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.