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
Showing posts with label Willie Bloomquist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Willie Bloomquist. Show all posts
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Smoak's bat and glove helps beat the Rangers
Well, it was both College Night and Bearded Hat night at the ballpark last night. So, you have both college kids getting smashed in The Pen and people wanting probably the dumbest promotion the Mariners have had this season. There was a point during the game where the camera over The Pen went over and then went to a single fan who was actually watching the game.......sad huh? If these college kids are so smart then they really should have just gone to a bar if they didn't want to watch the Mariners game and just get drunk, but I'm getting off topic. The Mariners opened up a three game against the Texas Rangers......so for the second time the M's faced their Texas rivals and they really wanted to forget the last series against this team.
The Mariners decided since they walked things off two days ago, they would get back to their winning ways. Though at first they didn't seem to be in the winning mood, it just took them five innings to wake up their bats. Adrian Beltre got activated from the DL and Roenis Elias took to the mound looking for his 2nd win against the Rangers.
Robbie Ross, Jr., took to the mound for the Rangers and in the first two innings both pitchers look evenly matched. Elias ran into trouble in back-to-back innings, as the Rangers got a run in both the top of the third and fourth inning. I have to give Elias a great deal of credit, even though he had two tough innings the fourth inning was the toughest he had. Elias walked three in that inning and gave up an RBI double but with the bases loaded Elias went into Beast Mode. He struck out the next two batters he face to end the inning, so after four innings of work Elias was up to 73 pitches.
With the Rangers up 2-0 the Mariners got back both runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. With 2 outs Abraham Almonte and Willie Bloomquist were able to get on base, Robinson Cano drove in both runners with his first big hit at Safeco so the Mariners tied the game, but that tie wouldn't last long. Elias's night was done after allowing two more hits in the top of the sixth, so manager Lloyd McClendon brought in Dominic Leone to try and get out of the jam. Leone got out of the inning but threw a wild pitch that allowed Prince Fielder to score from third to put the Rangers back up 3-2.
Inning by inning went by until the game reached the bottom of the eighth inning, and most um "Mariner" fans were thinking "here we go again" and were already counting the Mariners out of this game. The Mariners though were still on their "comeback kid" hangover and wanted another one. Cano lead off the inning with his second hit of the ball game, following Corey Hart getting hit by a pitch Stefen Romero singled to load the bases up for the M's. After a mound visit by the Rangers, McClendon sent out Michael Saunders to pinch run for Hart. Justin Smoak entered the batter's box with a ton of pressure on his shoulders. Nobody out, bases loaded, and a chance to give his team the lead.
Smoak decided to not let the pressure get to him this time, with a full now on him Smoak lined one to left passed Michael Choice that made 31,145 fans go nuts as Cano and Saunders scored to put the Mariners up 4-3. After that the Mariners didn't look back as Kyle Seager drove in his 6th run in 2 games with an RBI single, the M's got one more run on a wild pitch that allowed Smoak to score and so the Mariners lead 6-3 going into the 9th.
Fernando Rodney was brought in to try and earn his fourth save of the season. With one out the Rangers got to Rodney. The Rangers loaded the bases after a fielder's choice, a single, and a hit batter so Rodney had some work to do. Rodney walked both Choice and Elvis Andrus to put the Rangers deficit to only one run, so here we went again. Rodney was saved though, as Smoak made the play of the night that literally saved the Mariners and Rodney as he dove for a line drive off Beltre. Smoak snagged it and touched first base for a game ending unassisted double play.
So, a nail biting night ends with the good guys winning it and officially starting a winning streak, which is at two games now. Though questions were made both before and after the game. For example Jason Churchill from 1090 "The Fan" AM questioned Lloyd McClendon's decision making as the manager of the team.
The Mariners decided since they walked things off two days ago, they would get back to their winning ways. Though at first they didn't seem to be in the winning mood, it just took them five innings to wake up their bats. Adrian Beltre got activated from the DL and Roenis Elias took to the mound looking for his 2nd win against the Rangers.
Robbie Ross, Jr., took to the mound for the Rangers and in the first two innings both pitchers look evenly matched. Elias ran into trouble in back-to-back innings, as the Rangers got a run in both the top of the third and fourth inning. I have to give Elias a great deal of credit, even though he had two tough innings the fourth inning was the toughest he had. Elias walked three in that inning and gave up an RBI double but with the bases loaded Elias went into Beast Mode. He struck out the next two batters he face to end the inning, so after four innings of work Elias was up to 73 pitches.
With the Rangers up 2-0 the Mariners got back both runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. With 2 outs Abraham Almonte and Willie Bloomquist were able to get on base, Robinson Cano drove in both runners with his first big hit at Safeco so the Mariners tied the game, but that tie wouldn't last long. Elias's night was done after allowing two more hits in the top of the sixth, so manager Lloyd McClendon brought in Dominic Leone to try and get out of the jam. Leone got out of the inning but threw a wild pitch that allowed Prince Fielder to score from third to put the Rangers back up 3-2.
Inning by inning went by until the game reached the bottom of the eighth inning, and most um "Mariner" fans were thinking "here we go again" and were already counting the Mariners out of this game. The Mariners though were still on their "comeback kid" hangover and wanted another one. Cano lead off the inning with his second hit of the ball game, following Corey Hart getting hit by a pitch Stefen Romero singled to load the bases up for the M's. After a mound visit by the Rangers, McClendon sent out Michael Saunders to pinch run for Hart. Justin Smoak entered the batter's box with a ton of pressure on his shoulders. Nobody out, bases loaded, and a chance to give his team the lead.
Smoak decided to not let the pressure get to him this time, with a full now on him Smoak lined one to left passed Michael Choice that made 31,145 fans go nuts as Cano and Saunders scored to put the Mariners up 4-3. After that the Mariners didn't look back as Kyle Seager drove in his 6th run in 2 games with an RBI single, the M's got one more run on a wild pitch that allowed Smoak to score and so the Mariners lead 6-3 going into the 9th.
Fernando Rodney was brought in to try and earn his fourth save of the season. With one out the Rangers got to Rodney. The Rangers loaded the bases after a fielder's choice, a single, and a hit batter so Rodney had some work to do. Rodney walked both Choice and Elvis Andrus to put the Rangers deficit to only one run, so here we went again. Rodney was saved though, as Smoak made the play of the night that literally saved the Mariners and Rodney as he dove for a line drive off Beltre. Smoak snagged it and touched first base for a game ending unassisted double play.
So, a nail biting night ends with the good guys winning it and officially starting a winning streak, which is at two games now. Though questions were made both before and after the game. For example Jason Churchill from 1090 "The Fan" AM questioned Lloyd McClendon's decision making as the manager of the team.
McClendon decided to put Cole Gillespie in the lineup against a left handed pitcher when he has had trouble against lefties in his career and Dustin Ackley has had great success against lefties. So, who would you rather start? Gillespie who hits better against righties or Ackley who hits better against lefties? I thought so. Also McClendon continues to favor Almonte for the lead off hitter role and all Almonte has done is strike out 32 times and posted a .215 batting average.....that's not lead off hitter material. Also tonight McClendon should think about who should be the closer for this team as Rodney had another rough save opportunity and has only had 1-2-3 appearance this season. In Rodney's 7.1 innings of work he has walked 6 batters.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Robinson Cano 2-4 R 2B 2 RBIs
Justin Smoak 1-3 R 2B 2 RBIs
Stefen Romero 2-4 R 2B
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Mariners tee off to sweep the Angels
The Mariners were unable to take batting practice today because of the weather, so they decided to take their batting practice during the game. The Mariners finished off their first sweep of the season of the Angels with an 8-2 win thanks to the strength of 3 home runs and a spectacular pitching performance by James Paxton. Justin Smoak added his second home run of the season late in the game and Corey Hart hit his first Mariner home run of the season right after Smoak. Stefen Romero added his first hit and RBI in the majors as he went 2-3 tonight. The Mariners also added 4 more 2-out RBIs giving them 18 for the season.
The game got off to a rough start for both starting pitchers. Hector Santiago made his Angels debut, but he began his night off by having difficulty locating his pitches as he walked Abraham Almonte and Robinson Cano. Although the Mariners would not score in the inning, Santiago managed to strike out Brad Miller and Smoak and got Hart to fly out to end the threat.
Paxton also had difficulty locating his pitches in the bottom of the first. Thankfully after giving up a lead off double to Kole Calhoun and walking Mike Trout, he got Albert Pujols to ground into a double play and then got David Freese to line out to Almonte to end the threat.
The Mariners would strike first in the top of the third inning. With two out Miller got things started with a hustling double, after that Cano singled up the middle and Miller hustled around to score to give Cano his first RBI as a Mariner. Things would be quiet for both teams for a couple innings. Paxton stole the show though. After a rough first inning he would strikeout 5 batters through the next 4 innings, and even though the home plate umpire had an inconsistent strike zone Paxton still found a way to strike guys out.
In the top of the fifth inning the Mariners would add another run to the box score. After Zunino lead off with a single and Willie Bloomquist walked Almonte grounded into a double play but Miller hit soft line drive to left which allowed Bloomquist to score. So the M's took a 2-0 lead after 5 innings.
The sixth inning was the big inning for the Mariners. After back-to-back singles by Smoak and Hart Angels manager Mike Scioscia came out to end Santiago's night. Fernando Salas was brought in to face Romero, who got his first MLB hit 2 innings ago, this time Romero decided to hit a laser down the left field line that scored Smoak and so the M's now had a 3-0 lead. After Ackley grounded out Zunino came up and blasted his first home run of the season and put the Mariners up 6-0.
Mariners would get two more runs in the top of the ninth inning with two outs. Smoak and Hart went back-to-back and the Mariners cushion on the Angels was now 8-0. Hector Noesi was brought in to finish the game for the M's, though his one inning of work wouldn't be easy as he gave up two runs but managed to get the last three outs to secure the Mariners first sweep of the season and their first sweep against the Angels since 2006.
The Mariners begin the season 3-0 for the first time since their "Refuse To Lose" 1995 season, they now will make the trip to Oakland for a four game match up against the defending AL West Champs.
Roenis Elias is set to make his major league debut in the series opener against the Athletics, he will face Jesse Chavez who is making his first start in the majors since June 24, 2012. The Mariners will look to continue their hot start in Oakland by continuing to drive in runs with two outs but the last time a Mariner pitcher made his MLB debut against the A's, Brandon Maurer got rocked for six runs so Elias will look to have a better outing than Maurer did.
Players of the Game: James Paxton 7 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 9 Ks
Mike Zunino 2-4 1 R HR 3 RBI
Justin Smoak 2-5 2 R HR 1 RBI
Corey Hart 2-5 2 R HR 1 RBI
NOTES: Mike Trout went 2-3 in last night's game whereas the rest of the Angels team went 1-26. Out of the 26 runs the Mariners scored in the 3 game series against the Angels 18 of them came with 2 outs. The Mariners also finished the series going 12-28 with runners in scoring position.
The game got off to a rough start for both starting pitchers. Hector Santiago made his Angels debut, but he began his night off by having difficulty locating his pitches as he walked Abraham Almonte and Robinson Cano. Although the Mariners would not score in the inning, Santiago managed to strike out Brad Miller and Smoak and got Hart to fly out to end the threat.
Paxton also had difficulty locating his pitches in the bottom of the first. Thankfully after giving up a lead off double to Kole Calhoun and walking Mike Trout, he got Albert Pujols to ground into a double play and then got David Freese to line out to Almonte to end the threat.
The Mariners would strike first in the top of the third inning. With two out Miller got things started with a hustling double, after that Cano singled up the middle and Miller hustled around to score to give Cano his first RBI as a Mariner. Things would be quiet for both teams for a couple innings. Paxton stole the show though. After a rough first inning he would strikeout 5 batters through the next 4 innings, and even though the home plate umpire had an inconsistent strike zone Paxton still found a way to strike guys out.
In the top of the fifth inning the Mariners would add another run to the box score. After Zunino lead off with a single and Willie Bloomquist walked Almonte grounded into a double play but Miller hit soft line drive to left which allowed Bloomquist to score. So the M's took a 2-0 lead after 5 innings.
The sixth inning was the big inning for the Mariners. After back-to-back singles by Smoak and Hart Angels manager Mike Scioscia came out to end Santiago's night. Fernando Salas was brought in to face Romero, who got his first MLB hit 2 innings ago, this time Romero decided to hit a laser down the left field line that scored Smoak and so the M's now had a 3-0 lead. After Ackley grounded out Zunino came up and blasted his first home run of the season and put the Mariners up 6-0.
Mariners would get two more runs in the top of the ninth inning with two outs. Smoak and Hart went back-to-back and the Mariners cushion on the Angels was now 8-0. Hector Noesi was brought in to finish the game for the M's, though his one inning of work wouldn't be easy as he gave up two runs but managed to get the last three outs to secure the Mariners first sweep of the season and their first sweep against the Angels since 2006.
The Mariners begin the season 3-0 for the first time since their "Refuse To Lose" 1995 season, they now will make the trip to Oakland for a four game match up against the defending AL West Champs.
Roenis Elias is set to make his major league debut in the series opener against the Athletics, he will face Jesse Chavez who is making his first start in the majors since June 24, 2012. The Mariners will look to continue their hot start in Oakland by continuing to drive in runs with two outs but the last time a Mariner pitcher made his MLB debut against the A's, Brandon Maurer got rocked for six runs so Elias will look to have a better outing than Maurer did.
Players of the Game: James Paxton 7 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 9 Ks
Mike Zunino 2-4 1 R HR 3 RBI
Justin Smoak 2-5 2 R HR 1 RBI
Corey Hart 2-5 2 R HR 1 RBI
NOTES: Mike Trout went 2-3 in last night's game whereas the rest of the Angels team went 1-26. Out of the 26 runs the Mariners scored in the 3 game series against the Angels 18 of them came with 2 outs. The Mariners also finished the series going 12-28 with runners in scoring position.
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About Me
Im a huge Seattle sports nut. Thats basically about me. But im an upcoming blogger who writes only about the Mariners, Seahawks, Sounders, and when they come back the Sonics. Now if you would like me to write about something tweet me and i will write it. Now i should mark that im also Irish and have a beard that is feared above Brian Wilson's beard. His beard can kiss my beard's ass!