 lead. Bobby LaFromboise then made his major league debut and it wasnt pretty as he went a third of an inning and did not have a lot of control so Eric Wedge decided to get him out of the game and brought in Stephen Pryor to try and get out of the inning without any damage. Pryor was able to get the job done by striking out the two batters he faced in the inning. In the top of the eight Pryor was taking out of the game because of tightness in his back. Oliver Perez came in a help out the M's and got out of the inning. In the ninth Tom Wilhelmsen came in and the Bartender got the job done by closing out the game for his fifth save of the year. The Mariners now improved to 6-8 and Maurer finally got that first major league win on his father's birthday (talk about a great birthday present huh). Now the M's got themselves a well deserved day off until the defending American League West champion Detroit Tigers. 

Murder in Seattle!!!!

Brandon Maurer was excited for his first start in Seattle but the Astros were not going to let the kid get his first major league win that easy. The Astros started the game by ripping three straight singles off Maurer. Now Maurer was forced into a bases loaded jam early in the game, now if it was Felix on the mound Mariners fans wouldn't be too worried but Maurer is a rookie and people were worried. Maurer did get Chris Carter to strike out but Carlos Pena wouldn't go down that way as he ripped a 2-run double down the right field line and the Astros jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. Maurer got one last strike out before Houston scored four more times and after that he was pulled and Kameron Loe would replace the young gun. Now i heard boos when he exited the game, DONT BOO! He's a young kid dont be one of those fans who only cheers when he does well the fans who did cheer im happy for. 

Loe didnt fair as well as Maurer did as he gave up 5 more runs and allowed 3 homeruns as well. Charlie Furbush gave up a HR as well as 2 extra runs. Lucas Luetge tried to stop the bleeding but was hit for 2 more runs and finally Oliver Perez tried to be the only reliever or in that fact the only pitcher not to give up a run but failed as he surrendered a solo HR. The Astros haven't been known to hit HRs this year as they hit five of them in the game. Chris Carter hit 2 of the 5 HRs off the Mariners pitching staff. The Mariners pitching staff did strikeout 10 batters though, I thought I would throw in something positive. Now the Mariners didnt go down quietly as they were able to score 9 runs off the Astros. Mike Morse, Raul Ibanez, and Jason Bay all homered for the Mariners but the bad thing was......there was nobody on base, all were solo shots. Dustin Ackley did muster a hit in this contest and Justin Smoak was able to drive in 2.

Well lets get down to business now. The Mariners have decisions to make. Do you keep working with Maurer or send him back to the minors? Do you call up Mike Zunino and send Smoak down? Many more questions are surrounding the ball club right now but I think that the M's should send both Smoak and Maurer back to the minors. Smoak was told before the season began that this was his last chance and he hasnt showed us anything as he is hitting .179 so far in the year. Now yes Ackley and Montero both have worse batting averages then Smoak but they are key players for this organization. Zunino right now in his FIRST Triple-A season is hitting .426 with 4 HRs, and 16 RBIs!! He's putting up Chris Davis numbers and he's basically saying im ready!!! Now as for Maurer I think were going to have to wait until Erasmo Ramirez is healthy to bring him up but until then I say to put Furbush in the rotation and place Maurer in the bullpen. The M's have to make these choice's soon or they can kiss their shot at the playoffs this year. Now im not saying that its time to press the panic button but they do need to step up their game.   

Its so good to be home!

Well the Mariners were finally home! The red carpet was rolled out and the fireworks blew up as the M's players were cheered for as they ran onto Safeco Field for the very first time of the 2013 season. Joe Saunders took the mound for the M's looking to have a better outing then he had in Oakland. Saunders had a great first inning by striking out two of the four Houston Astros batters he faced. Michael Saunders got the bottom half of the first started by singling to left field and after that he stole second and moved into scoring position. Kendrys Morales stepped up for the first time as a Mariner in Safeco and singled up the middle and Safeco erupted! Its been too long since i heard that crowd cheer so loud as the Mariners took the early 1-0 lead against the man who last year threw a perfect game against them.......yeah i forgot to tell you Phil Humber started for the Astros, oh well he didnt perfecto the M's last night.

In the bottom of the third Saunders singled again and Morales doubled him home and the Mariners took the 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the fifth inning Dustin Ackley got a huge monkey off his back as he got his first hit at Safeco leading off the inning. Brendan Ryan was then told to bunt Ackley over to second and instead of him getting out he bunted and Ackley was safe at second on the throw from the Astros catcher and Ryan was safe as well. Saunders then flew out and Ackley was able to move to third and then Franklin Gutierrez put down a suicide squeeze bunt and Ackley scored and the Mariners took a 3-0 lead now. After Morales walked Mike Morse then grounded into an inning ending double play and Morse's struggles continued as well. Saunders left in the 7th inning with a 3-0 lead to a standing ovation. 

Carter Capps continued his dominance as a one of our best reliever on the team by going 1 and two thirds inning and Charlie Furbush had a great eighth inning by striking out 2 batters. Tom Wilhelmsen then came in a shut the door on the Astros and the Mariners won their first home opener in 4 years. Morse's hitting streak ended as well as Gutierrez's. Now the im going to have to listen to the Mariners games for two weeks since ill be in Miami for 2 weeks. 

A heart attack game

Well the Mariners came into the place they have had so much trouble in for years. The Mariners have a record of 3-19 in the last 22 games in Chicago. This game was going to be tough from the beginning as the weather did not fair for both teams, the game time temperature was 35 degrees. Franklin Gutierrez lead off the game with a solo home run to right field and gave the M's the 1-0 lead. Blake Beaven took a no hitter to the 4th when Adam Dunn singled to right-center field. For some reason Beaven wasnt paying any attention to Dunn and he stole 2nd! Ya the Big Donkey as he as nicknamed by his teammates stole a base! Paul Konerko continued his dominance over the Mariners as he singled in the Big Ass to tie the game at 1-1. So now lets review really quick shall we? Dunn stole a base........yeah thats really messed up. The one who was really messed up in the game was the home plate ump, but I will chew his ass out later in the blog.

Lets move onto the top half of the fifth. Jason Bay began the inning off by getting his first Mariner hit doubling down the left field line. Dustin Ackley was able to leg out a ground ball to first as Jose Quintana dropped the ball, Brendan Ryan then blooped a ball into shallow left field to score Bay and give the Mariners the 2-1 lead. The Mariners werent done yet, Gutierrez lined a double down the left field line both Ryan and Ackley raced home to put the Mariners lead to 4-1, with those runs Guit had driven in 3 in this game. Michael Saunders broke open with an RBI triple to drive in Gutierrez and lead grew to 5-1, they still were not finished as Kendrys Morales drove in Saunders with his first hit of the night and it was now 6-1. The M's chased Quintana and once Matt Lindstrom came in the runs stopped. Jesus Montero grounded into a double play and then Kyle Seager popped out to end a 5 run 5th inning.

Now as all of you know it doesnt matter what the Mariners seem to do the White Sox seems to find a way to comeback and piss us off. That was the case in the bottom of the 5th inning. Alexi Ramirez began the inning off by singling up the middle then Tyler Flowers doubled down the left field line, now usually Ramirez scores on a double but a smart White Sox fan reached out and helped us out. That help would be in vein as Gordon Beckham hit a fly ball to Guti and scored Ramirez. Now as the White Sox are famous for pissing us off with their homeruns against the M's Alejandro De Aze pissed us off by hitting a 2-run homerun and cutting the M's lead to 6-4. Then Alex Rios decided to piss us off even more as he cut the lead to 1 run with a solo shot off Beaven. Beaven started off great but the 5th inning was not nice to him as that would be the end of his night.

Carter Capps took the mound for Beaven in the 6th inning and he had a great inning only giving up a single to Ramirez but he did strike out two batters. After Beckham lead off the bottom of the 7th with a single Eric Wedge decided to bring in Lucas Luetge.......he only lasted one batter as De Aze singled and the White Sox continued to tick myself and other Mariners fans off. Stephen Pryor came in for Luetge and got out of the inning but the Sox did score a run to tie the game up at 6-6. Pryor worked the bottom of the 8th and Seager made some great plays at 3rd and three huge outs gave the Mariners another chance to take the lead, the Mariners would not take the lead in the top of the 9th and I began to worry. In the past when the Mariners faced the White Sox they usually walked off in the 9th or extras. Kameron Loe came into to work the 9th and got the job done and this thrilling first game went into extras. 

The top of the 10th began just the way the M's wanted it to start off, Gutierrez got on first with an infield single to put his hit total for the night at 3. Saunders did his job bunting over Guti to second and up came Morales, he didnt waste any time on the first pitch Morales ripped a line drive down the right field line and Guti easily scored and the M's took the lead. Robert Andino came into run for the uhh pudgy Morales. Montero came up and delivered in the clutch and gave the Mariners a HUGE insurance run and the Mariners lead 8-6. Seager was able to rip a double into right center field and Montero tried with all his gooey posterity to score but was cut down at the plate on a very questionable play. Tom Wilhelmsen was then called in to close the game down and give the Mariners a hard fought win. The Bartender got the first man to fly out but after that it was a nightmare to watch. Rios drew a walk and then stole second without a throw, Wilhelmsen threw a wild pitch in the dirt and Rios moved down to third. Konerko drew a walk as well and thats when the anger was boiling in me as the home plate umpire really wanted the Sox to win as his strike zone was so damn inconsistent. Dewayne Wise came up and singled home Rios and hope was dwindling from every Mariners fan as it was now 8-7. Ramirez drew the third walk of the inning and so Wilhelmsen got a visit from everyone to try and calm him down. It worked as Flowers came up and struckout on 3 pitches to finally end this nail biting game and the Mariners won their first game in Chicago of the year. 

I've decided to hand out MVPs for each win, my first MVP award goes out to Kendrys Morales. Yes I know that Guti had 3 RBIs but Morales drove in the game winning run for the Mariners. Tomorrow Felix Hernandez goes for his 100th career win. I'm hoping he will have his stuff with him as the bullpen has got to be worn out from tonight.  

Flashback Friday:1999

Well these are going to be some interesting blogs i will be writing. I got the idea of Flashback Friday from Twitter. They have Throwback Thursday's so im going to write flashback blog on Friday's now, it makes sense. Well I decided to start off my first flashback blog with the year 1999. That year mark the opening of the Seattle Mariners new ballpark Safeco Field. Months before I started enjoying an outdoor ballpark i went to 17 unforgettable games at the Kingdome. The first game i went in the Mariners 1999 season was on April 7th. The M's played host to the Chicago White Sox, before the game I managed to get an autograph from Ken Griffey, Jr.! 

The pleasure of getting his autograph was an awesome expierence and that night he also hit one of his sweetest swinging homeruns and the M's won 7-3 and Griffey had a 4-4 night. Next game was on April 11th where the Mariners took care of the Oakland A's 11-8 and Griffey managed his first hit in his last at-bat of the night to. Now I'm not going to write about all the games i went to but i will write about the most memorable ones.

Now last year the Mariners bashed out 21 runs against the Texas Rangers but guess what? Those 21 runs were nothing compared to the 22 run outburst the M's had against the Detroit Tigers in 99. I really have to thank my parents for buying tickets like crazy for me that season. That was in my opinion the 2nd greatest Mariners game i ever went to! I mean i got Griffey, Martinez, and Buhner's autograph and that night i got to watch Jr hit a grand salami and a solo homer as well. 

The M's had an 11 run 5th inning and for some reason the Tigers let Mel Rojas pitch the whole inning! I had to endure going to 2 losing games but then the next game i went to was awesome! I say that because the M's pounded the Minnesota Twins 15-5. Now the games i went to in the Kingdome my record was 10-7 and I was so happy that i got to go to the final Kingdome game and the Mariners pulled out the win in an amazing night. Griffey hit one final Kingdome homerun to, that made the night more special. 

Now since the Kingdome is gone lets move to Safeco Field shall we? My first game at Safeco was the third game that the M's played at Safeco. The Mariners pounded out 9 runs as they won their first game at the new ballpark. Freddy Garcia pitched one hell of a game as he went 8 innings and Griffey went 2-4 with 2 RBIs in the game. Now i did have to wait awhile for my next Mariners game. Garcia pitched the night i went and he pitched another gem as he struckout 10 Devil Rays and the M's won 4-0. The final game i went to that year would also be the game Griffey would hit his final homerun as a Mariner, the M's won 13-3 against the Royals.

 I have to say 1999 was one of my favorite seasons as a fan to go to games. I saw a lot of homers fly out of the park (most of them were Griffey's doing) and i got to enjoy the final Kingdome game. After the 99 year Mariners fans remember that Griffey said farewell and was traded to the Reds but we got a great player in Mike Cameron for him though. 

Rookie beard no match for the experienced beard

Well here we are, we are now in the 4th game of the year and the Mariners were going for their first series win of the year. Rookie Brandon Maurer took the mound for the Mariners seeing if he can get his first major league win. Maurer's day did not start out the way he wanted it to. Josh Reddick picked the wrong time to get his first hit and HR of the year as he took Maurer deep in the bottom of the 1st for a 2-run home run. The Mariners bats stayed quiet through 4 innings, then in the 5th the bats came alive as Dustin Ackley got the monkey off his back with his first hit of the year. Kelly Shoppach got his first start today as well as his first hits of the year to, Robert Andino bunted Ackley and Shoppach over and then Michael Saunders drove in his first run of the year with a sacrifice fly and put the M's back in the game. Maurer though had another tough inning as Chris Young doubled to lead off the bottom half of the 5th, former Mariner John Jaso burned the M's again as he singled home a run and put the lead to 3-1.

Mike Morse continued his incredible hot start by hitting a lead off homer in the top of the 6th, Morse leads the majors in homers with 4 now. Justin Smoak and Shoppach both singled in the inning but the Mariners couldnt manage an extra run off of A's pitcher A.J. Griffon. Maurer had another rough inning in the 6th when the A's scored 3 times off him including a 2-run home run by Yoenis Cespedes, who continues to dominate the Mariners pitching staff. The Mariners couldnt find anything after that as the A's pitching staff shut down the powerhouse lineup. Lucas Luetge came into the bottom half of the 8th for his first inning of work for the year. Well it wasnt pretty as he allowed two more runs and that would finish off the Mariners as the A's split the first meeting of the year with the Mariners 2 game to 2. The Mariners now make their way to Chicago where for 3 years it has been a nightmare. 

Even though the Mariners lost the final 2 game in the series there was a positive. Morse became the first Mariners player since Ken Griffey, Jr., to hit home runs in the first 4 games and Griffey went on to hit 56 the year he did that. Blake Beaven will take the mound tomorrow against the White Sox. Last year the Mariners went 1-8 against the White Sox including getting perfectoed again Phil Humber which was not a game to remember.

Perfect no more

After some impressive starts by Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma the Mariners were looking to go 3-0 for the first time since......well i dont know when the last time we were 3-0 ok, cut me some slack. Well Franklin Gutierrez stepped in to face Tommy Moline and decided to say hello. His hello traveled quite a ways and the M's took the early 1-0 lead. Then Mike Morse decided to hi for the third time this year. The Mariners gave their new southpaw Joe Saunders a good lead for his M's debut. Unfortunately the nerves seemed to had gotten to Saunders. Saunders had a good first inning but in the second inning Saunders gave up an RBI double to rookie Nate Freiman. Freiman tried to score on Scott Sizemore's double but Jason Bay and Brendan Ryan worked together to throw out Freiman and Saunders escaped the inning.

The third inning almost turned into a disaster. Saunders was able to wriggle out of a bases loaded jam but did allow a run after Yoenis Cespedes was able to hit a sacrifice fly to score the only run in the third. After Saunders got out of the inning his pitch count was at 64 OUCH! Saunders night was done after the fourth inning after Jed Lowrie drove in 2 more runs with a double. Saunders finished the night walking 4 batters and throwing 88 pitches. Kameron Loe made his Mariners debut as well as he took the mound for Saunders in the 5th inning. Loe kept the M's in the game until the 7th inning. Lowrie homered and then Chris Young followed with his first HR of the year as well. 

The Mariners hitters fell asleep tonight as the A's pitching staff dominated and the M's just couldnt find an answer for them. Saunders though just couldnt find the strikezone tonight as well, he's going to get the hashtag #TradeJoeSaunders on Twitter. On another bad note like Yu Darvish's perfect game the Mariners perfect season is finished. Well I can settle for a 161-1 season how bout you guys?

Mariners go from beasty to Beast Mode!

Well game 1 is in the books now its time for game 2. The game started off pretty well for the Mariners with Michael Saunders getting a leadoff base hit and Kyle Seager followed with a single. Unfortunately Kendrys Morales popped out and Mike Morse grounded into a double play that ended the inning. Hisashi Iwakuma took the mound for the M's tonight and he started off great by getting a 1-2-3 inning. The Mariners got a man on in Justin Smoak walking in the 2nd but couldnt bring him home. Then Yoenis Cespedes took Iwakuma deep and the A's got their first run of the season on the board, Iwakuma was able to recover and got two out of the three hitter to strikeout and got out of the inning with limited damage. Now during the Mariners spring training whenever they were down they found a way to come back and win.....well they basically did that tonight! Saunders drew a walk and then stole 2nd at the beginning of the 3rd after that Seager drew a walk as well. After Morales move the runners up Morse stepped up and drove a ball to right field and over the fence a put the Mariners up 3-1. 

Iwakuma kept the A's at bay by not allowing another run for the rest of his night. The Mariners got another run in 5th after Seager doubled and Morales drove in his first run in a Mariners uniform and put the M's up 4-1. Kuma's night was done after the 6th inning as he finished with 7 strikeouts and only allowing 2 hits and not walking anyone. Now the 7th was a pretty great inning for the M's as they scored without getting a hit. Seager, Morales, both walked and Morse was hit by a pitch; Justin Smoak then showed he has patience this year by walking in a run and the M's now lead 5-1. Next inning for the M's was just as great as the last. Saunders got on with a fielder's choice and then stole his second base of the night, Seager who was a great 2-out hitter lived up to his name and drove in Saunders with his second double of the game and the lead was now 6-1 Mariners. 

Now i should also mention that earlier tonight Yu Darvish took me back to the Brian Holman nearly perfect game with the Mariners, his perfecto was broken up in the bottom of the 9th with only one out to go and former Mariner Ken Phelps hit a 2-out homerun. The same thing happen to Darvish.....just one out to go and some no-name hitter named Marvin Gonzalez singled up the middle and broke up the perfecto. Ok enough bullshit about the Rangers back to the Mariners! The M's got one more run in the top half of the 9th when Morse hit a towering HR to centerfield for his 2nd of the game and the M's were up 7-1. 

Franklin Gutierrez who came into the game got a double after Beast Mode hit his HR. Both Carter Capps and Oliver Perez did there job in holding the A's and closing the game out and the Mariners won their 2nd game of the year. Tomorrow Joe Saunders makes his Mariner debut. Now before I finish this blog I spotted both my buds again on TV Tom (@RealTomBentley) and Ben (@Shakabrodie).

Oh and on one more note the Mariners are only 160 wins away from a perfect season! 

Felix dominates again!

Opening Day.......man it sounds so awesome! Its even more awesome to be in Safeco Field watching the first game of the year on the new big screen. 

As the Mariners began the season with shiny new bats and hopes of the the playoffs over 15,000 fans including me and my bud Alex(@ALarson12thMan). Felix Hernandez look like every bit of the $175 million dollars the team is paying for him and Brett Anderson though struck out the first 4 Mariner batters. Now John Jaso and Felix met before the game and Felix gave Jaso a Rolex for catching the perfecto from last August. Felix took a perfect game going into the 4th inning and after retiring the first 10 batters Jaso got the first hit for the A's. Now thats what you call ironic that a former Mariners player gets the first hit off the Mariners.

Both teams were even through 4 innings when Dustin Ackley lead off the top of the 5th by reaching on an error, Brendan Ryan then singled on blooper to right center field and Ackley moved to third and Ryan was able to get to second on the throw by Josh Reddick to third. Then the oft-injured Franklin Gutierrez came up and lined a single up the middle and drove in both Ackley and Ryan. When that happend Safeco went crazy! You would think Guti just won the World Series with his base hit. Felix kept us in the game by keeping the A's at by. But in the 8th inning the A's got to Felix by getting two runners on. Felix then left the game and Safeco gave him a huge standing ovation after he left the game after striking out 8 batters and Safeco made some really cool K-cards to boot.

Charlie Furbush was then called from the bullpen to try and get out of the inning but ended up walking Coco Crisp to load the bases up. Stephen Pryor was brought in to try and get out of the inning and succeeded in getting Derek Norris to ground out. After that Tom Wilhelmsen was brought in and Safeco had the honor of listening to Voodoo Child by Jimmy Hendrix as that is Wilhelmsen entry song. Wilhelmsen was able to get a 1-2-3 inning and close out the game and secure the M's their 7th consecutive opening day wins in a row. Felix is now one win away from his 100th career win. My buddies Tom Bentley (@RealTomBentley) and Ben Christensen (@Shakabrodie) were at the game and Tom seemed to be more happy about the outcome then Ben.