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.