Hisashi Iwakuma took to the mound looking for his first win in 2 starts, and he would face the 105 years ago World Champion Chicago Cubs. The Mariners were looking to not only provide fireworks on their first Fireworks Night at Safeco Field ever but looked to show some fireworks on the field as well and give 31,471 fans a good show. The fireworks started off before the game as Pearl Jam's Mike McCready preformed the National Anthem and threw out the ceremonial first pitch and Brad Miller was given the call up and start his first major league game. The game began in a very ironic fashion as former Tacoma Rainier/Seattle Mariners Luis Valbuena grounded out to Miller for the first out of the game and so Miller made is first play and out on the first play of the game......that's just awesome in my opinion.
Iwakuma had an easy 9 pitch 1-2-3 inning in the first but in the second that's when the trouble started. Alfonso Soriano lead off the inning by singling to center, with one out Ryan Sweeney lined one down the right field line that allowed Soriano to score and then on the throw from Nick Franklin trying to cut Sweeney down on third the ball skipped to the net on the Cubs dugout but then rolled into the Cubbies dugout which allowed Sweeney to come home, so the Cubbies took a 2-0 lead and drew first blood in the game. In the bottom of the fifth the Mariners finally drew their first run of the game, Jason Bay took the second pitch he saw from Travis Wood into the Mariners bullpen to put the deficit down to one run. In the top of the seventh inning Iwakuma got into some deep trouble, and by deep trouble I mean deep fly balls that left the yard. Soriano took Iwakuma deep to lead off the inning and the Cubbies now took a 3-1 lead over the M's, after Anthony Rizzo struck out and Sweeney popped out it was Dioner Navarro's turn to take Iwakuma deep. So with those two homers the Cubs took a 4-1 lead over Iwakuma and the Mariners.
The bottom of the seventh inning the Mariners started things off on the right pace, Bay lead things off by walking on four pitches. After Dustin Ackley struck out Mike Zunino was able to single into center field and on the play Bay was able to get into third and the Mariners had runners at the corners with only one out. Brad Miller was able to drive in Bay as he grounded into a fielder's choice. Miller not only drove in his first major league RBI but stole his first base in the majors as well. The Mariners still trailed the Cubs 4-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Nick Franklin lead off the inning by doubling down the right field line, Kendrys Morales was able to double home Franklin on his 20th double of the season and the Mariners now trailed by one run.
Raul Ibanez then came up once again in the clutch by tripling home Morales and tying the game for the Mariners. The game went into extra innings and the Mariners bullpen kept the Cubs scoreless in the top of the ninth and tenth inning.
The Mariners went to work in the bottom of the tenth inning. Michael Saunders got the inning started off by walking, Ibanez then followed him by walking as well. Bay advanced the runners over by laying down a successful bunt and after the Cubs intentionally walked Justin Smoak, Mike Zunino came up looking to be the hero. Zunino worked the count to a classic 3-2 and on the sixth pitch of the at bat Zunino started off the fireworks show with a single that made 31,000+ erupted in cheers as the Mariner walked off in style. Zunino was treated to the hero's Gartorade dunk during his post game interview. With this win the Mariners improve to 34-45. Tomorrow the Mariners play their second national televised game of the year and will by turning back the clock to the days of the Seattle Turks.
Friday, June 28, 2013
Monday, June 24, 2013
A pinch of Kendrys
Jeremy Bonderman took to the mound yesterday against the Oakland A's looking for his first win in four starts. Bonderman got off to the right start as he only allowed a Seth Smith single in the top of the first inning and got Yoenis Cespedes to strikeout. Endy Chavez lead off the bottom of the first inning with a single and after both Nick Franklin and Kyle Seager flied out Rauuuuuuuul Ibanez stepped in a knocked out his sixteenth homerun of the season, it was his 287th of his career, and the Mariners took the lead 2-0. Bonderman would have another easy inning in the top of the second and struck out the last batter of the inning again.
He would continue to pitch well, in the top of the third he was able to get Seth Smith to line into a double play that was huge in the inning, but in the top of the fourth Bonderman would get the first two batters to fly out but walked the next two. He was able to recover by getting Josh Reddick to line out to Chavez in right field to end the threat for the Athletics. Ibanez put the Mariners up 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning with his second homerun of the game for his seventeenth of the year and his 288th of his career.
The Athletics would finally strike for a few runs in the top of the sixth inning. The A's began the inning with both Seth Smith and Jed Lowrie singling, Bonderman would get Cespedes to ground into a force out as Seager tagged out Smith for the first out of the inning but both Lowrie and Cespedes were able to get into second and first safely. Brandon Moss would load the bases up by hitting a soft fly ball that landed a few feet in front of Franklin Gutierrez, after a visit to the mound by the Mariners pitching coach Bonderman threw a wild pitch that allowed Lowrie to come home and score the first run for the Athletics. Bonderman would walk John Donaldson and that would be the end of his outing, Danny Farquhar was brought in to try and get out of the inning with minimal damage. Farquhar would get Josh Reddick to ground out for the second out of the inning and on the play Cespedes scored to put the A's deficit to one run, but Farquhar would get John Jaso to ground out to end the inning.
Gutierrez would come out of the game with a strained left hamstring and Jason Bay would replace him. In the bottom of the seventh inning Bay would lead the inning off by walking, Mike Zunino was able to get his first hit of the game and on the base hit Bay, who was out with his own hamstring problems, moved fast to get to third base. Michael Saunders would end the inning on a double play. Farquhar would get the first two batters out in the top of the eighth inning but Brandon Moss would tie the game with his fourteenth homerun of the year.
The top of the ninth would see Oliver Perez come into the game, he would walk Reddick to start off the inning but got to bunt a pop out to Zunino, Nate Freiman to fly out and then got Coco Crisp to pop out to Franklin. Smith would start the tenth inning off by getting on with a lead off single. Perez would come through again in the clutch by getting the next three batters out including striking out Cespedes and Moss to end the inning.
Grant Balfour came into the bottom of the tenth inning looking to get the A's to the eleventh. Balfour got Justin Smoak to ground out to start things off, Zunino was able to get on base on a wild pitch, Saunders then finally came up in the clutch by singling to right field that allowed Zunino to get to third and put the game winning run 90 feet away. Kendrys Morales would then be brought up as a pinch hitter for Brendan Ryan and he didn't waste anytime and belted the first pitch into the right field seats to walk off the game in style with his ninth homerun of the year. The last time Morales hit a walk off hit was against the Mariners back in 2010 and in that game was the game that he broke his leg stomping on home plate, this time his teammates gave him room and Morales trotted slowly on home plate.
With their second win in row the Mariners improved to 34-43 and moved back into a half game lead over the Angels in third place and they are now only 10.5 games out of first place in the AL West and only 9.5 back of the Rangers. They get a well deserved day of rest today and will open a two game series against the 2nd place Pittsburgh Pirates and after that will get one more day of rest and open a three game series against the Chicago Cubs.
NOTES: With today's performance Raul Ibanez has gotten the nation thinking about getting him into the All Star Game and the Homerun Derby.
He would continue to pitch well, in the top of the third he was able to get Seth Smith to line into a double play that was huge in the inning, but in the top of the fourth Bonderman would get the first two batters to fly out but walked the next two. He was able to recover by getting Josh Reddick to line out to Chavez in right field to end the threat for the Athletics. Ibanez put the Mariners up 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning with his second homerun of the game for his seventeenth of the year and his 288th of his career.
The Athletics would finally strike for a few runs in the top of the sixth inning. The A's began the inning with both Seth Smith and Jed Lowrie singling, Bonderman would get Cespedes to ground into a force out as Seager tagged out Smith for the first out of the inning but both Lowrie and Cespedes were able to get into second and first safely. Brandon Moss would load the bases up by hitting a soft fly ball that landed a few feet in front of Franklin Gutierrez, after a visit to the mound by the Mariners pitching coach Bonderman threw a wild pitch that allowed Lowrie to come home and score the first run for the Athletics. Bonderman would walk John Donaldson and that would be the end of his outing, Danny Farquhar was brought in to try and get out of the inning with minimal damage. Farquhar would get Josh Reddick to ground out for the second out of the inning and on the play Cespedes scored to put the A's deficit to one run, but Farquhar would get John Jaso to ground out to end the inning.
Gutierrez would come out of the game with a strained left hamstring and Jason Bay would replace him. In the bottom of the seventh inning Bay would lead the inning off by walking, Mike Zunino was able to get his first hit of the game and on the base hit Bay, who was out with his own hamstring problems, moved fast to get to third base. Michael Saunders would end the inning on a double play. Farquhar would get the first two batters out in the top of the eighth inning but Brandon Moss would tie the game with his fourteenth homerun of the year.
The top of the ninth would see Oliver Perez come into the game, he would walk Reddick to start off the inning but got to bunt a pop out to Zunino, Nate Freiman to fly out and then got Coco Crisp to pop out to Franklin. Smith would start the tenth inning off by getting on with a lead off single. Perez would come through again in the clutch by getting the next three batters out including striking out Cespedes and Moss to end the inning.
Grant Balfour came into the bottom of the tenth inning looking to get the A's to the eleventh. Balfour got Justin Smoak to ground out to start things off, Zunino was able to get on base on a wild pitch, Saunders then finally came up in the clutch by singling to right field that allowed Zunino to get to third and put the game winning run 90 feet away. Kendrys Morales would then be brought up as a pinch hitter for Brendan Ryan and he didn't waste anytime and belted the first pitch into the right field seats to walk off the game in style with his ninth homerun of the year. The last time Morales hit a walk off hit was against the Mariners back in 2010 and in that game was the game that he broke his leg stomping on home plate, this time his teammates gave him room and Morales trotted slowly on home plate.
With their second win in row the Mariners improved to 34-43 and moved back into a half game lead over the Angels in third place and they are now only 10.5 games out of first place in the AL West and only 9.5 back of the Rangers. They get a well deserved day of rest today and will open a two game series against the 2nd place Pittsburgh Pirates and after that will get one more day of rest and open a three game series against the Chicago Cubs.
NOTES: With today's performance Raul Ibanez has gotten the nation thinking about getting him into the All Star Game and the Homerun Derby.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Morales's wins it for the Mariners
Jeremy Bonderman looked to go out and win his first game since his second start. The Mariners would begin the game off on an ok note, Nick Franklin got the first hit of the game and then later stole second base but the Mariners couldn't push Franklin home to take the first inning lead. Mike Trout would start off the inning for the Angels with a lead off single on his giveaway night. The Angels gave out a Mike Trout fishhat and I have to say it was the stupidest giveaway ever.......of all time. This giveaway was even dumber then the Mariners goofy glasses night they had back in the 80s. Josh Hamilton would help out the Mariners by grounding out into a double play and following that Albert Pujols grounded out to end the inning.
Raul Ibanez lead off the top of the second off with his fourteenth homerun of the year, following that Justin Smoak, who was recalled from Triple A, didn't wait and swung on the first pitch and hit his fourth homerun of the year. Mike Scioscia thought that a fan reached over and grabbed the ball over the railing so the umpires reviewed the play. After a few minutes the umps agreed that it was a homerun so the Mariners took the 2-0 lead.
The Mariners wouldn't get another run in that inning and in the bottom of the third inning Mark Trumbo would hurt the Mariners again with a lead off homerun for his sixteenth homerun of the year. With two outs the Angels looked like they would score another run, as Eric Aybar singled and Hank Conger walked, but thankfully Bonderman was able to get Peter Bourjos grounded one back to Bonderman to end the inning. Trout would lead off the third inning again with a single but thankfully Hamilton grounded into his second double play of the night and Pujols grounded out to end the inning.
Mike Zunino would double in the fourth inning with two outs, Michael Saunders would walk to put runners on for Brendan Ryan. Ryan would strike out to end the inning for the Mariners. In the bottom of the fifth inning Bonderman would get into a jam but got help from Josh Hamilton again as he grounded into his third double play of the night and the inning would end there. Saunders lead off the top of the seventh inning off with a single to put an insurance runner on. Brendan Ryan failed to move Saunders over as he popped an attempted bunt up in foul ground and Conger was able to run it down for the first out.
Saunders was able to swipe his tenth stolen base but Endy Chavez wasn't able to connect with the ball and struck out. Franklin was able to draw a two out walk but Kyle Seager struck out to end the threat for the Mariners in the seventh inning. Oliver Perez was brought in the bottom of the seventh inning for Bonderman, Chris Iannetta drew the lead off walk. Perez was able to bounce back and get Bourjos to line out and got both Trout and Hamilton to strikeout.
Tom Wilhelmsen was brought in the bottom of the eighth inning and didn't start off on a good note as Pujols blasted away not only the game tying homerun but Bonderman's second win of the season. Wilhelmsen would go 1-2-3 after that but in the bottom of the ninth Tommy boy would allow a lead off base hit and walk the second batter, he was able to strikeout Bourjos and get Trout to fly out and after that Eric Wedge brought in Charlie Furbush to face Hamilton.
Furbush would strikeout the struggling Hamilton, who went 0-5 in tonight's game and was booed as always with his poor performance. In the top of the tenth inning Seager was able to get his 20th double of the year with two outs, Kendrys Morales then got a John Jaso-like clutch hit that scored Seager and the Mariners took the 3-2 lead. Yoervis Medina was called on to close the game for the Mariners. Medina went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the tenth and the Mariners took game 2 of the four game series from the Angels.
Felix will get the ball for tomorrow and I have a good bet that Henry Blanco will be behind the plate to catch King Felix. With tonight's bounce back win the Mariners now improve to 32-40 and move back into 3rd place and 10.5 games back of first place.
Raul Ibanez lead off the top of the second off with his fourteenth homerun of the year, following that Justin Smoak, who was recalled from Triple A, didn't wait and swung on the first pitch and hit his fourth homerun of the year. Mike Scioscia thought that a fan reached over and grabbed the ball over the railing so the umpires reviewed the play. After a few minutes the umps agreed that it was a homerun so the Mariners took the 2-0 lead.
The Mariners wouldn't get another run in that inning and in the bottom of the third inning Mark Trumbo would hurt the Mariners again with a lead off homerun for his sixteenth homerun of the year. With two outs the Angels looked like they would score another run, as Eric Aybar singled and Hank Conger walked, but thankfully Bonderman was able to get Peter Bourjos grounded one back to Bonderman to end the inning. Trout would lead off the third inning again with a single but thankfully Hamilton grounded into his second double play of the night and Pujols grounded out to end the inning.
Mike Zunino would double in the fourth inning with two outs, Michael Saunders would walk to put runners on for Brendan Ryan. Ryan would strike out to end the inning for the Mariners. In the bottom of the fifth inning Bonderman would get into a jam but got help from Josh Hamilton again as he grounded into his third double play of the night and the inning would end there. Saunders lead off the top of the seventh inning off with a single to put an insurance runner on. Brendan Ryan failed to move Saunders over as he popped an attempted bunt up in foul ground and Conger was able to run it down for the first out.
Saunders was able to swipe his tenth stolen base but Endy Chavez wasn't able to connect with the ball and struck out. Franklin was able to draw a two out walk but Kyle Seager struck out to end the threat for the Mariners in the seventh inning. Oliver Perez was brought in the bottom of the seventh inning for Bonderman, Chris Iannetta drew the lead off walk. Perez was able to bounce back and get Bourjos to line out and got both Trout and Hamilton to strikeout.
Tom Wilhelmsen was brought in the bottom of the eighth inning and didn't start off on a good note as Pujols blasted away not only the game tying homerun but Bonderman's second win of the season. Wilhelmsen would go 1-2-3 after that but in the bottom of the ninth Tommy boy would allow a lead off base hit and walk the second batter, he was able to strikeout Bourjos and get Trout to fly out and after that Eric Wedge brought in Charlie Furbush to face Hamilton.
Furbush would strikeout the struggling Hamilton, who went 0-5 in tonight's game and was booed as always with his poor performance. In the top of the tenth inning Seager was able to get his 20th double of the year with two outs, Kendrys Morales then got a John Jaso-like clutch hit that scored Seager and the Mariners took the 3-2 lead. Yoervis Medina was called on to close the game for the Mariners. Medina went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the tenth and the Mariners took game 2 of the four game series from the Angels.
Felix will get the ball for tomorrow and I have a good bet that Henry Blanco will be behind the plate to catch King Felix. With tonight's bounce back win the Mariners now improve to 32-40 and move back into 3rd place and 10.5 games back of first place.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
A boy and his dog
In the Christmas of 1998 my grandparents got me one of the greatest gifts an 8 year old could get, his first dog. They got me a 4 month old golden retriever puppy and they presented him to me in an awesome fashion, they made me close my eyes and yell out his name "Chewy" and as soon as I yelled it out he ran into the room and jumped into my lap and we were instantly best buds from the first moment we met.
Now yes I know I was eight but as an eight year old a dog was something I had been waiting for, for at least the last 2 birthdays and Christmas's so you can understand how me and my first dog were best friends from the first moment he licked my face.
That first night he spent the night in my bed after I begged my parents to death to have him sleep with me the first night. During the first few months it was tough, only because I wasn't used to cleaning up dog poo once a week but me and my parents were able to house train him. After a few months 1998 turned into 1999 and that year marked a few things in Seattle sports, it marked the end of the Kingdome and the beginning of Safeco Field, the final year of Ken Griffey, Jr. in Seattle, and the first year of the Mike Holmgrem era for the Seahawks. So, not only did I get a furry best bud but some interesting sporting events happened so it was a fun first year with my awesome dog.
Now during the 1999 year before I went to any game Chewy would always come up to me not wanting me to leave and I would always say to him "Don't worry I'll be back later buddy" and we would always jump up with his paws on my shoulders and just lick my face trying to get me to stay home but it never worked though.
The first time he did that was the 22 run massacre the Mariners gave the Detroit Tigers. It became a tradition that before every game I went to he would always give me the "lick of death" and that year the Mariners went 11-1 to the games I went to. Chewy's lick of death was always good luck even when it came to the Seahawks game. I went to only one Seahawks game that year and he gave me the ol' lick of death and the Seahawks won that game, and in fact it was the final regular season game that was ever played in the Kingdome by the Seahawks as they beat the Kansas City Cheifs 23-14. So Chewy was basically one of the best and luckiest dogs any nine year old could have.
The next year in 2000 marked another successful "lick of luck" as I called it, after the successful '99 year. The year began with Chewy giving me the lick of luck during the game where the Seattle Sonics secured a spot in the 2000 NBA playoffs so the year got off to a great start. The lick of luck would work twice in the playoffs but the next game I forgot to get a big slobbery kiss from Chewy and the Sonics would lose Game 5 to the Utah Jazz 96-93. So since basketball season was done we moved to baseball season and so the lick of luck came useful in the Toronto Blue Jays series as the Mariners swept the Blue Jays 11-9, 17-6, and 19-7. During that season I went to 16 games and the lick of luck came in handy as me and Chewy had a record of 13-3.
The Mariners would squeeze their way into the playoffs and the bad part about being nine years old is you have elementary school and thanks to me being the biggest littlest Mariners fan in school I asked the principal if I could have a cable TV in my classroom that way I could keep an eye on the ball game. Thanks to being a huge sports nut he allowed it and thanks to three licks of luck by Chewy the Mariners swept the Chicago White Sox but the lick of luck didn't help that much in the Championship Series as the Mariners lost in 6 games.
The Seahawks didn't have a great 2000 season going 6-10 but the lick of luck came in handy as Chewy gave me an extra slobbery kiss when the Seahawks ended their 5 game losing streak against the San Diego Chargers. The lucky slobbery kiss also helped when the Seahawks beat the always hated Oakland Raiders 27-24. The Sonics would have a decent year and a few wins came on the lucky slobbery love of Chewy's kisses as they finished the season at 44-38. Then came the Mariners season, well the slobbery love from Chewy was luckier then ever! The Mariners would win an MLB record 116 games but would lose in the Championship Series to the Yankees again but this time in only 5 games. That year going to Mariners games me and Chewy were a perfect 10-0!
During 2001 the Nisqually earthquake would happen and the morning of the earthquake Chewy was acting very unusual as he asked to go outside ran around the yard then asked to come back in, then 5 minutes later asked again to go out and did the same thing again. So, during that 30 seconds of fear as an 11 year old kid I was only wondering if my mom and dad were ok and if Chewy was ok. The school let us go home early and as soon as I get into the house there Chewy is just sitting there with this look on his furry face that says "I tried to tell yeah but you didn't listen".
Anyways lets move onto 2002 shall I? The Sonics 2001-02 season would see the playoffs and the lick of luck didn't seem to work as the Sonics fell to the San Antonio Spurs in 5 games. The Mariners would see success but missed the playoffs and finished the season at 93-69 and the Seahawks would have another tough season.
At the end of the Seahawks season Chewy began to show signs that something was wrong with him. After two months of making trips to the vet office the doctors announced that Chewy had had a rare bone and muscle cancer. The doctors gave Chewy 3 months to live, and so in January I made the hardest choice of my life and told my parents that I wanted Chewy to be put down out of his misery.
The day came and as I sat there with Chewy knowing that he would be gone in a few minutes I took the time to remember every great memory I had with him and all the great times we had and the luck that his kisses brought to a lot of games I watched and went to. As the vets were getting ready to inject Chewy, he looked at me and gave me one last slobbery kiss.
I didn't wipe the slobber away all I did was hug him and didn't let go. The vets inject the serum and Chewy slowly slipped away and I never stopped hugging him and as Chewy was gone my parents left me alone with him and I just lay there with him for about 5 minutes and as I got up to leave the room I said only three words to him "I love you".
That day I lost a best friend and a great dog but I still remember everything we did and all the times we spent sleeping together, playing together and watching sports together. But even though he's gone I always have kept every memory of my first dog and first furry best friend.
RIP Chewy.
Now yes I know I was eight but as an eight year old a dog was something I had been waiting for, for at least the last 2 birthdays and Christmas's so you can understand how me and my first dog were best friends from the first moment he licked my face.
That first night he spent the night in my bed after I begged my parents to death to have him sleep with me the first night. During the first few months it was tough, only because I wasn't used to cleaning up dog poo once a week but me and my parents were able to house train him. After a few months 1998 turned into 1999 and that year marked a few things in Seattle sports, it marked the end of the Kingdome and the beginning of Safeco Field, the final year of Ken Griffey, Jr. in Seattle, and the first year of the Mike Holmgrem era for the Seahawks. So, not only did I get a furry best bud but some interesting sporting events happened so it was a fun first year with my awesome dog.
Now during the 1999 year before I went to any game Chewy would always come up to me not wanting me to leave and I would always say to him "Don't worry I'll be back later buddy" and we would always jump up with his paws on my shoulders and just lick my face trying to get me to stay home but it never worked though.
The first time he did that was the 22 run massacre the Mariners gave the Detroit Tigers. It became a tradition that before every game I went to he would always give me the "lick of death" and that year the Mariners went 11-1 to the games I went to. Chewy's lick of death was always good luck even when it came to the Seahawks game. I went to only one Seahawks game that year and he gave me the ol' lick of death and the Seahawks won that game, and in fact it was the final regular season game that was ever played in the Kingdome by the Seahawks as they beat the Kansas City Cheifs 23-14. So Chewy was basically one of the best and luckiest dogs any nine year old could have.
The next year in 2000 marked another successful "lick of luck" as I called it, after the successful '99 year. The year began with Chewy giving me the lick of luck during the game where the Seattle Sonics secured a spot in the 2000 NBA playoffs so the year got off to a great start. The lick of luck would work twice in the playoffs but the next game I forgot to get a big slobbery kiss from Chewy and the Sonics would lose Game 5 to the Utah Jazz 96-93. So since basketball season was done we moved to baseball season and so the lick of luck came useful in the Toronto Blue Jays series as the Mariners swept the Blue Jays 11-9, 17-6, and 19-7. During that season I went to 16 games and the lick of luck came in handy as me and Chewy had a record of 13-3.
The Mariners would squeeze their way into the playoffs and the bad part about being nine years old is you have elementary school and thanks to me being the biggest littlest Mariners fan in school I asked the principal if I could have a cable TV in my classroom that way I could keep an eye on the ball game. Thanks to being a huge sports nut he allowed it and thanks to three licks of luck by Chewy the Mariners swept the Chicago White Sox but the lick of luck didn't help that much in the Championship Series as the Mariners lost in 6 games.
The Seahawks didn't have a great 2000 season going 6-10 but the lick of luck came in handy as Chewy gave me an extra slobbery kiss when the Seahawks ended their 5 game losing streak against the San Diego Chargers. The lucky slobbery kiss also helped when the Seahawks beat the always hated Oakland Raiders 27-24. The Sonics would have a decent year and a few wins came on the lucky slobbery love of Chewy's kisses as they finished the season at 44-38. Then came the Mariners season, well the slobbery love from Chewy was luckier then ever! The Mariners would win an MLB record 116 games but would lose in the Championship Series to the Yankees again but this time in only 5 games. That year going to Mariners games me and Chewy were a perfect 10-0!
During 2001 the Nisqually earthquake would happen and the morning of the earthquake Chewy was acting very unusual as he asked to go outside ran around the yard then asked to come back in, then 5 minutes later asked again to go out and did the same thing again. So, during that 30 seconds of fear as an 11 year old kid I was only wondering if my mom and dad were ok and if Chewy was ok. The school let us go home early and as soon as I get into the house there Chewy is just sitting there with this look on his furry face that says "I tried to tell yeah but you didn't listen".
Anyways lets move onto 2002 shall I? The Sonics 2001-02 season would see the playoffs and the lick of luck didn't seem to work as the Sonics fell to the San Antonio Spurs in 5 games. The Mariners would see success but missed the playoffs and finished the season at 93-69 and the Seahawks would have another tough season.
At the end of the Seahawks season Chewy began to show signs that something was wrong with him. After two months of making trips to the vet office the doctors announced that Chewy had had a rare bone and muscle cancer. The doctors gave Chewy 3 months to live, and so in January I made the hardest choice of my life and told my parents that I wanted Chewy to be put down out of his misery.
The day came and as I sat there with Chewy knowing that he would be gone in a few minutes I took the time to remember every great memory I had with him and all the great times we had and the luck that his kisses brought to a lot of games I watched and went to. As the vets were getting ready to inject Chewy, he looked at me and gave me one last slobbery kiss.
I didn't wipe the slobber away all I did was hug him and didn't let go. The vets inject the serum and Chewy slowly slipped away and I never stopped hugging him and as Chewy was gone my parents left me alone with him and I just lay there with him for about 5 minutes and as I got up to leave the room I said only three words to him "I love you".
That day I lost a best friend and a great dog but I still remember everything we did and all the times we spent sleeping together, playing together and watching sports together. But even though he's gone I always have kept every memory of my first dog and first furry best friend.
RIP Chewy.
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Blanco saves Felix
Eric Wedge decided to start Henry Blanco today. Blanco caught Felix once in the World Baseball Classic so Wedge figured that they would communicate well together. The Mariners were on the national spotlight today as the game was broadcast on FOX. The Mariners would go down easily in the top of the first, but Felix would not have such an easy first inning. Felix would get the first batter in Coco Crisp to strikeout but John Jaso would walk and after striking out Yoenis Cespedes Brandon Moss singled to put runners at first and second but thanks to Felix being as clutch as he is managed to strike out John Donaldson to end the bottom of the first. Felix threw 24 pitches in the first inning.
Raul Ibanez lead off the top of the second by singling and Mike Morse followed by singling himself. Michael Saunders was able to continue his struggles by striking out with nobody out then both Brendan Ryan and Henry Blanco popped out to end the top of second inning. Felix had another long inning has he finish the second by not allowing a hit or run but threw an extra 18 pitches giving him 42 total pitches in only two innings of work. In the third Felix would have an easy 1-2-3 inning by throwing 16 pitches and putting his total to 58 in three innings of work. The fourth inning saw Felix strikeout two batters and get Donaldson to ground out and only threw 13 pitches.
The fifth inning brought some excitement to both sides. The Mariners started off their half of the fifth with both Blanco and Ryan flying out. Endy Chavez was able to leg out an infield single, Nick Franklin followed Chavez by doubling down the right field line but unfortunately Chavez couldn't score and was held up at third. Kyle Seager was unsuccessful in bring home the M's first run of the game and popped out to end the inning. Jed Lowrie lead off the Athletics half of the fifth by doubling and putting the A's in a position to take the lead on Felix. Felix was able to escape the inning in one hell of a fashion, he got Seth Smith to fly out and then Chris Young flew out and on his fly out Lowrie was cut down trying to score and Felix was in and out in only 8 pitches.
Kendrys Morales lead off the sixth inning by singling just past the diving Eric Sogard. Mike Morse drove one over the head of Chris Young on the play Morales was able to mooch on into third base. Michael Saunders was intentionally walked to bring up Henry Blanco and on the first pitch put the Mariners up 4-0 with his second grand slam of his career. Felix would get into a jam in the seventh inning after the first two batters got on with singles but he was able to strikeout Donaldson and got Jed Lowrie to ground into the inning ending double play. Charlie Furbush and Yorvis Medina finished off Felix's 106 pitching gem and secured the series over the A's.
NOTES:The Mariners are now 6-3 against the A's this season.
Raul Ibanez lead off the top of the second by singling and Mike Morse followed by singling himself. Michael Saunders was able to continue his struggles by striking out with nobody out then both Brendan Ryan and Henry Blanco popped out to end the top of second inning. Felix had another long inning has he finish the second by not allowing a hit or run but threw an extra 18 pitches giving him 42 total pitches in only two innings of work. In the third Felix would have an easy 1-2-3 inning by throwing 16 pitches and putting his total to 58 in three innings of work. The fourth inning saw Felix strikeout two batters and get Donaldson to ground out and only threw 13 pitches.
The fifth inning brought some excitement to both sides. The Mariners started off their half of the fifth with both Blanco and Ryan flying out. Endy Chavez was able to leg out an infield single, Nick Franklin followed Chavez by doubling down the right field line but unfortunately Chavez couldn't score and was held up at third. Kyle Seager was unsuccessful in bring home the M's first run of the game and popped out to end the inning. Jed Lowrie lead off the Athletics half of the fifth by doubling and putting the A's in a position to take the lead on Felix. Felix was able to escape the inning in one hell of a fashion, he got Seth Smith to fly out and then Chris Young flew out and on his fly out Lowrie was cut down trying to score and Felix was in and out in only 8 pitches.
Kendrys Morales lead off the sixth inning by singling just past the diving Eric Sogard. Mike Morse drove one over the head of Chris Young on the play Morales was able to mooch on into third base. Michael Saunders was intentionally walked to bring up Henry Blanco and on the first pitch put the Mariners up 4-0 with his second grand slam of his career. Felix would get into a jam in the seventh inning after the first two batters got on with singles but he was able to strikeout Donaldson and got Jed Lowrie to ground into the inning ending double play. Charlie Furbush and Yorvis Medina finished off Felix's 106 pitching gem and secured the series over the A's.
NOTES:The Mariners are now 6-3 against the A's this season.
Friday, June 14, 2013
A night of firsts for the Mariners
Joe Saunders was sent out tonight against the Oakland A's looking for his first road win of the season. Jason Bay lead off the game for the Mariners with a single but he was erased when Nick Franklin grounded into a double play, after Kyle Seager walked Kendrys Morales struck out to end the first inning for the Mariners. In the bottom of the first ROOT Sports showed the lineup for the Athletics and I noticed that Chris Young was leading off and I asked myself why would the A's put a guy that is batting .169 in the lead off spot, and my question was answered as Young singled to lead things off for the A's. Seth Smith grounded into a double play and then Jed Lowrie flew out to Bay and Saunders had an easy 1-2-3 9 pitch inning.
Mike Morse lead off the top of the second inning off right as he was able to slide in safely in second with a lead off double, Raul Ibanez used his 41 year old speed to leg out an infield single. Mike Zunino would ground into a double play and on the play Morse scored and the Mariners took the early 1-0 lead and unfortunately thanks to the MLB rules Zunino wouldn't get credited with his first MLB RBI. In the bottom of the second the A's threatened to score a run, on a single by Derek Norris, Michael Saunders bobbled the ball and on the play Nate Freiman began to run home and on the throw to Brendan Ryan, Ryan fired the ball home and on an incredible major league tag Zunino put on Freiman he was cut down at the plate.
The Athletics would score their first run in the bottom of the fifth. Norris drew the lead off walk and after that Josh Reddick grounded out but the Mariners were unable to get the double play. The Mariners would fail another double play as Adam Rosales grounded into a force out at second. Eric Sogard would then pop out on what should have been an inning ending pop out but thanks to some mis-communication Jason Bay collided into Nick Franklin in which Franklin dropped the baseball, that allowed Rosales to score all the way from first and the game was tied at 1-1. In the top of the seventh inning Mike Zunino stepped in to take his swings at the plate, on the third pitch of the at bat Zunino drove on to deep centerfield and over Young's glove for his first major league homerun of his career and first major league RBI and thanks to his homer the Mariners took the 2-1 lead.
The top of the eighth saw Nick Franklin and Kyle Seager leading off the inning with back-to-back singles. After Morales flew out and Morse grounded into a force out at second Ibanez came through again for the Mariners and singled home Franklin to give the M's the 3-1 lead. Danny Farquhar took over for Joe Saunders in the bottom of the eighth and the first batter in Chris Young took him deep to put the Mariners lead to 3-2. Young would go 3-3 and raise his batting average to .182.
Oliver Perez was giving the ball to close out the game in the ninth. Perez shut down the Athletics and earn his first save of his career and the win for the Mariners. Joe Saunders earned his first road win of the season and improved to 7-4 on the season. Tomorrow the Mariners will make their national televised debut on FOX as Felix Hernandez goes out looking to put the Mariners to 2-0 on the road trip.
Mike Morse lead off the top of the second inning off right as he was able to slide in safely in second with a lead off double, Raul Ibanez used his 41 year old speed to leg out an infield single. Mike Zunino would ground into a double play and on the play Morse scored and the Mariners took the early 1-0 lead and unfortunately thanks to the MLB rules Zunino wouldn't get credited with his first MLB RBI. In the bottom of the second the A's threatened to score a run, on a single by Derek Norris, Michael Saunders bobbled the ball and on the play Nate Freiman began to run home and on the throw to Brendan Ryan, Ryan fired the ball home and on an incredible major league tag Zunino put on Freiman he was cut down at the plate.
The Athletics would score their first run in the bottom of the fifth. Norris drew the lead off walk and after that Josh Reddick grounded out but the Mariners were unable to get the double play. The Mariners would fail another double play as Adam Rosales grounded into a force out at second. Eric Sogard would then pop out on what should have been an inning ending pop out but thanks to some mis-communication Jason Bay collided into Nick Franklin in which Franklin dropped the baseball, that allowed Rosales to score all the way from first and the game was tied at 1-1. In the top of the seventh inning Mike Zunino stepped in to take his swings at the plate, on the third pitch of the at bat Zunino drove on to deep centerfield and over Young's glove for his first major league homerun of his career and first major league RBI and thanks to his homer the Mariners took the 2-1 lead.
The top of the eighth saw Nick Franklin and Kyle Seager leading off the inning with back-to-back singles. After Morales flew out and Morse grounded into a force out at second Ibanez came through again for the Mariners and singled home Franklin to give the M's the 3-1 lead. Danny Farquhar took over for Joe Saunders in the bottom of the eighth and the first batter in Chris Young took him deep to put the Mariners lead to 3-2. Young would go 3-3 and raise his batting average to .182.
Oliver Perez was giving the ball to close out the game in the ninth. Perez shut down the Athletics and earn his first save of his career and the win for the Mariners. Joe Saunders earned his first road win of the season and improved to 7-4 on the season. Tomorrow the Mariners will make their national televised debut on FOX as Felix Hernandez goes out looking to put the Mariners to 2-0 on the road trip.
Seattle and its champion teams
Seattle has yet to see an Super Bowl, World Series, or an MLS Cup brought home by the Mariners, Seahawks, and Sounders. Seattle has only seen the 1979 Supersonics and the 2004 and 2010 Storm bring home a major championship (though I wouldn't consider the WNBA a real championship). The Mariners have been the team that has shown the least hope that another title will be brought to the city of Seattle. During the 90s the Mariners saw two American League West titles. In '95 the Mariners had that amazing Refuse To Lose run to the AL West title. The Mariners beat the then California Angels in a one game playoff to take the title and then after being down 0-2 in the American League Division Series the Mariners came home for games 3,4, and 5 and swept the Yankees moving on to face the winningest ball club that year for the American League Pennant. The Mariners would lose to the Cleveland Indians in 6 games but the team was proud of what they accomplished that year. Two years later in 1997 the team would win a then team record 90 games, lead the American League in runs and break the season record for homeruns by one team, Ken Griffey, Jr., would win his first and only MVP. The Mariners would go into the '97 ALDS to play the Baltimore Orioles and would be embarrassed in 4 games.
The Mariners would begin the 2000s on a nice touch, the team would win their first American League Wild Card title and would sweep the Chicago White Sox in 3 games but would fall to the New York Yankees in 6 games. The next year would see the Mariners win a MLB record 116 games and would have to go the full 5 games against the Cleveland Indians but would fall to the Yankees for the second year in a row and would be humiliated as the team to win 116 games and not make it to the World Series. The next two year would see the Mariners win 93 games in each seasons but failed to win the Wild Card and the AL West. Since then the Mariners have not made the playoffs. Now in my opinion the Mariners are within 2-3 years of making the playoffs so be patient M's fans.
Now, lets talk about the Seahawks. The Seahawks came close in 2005 to bringing the Lombardi Trophy to Seattle but was swiped up by the Steelers. The Seahawks have made the playoffs 12 times and have come very close several times to either going or winning the Super Bowl. 1983 the Seahawks made it to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history and made a run that had everyone saying "Super Bowl champs". The Seahawks beat the Denver Broncos in the Wild Card game, they then beat the Miami Dolphins in the Divisional round but then they would fall short of the Super Bowl as they would lose to the eventual Super Bowl champs Los Angeles Raiders. Last year the Seahawks made a great one in the playoffs, they would win their first road playoff game since '83 but would lose to the Atlanta Falcons. Now, I know this is our year to win the Super Bowl, they are the favorite to win it all and I see plenty of Vince Lombardi Trophies in the Seahawks future.
So now we move on to the Sounders. Since the Sounders have been in existence they have made the playoffs every year but they have brought 3 US Open Cups home to Seattle. The Sounders won their first playoff series last year against Real Salt Lake but fell to the LA Galaxy. So far this year they are not showing their good stuff. They lost in the US Open Cup in the third round and if the season ended they would play the Galaxy in the MLS Cup Knockout round. If the Sounders want to see an MLS Cup brought to this city they have to get better on defense and offense.
Well, there's my brief summary of the teams in Seattle and its history in the playoffs.
The Mariners would begin the 2000s on a nice touch, the team would win their first American League Wild Card title and would sweep the Chicago White Sox in 3 games but would fall to the New York Yankees in 6 games. The next year would see the Mariners win a MLB record 116 games and would have to go the full 5 games against the Cleveland Indians but would fall to the Yankees for the second year in a row and would be humiliated as the team to win 116 games and not make it to the World Series. The next two year would see the Mariners win 93 games in each seasons but failed to win the Wild Card and the AL West. Since then the Mariners have not made the playoffs. Now in my opinion the Mariners are within 2-3 years of making the playoffs so be patient M's fans.
Now, lets talk about the Seahawks. The Seahawks came close in 2005 to bringing the Lombardi Trophy to Seattle but was swiped up by the Steelers. The Seahawks have made the playoffs 12 times and have come very close several times to either going or winning the Super Bowl. 1983 the Seahawks made it to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history and made a run that had everyone saying "Super Bowl champs". The Seahawks beat the Denver Broncos in the Wild Card game, they then beat the Miami Dolphins in the Divisional round but then they would fall short of the Super Bowl as they would lose to the eventual Super Bowl champs Los Angeles Raiders. Last year the Seahawks made a great one in the playoffs, they would win their first road playoff game since '83 but would lose to the Atlanta Falcons. Now, I know this is our year to win the Super Bowl, they are the favorite to win it all and I see plenty of Vince Lombardi Trophies in the Seahawks future.
So now we move on to the Sounders. Since the Sounders have been in existence they have made the playoffs every year but they have brought 3 US Open Cups home to Seattle. The Sounders won their first playoff series last year against Real Salt Lake but fell to the LA Galaxy. So far this year they are not showing their good stuff. They lost in the US Open Cup in the third round and if the season ended they would play the Galaxy in the MLS Cup Knockout round. If the Sounders want to see an MLS Cup brought to this city they have to get better on defense and offense.
Well, there's my brief summary of the teams in Seattle and its history in the playoffs.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Bonderman's start goes to waste
Tonight Jeremy Bonderman took the mound but the story of night was the major league debut of Mike Zunino. Bonderman only need 10 pitches and 4 minutes to end the top of the first inning. Jordan Lyles was dealing to start his night, striking out 5 batters in the first 2 innings. Nothing exciting happened until the bottom of the fourth inning, after Raul Ibanez lead off the inning by striking out Nick Franklin was able to slice a double to bring up Zunino, who struck out in his first at bat, was able to line one into center field for his first major league hit and on the play Franklin could've scored but third base coach Daren Brown held him up, this would end up costing the Mariners a huge chance to take the lead early in the game.
With Franklin and Zunino on base Michael Saunders was looking to drive in at least one of them but drew his second walk of the ball game, both Brendan Ryan and Alex Liddi struck out to end the threat by the Mariners. Brown's decision to hold up Franklin would be very costly, cause not only could Franklin score but it could've given the Mariners the confidence they needed to score a few more runs. Bonderman wouldn't mind though, he was dealing through the whole game. Bonderman would go eight innings of shutout innings, while striking out and throwing only 89 pitches.
The Mariners got things started in the bottom of the eighth inning. Endy Chavez started the inning off right by singling to put the go ahead run on for the Mariners. Jason Bay then put down a bunt and thanks to the Houston Astros horrible defense, Marvin Gonzalez dropped the exchanged throw and the Mariners now had two runners on with nobody out. Travis Blackley was then brought in to try and get out of the jam for the Astros, he was able to get Kyle Seager to pop out in foul territory and then strikeout Ibanez but Nick Franklin, who had two hits so far in the game, was able to line one into right allowing the speedy Chavez to score and the Mariners would be done there and go into the ninth leading 1-0.
On what would be a bonehead move by manager Eric Wedge he brought in closer Tom Wilhelmsen to close the game and did not let Bonderman go and finish what he started. The ninth would be a disaster for not only Tommy boy but the Mariners bullpen as they gave up 6 runs and that would be all she wrote. The Astros avoided the sweep and improved to 7-4 against the Mariners this season. Thankfully the Mariners have an off day tomorrow after 3 straight weeks of playing. They will only be on the road for 6 games, two 3 game sets with the A's and Angels and will come right back home.
NOTES: There was a tweet I saw that said that Bonderman threw a chair in the clubhouse and had to be escorted out of the clubhouse and was kept away from Wilhelmsen.
With Franklin and Zunino on base Michael Saunders was looking to drive in at least one of them but drew his second walk of the ball game, both Brendan Ryan and Alex Liddi struck out to end the threat by the Mariners. Brown's decision to hold up Franklin would be very costly, cause not only could Franklin score but it could've given the Mariners the confidence they needed to score a few more runs. Bonderman wouldn't mind though, he was dealing through the whole game. Bonderman would go eight innings of shutout innings, while striking out and throwing only 89 pitches.
The Mariners got things started in the bottom of the eighth inning. Endy Chavez started the inning off right by singling to put the go ahead run on for the Mariners. Jason Bay then put down a bunt and thanks to the Houston Astros horrible defense, Marvin Gonzalez dropped the exchanged throw and the Mariners now had two runners on with nobody out. Travis Blackley was then brought in to try and get out of the jam for the Astros, he was able to get Kyle Seager to pop out in foul territory and then strikeout Ibanez but Nick Franklin, who had two hits so far in the game, was able to line one into right allowing the speedy Chavez to score and the Mariners would be done there and go into the ninth leading 1-0.
On what would be a bonehead move by manager Eric Wedge he brought in closer Tom Wilhelmsen to close the game and did not let Bonderman go and finish what he started. The ninth would be a disaster for not only Tommy boy but the Mariners bullpen as they gave up 6 runs and that would be all she wrote. The Astros avoided the sweep and improved to 7-4 against the Mariners this season. Thankfully the Mariners have an off day tomorrow after 3 straight weeks of playing. They will only be on the road for 6 games, two 3 game sets with the A's and Angels and will come right back home.
NOTES: There was a tweet I saw that said that Bonderman threw a chair in the clubhouse and had to be escorted out of the clubhouse and was kept away from Wilhelmsen.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
What Zunino brings
The Seattle Mariners made the big announcement today that Mike Zunino, the top ranked catcher prospect in baseball and the overall pick in the 2011 draft, has gotten the call up to the Show.
Now, its not something wanted to do in bringing up Zunino this early in his career but with the way Kelly Shoppach and the other catchers have been producing both offensively and defensively owner Jack Zduriencik had no choice. Kelly Shoppach has been one of the worse of the worse for the Mariners at the catcher position as he has dropped balls trying to throw out runners attempting to steal and when he manages to hang on and throw the ball he cant make accurate throws. Zunino has hit .238 in Tacoma while hitting 11 homers and driving in 43 runs. The Mariners are hoping that Zunino will bring that power and the ability to rocket accurate throws to second along with be that rookie that can lead the team to a few extra wins as well. If you ask me if Zunino possesses the leadership and maturity to not only play the position but be a leader at such a young age I would say yes.
Zunino is what I call the Ken Griffey, Jr., of the Mariners current prospects. Right now not only myself but the Mariners, their fans, and the sports writers are hoping that he will not turn out like Dustin Ackley where in his first year he tears the cover off the ball and the next year cant hit the broad side of a barn. Now im not expecting Zunino to be like Yasiel Puig and hit 2 homeruns each game and bat .500 after just one week, but I am expecting him to come into his own and work game to game, now if he does what Puig is doing in Los Angeles then great but I do know this Im excited that our top prospect is up in the big leagues and will be ready tonight to show everyone what he is made of and why the Mariners took him 3rd in the draft.
Now, its not something wanted to do in bringing up Zunino this early in his career but with the way Kelly Shoppach and the other catchers have been producing both offensively and defensively owner Jack Zduriencik had no choice. Kelly Shoppach has been one of the worse of the worse for the Mariners at the catcher position as he has dropped balls trying to throw out runners attempting to steal and when he manages to hang on and throw the ball he cant make accurate throws. Zunino has hit .238 in Tacoma while hitting 11 homers and driving in 43 runs. The Mariners are hoping that Zunino will bring that power and the ability to rocket accurate throws to second along with be that rookie that can lead the team to a few extra wins as well. If you ask me if Zunino possesses the leadership and maturity to not only play the position but be a leader at such a young age I would say yes.
Zunino is what I call the Ken Griffey, Jr., of the Mariners current prospects. Right now not only myself but the Mariners, their fans, and the sports writers are hoping that he will not turn out like Dustin Ackley where in his first year he tears the cover off the ball and the next year cant hit the broad side of a barn. Now im not expecting Zunino to be like Yasiel Puig and hit 2 homeruns each game and bat .500 after just one week, but I am expecting him to come into his own and work game to game, now if he does what Puig is doing in Los Angeles then great but I do know this Im excited that our top prospect is up in the big leagues and will be ready tonight to show everyone what he is made of and why the Mariners took him 3rd in the draft.
Mariners in the outfield
Yeah I know the title is a rip off of Angels in the Outfield but look at this clip that I post of a certain part in the movie clip.
Now, if you don't want to watch the clip then let me explain what the clip is. Its the part where Danny Glover is sick and tired of his team losing that he goes on a Lou Pinella rage and yells and demeans the team, he and I quote;
"ONE MORE LOSS! ONE MORE LOSS WHICH COULDVE BEEN A WIN! You call yourselves professionals, I have never ever seen a worse group of 25 players! You don't think as a team, you don't play as a team, you don't even lose as a team! You all got your head so far up your butts you cant even see the light of day!". He also said "I want you here in uniform at 9 tomorrow morning, were going back to fundamentals."
Now, why would I post something like this your wondering? Well, because for one thing this is what Eric Wedge should do to the Mariners and quit being the biggest pussy manager in baseball and it describes how the Mariners are playing and have been playing for the last 10 years and im going to break everything down of what Glover said.
Now the first thing was "one more loss which could've been a win" which best describes the Mariners ability to give up during the game and allow their opponents to get to the best of them and score run after run. The Mariners have seen their opponents score 6+ runs 22 times this year, 7+ 15 times, 8+ 10 times, 9+ 8 times, and 10+ runs 6 times. During most of the losses the M's have suffered this year their opponents have scored most of those runs within the first 4 innings or in the 6th inning or later. Tom Wilhelmsen has blown 3 saves and has struggled in the 3 out of the last 4 games he has saved and his ERA has suffered just as much has he has, jumping up from 0.50 to 1.98.
Next thing Glover said in his angry speech was "I have never ever seen a worse group of 25 players". Now, not all 25 players on the Mariners are horrible. Felix, Kuma, Seager, Morales, Franklin, Ibanez, Morse, Capps, Perez, and Chavez are the players that I consider the best players on the Mariners right now, that leaves 15 terrible players on the roster but im counting the guys we sent down so that's an additional 5 players putting the Mariners worse players to 20. Michael Saunders is one of the worst that is currently on the major league roster. Since May 16th Saunders's batting average has dipped from .278 down to .200.
Nobody knows what has happened to one of the Mariners best players from last year, Saunders went from being a power hitter to Brendan Ryan before he found his swing. Dustin Ackley and Jesus Montero playing performance has been horrific. Ackley's batting and fielding has shown along with Montero's defense and hitting. Since I mentioned Montero lets talk about the Mariners catchers situation. The Mariners catchers no matter who it is cant hold on to the baseball, make accurate throws to second, drops the ball on trying to throw out a runner and none of them can hit. The Mariners might have to bring up Mike Zunino if the catcher situation gets any worse.
The next group that should be mentioned on the worse of the worse is the pitchers. Brandon Maurer was just horrible in his brief stint in the majors this year going 2-7 with a 6.93 ERA. Aaron Harang has been just has horrible, although he has been solid in his last 2 starts, but so far he has posted a 2-6 record with a 6.70 ERA. Joe Saunders has been inconsistent as well as he cant find a way to win on the road but has been very solid in his last two road starts but has posted a 0-4 record with a 9.00 ERA. The only two pitchers that have been consistent has been Felix and Kuma. The Mariners need to solve their pitching and catcher situation.
Now getting to the next thing Glover said "you don't play as a team, you don't think as a team, you don't even lose as a team". When the Mariners went on their 8 game losing streak the Mariners began to lose faith in themselves. They don't seem to have confidence in themselves and therefore blame themselves and probably blame each other on tough loses. With the team failing to hit in key situations and their 3-4-5 pitchers need to figure out a way to pitch deep into ball games to give their bullpen a rest.
Now the final line Glover said "You all got your heads so far up your butts you cant even see the light of day". Right there describes the man standing in the dugout with white pubes under his nose and on his chin. Eric Wedge has made some questionable managerial decisions that not even Lou Pinella would have made. Wedge constantly changes pitchers after either they have faced one or two batters. That bite him in the ass during the 16 inning marathon against the Chicago White Sox. I have never seen a manager in my life that makes as many pitching changes as Wedge does. Now if the Mariners were to make a managerial change during the All Star break or now I think I would see the Mariners improve just a little.
To me the Mariners could use Lou Pinella's managerial help right now. The Mariners have been in the dumps since 2004 and has continued to slip into mediocrity along with being a laughing stock in baseball. All the Mariners need to do is improve on hitting with runners in scoring position, find catchers that can play defense and hit, fire Wedge and Jack Z, and find a way to get pitchers that can give the team 5-7 innings and not give up 5-7 runs a game. Im a die hard fan of this team and I have always supported the team through everything but its very heartbreaking to watch my team go through this every year but I will continue to support the Mariners in everyway possible and will always have faith in them.
I will now end by saying this to every Mariners fan, keep your faith in the team and cheer them on to a late season surge into the playoffs and stay True to The Blue!!!
Now, if you don't want to watch the clip then let me explain what the clip is. Its the part where Danny Glover is sick and tired of his team losing that he goes on a Lou Pinella rage and yells and demeans the team, he and I quote;
"ONE MORE LOSS! ONE MORE LOSS WHICH COULDVE BEEN A WIN! You call yourselves professionals, I have never ever seen a worse group of 25 players! You don't think as a team, you don't play as a team, you don't even lose as a team! You all got your head so far up your butts you cant even see the light of day!". He also said "I want you here in uniform at 9 tomorrow morning, were going back to fundamentals."
Now, why would I post something like this your wondering? Well, because for one thing this is what Eric Wedge should do to the Mariners and quit being the biggest pussy manager in baseball and it describes how the Mariners are playing and have been playing for the last 10 years and im going to break everything down of what Glover said.
Now the first thing was "one more loss which could've been a win" which best describes the Mariners ability to give up during the game and allow their opponents to get to the best of them and score run after run. The Mariners have seen their opponents score 6+ runs 22 times this year, 7+ 15 times, 8+ 10 times, 9+ 8 times, and 10+ runs 6 times. During most of the losses the M's have suffered this year their opponents have scored most of those runs within the first 4 innings or in the 6th inning or later. Tom Wilhelmsen has blown 3 saves and has struggled in the 3 out of the last 4 games he has saved and his ERA has suffered just as much has he has, jumping up from 0.50 to 1.98.
Next thing Glover said in his angry speech was "I have never ever seen a worse group of 25 players". Now, not all 25 players on the Mariners are horrible. Felix, Kuma, Seager, Morales, Franklin, Ibanez, Morse, Capps, Perez, and Chavez are the players that I consider the best players on the Mariners right now, that leaves 15 terrible players on the roster but im counting the guys we sent down so that's an additional 5 players putting the Mariners worse players to 20. Michael Saunders is one of the worst that is currently on the major league roster. Since May 16th Saunders's batting average has dipped from .278 down to .200.
Nobody knows what has happened to one of the Mariners best players from last year, Saunders went from being a power hitter to Brendan Ryan before he found his swing. Dustin Ackley and Jesus Montero playing performance has been horrific. Ackley's batting and fielding has shown along with Montero's defense and hitting. Since I mentioned Montero lets talk about the Mariners catchers situation. The Mariners catchers no matter who it is cant hold on to the baseball, make accurate throws to second, drops the ball on trying to throw out a runner and none of them can hit. The Mariners might have to bring up Mike Zunino if the catcher situation gets any worse.
The next group that should be mentioned on the worse of the worse is the pitchers. Brandon Maurer was just horrible in his brief stint in the majors this year going 2-7 with a 6.93 ERA. Aaron Harang has been just has horrible, although he has been solid in his last 2 starts, but so far he has posted a 2-6 record with a 6.70 ERA. Joe Saunders has been inconsistent as well as he cant find a way to win on the road but has been very solid in his last two road starts but has posted a 0-4 record with a 9.00 ERA. The only two pitchers that have been consistent has been Felix and Kuma. The Mariners need to solve their pitching and catcher situation.
Now getting to the next thing Glover said "you don't play as a team, you don't think as a team, you don't even lose as a team". When the Mariners went on their 8 game losing streak the Mariners began to lose faith in themselves. They don't seem to have confidence in themselves and therefore blame themselves and probably blame each other on tough loses. With the team failing to hit in key situations and their 3-4-5 pitchers need to figure out a way to pitch deep into ball games to give their bullpen a rest.
Now the final line Glover said "You all got your heads so far up your butts you cant even see the light of day". Right there describes the man standing in the dugout with white pubes under his nose and on his chin. Eric Wedge has made some questionable managerial decisions that not even Lou Pinella would have made. Wedge constantly changes pitchers after either they have faced one or two batters. That bite him in the ass during the 16 inning marathon against the Chicago White Sox. I have never seen a manager in my life that makes as many pitching changes as Wedge does. Now if the Mariners were to make a managerial change during the All Star break or now I think I would see the Mariners improve just a little.
To me the Mariners could use Lou Pinella's managerial help right now. The Mariners have been in the dumps since 2004 and has continued to slip into mediocrity along with being a laughing stock in baseball. All the Mariners need to do is improve on hitting with runners in scoring position, find catchers that can play defense and hit, fire Wedge and Jack Z, and find a way to get pitchers that can give the team 5-7 innings and not give up 5-7 runs a game. Im a die hard fan of this team and I have always supported the team through everything but its very heartbreaking to watch my team go through this every year but I will continue to support the Mariners in everyway possible and will always have faith in them.
I will now end by saying this to every Mariners fan, keep your faith in the team and cheer them on to a late season surge into the playoffs and stay True to The Blue!!!
Monday, June 10, 2013
Crappiest win ever......of all time
Hisashi Iwakuma went to the mound tonight against the last place Houston Astros. The last time Iwakuma pitched against this Houston team he struck out 11 batters but took the loss, so you know he was looking for some revenge tonight. Iwakuma started off his night in style, striking out the side but allowing a two out hit to Jason Castro. The Mariners and the Astros would go 1-2-3 in the next innings, the Mariners would get their first hit thanks to a very unlikely source in Kelly Shoppach, but Endy Chavez couldn't extend the inning and struck out to end the Mariners second inning. In the top half of the third inning the Astros got things started off with Marvin Gonzalez singling with one outs, Brandon Barnes laid down a bunt and on the throw by Iwakuma Brendan Ryan failed to catch the exchange throw which allowed Gonzalez to move to third base. Iwakuma's scoreless streak of 23 2/3 ended after Jose Altuve drove in Gonzalez with a sacrifice fly and the Astros took the early 1-0 lead.
In the bottom half of the third the Mariners started something good. After Ryan was called out on strikes Carlos Triunfel took one for the team and was able to get on base with one out. Jason Bay was able to extend his hitting streak to four games as he singled to left field, so with runners at first and second with one out the Mariners had a threat going, Kyle Seager struck out and Kendrys Morales ground out to end the threat for the Mariners and once again the M's failed to hit with runners in scoring position. The bottom of the fourth went different for the Mariners, this time the M's would succeed as Rauuuuuul Ibanez hit his team leading twelfth homerun of the season to tie the game at 1-1.
The Mariners would start off the bottom of the fifth inning right, Carlos Triunfel was able to get his first base hit of the 2013 campaign in his 14th at bat of the year. Kyle Seager would be able to get on second base after Triunfel got in a rundown and Seager would slide in safely. Morales was able to leg out the infield single and on the throwing error by Matt Dominguez Seager scored to give the Mariners the 2-1 lead. The Mariners would get an extra run in the bottom of the seventh inning, Jason Bay lead off the inning with a walk and after Seager lined out Morales was able to reach base on a missed catch by Jose Altuve and on the missed catch Bay was able to reach third. Mike Morse came up looking to help out the cause for the Mariners, he was able to drive one over J.D. Martinez's glove scoring Bay and advancing Morales to third, but that's all the Mariners would muster.
Iwakuma would pitch brilliantly for seven strong innings. Iwakuma's only tough inning would come in the top of the seventh inning, after giving up a lead off double to Carlos Pena and walking Chris Carter, Pena would move to third on the wild pitch by Iwakuma putting runners at the corners with only one out, but thanks to a lucky break Matt Dominguez grounded into an inning ending double play. Iwakuma would end his night with 8 strikeouts and lowered his ERA down to 1.79 and is now second in the American League only 8 points behind Clay Buchholz.
The bullpen would finish off Kuma's gem. Both Carter Capps and Charlie Furbush pitched in the eighth inning and did not surrender a run. In the ninth inning Tom "The Bartender" Wilhelmsen came in looking to get his fourth save in a row. Martinez lead off the inning for the Astros by getting an infield single thanks to Seager mishandling the ball in his glove but came back and struck out Carlos Pena and got Chris Carter to pop out. Now, with two outs Wilhelmsen looked like he would have and easy inning, but for some reason Tommy boy came down with what I call Ayalaitis and allowed a run to score. Tommy boy was able to recover and get Dominguez to pop out to Kendrys in foul territory to end the ball game and secure Tommy Boy his 16th save of the year.
NOTES: The Mariners not only improved to 28-37 but moved back into 3rd place tonight. Seager's 13 game hitting streak came to an end but Seager was able to safely get on base for the 15th game in a row.
In the bottom half of the third the Mariners started something good. After Ryan was called out on strikes Carlos Triunfel took one for the team and was able to get on base with one out. Jason Bay was able to extend his hitting streak to four games as he singled to left field, so with runners at first and second with one out the Mariners had a threat going, Kyle Seager struck out and Kendrys Morales ground out to end the threat for the Mariners and once again the M's failed to hit with runners in scoring position. The bottom of the fourth went different for the Mariners, this time the M's would succeed as Rauuuuuul Ibanez hit his team leading twelfth homerun of the season to tie the game at 1-1.
The Mariners would start off the bottom of the fifth inning right, Carlos Triunfel was able to get his first base hit of the 2013 campaign in his 14th at bat of the year. Kyle Seager would be able to get on second base after Triunfel got in a rundown and Seager would slide in safely. Morales was able to leg out the infield single and on the throwing error by Matt Dominguez Seager scored to give the Mariners the 2-1 lead. The Mariners would get an extra run in the bottom of the seventh inning, Jason Bay lead off the inning with a walk and after Seager lined out Morales was able to reach base on a missed catch by Jose Altuve and on the missed catch Bay was able to reach third. Mike Morse came up looking to help out the cause for the Mariners, he was able to drive one over J.D. Martinez's glove scoring Bay and advancing Morales to third, but that's all the Mariners would muster.
Iwakuma would pitch brilliantly for seven strong innings. Iwakuma's only tough inning would come in the top of the seventh inning, after giving up a lead off double to Carlos Pena and walking Chris Carter, Pena would move to third on the wild pitch by Iwakuma putting runners at the corners with only one out, but thanks to a lucky break Matt Dominguez grounded into an inning ending double play. Iwakuma would end his night with 8 strikeouts and lowered his ERA down to 1.79 and is now second in the American League only 8 points behind Clay Buchholz.
The bullpen would finish off Kuma's gem. Both Carter Capps and Charlie Furbush pitched in the eighth inning and did not surrender a run. In the ninth inning Tom "The Bartender" Wilhelmsen came in looking to get his fourth save in a row. Martinez lead off the inning for the Astros by getting an infield single thanks to Seager mishandling the ball in his glove but came back and struck out Carlos Pena and got Chris Carter to pop out. Now, with two outs Wilhelmsen looked like he would have and easy inning, but for some reason Tommy boy came down with what I call Ayalaitis and allowed a run to score. Tommy boy was able to recover and get Dominguez to pop out to Kendrys in foul territory to end the ball game and secure Tommy Boy his 16th save of the year.
NOTES: The Mariners not only improved to 28-37 but moved back into 3rd place tonight. Seager's 13 game hitting streak came to an end but Seager was able to safely get on base for the 15th game in a row.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Rivera shines above the King
The Mariners looked to take not only even up the series against the Yankees but also win the season series against them. King Felix looked to dominate the Yanks in today's game in front of a crowd of 43,389 fans. Felix had a rough first inning as he threw 26 pitches, 15 for strikes and 11 for balls. Brett Gardner would only need to look at two pitches before he lead off the game with a single and then later stole second base with Mark Teixeria up. Felix was able to strikeout Teixeria but then walked two straight batters in Vernon Wells and Travis Hafner. With former Mariner Ichiro Suzuki up Felix knew he had to throw his best stuff to him, Felix was able to strikeout the aging Ichiro on a curveball that he cased in the dirt.
The Mariners would get Jason Bay to lead off with a single to extend his small hitting streak to 3 games but was caught napping on first and was picked off by pitcher David Phelps. The Mariners would get Kyle Seager on with a walk but couldn't do anything to get him home and the inning ended. Felix in the top of the second would give up another lead off single this time to Jason Nix. After striking out Reid Brignac, Chris Stewart singled on a bunt that allowed Brignac to get to third. Gardner would single in the first run of the game on his line drive single to center but Felix recovered and was able to get Robinson Cano to ground into the inning ending double play.
With one out in the bottom half of the second Kelly Shoppach was able to line one down the left field line and allowed him to easily get to second base. With a runner in scoring position Michael Saunders grounded out to Cano that allowed Shoppach to move over to third, Alex Liddi, who was filling in for Kendrys Morales on account that Morales's back stiffness was bothering him, was able to draw a two out walk which brought up the hot Brendan Ryan. Ryan hit a soft ground ball to Brignac and on the throw to second Liddi was able to slide in safely and on the play Shoppach scored to tie the game at 1-1.
Felix would then pitch a brilliant game as he went 1-2-3 in the third and the fourth. In the bottom of the seventh inning Felix would start the inning out by getting Brignac to ground out, he then struck out Chris Stewart, on the pitch he got to strikeout Stewart there was a injury delay as Felix's back started to tighten up. Both manager Eric Wedge and head trainer Rick Griffin came out to check on Felix, not only the fans but I was scared at the fact that the Mariners ace was being looked at. Felix waved both Wedge and Griffin and told them to let him finish the inning off. Felix would finish the inning off in style as he got Brett Gardner on three straight pitches including a 93 mph fastball on the final strike. Felix would not return after that as he finished the day striking out 7 batters while throwing 108 pitches.
Charlie Furbush would come in to replace Felix in the eighth inning. Furbush would hit the first batter he saw but was able to strikeout Teixeria and get Hafner to pop out to Seager. Eric Wedge would then come and make one of his usual quick pitching changes as he brought in Yoervis Medina for Furbush to face Vernon Wells. Medina was able to get Wells to ground out to Liddi to end the Yankee eighth inning. The bottom of the eighth started off right for the Mariners as Liddi lead off with his first double and hit of the season. Brendan Ryan moved Liddi over with his fourth sacrifice bunt of the season, but unfortunately the Mariners woes of being unable to hit with runners in scoring struck again as both Jason Bay and Nick Franklin struck out to end the threat for the Mariners and it would cost the Mariners the game as well.
Ichiro lead off the ninth inning by drawing a walk, following the walk Jason Nix advanced Ichiro to second by laying down a bunt. Medina was able to get Stewart to fly out to Raul in left but the next batter would be Gardner who before the at bat was batting 8-18 in the series. Gardner would hurt the Mariners again by singling to left driving in Ichiro and giving the Yankees the 2-1 lead. After Oliver Perez came in and got the final out of the inning Mariano Rivera made his final trip to the mound at Safeco Field to a standing ovation not only from the Yankee fans that made the trip to Seattle but the Mariner fans as well. Kyle Seager lead things off by extending his hitting streak to 13 games with a single but Morales then erased the threat by grounding into a double play. Raul was able to draw a two out walk and Endy Chavez was able to line a single to extend the inning but Michael Saunders would end the rally on one pitch as he popped out to end the game and secure Rivera's final save against the Mariners and at Safeco Field.
The Mariners record stands now at 27-37 and will now play the Houston Astros for three games. The Mariners haven't had a hole lot of success against the Astros this year only winning 2 out of the 6 games that they have played against them. So the Mariners are looking for some payback after both their pitching and hitting has been pathetic.
NOTES: Kyle Seager and Jason Bay both extended their hitting streaks to 13 and 3. Michael Saunders went 0-4 to drop the struggling Canadian slugger batting average to .203.
The Mariners would get Jason Bay to lead off with a single to extend his small hitting streak to 3 games but was caught napping on first and was picked off by pitcher David Phelps. The Mariners would get Kyle Seager on with a walk but couldn't do anything to get him home and the inning ended. Felix in the top of the second would give up another lead off single this time to Jason Nix. After striking out Reid Brignac, Chris Stewart singled on a bunt that allowed Brignac to get to third. Gardner would single in the first run of the game on his line drive single to center but Felix recovered and was able to get Robinson Cano to ground into the inning ending double play.
With one out in the bottom half of the second Kelly Shoppach was able to line one down the left field line and allowed him to easily get to second base. With a runner in scoring position Michael Saunders grounded out to Cano that allowed Shoppach to move over to third, Alex Liddi, who was filling in for Kendrys Morales on account that Morales's back stiffness was bothering him, was able to draw a two out walk which brought up the hot Brendan Ryan. Ryan hit a soft ground ball to Brignac and on the throw to second Liddi was able to slide in safely and on the play Shoppach scored to tie the game at 1-1.
Felix would then pitch a brilliant game as he went 1-2-3 in the third and the fourth. In the bottom of the seventh inning Felix would start the inning out by getting Brignac to ground out, he then struck out Chris Stewart, on the pitch he got to strikeout Stewart there was a injury delay as Felix's back started to tighten up. Both manager Eric Wedge and head trainer Rick Griffin came out to check on Felix, not only the fans but I was scared at the fact that the Mariners ace was being looked at. Felix waved both Wedge and Griffin and told them to let him finish the inning off. Felix would finish the inning off in style as he got Brett Gardner on three straight pitches including a 93 mph fastball on the final strike. Felix would not return after that as he finished the day striking out 7 batters while throwing 108 pitches.
Charlie Furbush would come in to replace Felix in the eighth inning. Furbush would hit the first batter he saw but was able to strikeout Teixeria and get Hafner to pop out to Seager. Eric Wedge would then come and make one of his usual quick pitching changes as he brought in Yoervis Medina for Furbush to face Vernon Wells. Medina was able to get Wells to ground out to Liddi to end the Yankee eighth inning. The bottom of the eighth started off right for the Mariners as Liddi lead off with his first double and hit of the season. Brendan Ryan moved Liddi over with his fourth sacrifice bunt of the season, but unfortunately the Mariners woes of being unable to hit with runners in scoring struck again as both Jason Bay and Nick Franklin struck out to end the threat for the Mariners and it would cost the Mariners the game as well.
Ichiro lead off the ninth inning by drawing a walk, following the walk Jason Nix advanced Ichiro to second by laying down a bunt. Medina was able to get Stewart to fly out to Raul in left but the next batter would be Gardner who before the at bat was batting 8-18 in the series. Gardner would hurt the Mariners again by singling to left driving in Ichiro and giving the Yankees the 2-1 lead. After Oliver Perez came in and got the final out of the inning Mariano Rivera made his final trip to the mound at Safeco Field to a standing ovation not only from the Yankee fans that made the trip to Seattle but the Mariner fans as well. Kyle Seager lead things off by extending his hitting streak to 13 games with a single but Morales then erased the threat by grounding into a double play. Raul was able to draw a two out walk and Endy Chavez was able to line a single to extend the inning but Michael Saunders would end the rally on one pitch as he popped out to end the game and secure Rivera's final save against the Mariners and at Safeco Field.
The Mariners record stands now at 27-37 and will now play the Houston Astros for three games. The Mariners haven't had a hole lot of success against the Astros this year only winning 2 out of the 6 games that they have played against them. So the Mariners are looking for some payback after both their pitching and hitting has been pathetic.
NOTES: Kyle Seager and Jason Bay both extended their hitting streaks to 13 and 3. Michael Saunders went 0-4 to drop the struggling Canadian slugger batting average to .203.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
A win 3 years in the making
Jeremy Bonderman came into last night's game coming off a rough start in Minnesota, before he pitch that game he's had a tough 3 years which he has endured the following: a blood clot in the axillary vein of his right shoulder that ruined his 2008 season after he had become a big part of Detroit's rotation; an outing the following June, after which he couldn't pitch for the remainder of the season because of recurring pain; thoracic-outlet surgery and a rib resection; and the disappointment of a subpar 2010 and the haze of '11 and '12, when he didn't pitch at all. Throw in a Tommy John surgery for good measure. Bonderman would go against the Yankees looking for his first win in 3 years.
Bonderman had a tough first inning, Brett Gardner lead the game off by doubling and after walking Robinson Cano and striking out Mark Teixeria, Travis Hafner grounded out to Nick Franklin that scored that put the Yanks up 1-0. Bonderman would throw 26 and 28 pitches in the first two innings but would settle down and throw 11 in the third, 6 in the fourth, and 11 in the fifth. The Mariners in both the bottom of the second and third would get two doubles but fail to get the runner home. In the bottom of the fourth inning Mike Morse would give the Mariners their third two out double in consecutive innings, Nick Franklin would extend the inning by drawing a two-out walk. Kelly Shoppach would draw another two-out walk, Brendan Ryan finally struck a break for the Mariners by lining one to Ichrio in right allowing both Morse and Franklin to score and putting the Mariners up 2-1.
Endy Chavez continued the inning by getting a lucky break as his ground ball hit second base allowing Chavez to get to first to load up the bases up for Jason Bay. Bay would help the Mariners out by singling to left allowing Shoppach and Ryan to score to give the Mariners the 4-1 lead, Kyle Seager lined out to finally end the inning. Bonderman would go six strong innings allowing one run and allowing just 3 hits. Yoervis Medina and Charlie Furbush would go a combined 2 innings and would not give up any runs or give up any hits. Tom "The Bartender" Wilhelmsen would come in to close the game in the ninth. Wilhelmsen would have better control of his pitches and only allow a two out double to Kevin Youkilis but would close the game out for his 15th save of the year.
NOTES: The Mariners improve to 27-35 and Kyle Seager extended his hitting streak to 11 games. Endy Chavez extended his hitting streak to 5 games.
Bonderman had a tough first inning, Brett Gardner lead the game off by doubling and after walking Robinson Cano and striking out Mark Teixeria, Travis Hafner grounded out to Nick Franklin that scored that put the Yanks up 1-0. Bonderman would throw 26 and 28 pitches in the first two innings but would settle down and throw 11 in the third, 6 in the fourth, and 11 in the fifth. The Mariners in both the bottom of the second and third would get two doubles but fail to get the runner home. In the bottom of the fourth inning Mike Morse would give the Mariners their third two out double in consecutive innings, Nick Franklin would extend the inning by drawing a two-out walk. Kelly Shoppach would draw another two-out walk, Brendan Ryan finally struck a break for the Mariners by lining one to Ichrio in right allowing both Morse and Franklin to score and putting the Mariners up 2-1.
Endy Chavez continued the inning by getting a lucky break as his ground ball hit second base allowing Chavez to get to first to load up the bases up for Jason Bay. Bay would help the Mariners out by singling to left allowing Shoppach and Ryan to score to give the Mariners the 4-1 lead, Kyle Seager lined out to finally end the inning. Bonderman would go six strong innings allowing one run and allowing just 3 hits. Yoervis Medina and Charlie Furbush would go a combined 2 innings and would not give up any runs or give up any hits. Tom "The Bartender" Wilhelmsen would come in to close the game in the ninth. Wilhelmsen would have better control of his pitches and only allow a two out double to Kevin Youkilis but would close the game out for his 15th save of the year.
NOTES: The Mariners improve to 27-35 and Kyle Seager extended his hitting streak to 11 games. Endy Chavez extended his hitting streak to 5 games.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
The longest day
Hisashi Iwakuma took to the mound yesterday looking to pitch a great game in order for the Mariners to get the sweep of the White Sox. Iwakuma had a very easy first inning as he went 1-2-3 after giving up a lead off single to Alejandro De Aze. The Mariners in their half of the first were able to get Jason Bay and Kyle Seager on with singles with only one out but Kendrys Morales grounded into an inning ending double play to end the threat. Both the White Sox and the Mariners wouldn't show any sign of a threat until the bottom of the fourth, Seager lead things off with his eighteenth double of the year and after Morales grounded out to move Seager over to third Nick Franklin flew out to Alex Rios and on the throw home from Rios cut Seager down to end the inning for the Mariners.
The Mariners would then threaten to score again in the bottom of the sixth inning. Michael Saunders lead off the inning with a walk, Brendan Ryan then was able to get on first after a soft ground ball to pitcher Dylan Axelrod and following that Endy Chavez drew a walk to load the bases up, Jason Bay then grounded into the third inning ending double play to end the threat again for the Mariners. In the top of the ninth inning Iwakuma's day was done so manager Eric Wedge gave the ball off to Yoervis Medina. Medina allowed the lead off single to Gordon Beckham he was able to get Hector Gimenez to pop out on a bunt attempt, De Aze to fly out and finally Alexi Ramirez to fly out to end the top of the ninth for the White Sox. Nick Franklin lead off the bottom of the ninth by blooping a ball down the right field line and legging out the double to put himself on second to win the game on any type of base hit. The White Sox pitching was able to avoid the walk off win by striking Michael Saunders, Kelly Shoppach and getting Brendan Ryan to ground out.
So, we move one to extra innings. Alex Rios got things started off for the White Sox by getting to second base on an error by Chavez. Medina then intentionally walked Adam Dunn to bring up Paul Konerko. Medina was able to get Konerko to ground into a double play, after that Wedge made a pitching change and brought in Charlie Furbush to face Casper Wells. Furbush got the job done by getting Wells to ground out to Morales to end the threat by Chicago. The Mariners were able to get runners at the corners in the bottom of the tenth but Raul Ibanez failed to get the winning run home to leave the runners out there without scoring and so the game moved into the eleventh inning. Carter Capps took to the mound in the eleventh. Capps got into a jam after giving up a one out single to Gordon Beckham and intentionally walking De Aze. Capps was able to get Ramirez to ground out and end yet another threat by the White Sox.
The Mariners went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the eleventh inning so the game went deeper into extras. Alex Rios started out the top of the twelfth inning by singling, Wedge decided to make a pitching change and bring in Oliver Perez, Perez was able to get Adam Dunn to fly out and for some odd reason Wedge made his second pitching change in the inning and brought in Danny Farquhar to face Paul Konerko. Farquhar got Konerko to fly out and on the play Rios missed touching second base and Farquhar threw it back to second base and Rios was called out to end the top of the twelfth inning. Both teams wouldn't make any noise for the next few innings until the fourteenth inning.
In the top of the fourteenth inning the White Sox got their first two hitters on base by via of a walk and a single. Rios was able to drive in the first run of the game on line drive to center and after Farquhar intentionally walked Dunn Wedge came out to bring in Hector Noesi. Noesi was able to get his first batter to ground into a force out as Seager threw to home to get the runner. Casper Wells then would single home Rios to give Chicago the 2-0 lead. Chicago would not be done there, Jeff Keppinger singled home the third run and Hector Gimenez doubled home two extra runs and after the inning was over the White Sox had a commanding 5-0 lead. In the bottom of the fourteenth inning Addison Reed was brought in to finish the game.
After getting Franklin to pop out Michael Saunders was able to get his first hit of the game by singling, Kelly Shoppach, Brendan Ryan, and Endy Chavez would all get singles to get the first run home for the Mariners. Jason Bay would strikeout to bring up Kyle Seager as the last hope for the Mariners. Seager tried to tie the game up on the secon pitch he saw from Reed by fouling it off, after letting one go by putting the count to 1-2 Kyle Seager swung at a low pitch and drove it out into the center field seats and Seager not only tied the game but he also became the first player in baseball history to tie a game with a grand slam in extra innings.
The Mariners would threaten to win the game in the bottom of the fifteenth inning but couldn't get the run home. The White Sox would then get to an exhausted Noesi to score two runs in the top of the sixteenth inning and the Mariners would not score in the bottom half of the inning and the White Sox would win the longest game in Mariners history. The game ended after 5 hours and 42 minutes of back and forth baseball.
Now, looking back at this game Eric Wedge made some poor managerial skills by taking out Charlie Furbush and Oliver Perez after they only faced one hitter. Furbush and Perez both could've gone 3-4 innings and would've saved some of the bullpen for the Mariners.
NOTES: Seager extended his hitting streak to 9 game and Morales extend his hitting streak to 7 games.
The Mariners would then threaten to score again in the bottom of the sixth inning. Michael Saunders lead off the inning with a walk, Brendan Ryan then was able to get on first after a soft ground ball to pitcher Dylan Axelrod and following that Endy Chavez drew a walk to load the bases up, Jason Bay then grounded into the third inning ending double play to end the threat again for the Mariners. In the top of the ninth inning Iwakuma's day was done so manager Eric Wedge gave the ball off to Yoervis Medina. Medina allowed the lead off single to Gordon Beckham he was able to get Hector Gimenez to pop out on a bunt attempt, De Aze to fly out and finally Alexi Ramirez to fly out to end the top of the ninth for the White Sox. Nick Franklin lead off the bottom of the ninth by blooping a ball down the right field line and legging out the double to put himself on second to win the game on any type of base hit. The White Sox pitching was able to avoid the walk off win by striking Michael Saunders, Kelly Shoppach and getting Brendan Ryan to ground out.
So, we move one to extra innings. Alex Rios got things started off for the White Sox by getting to second base on an error by Chavez. Medina then intentionally walked Adam Dunn to bring up Paul Konerko. Medina was able to get Konerko to ground into a double play, after that Wedge made a pitching change and brought in Charlie Furbush to face Casper Wells. Furbush got the job done by getting Wells to ground out to Morales to end the threat by Chicago. The Mariners were able to get runners at the corners in the bottom of the tenth but Raul Ibanez failed to get the winning run home to leave the runners out there without scoring and so the game moved into the eleventh inning. Carter Capps took to the mound in the eleventh. Capps got into a jam after giving up a one out single to Gordon Beckham and intentionally walking De Aze. Capps was able to get Ramirez to ground out and end yet another threat by the White Sox.
The Mariners went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the eleventh inning so the game went deeper into extras. Alex Rios started out the top of the twelfth inning by singling, Wedge decided to make a pitching change and bring in Oliver Perez, Perez was able to get Adam Dunn to fly out and for some odd reason Wedge made his second pitching change in the inning and brought in Danny Farquhar to face Paul Konerko. Farquhar got Konerko to fly out and on the play Rios missed touching second base and Farquhar threw it back to second base and Rios was called out to end the top of the twelfth inning. Both teams wouldn't make any noise for the next few innings until the fourteenth inning.
In the top of the fourteenth inning the White Sox got their first two hitters on base by via of a walk and a single. Rios was able to drive in the first run of the game on line drive to center and after Farquhar intentionally walked Dunn Wedge came out to bring in Hector Noesi. Noesi was able to get his first batter to ground into a force out as Seager threw to home to get the runner. Casper Wells then would single home Rios to give Chicago the 2-0 lead. Chicago would not be done there, Jeff Keppinger singled home the third run and Hector Gimenez doubled home two extra runs and after the inning was over the White Sox had a commanding 5-0 lead. In the bottom of the fourteenth inning Addison Reed was brought in to finish the game.
After getting Franklin to pop out Michael Saunders was able to get his first hit of the game by singling, Kelly Shoppach, Brendan Ryan, and Endy Chavez would all get singles to get the first run home for the Mariners. Jason Bay would strikeout to bring up Kyle Seager as the last hope for the Mariners. Seager tried to tie the game up on the secon pitch he saw from Reed by fouling it off, after letting one go by putting the count to 1-2 Kyle Seager swung at a low pitch and drove it out into the center field seats and Seager not only tied the game but he also became the first player in baseball history to tie a game with a grand slam in extra innings.
The Mariners would threaten to win the game in the bottom of the fifteenth inning but couldn't get the run home. The White Sox would then get to an exhausted Noesi to score two runs in the top of the sixteenth inning and the Mariners would not score in the bottom half of the inning and the White Sox would win the longest game in Mariners history. The game ended after 5 hours and 42 minutes of back and forth baseball.
Now, looking back at this game Eric Wedge made some poor managerial skills by taking out Charlie Furbush and Oliver Perez after they only faced one hitter. Furbush and Perez both could've gone 3-4 innings and would've saved some of the bullpen for the Mariners.
NOTES: Seager extended his hitting streak to 9 game and Morales extend his hitting streak to 7 games.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Rauuuuuuuul helps Felix to take out Chicago
King Felix Hernandez took the mound tonight for the Mariners looking for his seventh win of the season. In his last outing against the Chicago White Sox, Felix took the loss as he went 6.1 innings and gave up 4 runs. Tonight almost looked like it was going to be the same at the start. Alejandro De Aze started things off by singling on the third pitch from Felix, following that De Aze was able to move to third on the single by Gordon Beckham and on the single Beckham got into a rundown that would've scored De Aze but thanks to the Mariners defense paying attention to De Aze they were able to rundown Beckham without De Aze scoring. Conor Gillaspie grounded out to Nick Franklin that allowed the first run to come into score for the White Sox. After that, Felix was able to get Alex Rios to strikeout to end the inning.
Endy Chavez got things started for the Mariners in the bottom of the first by singling to lead off his day. Both Jason Bay and Kyle Seager flew out and on both fly outs Chavez moved up to second and third base. Kendrys Morales continued his tear by singling in Chavez to tie the game at 1, following Morales's single 41 year old Raul Ibanez stepped up and after last night's 13 pitch at bat homerun he figured "Why wait 13 pitches? I'll jump on the first pitch instead." and indeed he did as he drove it out for his eleventh homerun of the year tying him with Mike Morse for the team lead and giving the Mariners the 3-1 lead.
Adam Dunn pulled the White Sox within one run as he took King Felix deep to put the Mariners lead to 3-2. In the bottom of the third inning Jason Bay got the inning started off by singling and after Seager flew out for the second time Morales lined one down the left field line that bounce into the stands for a ground rule double bringing up Ibanez. Ibanez jumped out to a 3-0 count and after looking at one lined the fifth pitch into right field that scored both Bay and Morales to put the Mariners up 5-2. Jake Peavey would then leave the game after that pitch in what was revealed to be having pain in his ribs, no word yet on what his condition is. Brian Omogrosso was brought in for Peavey to face the Mariners 2009 draft pick sensation Nick Franklin. Franklin drove one to right field and at first the umpires called it a homerun but White Sox manager Robin Ventura wanted a review on the call, and after review the called was reversed to a double, so on the play Franklin was able to drive one more run for the Mariners increasing the lead to 6-2.
Felix would continue to pitch brilliantly through 7 innings, and in the top of the eighth inning would be the inning the White Sox got to the Mariners ace. Alexi Ramirez would lead off the inning by singling and then Tyler Flowers would double to right field that would score Ramirez and after that Eric Wedge would come out to relieve Felix of his duties and would hand the ball off to Oliver Perez. De Aze would single off of Perez to score Flowers and the lead was then cut down to 6-4. Perez would then settle down and get Gordon Beckham to ground into a double play to end the inning for the White Sox.
In the bottom of the eighth Michael Saunders would draw a walk from Hector Santiago. Kelly Shoppach would then come up looking to move Saunders over or scored him from first, Shoppach wouldn't need to move Saunders up as Michael was able to swipe both second and third base and after he stole third Shoppach did his job by flying out to left field that allowed Saunders to score easily from third extending the Mariners lead to 7-4. After Brendan Ryan struck out to end the eighth for the Mariners, Tom "The Bartender" Wilhelmsen entered the game and with much doubt from not only myself but other Mariners fans was hoping to get his second consecutive save. Tommy Boy couldn't find the strike zone on his first batter as he walked Conor Gillaspie on four straight pitches and on that note Eric Wedge called his bullpen and asked for Charlie Furbush to get warmed up. Tommy Boy managed to get Alex Rios to pop out and following that he got Paul Konerko to ground into a game ending double play.
During the post game I heard something out of the ROOT Sports analyst that I haven't heard in a long, long, LONG time "The Mariners take the series from the Chicago White Sox." That's right, the Mariners have finally taken a series from the White Sox in I don't know how long its been. With this win the Mariners moved back into third place and put their record to 26-33.
NOTES: Kyle Seager extended his hitting streak to 8 games. Felix Hernandez has now struck out at least 5 batters or more in 11 straight games. Kendrys Morales extended his hitting streak to 6 games. Jesus Sucre exited the game earlier after being hit on the hand on a swing by Alexi Ramirez, he's been cleared to play and will not go on the DL.
Endy Chavez got things started for the Mariners in the bottom of the first by singling to lead off his day. Both Jason Bay and Kyle Seager flew out and on both fly outs Chavez moved up to second and third base. Kendrys Morales continued his tear by singling in Chavez to tie the game at 1, following Morales's single 41 year old Raul Ibanez stepped up and after last night's 13 pitch at bat homerun he figured "Why wait 13 pitches? I'll jump on the first pitch instead." and indeed he did as he drove it out for his eleventh homerun of the year tying him with Mike Morse for the team lead and giving the Mariners the 3-1 lead.
Adam Dunn pulled the White Sox within one run as he took King Felix deep to put the Mariners lead to 3-2. In the bottom of the third inning Jason Bay got the inning started off by singling and after Seager flew out for the second time Morales lined one down the left field line that bounce into the stands for a ground rule double bringing up Ibanez. Ibanez jumped out to a 3-0 count and after looking at one lined the fifth pitch into right field that scored both Bay and Morales to put the Mariners up 5-2. Jake Peavey would then leave the game after that pitch in what was revealed to be having pain in his ribs, no word yet on what his condition is. Brian Omogrosso was brought in for Peavey to face the Mariners 2009 draft pick sensation Nick Franklin. Franklin drove one to right field and at first the umpires called it a homerun but White Sox manager Robin Ventura wanted a review on the call, and after review the called was reversed to a double, so on the play Franklin was able to drive one more run for the Mariners increasing the lead to 6-2.
Felix would continue to pitch brilliantly through 7 innings, and in the top of the eighth inning would be the inning the White Sox got to the Mariners ace. Alexi Ramirez would lead off the inning by singling and then Tyler Flowers would double to right field that would score Ramirez and after that Eric Wedge would come out to relieve Felix of his duties and would hand the ball off to Oliver Perez. De Aze would single off of Perez to score Flowers and the lead was then cut down to 6-4. Perez would then settle down and get Gordon Beckham to ground into a double play to end the inning for the White Sox.
In the bottom of the eighth Michael Saunders would draw a walk from Hector Santiago. Kelly Shoppach would then come up looking to move Saunders over or scored him from first, Shoppach wouldn't need to move Saunders up as Michael was able to swipe both second and third base and after he stole third Shoppach did his job by flying out to left field that allowed Saunders to score easily from third extending the Mariners lead to 7-4. After Brendan Ryan struck out to end the eighth for the Mariners, Tom "The Bartender" Wilhelmsen entered the game and with much doubt from not only myself but other Mariners fans was hoping to get his second consecutive save. Tommy Boy couldn't find the strike zone on his first batter as he walked Conor Gillaspie on four straight pitches and on that note Eric Wedge called his bullpen and asked for Charlie Furbush to get warmed up. Tommy Boy managed to get Alex Rios to pop out and following that he got Paul Konerko to ground into a game ending double play.
During the post game I heard something out of the ROOT Sports analyst that I haven't heard in a long, long, LONG time "The Mariners take the series from the Chicago White Sox." That's right, the Mariners have finally taken a series from the White Sox in I don't know how long its been. With this win the Mariners moved back into third place and put their record to 26-33.
NOTES: Kyle Seager extended his hitting streak to 8 games. Felix Hernandez has now struck out at least 5 batters or more in 11 straight games. Kendrys Morales extended his hitting streak to 6 games. Jesus Sucre exited the game earlier after being hit on the hand on a swing by Alexi Ramirez, he's been cleared to play and will not go on the DL.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
What are the Mariners deal really?
So far this season for the Mariners have had only one problem. Wait a minute, they have way more then one problem. The Mariners could be at or around .500 if it wasn't for that 7 game losing streak. Now, another problem for the Mariners has been Michael Saunders. Saunders started the season off great. In the second game where the Mariners played the Yankees Saunders went 2-4, since then he has gone 7-59 (.118) lowering his batting average by 68 points, he has also struck out 28 times. Right now Saunders to me needs some work in Tacoma to work on his swing, why not send him down and call up Eric Thames?
Now, last night I heard that Franklin Gutierrez will need more time to recuperate from his hamstring injury. ROOT Sports analyst reported that Guti couldn't go more then 3 days without needing a break. Now, Guti's contract is up at the end of this year so why not release him now? Guti hasn't played a full season since 2010, he's nothing but an injury risk and not worth the money anymore.
Now, who could we get to replace Guti? Well, we have Jason Bay who the Mariners might likely resign after this year, Endy Chavez can also be a great replacement for Guti in center, Julio Morbon is another target for a good replacement he's shown us that he can hit the ball and play the outfield at the same time, the last candidate is the guy who we got in exchange for Shawn Kelley, Abraham Almonte. Almonte has been tearing things up in Triple A so far going 22-46 (.478). All of these players are terrific candidates to replace Gutierrez in centerfield along with Michael Saunders (if he can get his bat going again). Now, another problem that has popped up is Tom Wilhelmsen's ability to be consistent and locate his pitches. He was able to locate his pitches last night but before that he has blown 3 saves out of 4 attempts. Before
Tommy boy blew his first our of 3 in Cleveland he was 11 out of 11 in save opportunities with a 0.50 ERA, since then he has gone 1 out of 4 in save opportunities and his ERA has rose to 2.13. Now if Tommy boy loses his position as the closer I would think that either Carter Capps or Oliver Perez would be the two likely candidates for taking the closer position. Carter Capps has been able to come in for the Mariners and get them out of tight situations along with having one of the nastiest breaking ball and slider I've ever seen. Perez has also been just as reliable, in his last 10 games he has pitched 7.2 innings while striking out 16 batters. Capps in his last 10 games has pitch 9 innings allowing only 1 run and striking out 11 batters. Both these relievers are perfect candidates for replacing Tom if necessary.
Now by the end of this season there has to be one more change made to this team, either Eric Wedge or Jack Zduriencik has to go. Zduriencik has made some impressive signings and has drafted excellent talent but the thing is, is that Zduriencik has said "this team is currently rebuilding" now when he came to the team in 2008 he said the same thing. Mariners fans are tired of him saying that and we should have been rebuilding the team this long, the fans want to see this team in the playoffs and were not going to get there when Zduriencik keeps rebuilding. Now, Eric Wedge is one of the biggest pushover managers in baseball in my opinion. Wedge consistently makes excuses for poor performances and in games where he needs to make a pitching change he just stands there with his thumb in his ass watching the team fail. In the saves that Wilhelmsen has blown a normal manager would have gotten someone warmed up in the bullpen and ready to go after watching him walk two straight batters. Wedge never shows his emotions on the field just in the clubhouse........yeah that does not make a good manager.
Lou Pinella and Ozzie Guillen are great examples of when a manager shows his emotions on and off the field and in the clubhouse they get great results. Pinella's tough managerial skills saw the Mariners have their first winning season in his first season as manager and in his third year saw the team winning their first AL West title. Pinella's skills as a red hot manager saw the Mariners go to the playoffs 3 more times including the 116 win season and after that saw the Mariners win 93 games in two of his last 3 years of managing the team. Guillen saw his White Sox win the World Series in his second year of managing the team, in Ozzie's 8 years of managing the White Sox, his team win 83, 99, 90, 72, 88, 79, 88, and 79 games making the playoffs 5 times and winning one World Series.
Changes must be made on the Mariners roster and in their front office if this team would like to see the playoffs.
Now, last night I heard that Franklin Gutierrez will need more time to recuperate from his hamstring injury. ROOT Sports analyst reported that Guti couldn't go more then 3 days without needing a break. Now, Guti's contract is up at the end of this year so why not release him now? Guti hasn't played a full season since 2010, he's nothing but an injury risk and not worth the money anymore.
Now, who could we get to replace Guti? Well, we have Jason Bay who the Mariners might likely resign after this year, Endy Chavez can also be a great replacement for Guti in center, Julio Morbon is another target for a good replacement he's shown us that he can hit the ball and play the outfield at the same time, the last candidate is the guy who we got in exchange for Shawn Kelley, Abraham Almonte. Almonte has been tearing things up in Triple A so far going 22-46 (.478). All of these players are terrific candidates to replace Gutierrez in centerfield along with Michael Saunders (if he can get his bat going again). Now, another problem that has popped up is Tom Wilhelmsen's ability to be consistent and locate his pitches. He was able to locate his pitches last night but before that he has blown 3 saves out of 4 attempts. Before
Tommy boy blew his first our of 3 in Cleveland he was 11 out of 11 in save opportunities with a 0.50 ERA, since then he has gone 1 out of 4 in save opportunities and his ERA has rose to 2.13. Now if Tommy boy loses his position as the closer I would think that either Carter Capps or Oliver Perez would be the two likely candidates for taking the closer position. Carter Capps has been able to come in for the Mariners and get them out of tight situations along with having one of the nastiest breaking ball and slider I've ever seen. Perez has also been just as reliable, in his last 10 games he has pitched 7.2 innings while striking out 16 batters. Capps in his last 10 games has pitch 9 innings allowing only 1 run and striking out 11 batters. Both these relievers are perfect candidates for replacing Tom if necessary.
Now by the end of this season there has to be one more change made to this team, either Eric Wedge or Jack Zduriencik has to go. Zduriencik has made some impressive signings and has drafted excellent talent but the thing is, is that Zduriencik has said "this team is currently rebuilding" now when he came to the team in 2008 he said the same thing. Mariners fans are tired of him saying that and we should have been rebuilding the team this long, the fans want to see this team in the playoffs and were not going to get there when Zduriencik keeps rebuilding. Now, Eric Wedge is one of the biggest pushover managers in baseball in my opinion. Wedge consistently makes excuses for poor performances and in games where he needs to make a pitching change he just stands there with his thumb in his ass watching the team fail. In the saves that Wilhelmsen has blown a normal manager would have gotten someone warmed up in the bullpen and ready to go after watching him walk two straight batters. Wedge never shows his emotions on the field just in the clubhouse........yeah that does not make a good manager.
Lou Pinella and Ozzie Guillen are great examples of when a manager shows his emotions on and off the field and in the clubhouse they get great results. Pinella's tough managerial skills saw the Mariners have their first winning season in his first season as manager and in his third year saw the team winning their first AL West title. Pinella's skills as a red hot manager saw the Mariners go to the playoffs 3 more times including the 116 win season and after that saw the Mariners win 93 games in two of his last 3 years of managing the team. Guillen saw his White Sox win the World Series in his second year of managing the team, in Ozzie's 8 years of managing the White Sox, his team win 83, 99, 90, 72, 88, 79, 88, and 79 games making the playoffs 5 times and winning one World Series.
Changes must be made on the Mariners roster and in their front office if this team would like to see the playoffs.
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About Me
Im a huge Seattle sports nut. Thats basically about me. But im an upcoming blogger who writes only about the Mariners, Seahawks, Sounders, and when they come back the Sonics. Now if you would like me to write about something tweet me and i will write it. Now i should mark that im also Irish and have a beard that is feared above Brian Wilson's beard. His beard can kiss my beard's ass!