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.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Monday, July 22, 2013
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.
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.
Sunday, July 21, 2013
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.
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.
Friday, July 19, 2013
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.
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.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
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.
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.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
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.
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.
Friday, July 12, 2013
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.
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.
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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!