Astros get Farq'd Mariners take the series

The Mariners were looking to end the drought of losing series after series to the Houston Astros today on Star Wars day. The Mariners did just that today, Danny Farqhuar was responsible this time for bailing the Mariners out of an Astros attempt at a comeback. So Twitter-verse invented a new hashtag......#MayTheFarqBeWithYou. And boy was the Farq with the Mariners and with Farqhuar himself. The Mariners were able to pull out the win and take the series from the Astros and improve their record to 14-15. Another positive about today's win was that the Mariners got some revenge on Collin McHugh, who earned his first MLB win off the Mariners while striking out 12.

The Mariners got off to a quick start in the top of the first inning. Michael Saunders continued his tear as lead off hitter with a lead off single to begin the game, and on a throwing error on a pick off by McHugh Saunders was able to scoot on down to third. Robinson Cano put the M's up 1-0 on a productive ground ball out for his 17th of the season. The Astros got a run back in the bottom of the second as Alex Presley homered off starter Brandon Maurer and so the game was nodded up at 1-1.

The top of the third the Mariners decided to get a couple runs back. Dustin Ackley started off the inning by drawing an eight pitch walk, John Buck followed Ackley's walk with his first double of the season and after Saunders struck out Willie Bloomquist delivered a nice 2-run double to put the Mariners back in front 3-1. Cano decided to get back into the RBI category by tripling home Bloomquist, and so the M's lead went up to 4-1. Corey Hart decided to get into both the hit and RBI category as well with his first hit of the game and put M's up 5-1.

The Mariners added an extra run in the top of the fourth when Saunders singled home Buck to put the Mariners lead to 5 runs, Buck was able to get a one out double before Saunders singled him home. Maurer though had a tough bottom of the fourth. After getting the first two batters out the Astros strung together a couple hits including a 2-run double by Chris Carter but was able to get the next batter out. Ackley would drive in a run in the top of the fifth, the Mariners would load the bases thanks to a single, a walk, and Stefen Romero getting hit by a pitch. Ackley would draw the M's second bases loaded walk in the series and so the Mariners lead got pushed to 7-4. The Astros got an extra run in the bottom of the fifth thanks to Jonathan Villar.

Maurer's day was done after the fifth inning so manager Lloyd McClendon went to the bullpen again and had to put his faith in his bullpen for the third day in a row.

The M's would get their final run in the top of the eighth inning. After a lead off double by Romero and Ackley moving him over with a productive out John Buck got his third hit of the ball game and drove in Romero to put the Mariners lead to 8-4. Charlie Furbush was brought into the bottom of the eighth and was taken out after giving up two straight hits. Farqhuar was then brought in to not only get out of the inning but to also try and earn a rare 6 out save. Marc Krauss singled on the first pitch Farqhuar threw, that allowed Jason Castro and Matt Dominguez to come around to score.

Farqhuar was able to settle down and get the next three batters out. He would give up a run in the bottom of the ninth but was able to shut the Astros down and secure the win, the save, and the series for the Mariners. The Mariners now will head to Oakland for a 4 game series against the first place A's, including a double header on Wednesday. After the game Abraham Almonte was optioned to Tacoma, no one has yet to be called up but we could see the M's getting a reliever to help out their tired bullpen.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME: John Buck 3-4 2 2B 2 R RBI
                                         Robinson Cano 2-5 3B R 2 RBI
                                         Danny Farqhuar 2 IP 2 K 1 R 1 ER SV

Mariners win but bullpen comes close to blowing it

The day after Houston suffered both victory and defeat from walking off the Mariners to Damian Lillard sending the Rockets home what could top that? How about a roller coaster ride win? That's exactly what happened to the Mariners today, it was in my opinion one of the ugliest wins of the season. With Hisashi Iwakuma making his 2014 debut the Mariners were aiming to get him his first win of the season, they got him the win but boy did it not come easy. This game I think saw my blood pressure raise to its highest its ever been, thank God I didn't have a stroke.

Kuma looked like he brought his A game today as he got through the first two innings with only throwing 20 pitches and striking out one, but the third saw the Astros get to him. Marwin Gonzalez and Jonathan Villar strung together back-to-back hits and Jose Altuve hit a sacrifice fly to put the Astros up 2-0 early in the ball game. The Mariners got a run back in the top of the sixth, Stefen Romero lead off the inning with just missing a home run by a matter of inches but was still able to leg out his first triple of his career. Robinson Cano drove in Romero with a line drive single to left to put the M's on the board.

The Mariners in the top of the seventh would see the team show great plate discipline, being patient at the plate, and being aggressive as well and scored 8 runs. Justin Smoak and Cole Gillespie drew back-to-back walks and so Brad Miller now had a job to do, get the bunt down to move the runners over. After chopping at one pitch and fouling off another Miller worked a walk by showing great discipline, and so the bases were full of Mariners. Bo Porter made his way out to the mound to talk with his starter Dallas Keuchel and following the mound visit catcher Jason Castro made his way back out to the mound, and that set manager Lloyd McClendon off.

McClendon had a decent argument as Porter and Castro were stalling for time and quiet frankly that's just messed up. So after McClendon was ejected Porter made his happy butt back out to the mound to make a pitching change, so Jose Cisnero was brought in to try and get out of this jam. Didn't happen. Mike Zunino drew the fourth walk in a row that brought home Smoak to tie the game up at 2-2. Michael Saunders continued to make the most of being the lead off hitter and doubled home two more in Gillespie and Miller and so the Mariners took the 4-2 lead. Romero drove in the 5th run of the ball game for the M's with an RBI single.

Cano added another run with his second RBI single of the game, following another pitching change by the Astros Kyle Seager extended his hitting streak to 8 games with an RBI double to make it 7-2. So, here we are two outs and Smoak making his second plate appearance of the inning and he decides to drive the first pitch he sees onto the train tracks at Minute Maid Park.......so he basically destroyed it and put the Mariners up 9-2.

So after a 30 minute break, Kuma came out in the seventh and was not sharp. Chris Carter continued to destroy Mariner pitchers as he hit a one out solo home run to put the Astros down by 6 runs. With two outs though Kuma gave up a single to Gonzalez so the M's decided to go to the bullpen and Dominic Leone was brought in. Leone was not sharp either, as he gave up a two home run to Villar and so the Astros now trailed by 4 runs. Altuve drew a walk and after stealing second Dexter Fowler drove him in, so now this game turned around for the Astros real quickly as they now trailed by just 3 runs. Leone was relieved by Joe Beimel.

Beimel was able to get the final out in the inning and would pitch to one more batter in the eighth before being relieved by Yoervis Medina. Medina though did not have his stuff either. Medina would get one out but then would have trouble, giving up 2 runs. So since Medina couldn't get the job done, Fernando Rodney would be brought in to try and stop the bleeding. Rodney not only stopped the bleeding but he also earned his seventh save of the season and saved his team from completing a total meltdown.

NOTES: Saunders has been making the most of his time as the lead off hitter. He has batted .385 since becoming the lead off hitter and has raised his batting average to .250. Seager has also been on a tear since his two home run game against the Astros one week ago, he has raised his batting average from .156 to .237 during his 8 game hitting streak.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Fernando Rodney 1.1 IP 0 H 2 K SV
                                         Justin Smoak 2-3 2 R HR 2B BB 2 RBI
                                         Michael Saunders 2-5 R 2B 2 RBI
                                         Robinson Cano 2-5 R 2 RBI
                                           

Seager ends the M's losing streak and beats the Astros

What is better than an afternoon at the ballpark with your family? How bout a walk off losing streak ending win by the Mariners? That's was what took place at Safeco Field today in front of 13,739 fans who turned out to watch the Mariners end the 2nd longest losing streak by any team in the majors this year. Chris Young took to the mound today looking to earn his first win of the season and go deep into the ball game to rest the bullpen as well.

Young's day started off pretty well as he went 1-2-3 in the first inning. Though in the top of the third inning is where he got into trouble. After walking the lead off hitter he got the next two batters out, so it looked like Young was going to get out of the third with no damage........*BUZZ* WRONG!!!!! Young walked Dexter Fowler and following that the Astros only All Star from last year Jason Castro doubled that drove in Matt Dominguez and Fowler. So, the Astros lead 2-0 after the third inning and that meant thanks to the eight game losing streak all the "faithful" Mariner fans said "That's it games over".

Thankfully those Mariner fans were proven wrong. But getting back to the recap of today's game. The Mariners had a one threat going in both the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings but were turned away both times. In the fourth with one out Robinson Cano extended his hitting streak to four games with a one out single and then Corey Hart walked. Justin Smoak though came through not in the good way but in his usual "we have a scoring opportunity so ill screw it up" way by grounding into one his trademark double play inning killers. Then in the bottom of the fifth the M's got their first two hitters on base. First Kyle Seager drew a nice six pitch walk and then Nick Franklin snapped an 0 for 13 stretch with a single, so you figure that Lloyd McClendon would have Ackley bunt the runners over........*BUZZ* WRONG AGAIN!!!!

Instead Ackley looked at two strikes then grounded into a double play, following him Mike Zunino popped out to end what could have been a possible scoring inning for the Mariners. Young was at 97 pitches after the sixth inning but headed out to pitch the seventh and I have to give him credit for keeping the M's in the game. Chris Carter though hit his second home run of the season and put the Astros lead to 3-0. So, after the seventh inning the Mariners trailed 3-0, Chris Young's day was done, and they were nine out away from being swept by the Astros and pushing their losing streak to nine games.

With one out in the bottom of the seventh inning Smoak got on with a bloop single to left, so Seager came up looking to help his team out. He did and in a big way, Seager blasted his first homer of the season and really put a positive charge in his team as they were now down by only a run. In both the eighth and ninth inning the Mariners bullpen had to be put to work. First was Charlie Furbush. After Charlie got the first two Astro hitters out he walked Jesus Guzman and gave up a single to Alex Presley, so the Astros were threatening to score again and the man to face Furbush with two one would be Carter. Furbush though showed no signs of fear as he struck out Carter to end the threat.

Fernando Rodney was called in the ninth to keep the game at a one run game. Rodney got the job done but it took him some time to do it as he threw 28 pitches to get out of the ninth.

So here we go again, the Astros brought in former Mariner Josh Fields to close things out. Cano lead off the inning with a nice blooped single and Corey Hart extended his hitting streak to six games as he lined a single down the left field line. So with two on and nobody out Justin Smoak had a shot to win this game......didn't happen though. Smoak went down swinging and so the M's were down to their final two outs. Smoak however would be the final out, as Seager stepped in with already a home run under his belt, he swung at the first pitch he saw from Fields and it was a no-doubter walk off home run.

The Mariners losing streak is finally over!!!! Man have I waited to say that for a whole damn week. After today's win me and a lot of other Mariner fans were like Lou Brown in Major League 2 "I LOVE THIS $%^ AND I MAY MOVE TO ENGLAND!!!!"

The M's have the day off tomorrow and its a much needed one. Though during this upcoming day off manager Lloyd McClendon needs to make some changes to this lineup, such as taking Abraham Almonte out of the lead off role as Almonte after today leads the majors in strikeouts with 33. If you see here on Sodo Mojo my co-host from Mariners Talk podcast says that Seager should be moved into the lead off role and that Almonte should be the #2 hitter.

Again the M's have a day off tomorrow and will face the Texas Rangers for a 3 game series starting on Thursday. After the day off we may see Cole Gillespie get a call up.....you never know.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Kyle Seager 2-3 2 HR 5 RBIs 2 R BB
                                         Robinson Cano 2-4 R
                                         Chris Young 7 IP 3 R 3 ER 6 K 5 BB

SeaTalk Intenitonal Podcast Mariners Talk Episode 3

http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-129537/TS-852261.mp3

The Fresh Prince shines in his debut

Tonight was the night of all nights. Taijuan Walker's major league debut and he was brilliant to start off his career. Walker went 1-2-3 in the first two innings and retired the first 8 batters before giving up a double to Jonathan Viller, on a ground ball to Brad Miller Justin Smoak failed to catch the relay and on the error Viller scored and the Astros took the 1-0 lead. The Astros didn't have the lead for long though, after Kendrys Morales and Smoak walked Dustin Ackley tied things up with a single to right and then Abraham Almonte (who was also making his MLB debut) was able to beat out the attempted double play and the M's took the 2-1 lead.

In the top of the fifth inning the Mariners gave Tai some more runs. After Brad Miller lead things off by singling and then stealing a base, Kyle Seager drove him in with a single to put the M's up 3-1, Ackley added two more runs to the scoreboard with a 2-run single to center and so Ackley not only helped out his average but helped out the team by putting them up 5-1. Walker's final inning of work went by quick, he only needed 11 pitches to go 1-2-3 again , Walker finished the night with 2 strikeouts and only threw 70 pitches. Carter Capps was brought into the bottom of the sixth inning and went 1-2-3 in both that inning and in the bottom of the seventh inning as well. 

In the top of the eighth Dustin Ackley's hot night continued as he hit a one out triple, following that Abraham Almonte got his first major league hit and his second RBI of the game with a single and the Mariners pushed their lead to 6-1. Charlie Furbush took the mound in the top of the eighth and went 1-2-3, both the Mariners starting pitching and bullpen was on their A-game tonight. In the top of the ninth inning Ackley added one more hit and RBI to his amazing night and put the M's up one more run 7-1, in addition Ackley pushed his average in August to .403. 

Oliver Perez finished things off for the Mariners and secured Taijuan Walker's first major league win in his debut. Perez though almost had his head taken off by a line drive single by L.J. Hoes. Perez was ok except for having to change his shorts after the game. So, the Mariners won their second game in a row and their 61st game of the year. Tomorrow the M's will try and win the series as they will send Joe Saunders out to the mound. 

NOTES: Today the Mariners traded away Mike Morse to the Baltimore Orioles for outfielder Xavier Avery and also optioned Erasmo Ramirez to Tacoma as a paper move. 

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. 

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.

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.