Memories are forever

This past year has seen me writing blogs, making people cry with them, and getting some congrats from some interesting people in the Seattle sports community. But a lot of people don't know of just how this aspiring writer came to be, I didn't become interested in writing until I read my bud Ben Christensen's (@Shakabrodie) blog Hats and Tats. The first one I ever read he did one about the Seattle Mariners and my favorite hat that they wore. Reading his blog and seeing of just how much work he put into it made me want to start writing my own sport blog. 

Before I get into the present I would like to start from the top and basically tell everyone about how this 23 year old became interested in sports and now has dreams of writing for a Washington based team. In 1990 I was born at Madigan Army Hospital and for the first year and a half me and my parents lived in Washington. Mid way through 1991 we moved to California and my very first memory of my life was basically my first day of preschool in 1993. I wasn't the most interactive kid, I spent most of the time by myself and never really played with the other kids. 

1994 saw me and my parents move back to Washington, and I already told this story of how I got into the Mariners but I'm going to tell you guys again. We moved back mid way through March and after only a week my parents enrolled me into school, so you can only imagine just how shy I was and I couldn't make any friends as again I spent most of my recess time alone. Then came April and of course when April arrives that means that baseball is back. It wasn't until the third game of the Mariners season that I began my love for the game and go into sports from that point on, Ken Griffey, Jr., deserve most of that thanks as I watched him hit his first of 40 home runs that year. After the baseball season was over my grandmother got me into my second and third sport....football and basketball. 

Before I got into basketball I had football and the Seattle Seahawks. In 1995, saw me finally become more active in school, it also saw me going to my first Mariners, Seahawks, and Supersonics game and all three first games were winners. From 1996-2000 I played baseball for my elementary school, it wasn't until 2001 that I joined my first fast pitch team but after that year I stopped playing sports for some reason. 2005 I went back to playing baseball and I made my JV high school team. My first year back in sports i batted .349. I continued playing both high school and summer baseball through 2005-2008. 

2008 was a big year for me, I went out for an open try out for the Mariners and by my shock I made the cut. I joined the team for Winter Ball for the team and during that Winter I batted .341 with 10 doubles. Things were going great until one fateful day struck me down. On December 21st in the bottom of the 5th inning I went to go for a fly ball in deep right center field, I jumped to catch the ball and hit the wall hard and this wall didn't have any padding so behind that wall was nothing but bricks. I woke up about 10 minutes later and when I woke up both my legs were in excruciating pain and come to find out that I tore both my hamstrings, so that ended my dream of playing in the big leagues.

Nothing to talk about from 2009-2011. 2012 I met one of my closest friends Alex Larson (@ALarson12thMan) at a Tacoma Rainiers game. Since then we have become amazing friends and we both have dreams to be broadcasters or have our own radio show. We did our own YouTube show and podcast at one point. 

2013 has brought me nothing but success and more friends in sports then ever. Since I started these blogs people on Twitter have supported me and have wished me nothing but luck. I have started my own TalkShoe show thanks to my friend Taylor Gombos (@SeattleSprtsHub). I'm hoping that sometime in the next 6 months I land a writing job. This blog is dedicated to all my followers that support me and provide the encouragement that helps me keep writing towards my dream.

Thank you to everyone. 

Eight is enough for Prince Kuma

Ok, so yesterday Joe Saunders choked and gave up 4 runs and Hector Noesi gave up a grand slam and our winning streak came to an end. But who says we cant start fresh with the Minnesota Twins? Hisashi Iwakuma was looking to keep his perfect record in tact as he took the mound for the Mariners. Iwakuma has pitched 3 times against the Twins and holds a 3-0 record and a 0.00 ERA in 20.2 innings. Not bad huh? 

The defense look really shady tonight. Nick Franklin had one and Kyle Seager added two more to the M's total for tonight, but thankfully it didn't hurt them. Iwakuma got through the first inning even after an error and a fielder's choice. The M's didn't get things started until the bottom of the second inning. Kyle Seager lead things off with his 26th double of the year and following him Justin Smoak singled and that put runners at the corners to begin the inning for the M's. Both Mike Zunino and Dustin Ackley hit back to back RBI singles to put the Mariners up 2-0. Brad Miller made it 3-0 on his sixth double of the year scoring Zunino and Ackley moved to third, and finally Officer Nick Franklin sent his eighth home run into the right field seats and the M's put up a six spot in the second and chased Twins starter Kevin Correia as well. 

In the bottom of the sixth the Mariners got two extra runs on the board. Michael Saunders lead things off with a single and then Henry Blanco doubled him home and the M's put their seventh run on the board. After that Ackley checked in with his third hit of the game by doubling home Blanco and the Mariners lead 8-0. Iwakuma gave the Mariners six innings despite having thrown 51 pitches through 3 innings. He was able to get out of a bases loaded jam in the third inning without allowing a run. He finished the night with 101 pitches and striking out 9 batters. 

Danny Farquhar was brought into the top of the seventh inning and with the way he pitched last night you would have never thought he had an ERA over 7. Farquhar threw two innings of shutout baseball while giving up just one hit and striking out 3 batters. Finally Oliver Perez was brought into the ninth and he didn't have the best outing tonight. Perez after getting two outs gave up two doubles that scored two runs for the Twins but after that Perez got Drew Butera to fly out and that was the ball game. 

The Mariners have now won 9 out of the last 10 games. Dustin Ackley's bat has come alive since the All-Star Break batting .421 (8-19). Raul Ibanez's bat seems to have cooled off though since the All-Star Break batting .150 (3-20). Nick Franklin's eight home runs are the most by an American League second basemen in his first 49 games since Hall of Famer Joe Gordon (NYY) in 1938. Tonight's win has also moved Seattle up in the standings; they are now 10 games back in the American League West and are only 7.5 back in the Wild Card. 

You can definitely say that the Mariners are the hottest team (next to the Tampa Bay Rays) in baseball. Tomorrow night the King's Court will be in session as Felix Hernandez will look to get his 12th win of the season. 

Crazy eights for the Mariners

The Mariners entered tonight with a season high seven game winning streak and only 5 games under .500, so they sent out Erasmo Ramirez to give them a chance at eight straight games. If you remember, in Ramirez's last start against the Boston Red Sox and went only 4.2 innings while giving up 7 earned runs and walking 4, so you know he was looking to have a better outing tonight. Ramirez started things off looking good as he got Michael Bourn to fly out and struck out Nick Swisher; but then Jason Kipnis doubled and Asdrubal Cabrera singled him home and the Indians took the early 1-0 lead. The Mariners in the bottom of the first had some help from the Indians fielders. With two outs and one on Kendrys Morales grounded into what should have been the third out but Kipnis's fielding error allowed Morales to reach first. Kyle Seager then lined one into right field that allowed Nick Franklin to score and tie the game.

Ramirez again started off the inning by getting the first two batters out but then got into trouble, after Lonnie Chisenhall singled Yan Gomes took Ramirez deep for his seventh home run of the year and the Indians took the 3-1 lead. If the Mariners have taught us anything in the past seven games its that they Refuse to Lose and they find ways to come back and tie a game and eventually win the games.

In the bottom of the third inning Raul Ibanez got things started for the M's by driving one to deep left center field and lead things off with a double, Morales followed Ibanez' double with a ground-rule double that scored Ibanez, so the M's now trailed 3-2. Seager was able to line out a single but on the relay to home Morales was cut down trying to score. Michael Saunders two out double allowed Seager to get into third and the Mariners kept the inning alive. With Mike Zunino up Zach McAllister threw a pitch in the dirt that got away that allowed Seager to score easily and the game was now tied at 3-3. Last night Zunino hit the home run that put the M's up 2-1 and so tonight he wanted to be the hero again and he didn't disappoint as he hit a hard ground ball that got through and put the Mariners up 4-3. 

Ramirez now had a job to do, keep the Indians from scoring any runs. He did and got two crucial double plays. In the top of the sixth inning Ramirez was relieved of his duty and Yoervis Medina came in. Medina got the final out in the sixth and then went two innings more and was lights out as he only gave up one hit through his 2.1 of work. In the top of the ninth it was closing time, which meant Tom "The Bartender" Wilhelmsen was brought into secure the Mariners their eight consecutive win. 

Mark Reynolds lead things off for the Tribe by singling to right field, following that Chisenhall singled and so Mariners fans were beginning to think "Deja vu". After that single though Wilhelmsen got one of the luckiest plays ever as Gomes grounded to Brad Miller and after he tossed it to Franklin at second for the force out and then pinch runner Drew Stubbs was caught in a pickle and was tagged out at home. Thanks to that unusual double play Wilhelmsen faced Michael Bourn. Bourn worked the count to 3-2 and on the sixth pitch of the at bat Wilhelmsen fired a 98 mph in for strike three. As soon as the home plate umpire called that strike fans erupted like the team had just won the pennant. 

The Mariners now have won 8 straight games and will go for their third straight sweep tomorrow at 1:10, the M's haven't swept three series in a row since 2001. The win tonight pushes the Mariners to 4 games back of .500, 10 games back in the American League West, and 8.5 games back in the Wild Card. 

Lucky 7's for the Mariners

Well here we are folks, the Mariners began a 7 game home stretch and came off a sweep of the Houston Astros, along with riding a season high 6 game winning streak, so who better to take the mound and try and help the team get to 7 straight wins then Aaron Harang. Did I just say that? Man, why did it have to be Harang? Well, I guess he's not that bad, except in the top of the first inning he gave up a solo home run to Nick Swisher and the Cleveland Indians took the early 1-0 lead. After Harang got out of the first inning, Ubaldo Jimenez took care of the Mariners in their half of the first. Harang came back out and went 1-2-3 against the Tribe and Jimenez did the same to the M's. 

Harang though didn't have an easy third inning. After getting Drew Stubbs to ground out both Michael Bourn and Swisher singled and on Swisher's single Bourn (with his incredible speed) was able to easily mosey into third safely. Harang then pulled himself together and struck out Jason Kipnis and got former Mariner Asdrubal Cabrera to ground out, and so Harangatang escaped the top of the third without surrendering a run. Mike Zunino lead things off for the M's in bottom of the third by taking the first pitch that he saw from Jimenez down the left field line for a lead off double. The Mariners though couldn't get Zunino home and Jimenez pulled off his own Houdini. Harang got into his second jam, Carlos Santana lined a ball down the right field line and thanks to an idiotic Sonics fan, Santana was forced to stay at second. Harang got out of the jam by getting Jason Giambi to pop out to second and then got Lonnie Chisenhall to ground out to Nick Franklin.

Kendrys Morales lead off the bottom of the fourth by driving one off the glass of the Hit It Here Cafe to tie the game up at 1. Zunino lead off the bottom of the fifth with his first home run at Safeco Field to put the M's ahead 2-1. After that, Harang took over and pitched into the seventh inning without allowing another run or hit, as he retired the last nine batters he faced. Charlie Furbush then was brought into the top of the eighth inning, he hit Michael Bourn to begin the inning but came back and struck out Nick Swisher, picked off Bourn, and finally got Jason Kipnis to ground out to end the eighth inning for the Tribe. 

Now, if you remember back in May all Tom Wilhelmsen needed to do was hang onto the ball and he would have saved the game for the M's, but unfortunately he didn't and the M's lost 10-8 to the Tribe. This time out though, Tommy Boy allowed two runners one with two outs but managed to escape the jam and save his 22nd game of the year and secure the Mariners their seventh straight win. Tonight Erasmo Ramirez will take the mound after an impressive start in Everett, he'll try and go for his first win of the season and help the team get to eight wins in a row. The Mariners enter tonight's game only 5 games under .500, 11 games back of first in the AL West, and 9.5 games back of second place in the Wild Card. 

The Mariners bullpen....what the has happened to it?

Today's Mariners game showed the fans something that they probably have already figured out.......our bullpen stinks. When the season started the Mariners bullpen was lights out. In April the M's bullpen were lights out. They posted a 3.90 ERA with Stephen Pryor leading the way posting a 0.00 ERA in 7 games in 7.1 innings but went down mid way through the month with a torn right latissimus dorsi muscle. Both Tom Wilhelmsen and Oliver Perez posted almost identical records. Perez appeared in 11 games going 11.1 innings with a 0.79 ERA and Wilhelmsen appeared in the same number of games going 12 innings with a 0.75 ERA with 8 saves. Those three guys pitching like was the big reason that the team posted a 12-17 record. 

The next month saw the bullpen post an ERA about the same as the first month, posting a 3.80 ERA. Wilhelmsen had another successful month, appearing in 11 games saving 4 of them in 12 innings posting a 0.75 again. June saw the M's bullpen collapse as the bullpen posted a horrible 5.53 ERA. June also saw Wilhelmsen fall apart as he blew 3 saves while posting a 0-2 record with a 10.57 ERA, the only successful relievers in the month of June for the Mariners came from Perez and Yoervis Medina. Perez posted a 1-1 record with 1 save, appeared in 11 games, and had a 1.74 ERA; Medina posted a 2-1 record with 1 save, appeared in 12 games, and had a 1.93 ERA. Now finally this month, July has seen the bullpen post another bad ERA at 5.05. 

Now, let me get to the point of all this. Since June the bullpen has cost the team at least 20 wins and in yesterday's 12-5 win it the bullpen almost fell completely apart and I thought they would blow the game for the team. The Mariners currently sit at 46-52 thanks to a season best 6 game winning streak, now if the M's would like to continue their hotstreak and hopefully have a shot at finishing above .500 or make the playoffs they must first fix their bullpen. Right now Wilhelmsen is getting back to his lights out ways, Perez is one of the best relievers in the game, Medina is always a help, and Furbush is back to throwing hard like he used to. 

The biggest problems in the bullpen for the M's are Danny Farquhar, Bobby LaFromboise, Blake Beaven, and Carter Capps. The Mariners need to make some serious call ups if they would like to make a run at .500 or the playoffs, for example if they gave Logan Bawcom the call up that would give the M's a 3-4 inning reliever to work with. Brian Sweeney right now to me could use a call up, he's had a great year in Tacoma posting an 8-3 record with 3.92 ERA. Sweeney can be used in both the starting role and in the bullpen in case a starter needs to be pulled early.

The bottom line is, Eric Wedge needs to wake up and smell the java. In my opinion he's too stupid to realize that his bullpen is one of the worst in baseball and if he doesn't see it now then that could cost him games. The Mariners have great young pitchers in Tacoma right now that deserve a call up to give the team a boost in the bullpen and help the reach their goal at either finishing the season at or above .500 or making another Refuse To Lose run at either the American League West title or the Wild Card. Both titles don't matter to me, all those titles say is that the M's are in the the playoffs. 

Sweeping beginning to the second half

The day after the Mariners score 4 runs with only 1 hit the M's sent their ace Felix Hernandez out to go for his 11th win of the year and try. The Mariners were also looking for both their sixth win in a row and their second sweep in a row. The Mariners though went 1-2-3 in the first inning against Jordan Lyles. Felix matched Lyles by going 1-2-3 in the bottom of the first inning while striking out one batter and only throwing 10 pitches. Kendrys Morales made sure when he lead off in the top of the second inning that his team didn't have to eight innings without a hit, as he lined the first pitch he saw into center field. Kyle Seager was able to get on as he hit a ground ball that shortstop Jake Elmore couldn't handle and so everybody was safe, after Justin Smoak struck out Michael Saunders drew a walk. Dustin Ackley put the Mariners on the board first with an RBI infield single, Elmore was able to come up with the ground ball but thanks to Saunders' awesome speed he slid safely into second base. 

After a visit to the mound Lyles drilled Henry Blanco with one, so the Mariners took a 2-0 lead and Brad Miller made it 3-0 with his first hit of the ball game. The bases were still loaded with only one out "Officer" Nick Franklin got out the rye bread and mustard out and hit his first major league grand slam of his career and put the Mariners up 7-0. After thirty minutes the Mariners had 7 runs on only 4 hits......jeez talk about deja vu huh? Felix went back out and only needed to throw 15 pitches to go back into the dugout. At that point in the bottom of the second inning I was getting grief from a couple of my followers about jinxing Felix, I tweeted before the game that Felix was going to throw a no hitter against the Astros and he gave up a one out single to Carlos Corporan and so once that happened the tweets started flying in about me jinxing the man. Oh sure like you haven't tweeted the same thing and it didn't happen. The Mariners though were quiet through the next two innings.

In the top of the fifth inning Raul Ibanez doubled to start things off for the M's, Morales followed up with an RBI single into center that put the M's up 8-0. Seager then came up and on the fourth pitch fouled one off but he accidentally let go of the bat and hit a small kid, Seager looked into stands looking to see if the kid was ok and after they told Seager the kid was ok Lyles threw one in and hit Seager on the shoulder, Texas then showed just how classy they are by cheering that Lyles had hit Seager. Trust me that wouldn't be the last time Texas showed their classiness but I'll get to that later, Smoak lined a single to once again load up the bases for the Mariners. Astros manager Bo Porter had seen enough and relieved Lyles and brought in Lucas Harrell to try and get out of the inning. Saunders grounded into a fielder's choice and on the play Morales scored from third and the M's lead grew to 9-0, Ackley then drove in the tenth run of the game for the M's with a sacrifice fly to left. 

Felix threw two more shutout innings. In the bottom of the fifth inning Felix got into his first real jam of the game. Justin Maxwell lead off the inning by getting on first after Miller bobbled one and couldn't get the speedy Maxwell, but if anyone looked at the replay like I did Maxwell was clearly out and so the umps made their first mistake in the game. Felix then had an eight pitch battle with Brandon Barnes with Felix winning the fight by striking out Barnes. Elmore then legged out an infield single as Miller couldn't make the long throw from the outfield, Felix then got one of his get out of a jam double plays. Felix then went out in the bottom of the six inning which would be his final inning of work. Brett Wallace lead off the inning by singling into left, Felix then was able to get Jason Castro to fly out and then walked Chris Carter but Felix came back and struck out both Corporan and Marc Krauss to end the inning for the Astros and end his start off in fashion. The Mariners got their 11th run of the ball game in the top of the the 7th inning, after Saunders walked and Ackley singled Brad Miller singled home Saunders as Elmore tried to make the diving play but the ball bounced off his glove and went into center.

As the game went into the bottom of the seventh inning God Bless America was sung and as the camera's went across the crowd and Texas showed just how arrogant they can be as some fans were on their phones either talking or texting and the worst part was that most of the fans (including one Mariners fans) didn't remove their hats and they showed just how society has gone down. Hector Noesi was brought into the bottom of the seventh inning and after getting the first two batters out gave up a two out double to Elmore. Following Elmore's double Altuve broke up the shutout with an RBI single into left field driving in Elmore. The Mariners added their final run of the game in the top of the top of the eighth as Saunders extended his hitting streak to 10 games with an RBI double and so the M's lead was put to 12-1 with that double. Lucas Luetge went out in the bottom of the eighth inning and had an easy 1-2-3 inning but in the bottom of the ninth Bobby LaFromboise was brought in and Astros teed three straight hits off him including an RBI single by Barnes. LaFromboise then walked Elmore and finally recorded the first out of the inning by striking out Altuve.

After that strikeout Eric Wedge brought in Danny Farquhar to try and end the game, but unfortunately Matt Dominguez drove in another run with a sacrifice fly and then Blanco made a mistake as Castro struck out but thanks to a wild pitch and a bad throw by Blanco Barnes and Elmore scored. Farquhar finally got Corporan to pop out to end the game and secure the Mariners their 46th win of the year. The Mariners now travel back home to Seattle to play the Cleveland Indians and you know they are looking for some payback from the embarrassing four game sweep of the M's back in May. If they Mariners want to take this three game series from Cleveland their bullpen needs to get better and stop giving up runs late in the ballgame. Today's win now puts the Mariners only 11 back in the AL West and only 9 games back of second place in the American League Wild Card. So far the Mariners are .600 baseball in the last 10 games, lets hope this team can keep things going and maybe even make another Refuse To Lose comeback. 

Miller Time in Houston

The Mariners opened the second half of the season on the road in Houston going against the Astros looking for their fourth win in a row. Ironically Joe Saunders took the mound looking for his fourth win in a row as well. Brad Miller (@SergioMiller) got the second half started on the first pitch of the game by singling to center, but the Mariners went 1-2-3 after that. Saunders had almost an identical inning, he gave up a two out double to the Astros All Star Jason Castro but got the third out by getting Chris Carter to ground out. The Astros got their first run on the board in the bottom of the second inning, with two out Brandon Barnes (@TheBarnyard15) went deep for his fifth home run of the year and so the Astros took the early 1-0 lead. The top of the third inning saw another easy inning for Astros starter Bud Norris as he only gave up a two out single to Nick Franklin. 

The top of the fourth saw things pick up for the Mariners, Kendrys Morales lead things off with a single and then Kyle Seager looked at the first pitch of his at bat and extended his hitting streak to 15 games and the Mariners team streak for home runs in consecutive games to 23 as he hit his sixteenth homer of the year and the Mariners took the lead 2-1. After Michael Saunders was hit by a pitch Mike Zunino drew a walk and finally Dustin Ackley took Norris's third pitch he saw down the left field line that allowed both Saunders and Zunino to score and the Mariners took the 4-1 lead. The Astros came back in the bottom of the fourth inning, with two outs Justin Maxwell singled off Saunders, Barnes then drove in Maxwell with a triple and the Astros chipped away the deficit to 4-2. 

Saunders got into jam in the bottom of the fifth inning, as Jake Elmore singled with one out, Jose Altuve followed with a single of his own and all of a sudden Saunders was in deep trouble with only one out. With runners at the corners both Saunders and the Mariners got a huge break as Castro hit a hard ground ball that hit Altuve, with that one play Altuve was out and Elmore had to go back to third base and Saunders came back and struck out Carter for a huge third out. 

The top of the sixth saw the Mariners getting a few extra runs, Zunino drew his second walk with one out, Miller then looked at the first two pitches for balls and on the third pitch drove what was a no doubter into the upper deck for his first major league home run and put the Mariners up 6-2. The Astros though didn't go down without a fight, in the bottom of the sixth with one out Maxwell drew a walk, Barnes singled, then Matt Dominguez walked and after that manager Eric Wedge saw enough and went to bullpen and got Yoervis Medina to try and get out of the bases loaded jam Saunders got himself and his team in. Medina got the job done but gave up a run as Brett Wallace grounded out Franklin and Maxwell came into score. After six innings the Mariners lead 6-3.

 In the top of the eighth inning former #1 pick by the Mariners Josh Fields was brought in from the bullpen for the Astros to try and keep the game at 6-3. Fields walked both Zunino and Ackley to start off the inning. Brad Miller then battled Fields in a ten pitch at bat, at the end of the battle Miller won by hitting his second home run of the game and putting the Mariners up 9-3 on the Astros. Miller's home run marked the second time that a Mariners rookie had hit his first two home runs in one game, Franklin did it against the Padres back in May.

The Astros again fought back in the bottom of the eighth, Danny Farquhar came into the game. Maxwell lead things off with a single and then Barnes lined one down the right field line and slide safely into second to complete the cycle and became the second player to hit for the cycle against the Mariners this year. Dominguez grounded out to Miller for the first out and one the play Maxwell scored and the Astros chipped away another run. Oliver Perez was then brought in for Farquhar to try and get out of yet another jam, Wallace only made things worse as he hit a two run home run and the Astros only trailed 9-6. After Altuve hit a two out triple Tom Wilhelmsen was brought in and he did his job by getting Carter to ground out for the third out. 

Justin Smoak lead off the top of the ninth for the Mariners by hitting his ninth home run of the year and giving Wilhelmsen a big insurance run. Wilhelmsen went out in the ninth looking to earn his 20th save of the year. He got the first two batters to strikeout but Barnes continued his hot night by legging out an infield single and moved to second on a defensive interference. Dominguez drove in his third run of game with a two out single but after that Tommy Boy got Wallace to ground out to end the game. 

NOTES: Tonight's win pushes the Mariners record to 44-52. The M's are now only 11.5 games out of the first place Athletics and are now only 10 games out of second place in the Wild Card standings. Raul Ibanez extended his hitting streak to five games tonight and Michael Saunders extend his to eight games. 

Mariners finish the first half with a sweep

Well, I forgot to post a recap blog on the Mariners 6-0 win last night so I'll be writing a two day recap on last night's win and today's game. Last night the Mariners sent out King Felix Hernandez who would be pitching to try and get his tenth win of the year. Felix pitched a brilliant game going eight shutout innings, things started off well for him as he went 1-2-3 in the top of the first. The Angels sent out their ace Jered Weaver who was looking for his third win in a row, his night started off the same as Felix's except Raul Ibanez hit a ground rule double but that was all the Mariners would get in the bottom of the first inning. Ibanez extended his hitting streak with that double to three games. 

Felix began the top of the second inning by striking out Josh Hamilton but Howie Kendrick got the Angles first his with a single; Felix then got Mark Trumbo to fly out to Dustin Ackley in center, Alberto Callaspo then singled to left to put runners at second and first with only one out, but Felix got one of his classic get-out-of-jam double play as he got Hank Conger to ground into a 1-6-3 double play. Weaver got out of the bottom of the second inning with a double play of his own, Justin Smoak was hit by a pitch and then Michael Saunders extended his hitting streak to six games with a one out single, Weaver got Zunino to ground into that double play I told you about to end the Mariners half of the second inning. Felix gave up a two out triple to Mike Trout in the third inning but got Albert Pujols to strikeout. The Mariners got to Weaver in the bottom of the fourth inning, with one out both Kendrys Morales and Kyle Seager got on with back-to-back singles; Seager extended his hitting streak to 13 games with that single, Smoak then battled Weaver in a 10 pitch at bat that ended with Smoak singling home Morales to give the Mariners the 1-0 lead. 

The Mariners in the bottom of the sixth inning created some déjà vu as Morales and Seager hit back-to-back singles to bring up Smoak, but this time Smoak only looked at one pitch and drove it over the center field wall to give the Mariners the 4-0 lead and extending the team streak to 21 games with a home-run. In the bottom of the seventh inning the Mariners started things off with Zunino walking and Ackley singled and with one out Scott Downs threw a wild pitch that allowed Zunino to score and the Mariners went ahead 5-0. After Nick Franklin walked, Ibanez added an extra run for the M's as he singled home Ackley and so the Mariners gave Felix a 6-0 lead. After the eighth inning Yoervis Medina was brought in for Felix to shut the door on the Angels, Medina got a 1-2-3 inning and struck out two batters. So the Mariners won both the series and their 42nd game of the year.

So, with last night done today the Mariners sent out their second All Star pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma to try and get his first win in six starts and help the Mariners get their first sweep of the year. Iwakuma got an easy 1-2-3 first inning to start off his day, in the top of the second inning Iwakuma had another easy inning as he only gave up a one out double to Kendrick but didn't allow a run. The Mariners started off their half of the second inning with Justin Smoak getting a one out opposite field single. Michael Saunders then extended his hitting streak to seven games by hitting his sixth home-run of the year. Saunders not only gave the M's the 2-0 lead but extended the team's streak of hitting a home-run in consecutive games to 22. In the bottom of the fourth Seager extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a lead off single. After Smoak walked Saunders flied out to Trout in center, Seager then tagged up from second to third on the play and then Zunino drove in Seager with a sacrifice fly, so the Mariners took the 3-0 lead. 

Mark Trumbo lead off the top of the fifth inning by hitting his 21st home-run of the year and got the Angels on the board. The Mariners added another run in their half of the fifth inning; Brad Miller lead off the inning with a single and after Franklin drew his second walk of the day Ibanez drove in Miller with a double for his 56th RBI of the year. Michael Kohn was brought into the game to try and get out of the jam Joe Blanton created, he started things off by striking out Morales, he intentionally walked Seager and then struck out both Smoak and Saunders to end the threat by the Mariners. Trailing 4-1 in the top of the sixth Trout started things off for the Angels with a lead off single, Iwakuma got the next two batters out but after that Kendrick doubled to put runners at second and third, he intentionally walked Trumbo to bring up Callaspo who singled to right field that brought scored Trout and Kendrick. Iwakuma got out of the jam by striking out Chris Iannetta to end the inning.

Iwakuma finished off his day by having a 1-2-3 top of the seventh inning, after that Charlie Furbush was brought in for the 42nd appearance of the season and after allowing a lead off double to Albert Pujols he got Josh Hamilton to pop out, Kendrick to line out, and then got a huge strikeout of Trumbo to end the inning. Tom Whilhelmsen was brought into the ninth to try and save his 19th game of the year and secure the Mariners first sweep of the year. Wilhelmsen went 1-2-3 and the Mariners got their first sweep of the year and their first sweep of the Angels since 2006. The Mariners finished off the first half of the season nine games under .500, 13 games back of first place in the AL West, and 11 games back for second place in the Wild Card. The Mariners will begin the second half of the season in Houston against the Astros. 

Mariners slugfest too much for the Halos

With the Red Sox out of Seattle the Mariners were looking to have better success against their American League West rival. Safeco Joe Saunders took to the mound looking for his first win against his former team and looked to win his third game in a row. Saunders had an easy start to his night as he threw 15 pitches in the first inning. After Brad Miller grounded out Michael Saunders singled up the middle. Raul Ibanez continued his amazing season as he lined the ball into right center field that allowed Michael to score and on the relay to home Ibanez was thrown out trying to extend his double into a triple, so the Mariners took the 1-0 lead once again. Safeco Joe got into a jam in the top of the second inning, things went a little south after Joe gave up doubles to both Mark Trumbo and Alberto Callaspo. Joe caught a break on the second double as Justin Smoak couldn't catch the pop out, when the ball finally landed Trumbo tagged up from second and got in safely to third.

Safeco Joe got out of the inning by striking out Chris Iannetta and Collin Cowgill, so the Angels left both runners on and Joe escaped without surrendering a run. Kyle Seager lead off the bottom of the second by extending both his hitting streak to 13 games and the Mariners streak of hitting a homerun in consecutive games to 20 with his 15th homerun of the year. Thanks to Seager's homerun the Mariners took the 2-0 lead after two innings. The Mariners opened up a can of whooping in the bottom of the fourth inning as Ibanez lead things off by sending his 24th homerun of the year into the Hit It Here Café, his homer measured an impressive 438ft. Kendrys Morales singled up the middle and following that Seager drew an eight pitch walk. After Smoak flew out for the first out of the inning Mike Zunino put the Mariners up 4-0 with an RBI single to left, next Dustin Ackley hit a perfect ground ball into center field that allowed Seager to come in and score to put the Mariners up 5-0.

After Ackley's single manager Mike Scioscia had seen enough and relieved Jerome Williams and brought in Garrett Richards to try and stop the bleeding. On only the second pitch Richards threw one in the dirt that bounced behind the plate and allowed Zunino to score and Ackley moved up to second. Richards recovered and struck out Brendan Ryan and Miller to end the inning, so after four innings the Mariners had a comfortable 6-0 lead. Safeco Joe kept the Angels at bay by not surrendering a run for the rest of his start. Saunders threw seven shutout innings and struck out 5 batters. Saunders had 101 entering the seventh inning and finished his night off with an eight pitch 1-2-3 inning. Ibanez added another run for the Mariners in the bottom of the seventh inning by hitting his second homerun of the night, Morales followed up Ibanez' homerun with a homerun of his own so the Mariners took the 8-0 lead.

Danny Farquhar came in the top of the eighth inning. Farquhar's relief appearance went south very quickly, the first batter he faced was Erick Aybar and lined one to Seager at third and thanks to a bad bounce Seager couldn't handle the ground ball so Aybar legged out the infield single. Mike Trout then tripled home the Angels first run of the game and after a mound visit Albert Pujols singled home Trout to put the score at 8-2. After Farquhar struck out Howie Kendrick manager Eric Wedge decided to bring in a left hander to throw to Josh Hamilton. Lucas Luetge came in and threw only two pitches and gave up a double to Hamilton after that Wedge made another pitching change to try and get out of a potential disastrous inning. Yoervis Medina came in and got the final two outs but allowed the third run to come in and score. Medina would come back out in the ninth and got a 1-2-3 inning to finish the game off.

NOTES: The Mariners put their record to 41-52 and Joe Saunders put his record to 8-8. Tomorrow Felix Hernandez will take the mound and go against Jered Weaver. Hernandez does not have a great record when going up against Weaver as he is 1-6 when pitching against Weaver. Weaver will look to win his third game in a row.

Flashback Friday: What could've been

In 2007 the Seattle Mariners finished the season at 88-74 which was there first winning season since 2003 when they went 93-69. The team finished six games out of first place in the American League West standings and six games out of the Wild Card. During that season Ichiro became the second Mariners player in team history to win the All Star Game MVP as he went 3-3 and hit the first inside-the-park-homerun in All Star Game history, three days after his MVP performance the Mariners signed him to a five year contract to a $90 million deal, making him the highest paid player for the Mariners for the second time. The 2007 season saw plenty of milestones, retirements, and no hitters. Craig Biggio, Jeff Conine, Mike Lieberthal, and Shawn Green said farewell to baseball and Mark Buehrle, Justin Verlander, and Clay Buchholz threw no hitters. 

I wont get into the other milestones that happened in 2007, this blog im writing talks about the Mariners and how one manager could have lead this team to its first playoff birth since 2001. The Mariners began the opening month of April at 10-10 and the following month they kept pace at staying at or above .500 by going 16-14. the first two months of Mariners baseball in 07 were very interesting to say the least. In April the Mariners went into a 6 game losing streak that put the team's record at 5-9 but the M's picked things up and won the next 4 games to put the team back at .500. In March the Mariners went up against the Yankees and in the first game it was nothing but a slugfest but the Mariners bats were stronger in that game as the team would win 15-11 thanks to an 8 run fifth inning that put the Mariners ahead 14-8. They would lose the next two games to the Bronx Bombers but were able to come out of New York with a four game split. Four days later they played the Yankees again this time at Safeco, the Mariners would take the series from them 2 games to 3. 

The Mariners entered the month of June with a 26-24, the month of June would see the Mariners have their best month of the year and would also see the return of Ken Griffey, Jr., to Safeco. After the Mariners first 11 games in June they had a 9-2 record, they then lost 6 games in a row after their hot start, they just couldn't figure out the Chicago Cubs or Houston Astros. They then came back to Seattle and boy ever did the Mariners catch fire, winning the next 14 games out of 19. When the Cincinnati Reds came into Safeco it was an emotional time for both teams and the fans. Jr had returned to Safeco and each game that was played there was not a seat empty, after losing 16-1 in the opening game the Mariners won the next two games and in the final game of the series Jr banged out two homeruns that sent the fans into hysteria. I attended all three games of that series and it was exciting to watch the Kid bang out batting practice homers and watch him go 5-13 in the series.

The Mariners won a season high eight games in a row after the 16-1 blowout the Reds handed to them. The Mariners were officially in the playoff picture, but unfortunately the Mariners playoff run would officially come to an end after July 1st. Mike Hargrove was the manager for that year and not only did he bring experience to the manger position he brought great chemistry as well. Hargrove had coached the Cleveland Indians from 1991-1999 and in that time he was their manager they won five straight American League Central titles and won the AL Pennant twice but lost in both World Series that they appeared in. Hargrove then managed the Baltimore Orioles from 2000-03 and then finally came to Seattle in 04. 

After three straight losing seasons Hargrove finally had seemed to have gotten the team he wanted with the Mariners in 07. On July 1st the Mariners faced the Toronto Blue Jays and were looking to extend their winning streak to eight games, thanks to Jose Guillen's walk off single in the bottom of the ninth they were able to extend the winning streak and give Mike Hargrove his final win as a manager. After the game Hargrove called a press conference and said that he had lost his passion for managing and that he would be stepping down as the Mariners manager.

Bench coach John McLaren took over for Hargrove and helped the Mariners finish the season off at 88-74. The Mariners fell both six games short of the AL West and Wild Card, the big reason for that was that from August 25th through September 11th the team went 2-15 which drastically hurt their playoff hopes. The Yankees won the Wild Card that year but would lose to Cleveland Indians in the ALDS in four games. The Mariners could've made the playoffs, they could've won the AL West, and they could've won the Wild Card but they didn't. If Hargrove would not have left in the middle of a playoff run think of what could have happened. For some reason their was no chemistry with the team and manager John McLaren, that is what hurt the Mariners the most. 

Without Hargrove the team was basically lost, without good chemistry in the clubhouse the team sank and lost their edge and also lost a shot at their first playoff series in six years. The following year McLaren was fired after the team started out their first 72 games 25-47, since then he has managed three game with the Washington Nationals after his replacement from the Mariners Jim Riggleman resigned as manager. After the third game Davey Johnson replaced McLaren. 

So what do you think could have happened if Hargrove stayed to manage the rest of the year? We will never know, all we know is that the M's finished above .500 and since then have had only one winning season. Well, as a die hard Mariners fan I await the return of a manager that will lead this team from mediocrity and back into playoff contenders.  

Mariners in playoff contention?

July has seen the Seattle Mariners surge onto the spotlight......well sorta. The Mariners have started July out with a 5-3 record and in those eight games we've seen our fair share of homeruns, clutch hits, great plays, clutch pitching, and plenty of hits. In the last two games that the Mariners have played they have scored 19 runs including the 11 run massacre of the Red Sox on Monday. Right now they sit at 40-50 while being 13.5 games out of first place in the American League West standings and only 10.5 games out of the American League Wild Card. 

The way the Mariners have been playing this month we have also seen Justin Smoak and Michael Saunders get their swing back and Raul Ibanez continues his amazing season as he leads the team in homeruns and tied with Kendrys Morales for the team leader in RBIs with 51. Kyle Seager has been incredible (as always) in the last 10 games has he has posted a .410 batting average including his current 9 game hitting streak and he leads the team in batting average batting .288. Brad Miller last night had a career night as he went 3-5 with two doubles and a career high 4 RBIs and he also raised his batting average 75 points in the last two games.

Nick Franklin continues his amazing season as well, he is second on the team in batting average batting .281 and he's clubbed 6 homeruns while driving in 16 runs. Like I said in the first paragraph Smoak's bat has come alive, in the last 10 games he's batting .382 with 2 homeruns and 5 runs driven in, in the 10 games that Smoak has been heating up since he has come off the DL he's raised his average to an impressive .266 and currently this month he's hitting and unbelievable .423. Saunders's bat like I said in the paragraph above this one has also been heating up as over the last 4 games he has played he has gone 5 for 15 while driving in 6 runs and 3 of those 5 hits have been extra base hits including the triple he hit last night. 

Now, the Mariners have a big problem though currently and surprisingly its Hisashi Iwakuma. In Iwakuma's last 5 starts has gone 0-3 with a 6.83 ERA while giving up 10 homeruns and 22 runs all earned. Felix Hernandez is doing very well coming off his bad start in Anaheim as he has gone 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA in his last 3 starts while striking out 24 in 21 innings. Hisashi needs to get his stuff together and pitch like the Cy Young contender he was when he was 7-1 with a 1.79 ERA. Another concern for the Mariners is their bullpen, now not all of our relievers have been terrible for example Oliver Perez is making a name for himself as he has pitched in 36 games, 33.1 innings, while striking out 46 and posting a 1.89 ERA. 

Carter Capps has been struggling in his last 6 games that he has pitched. He has given up 14 runs and his ERA has risen from 3.54 to 6.62 while posting a 15.12 ERA in his last 10 games pitched. The Mariners need to make a decision to either send Capps down to Triple A for a bit and call up either Logan Bawcom or Hector Noesi. Now, all I've written about so far in this blog is the good and the bad about the team but as you can tell from the title of the blog that's not all I'm going to write about, the Mariners right now are having a good season. 

They've been hot in hitting the baseball in the last two weeks and if they can get together a good winning streak and come out in the second half red smoking hot they Mariners could possibly make a run for the Wild Card. The bullpen has to improve and not give up runs in clutch situations like last night when they gave up 5 critical runs to the Red Sox. Both Felix and Hisashi need to improve and go deep in games and work on keeping their pitch count down early in the games, Joe Saunders needs to continue his hot pitching as he is 2-0 in his last 2 starts, Aaron Harang needs to keep his hot streak going as well, and finally with Erasmo Ramirez coming up this Thursday he must go deep into ball games and pitch like he did in Spring Training.

If the Mariners can do all these things then fans will see either the M's finishing the season above .500 or see the M's make an impressive run to the playoffs.

A slugfest in Seattle

After last night's massacre the Mariners were looking to give their second All Star ace Hisashi Iwakuma his first win since June 10th when he beat the Houston Astros. Iwakuma got an easy 1-2-3 inning to start off the game, moving into the bottom of the first inning Nick Franklin was able to extend his hitting streak to three games with a one out single to center. With two outs Kendrys Morales extended the Mariners streak of hitting a homerun in consecutive games to 17 with a two-run homerun to put the M's up 2-0. Former Mariner David Ortiz lead off the top of the second inning with a long homerun to put the Red Sox first run on the board. Iwakuma had a tough second inning after the lead off homerun by Ortiz as Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Jose Iglesias singled with one out, Iwakuma was able to get out of the jam by Brock Holt to ground out and then striking out Jackie Bradley, Jr., Iwakuma ended up throwing 29 pitches in the second inning to put his pitch count to 40 after the inning ended.

Justin Smoak continued his hotstreak by leading off the bottom of the second with a single to center extending his hitting streak to three games, following that Michael Saunders drew a walk to put the first two batters on for the Mariners. After Mike Zunino struck out Dustin Ackley was able to draw the second walk in the inning to load up the bases with only one out, Brad Miller then came up and on the second pitch he saw lined a ball down the right field line to empty the bases, Miller's bases clearing double pushed the Mariners lead to 5-1 and that was all the M's got in the second. Iwakuma had another tough inning in the third but this time it would cost him dearly. With one out the Red Sox put together four straight hits with two two-run homeruns from Dustin Pedroia and Mike Napoli, the Sox got an extra run on a sacrifice fly by Holt that scored Saltalamacchia and after the third the Red Sox had a one run lead 6-5.

Morales only needed one pitch to tie the game back up at 6-6 as he drove his thirteenth homerun of the year and second of the game over the center field fence. Kyle Seager extended his hitting streak to nine games with a single to right field, Michael Saunders continued to have a hot bat as he drove one to deep center field to score Seager from first and Saunders slide into third safely for his second triple of the year and the Mariners took the 7-6 lead. Blake Beaven came into the fourth inning to relief Iwakuma and didn't start out very hot, on an 0-2 pitch he hit Daniel Nava and then walked Shane Victorino and after that Pedroia singled to right that allowed Nava to score and the Red Sox retied the game at 7-7. Beaven was able to get out of the inning without allowing another run by getting Ortiz to pop out and then striking out both Napoli and Saltalamacchia. The Red Sox were able to take the lead in the top of the fifth inning when Bradley drove one out into the right center field seats.

The Mariners wouldn't get another run until the bottom of the eighth inning but in the top of the eighth the Red Sox got an additional three runs. Victorino lead off the eighth by hitting his fourth homerun of the year and the fifth for the team then both Iglesias and Holt had RBI singles to put the Red Sox lead to 11-7. Miller drove in the Mariners final run of the game when he grounded into a force out as Saunders scored. After that the game was sealed after that as the Mariners couldn't muster up a rally to tie or win the game, Beaven took the loss in the game and Iwakuma had his shortest outing in his career. Aaron Harang will go out looking for his fifth win of the year and his fourth quality start in a row. Tonight's loss puts the Mariners back to 10 games under .500. Ibanez's 13 game hitting streak came to an end last night as he went 0-5.

Boston Massacre in Seattle

The Mariners came into tonight's game with their King on the mound. Felix went out looking for his first win in four starts. Felix did not struggle in the first inning as he only gave up the one out single to Jonny Gomes and following Gomes's single got Dustin Pedroia to ground into an inning ending double play. The Bellarmine Prep grad and Washington native John Lester took the mound for the Red Sox looking to get his ninth win of the year, he got the Mariners to go 1-2-3 while striking out two batters. David Ortiz lead off the top of the second inning for the Red Sox by singling to center, Felix got Mike Napoli to strikeout looking following him former Mariners outfielder and first basemen Mike Carp singled to put runners at first and second for the Red Sox. Felix didn't let the pressure get to him as usual, he got Jarod Saltalamacchia to line out to Raul in left and finished the inning by getting Jose Iglesias to strikeout swinging.

Both teams didn't score until the fourth inning. The Mariners began the bottom of the fourth inning on a great note, Kendrys Morales singled and following him Kyle Seager singled to right, on the single Morales was able to hustle into third and the M's had runners at the corners with nobody out. Lester was able to get Jason Bay to strikeout but after that it was all Mariners; Justin Smoak lined a double down the left field line that brought home the Mariners first run of the game and following Smoak's double Mike Zunino was able to draw a seven pitch walk. 

After a quick visit to the mound by the Red Sox pitching coach Michael Saunders was able to be patient and draw the bases loaded walk that put the Mariners up 2-0, Lester finally was able to get out of the inning by getting Brad Miller and Nick Franklin to pop out and if anyone was happy to get out of the was Lester as he threw 39 pitches in the inning. The Red Sox bounced back in the top of the fifth inning by getting two runs back to tie the game up.

Raul Ibanez lead off the bottom of the fifth inning by extending his hitting streak to 13 games by hitting his 22nd homerun of the year and putting the Mariners up 3-2. The Mariners had another big inning in the bottom of the sixth inning as Smoak and Zunino lead off the inning by singling, after that Lester exited the game and Alex Wilson came into relief him. Saunders was able to take a 2-0 pitch deep to center field that scored both Smoak and Zunino to put the Mariners lead to 5-2. After Miller and Franklin were unable to add to the lead Ibanez decided that he should be the one to do so, he singled up the middle driving in Saunders for his 51st RBI of the season. The Mariners weren't done there, the bottom of the seventh inning saw four more runs come across for the M's. 

Seager lead off the inning by walking, Smoak then drove in his second run of the game with his second double of the game as well. Saunders was able to get his second double of the game as well driving in Smoak on the play and the Mariners now took a 8-2 lead. Brad Miller got his first hit of the game as well and drove in the ninth run of the game and following that Franklin checked in with his first hit of the game and drove in Miller and after the bottom of the seventh inning the Mariners had a 10-2 lead.

Oliver Perez was brought in the top of the eighth to relief Felix and ended up giving up two additional runs. Going in the bottom of the eighth inning the Mariners weren't looking to score anymore runs but after Morales lead off by getting hit by a pitch, Seager walking and Smoak walking as well Zunino grounded out on a check swing that allowed Morales to score and the Mariners had an 11-4 lead after the eighth. Yoervis Medina came into the ninth inning and shut the door to secure the Mariners their 40th win of the year and Felix's first win since June 15th.

An All Star weekend

Well, just got back from Alaska and during my time in Alaska I managed to watch the Mariners games and keep up with writing my blogs. I guess that ill go over the last three days since I was too stupid not to write on Friday or Saturday. The Mariners were able to take the series from the Cincinnati Reds and go back to Seattle with a successful road trip going 4-2. On Friday the Mariners lead off the top of the first with Brad Miller tripling to start things off for the team, following that Nick Franklin took Reds pitcher Mike Leake deep to give the Mariners the early 2-0 lead. After Aaron Harang went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the first inning Michael Saunders lead off the top of the second inning by hitting his fifth homerun of the year putting the Mariners lead to 3-0.

 It was Saunders's first homerun since May 4th when he hit two homeruns. Saunders drove in his second run of the game by scoring Kyle Seager on a sacrifice fly to give the Mariners the 4-0 lead. In the top of the fifth inning Miller tripled for the second time in the game but the M's couldn't drive him in. The Reds scored their first run of the game when former Mariners player Shin-Soo Choo doubled to score Devin Mesoraco, then in the bottom of the sixth inning All Star Jay Bruce drove his fifteenth homerun of the year over the center field fence and the Reds now trailed 4-2. Oliver Perez came into the ninth inning to close the game and get the Mariners their 38th win of the year, with only throwing 11 pitches Perez struck out the side and the Mariners took game one of the three game series.

Game two was completely different and was not pretty to watch. For the second game in a row the Mariners got their first run of the game via the homerun thanks to Seager hitting his thirteenth homerun of the year and the M's took the 1-0 after the top of the first inning. Seager broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the third by scoring Miller on a sacrifice fly and the M's took the 2-1 lead. After that it was all Reds as they pounded the Mariners pitching staff for 13 runs. Matt Latos struck out 11 batters and the rest of the bullpen struck out an additional 3 batters. So now we move onto today, the Mariners lead off their third game in a row with a homerun as Franklin hit his sixth homerun of the year. Raul Ibanez also extended his hitting streak to 12 games. 

The Mariners got two additional runs in the top of the third as Justin Smoak hit his seventh homerun of the year and drove in Seager as well, so thanks to the Smoak Bomb the Mariners took the 3-0 lead. Tom Wilhelmsen came in the bottom of the ninth and closed the game while only throwing 7 pitches and the Mariners took the series from the Reds and come home to face the Boston Red Sox for a four game series and will also face the Los Angeles Angels for the final three games of the first half.

NOTES: Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma both were named to the American League All Star Team on Saturday.

Simply Seager sweet swing wins it in extras

Felix Hernandez took to the mound in yesterday's game against the Rangers looking for his first win in three decisions as he went up against Derek Holland. The Mariners wasted no time in putting up the first run of the ball game, as Jason Bay launched his eleventh solo homerun of the season to put the M's up 1-0. Holland finished off the top of the first by striking out both Nick Franklin and Raul Ibanez and by getting Kendrys Morales to ground out. Felix didn't wasted anytime as well as he struck out the first two batters he faced and got Adrian Beltre to fly out. After that both teams were really quiet through the next three and a half innings. The Mariners lead off the top of the second inning with a pair of singles by Kyle Seager and Justin Smoak but Holland worked out of the jam by getting Dustin Ackley to fly out, striking out Mike Zunino, and finally getting Brad Miller to fly out to end the top of the second inning.

A.J. Pierzynski lead off the Rangers half of the second inning by singling to left field, Felix then got Lance Berkman to line out to Bay for the first out of the inning following that he struck out Mitch Moreland for the second out of the inning. David Murphy was able to get a two out single that allowed Pierzynski to move to third but Leonys Martin grounded out to end the bottom of the second inning for the Rangers. Both Holland and Felix had an easy 1-2-3 third innings. In the fourth inning the Mariners were able to get two runners one in both Seager and Ackley, but were unable again to get the job done with runners in scoring position as Zunino struck out to end the top of the fourth. In the bottom of the fifth inning though the Rangers struck for their first runs of the game, Murphy lead off the inning by hitting his ninth homerun of the year, after Martin flew out Ian Kinsler took Hernandez deep for his eighth homerun of the year and the Rangers now took the lead 2-1 over the Mariners.

Ibanez lead off the top of the sixth inning by singling to left field, following Ibanez's single Morales singled to right field and the Mariners had their first two batters on to start off the inning. With one out Smoak drew a seven pitch walk that loaded up the bases for the Mariners but Ackley struck out to bring up Zunino. Zunino was looking to either tie the game up or give the M's the lead, Zunino did just that as he legged out an infield single to tie the game up at 2-2. Felix would keep the Mariners in the game by giving the team two more strong innings and would leave the game after the seventh inning. 

Both teams wouldn't have a single threat as the game went into the tenth inning. Michael Saunders drew a two out walk that brought up Seager, and on a 1-1 pitch Seager drove the ball into the right field seats for his twelfth homerun of the year and gave the Mariners the 4-2 lead. Tom Wilhelmsen was brought in to try and get his first save since the tenth of June. The Bartender did the job and got his seventeenth save of the year with a quick 1-2-3 inning.

Today the Mariners will try and go for their first sweep of the year as Hisashi Iwakuma goes to the mound for the M's.

Mariners turn up the heat in Texas

The Mariners came into Texas on a day of rest looking to start off a stretch of 13 games until the All Star break right. The Mariners started the game off with both Endy Chavez and Nick Franklin grounding out. Raul Ibanez took Justin Grimm deep for his 20th homerun of the season, following that Kendrys Morales went deep for the Mariners as well for his 10th homerun of the year took give the Mariners the early 2-0 lead. After the Mariners half inning Joe Saunders took to the mound and had an easy 1-2-3 inning, Grimm had a 10 pitch 1-2-3 inning in the top of the second inning. In the bottom of the second inning Adrian Beltre by singling into center field, Saunders was able to strikeout A.J. Pierzynski and Jurickson Profar and then finally Saunders got David Murphy to ground out to end the inning. 

The Rangers got their first run in the bottom of the third inning as the Rangers started things off by singling three times in a row and on the third single Elvis Andrus drove in Leonys Martin. Saunders was able to get out of the third by getting three huge outs in striking out Nelson Cruz, getting Beltre to ground into a force out and then finally getting Pierzynski to ground out to end the inning.

The Mariners began the top of the fourth inning off right as Kyle Seager doubled for the 23rd time this year, following Justin Smoak's four pitch walk Dustin Ackley doubled down the right field line that allowed Seager to score and put the Mariners lead to 3-1. In the top of the fifth inning Franklin began things off by singling and then Ibanez drew a walk that brought up Morales. Morales only looked at one pitch and drove that one pitch into the right field seats for a 3-run homerun and the Mariners took the 6-1 lead, that with that homerun Grimm was taken out and replaced by Ross Wolf. 

The top of the sixth saw the Mariners score an extra run with two outs. Endy Chavez and Nick Franklin both singled with two outs and Raul Ibanez walked to load up the bases to bring up Morales, he then singled softly to drive in both Chavez and Franklin for his sixth RBI of the game, but on that single Ibanez had a base running error and was thrown out to end the top of the sixth inning. So, the Mariners took the 8-1 lead.

In the top of the seventh inning Zunino drove in the Mariners ninth run after Seager started the inning by getting hit by a pitch and was moved over with two ground balls. Saunders was able to start off the bottom of the seventh inning by striking out Leonys Martin and got Ian Kinsler to ground out, but after that Elvis Andrus and Nelson Cruz singled which made Eric Wedge make the pitching change. Yoervis Medina would come in and try and get out of a jam that Saunders but on a passed ball that Zunino couldn't handle allowed Andrus to score from third, but Medina got Pierzynski to ground out to end the inning. Tom Wilhelmsen was brought in the ninth inning to get some work in, he was able to have a 1-2-3 inning. With this win the Mariners move to 36-47 and began the 13 game stretch off right.

Why have a Big 3?

Well, its my third day in Alaska and I turned to ESPN Radio and I had to endure listening to how Dwight Howard wants out of Los Angeles. It makes me laugh because ever since Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh got together to make up the Big 3 in Miami all NBA teams have been trying to get their own Big 3. Why bother? I mean it makes me laugh even harder that Los Angeles crashed and burned horribly with getting Howard, Steve Nash and Kobe for their Big 3. Their season began with them going 0-8 preseason and then started the regular season 1-4, following that head coach Mike Brown was fired after only 5 games and Mike D'Antoni replaced him as the full time head coach. Even though the Lakers made the playoffs the Big 3 didn't produce as well as LA fans hoped for. Nash, Howard, and Bryant all went down with injuries including Bryant's season ending Achilles tendon rupture.

Now, this list I'm posting is my Top 5 Big 3 in the NBA
5) Boston Celtics- Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo
4) Indiana Pacers- Roy Hibbert, Paul George, and George Hill
3) Los Angeles Clippers- Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan
2) New York Knicks- Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire, and J.R. Smith
1) Miami Heat- Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh

Now, this list doesn't have the Lakers on it. Why? Because right now Howard isn't on the Lakers and might now be on the Lakers this upcoming season. Also the Lakers Big 3 didn't play as well as I thought they would and I would rank them at #6. Now to tell you the truth I really don't think its a good idea that teams go out and get their own Big 3. I say that because if you pay three guys $20+ million dollars a year its going to eat up a lot of the salary cap and that prevents you from signing other good players. Now, the Miami Heat this year are an example of making the most of the remaining salary cap as they signed Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis, and signed Chris "Birdman" Anderson and won their second consecutive NBA Championship.

Now I can name a few teams that didn't have just a Big 3 but a whole team around one or two big stars. The Chicago Bulls won 6 championships with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Steve Kerr, Dennis Rodman, B.J. Armstrong, Ron Harper, Toni Kukoc, Luc Longley, Bill Cartwright, Will Perdue, Horace Grant, John Paxson, Craig Hodges, and Cliff Levingston. The 1995-96 Seattle Supersonics had Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, Nate McMillan, Detlef Schrempf, and Hershey Hawkins. There are plenty of other teams that didn't need a Big 3 to make the Finals or win championships. The point is that teams need to focus more on getting the better players and more on signing as many good players they can get for cheap change.