Ibanez Grand-Slam, 6 RBI’s in 7th leads M’s Attack

Mariners 11, Twins 6

Monday August 4, 2008 : The Minnesota Twins owning the best record in baseball over the month and a half, were cruising along going into the bottom of the sixth with a 6-0 lead.  All signs indicated the Twins were on their way to an easy victory against the slumping M’s lineup.

Not so fast.

The M’s got one back in the 6th when Jose Vidro grounded into a double-play but scored Adrian Beltre from third to cut the lead to 6-1.  Glen Perkins was still feeling confident with five-run cushion, and the Twins decided to leave him out there for the 7th.  That’s when the wheels came off for Perkins.

After a Kenji Johjima single to lead it off, Ichiro Suzuki drew a walk followed by a Willie Bloomquist single to right to load them up for Raul Ibanez.  Ibanez hit the second Perkins pitch over the right field wall for a Grand-Slam to suddenly put the Mariners down by only a run with nobody out in the inning.  Minnesota pulled Perkins after the home-run for Brian Bass.  Beltre smacked a double off of Bass, followed by a Jose Lopez RBI single, and just like that we are tied at 6.  That would be it for Bass as he gave way to Craig Breslow to try to stop the bleeding.  The nightmare for the Twinkies as Lopez moved to second base on a passed ball to move the go-ahead run into scoring position.  Breslow forced a Vidro pop out before walking Miguel Cairo. Breslow then promptly got yanked for Matt Guerrier.

Whew, taking a deep breath to continue.  First and second with one out.  Still the 7th.

Jeff Clement hit Guerrier’s fist pitch to right for an RBI single scoring Lopez from 2nd to give Seattle a 7-6 lead.  Cairo went to third base, and Clement advanced to second on a throwing error.  Safeco was rockin!  You knew it was all going right for Seattle when Yuniesky Betancourt reached on an infield single scoring Cairo and Clement to make it 9-6.  A bad throw to first to by Brendan Harris to try to get Betancourt helped Clement score and move Betancourt to 2nd.  Minnesota intentionally walked Ichiro, bofre Guerrier walked Bloomquist to load up the bases for the second time in the inning for Ibanez.  Ibanez smacked a single up the middle scoring Betancourt and Ichiro.  Bloomquist tried to score as a throw got away at third base but was thrown out at home to end the craziest Mariner inning of the year.  Seattle 11, Minnesota 6.

The six RBI’s in one inning for Ibanez was a team record for one inning passing Ken Griffey Jr.’s five he had in 1999 at the Kingdome. 

Pitching notes:

Miguel Batista got slugged for six runs on seven hits and walking four over three innings of work.  He appears to just have completely lost the ability to get batters consistently out.

Jake Woods pitched a decent outing throwing three innings in relief striking out four, while walking four, but allowing no runs. 

Roy Corcoran (2-0) was probably surprised to pick up his second big league win as he left the mound down by 5, and suddenly had had the lead when Cesar Jimenez took the bump in the 8th.  Jimenez and Mark Lowe pitched perfect 8th and 9th innings respectively to round out the win.

I’m sure the Twins can’t wait for tomorrow’s game so they can put that mess of a game tonight behind them. Tomorrow nights contest will see R.A. Dickey (3-6) against Scott Baker (7-3) at 7:10 PT at Safeco.  Lets see if the M’s can win three straight. 

Mariners Blog

Game 3 – Sunday August 3, 2008

Mariners 8, Orioles 4

“My oh my!” the Mariners gave long time broadcaster and recent hall-of-fame nominee Dave Niehaus some offense on his ceremonial day at the ballpark.  Every time the Orioles tried to respond to the Mariner offense, Seattle slugged runs right back en route to an 8-4 win.

The offense got three runs in the bottom of the seventh fueled a Raul Ibanez two-run single off Jamie Walker. Ibanez finished with three RBI on the day helping the Mariners avoid the sweep.  Seattle’s big seventh was thanks to Baltimore starter Daniel Cabrera, who lost his control as he walked Bryan LaHair and Yuniesky Betancourt between a Jeff Clement infield single.  Ichiro Suzuki reached on a fielding error putting a run in for Seattle setting the table for the big hit by Ibanez to cushion the Seattle lead.  Clement’s RBI single in the 8th added some extra insurance for the Mariner relief staff.

J.J. Putz (3-4) picked up the win as he pitched his best game since coming off the DL.  J.J. worked the end of the 7th and the pitched all of the 8th allowing only one hit.  Putz acknowledged feeling better and hopes he is giving the team more confidence in him so they can convert Brandon Morrow to a starter by the end of the season.  Speaking of Morrow he pitched a scoreless 9th to nail down the win.

Other notes:

Jose Lopez hit a solo shot in the 6th for his 9th home-run of the season.

Betancourt’s walk in the 7th inning was only his seventh walk of the season.

The Mariners will begin a three game series tomorrow night at 7:10 PT against the Minnesota Twins.  Miguel Batista (4-11) will face Glen Perkins (8-3).

Mariners Blog

Game 2 – Saturday August 2, 2008

Orioles 3, Mariners 1

The Seattle Mariners continued their knack for making opposing pitching look like All-stars as Jeremy Guthrie had his turn through the M’s inconsistent offense for a complete game 3-1 victory Saturday at Safeco.

Guthrie (8-8) allowed only four hits and one run, while walking only one batter in nine innings of work needing only 106 pitches to get the win.

Adam Jones continued his good play against his former mates scoring two of Baltimore’s three runs with a 3-for-5 day at the dish.  Jones scored on a Melvin Mora double in the first inning, as well as an Aubrey Huff RBI single in the 7th.  Jones has been on a tear over the last month as Seattle has to be kicking themselves over the Erik Bedard trade.

Seattle scored its lone run thanks to back-to-back doubles by Jeremy Reed, and Raul Ibanez all the way back in the first inning.  Reed’s run on the Ibanez hit was the only offense of the night.

Jose Lopez saw his 19-game hitting streak come to an end thanks to a great grab by Jay Payton.  Lopez finished the day 0-for-4.

Felix Hernandez (7-7) picked up the loss.  It wasn’t really his fault since the team gave him no help.  Felix struck out six over five innings of work allowing two runs on eight hits walking two.  Lefty Jake Woods pitched a scoreless inning in the 9th as he was called up prior to the game to take the roster spot of Arthur Rhodes.

Tomorrow will be Dave Niehaus day at the ballpark.  The M’s will try to avoid the sweep with struggling Carlos Silva (4-12) throwing against hard throwing Daniel Cabrera (7-6) at 1:05 PT.

Mariners Blog

Game 1 – Friday August 1, 2008

Orioles 10, Mariners 5

Garrett Olson pitched eight scoreless innings and the Oriole bats picked up eight runs in the top of the 5th to help the O’s cruise past the M’s 10-5.

The oft rumored Jarrod Washburn got rocked for six earned runs on nine hits over 4.2 innings of work.  It appeared Washburn’s focus was altered a little after he was not dealt at the deadline.

Former Mariner Adam Jones picked up two-RBI in theballgame going 2-for-6, and Jay Payton picked up 3 RBI on the day with a triple in the 5th.  Surprsingly, none of the runs scored by either team were the result of home-runs.

Trailing 10-0 late, the Mariners picked up all their runs in the 9thas they picked up a season-high seven hits in the inning.  The M’s loaded the bases with three singles in the inning off of Olson who was attempting to pitch a complete game.  Kenji Johjima and Jeremy Reed had RBI singles, and Ichiro Suzuki picked up an RBI on a fielders choice ground-out.  Willie Bloomquist and Bryan LaHair added RBI singles to cut the lead in half, but the rally ended on an Adrian Beltre fly out.

Other Mariner notes:

Jose Lopez extended his hit streak to 19 games as he went 2-for-3 and raised his batting average to .306.

Ichiro was acknowledged before the game for his 3,000th hit he recorded against Texas.  GM Lee Pelekoudis and CEO Howard Lincoln presented Ichiro with a plaque as well as the base he stole for his team record 290th stolen base in May of this season.

The Mariners decided to play today’s game one player short on the active roster for the second straight game.  Manager Jim Riggleman said the player to be brought up will be a reliever.  He said they have three players in mind, but might wait a week or so to make a decision.

Wladimir Balentien continues to make a strong bid for a call-up as he went 3-for-5 with a home-run and five RBI for Tacoma against Round Rock last night. 

Erik Bedard is expected to play catch Sunday at Safeco.

Game 2 at 7:10 PT tomorrow night will see Felix Hernandez (7-6) vs. Jeremy Guthrie (7-8)

Mariners Blog

Game 4 – Thursday July 31, 2008

Mariners 8, Rangers 5

The Mariners players could finally relax for Thursday’s game against the Texas Rangers.

The trade deadline came and went on Thursday and the team remained intact minus the trade of relief pitcher Arthur Rhodes to the Florida Marlins.  It has been a stressful season full of uncertainty for many players on the roster.  At least now they know they are staying a little longer.

The Mariners got a strong performance by knuckleballer and former Ranger R.A. Dickey on Thursday to pick up an 8-4 victory in Arlington.  Dickey had his signature knuckler dancing going 7.2 innings allowing six hits and only two runs.  It took till the 8th inning til Javier Vazquez hit a two-run home-run to get the Rangers on the board.

Raul Ibanez was one of the rumored players expected to potentially be dealt today.  Ibanez was reportedly close to being dealt to the Toronto Blue Jays earlier in the day until Seattle decided to back out of the deal.  Ibanez showed the M’s they made the right choice hitting an RBI double in the first, followed by a fielders choice RBI by Adrian Beltre to quickly put the M’s up 2-0.

The Mariners stayed hot in the second and got two more runs.  Catcher Jamie Burke reached base on an error and eventually scored on an RBI double by Ichiro Suzuki.  Ichiro would then score on Texas starter Matt Harrison’s wild pitch to put the M’s up 4-0. 

Seattle got more help in the 4th as Miguel Cairo scored on a fielders choice RBI from the bat of Jeremy Reed.  Bryan LaHair then scored on an Ichiro sacrifice fly to give the M’s the big 6-0 lead. 

In the 8th, Adrian Beltre blasted his 19th dinger of the year off of Texas reliever Dustin Nippert to increase the lead to 8-0.  Jose Lopez immediately followed with a single to extend his career-best hitting streak to 18 games.

The Vazquez homer in the bottom half ruined Dickey’s bid for his second career shutout.  The Rangers made it interesting in the 9th as they combined to score three more runs off of Mark Lowe and J.J. Putz, but it wasn’t enough as the M’s held them off.

The Mariners will return back home tonight as they begin a three game set against the Baltimore Orioles and former Mariners Adam Jones and George Sherrill.  The red hot Jarrod Washburn (5-9) will take the ball against Garrett Olson (7-5) for the birds.

With the Rhodes trade going down while Seattle was on the road, they chose not to fly a man to Arlington to replace Rhodes on the active roster.  The Mariner 25-man roster currently sits at 24 players, so expect a new Mariner to be called up for tomorrow nights game.

Mariners Blog

Game 3 – Wednesday July 30, 2008

Rangers 4, Mariners 3

In the 8th inning of the contest with his club in a 3-3 tie, Arthur Rhodes took the hill for maybe his last time as a Seattle Mariner.  Rhodes sure went out with a bang. 

The lefty reliever got his first batter out as he forced Frank Catalanotto to ground out to short.  Then hit some trouble as he walked three straight batters to load the bases.  Rhodes showed noticeable disatisfaction after coming out on the bad end of two questionable calls on 3-2 counts.  Michael Young entered the game as a pinch-hitter with the bases loaded and hit a sacrifice-fly to score the go-ahead run to make it 4-3.  And shortly after is when Rhodes lost it.  Riggleman came out to the mound to give Rhodes the hook and as he was coming out began yelling at home plate umpire Paul Nauert and was promptly tossed from the game.  Ultimately Youngs sac-fly was the deciding run of the game as Texas won by a score of 4-3.

The game started out nicely for Seattle as they put up two runs in the top of the 2nd inning on RBI singles by Willie Bloomquist and Jeremy Reed.  But Texas answered right back in the bottom half with solo shots by Josh Hamilton and Brandon Boggs.

Jose Lopez extended his hitting streak to 17 games on an RBI single in the 5th to put the M’s up 3-2. 

The other night Kenji Johjima threw out Ramon Vazquez at third in a tight spot.  But tonight with runners on first and third and two down, a Johjima errant throw on a Boggs steal attempt scored David Murphy to tie the game at 3-3.  After the Michael Young sac-fly in the 8th, C.J. Wilson came in and nailed it down in the 9th for his 24th save of the season.

It was a much better outing for Miguel Batista as he actually went deeper into a ballgame for once as he allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits, striking out three in six innings of work.  The loss for the M’s dropped them to 40-67, worst in the AL.

The series finale tomorrow night will be another 8:05 PT start featuring R.A. Dickey (2-6) against Matt Harrison (2-1).  With the 4:00 eastern time trading deadline tomorrow, will we see some new faces in the M’s lineup?

Mariners Blog

Game 2- Tuesday July 29, 2008

Rangers 11, Mariners 10

It sure has been tough to be a Mariner fan this season.  Tuesday night’s see roller-coaster against Texas was wild from start to finish.  This game had everything good and bad in all different aspects of the game.  It even had a little history as Ichiro Suzuki picked up his 3,000th professional hit in the first inning.  Congrats to Ichiro!

Ramon Vazquez hit a two-run double in the bottom of the ninth to win it for the Texas avoiding blowing a huge seven run lead after the 3rd inning.  Vazquez had three errors on the night and was responsible for blowing the one-run lead Texas held in the top of the 9th, but perseveered at the plate to get his team the victory.

The Good and the bad :

Texas

• The Good : The Rangers offense

Texas hammered Mariner starter Carlos Silva (who hasn’t?) for six runs on seven hits in 2.1 innings.  The game appeared as batting practice to Ranger hitters as they  pummeled his pitches all over the field.  Roy Corcoran didn’t fair much better getting hit up for three runs on six hits in 3.2 innings.  J.J. Putz surrendered two runs on three hits in 0.1 innings for the blown save and loss in the 9th.  

 CBS Sports:

• The Bad : The Rangers defense

The Rangers pitching wasn’t very good, but it was their defense that made them look even worse.  Texas committed a season-high five errors on the night as Ramon Vazquez committed three alone.  They allowed the Mariners back into a game that they trailed 7-0.  Yes the Mariners did hit well, but innings were constantly extended because of poor defensive play.

Seattle

• The Offense

Trailing 7-0, the M’s showed a lot of guts for one of the leagues worst teams fighting and scratching to get back into the game.  Good to see them packing it in yet even if the Rangers defense was trying to cover the point spread. 

Bryan LaHair and Jose Lopez both homered for the second straight night.  LaHair may have been the player of the game for Seattle.  His performance has been encouraging since his call-up.  Lopez has now hit safely in 16 games.  But overall, errors or no errors, The Mariners took advantage when they had a chance and gave their team a chance to win in the M’s best comeback of the season.

CBS Sports:

The Bad : Jim Riggleman

Can i just say “Bad Riggleman, bad!”  I give manager Jim Riggleman the dog-like nose slap for using J.J. Putz to close tonight.  I know that the M’s aren’t playing for much and maybe they want to see what they have in Putz to figure out a direction to go in the future, but give the ball to Bombtrack (Brandon Morrow) there.  Putz later or in a few weeks.  What are you saving Morrow for? You aren’t going to start him, so use him, especially against the Ranger bats. They threw Putz out there for the save when he hasn’t shown anybody he is ready yet.  This is the type of moves that get the Mariners in trouble.  Its like they feel bad that J.J. lost his job to injury so they run him out there when the kid has out performed him.  Nice guys finish last Riggleman/McLaren, and thats why you are where you are.  And spare me the J.J Putz was amazing last year line.  Eric Gagne was great once too.  The Closer spot is about performance and confidence, Putz has obviously lacked in both categories this season healthy or not.  Being a closer is a “what are you doing for me now?” postion. To win the game.  Not for charity, or to make veterans feel better. 

• The Ugly – Calros Silva

Carlos Silva still has three years remaining on his deal after this season.  I wonder if the reason that Jarrod Washburn is still a Mariner is because they are afraid of this guy being in there rotation next year (just kidding..sort of).  The M’s are still on the hook for a ton of his contract and are stuck with him.  He came into this season known as a “ground-ball pitcher”.  The only ground balls he is forcing are the ones he is throwing on the ground when he gets pulled within the first few innings of ballgames.

So much for that “Texas heat” helping Silva’s back Mariners.com.  If he is hurt DL him.  We are all getting sick of Riggleman’s/McLaren’s excuses for his poor pitching performances.  This includes Miguel Batista as well.  If they are hurt, get them out of there.

Game 3 on Wednesday will be Miguel Batista vs. Vicente Padilla at 8:05 PT.  Lets hope the M’s don’t make us cry.

Mariners Blog

Game 1, Monday July 28, 2008

Mariners 7, Rangers 5

Trade Beltre? Please.  Adrian Beltre showed everyone why he is currently the Mariners best all-round player as he hit two big home-runs to lift Seattle over Texas Monday night in a sticky 101 degree game.  Beltre homered in the first inning to give his team the lead, and then hit the big 8th inning homer to put his team up for good as he made the score 6-5.  In the bottom of the 8th inning, the Rangers had runners on second and third with RBI leader Josh Hamilton at the plate with one out. Kenji Johjima and Beltre teamed up to pick off Ramon Vazquez who was leaning a little too far down the line.  Johjima through a strike down to Beltre who blocked the front of the bag with his foot to pick off Vazquez.  Arthur Rhodes then got the strike-out getting the big hitting Hamilton to end the threat. 

Bryan LaHair hit his first major league home-run in the second, and Raul Ibanez also homered in the 6th to lead to power surge for the Mariners second straight win.

Sean Green (3-3) notched the win as he came in for Felix Hernandez and picked up the last out in the seventh.  Brandon Morrow pitched the ninth for his 10th save as he finally had a save opportunity, and got to take advantage.  Hernandez on the day allowed six hits and four runs over six innings, striking out six and walking four.

Ichiro Suzuki is now one hit shy of his 3,000 “professional” hit going 1-for-4 with an RBI sacrifice fly in the 9th.  Jose Lopez extended his hitting streak to 15 games going 2-for-4 with a double. 

Carlos Silva (4-12) is expected to take the mound on Tuesday night after missing his last scheduled start.  Luis Mendoza (2-4) takes the ball for the Rangers at 5:05 PT.  Can the M’s make it three in a row?

Still no word on Jarrod Washburn.

Mariners Blog

Game 3, Sunday July 27, 2008

Mariners 5, Jays 1

It was a somewhat uncomfortable start for Jarrod Washburn when he took the hill on Sunday afternoon.  Before today’s game, Wash was grilled by the media, and many thought he could even possibly get the call of a deal during pre-game warm ups.  All Wash did was push aside those distractions of his supposedly pending trade to the New York Yankees and dominate the Jays lineup for his most impressive start of the season.

Washburn pitched a gem going eight innings allowing only four hits, and striking out two.  His only blemish on the day was a solo home-run by John McDonald in the 5th.  At that point Wasburn had only allowed two hits.  I’m sure this start opened some eyes and raised his value.  Look for the M’s to hold onto him a few extra days to see if another teams interest was peaked.

Believe it or not the Mariners were losing this game going into the 6th 1-0 as Shaun Marcum was dueling Washburn through the first four innings to a stalemate.  After an Ichiro Suzuki lead-off walk, Jose Vidro smashed a big two run home-run to right field, his seventh, to make it 2-1 M’s.  Kenji Johjima made it 4-1 continuing the bat around inning with a two-run double in the four-run sixth. 

In the seventh the Mariners got themselves some rare second half of the season insurance runs as Jose Lopez hit an RBI single off of Shawn Camp.  For Lopez it was his career-high 14th straight game he has hit safely. 

Side Notes:

• Ichiro tripled in the ninth giving him 2,998 hits between the major leagues and the Japanese League. He has 1,720 of those hits for Mariners.
• J.J. Putzpitched a nice bounce-back non-save 9th inning to seal the win for Seattle. Putz was roughed up yesterday so it was good to see Riggleman throw him out there so he can stay on track.
• As reported earlier in the week,  broadcaster Dave Niehaus was in Cooperstown Sunday to receive the Ford C. Frick award at Sunday’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony.  Congrats Dave!

Seattle will travel to Texas for a four-game set against the big hitting Texas Rangers.  Felix Hernandez(7-6) will face Scott Feldman (4-3) at 5:05 PT in the series opener.

Mariners Blog

Game 2 Saturday July 26, 2008

Jays 8, Mariners 3

On the strength of two home runs by Alex Rios off of R.A. Dickey and another strong day from Joe Inglett, the Jays handed Seattle their seventh straight loss Saturday in a 8-3 win.

Rios, hit solo shots in the 1st and 5th, and added a sacrifice fly in the 6thto finish the day with three RBI’s.  Inglettwas his normal pesky self going 3-for-4 with two RBI’s.  Two of Inglett’s hits were doubles as he added two runs scored and a walk. It was a rough outing for Dickey as he allowed all eights runs on ten hits and walked four in 5 1/3 innings.

Taking over in the rotation for injured Dustin McGowan, David Purcey (1-1)picked up his first big league win as he held the Mariners to three runs over six innings and struck out four batters.

Jose Lopez was responsible for all three Mariners runs as he doubled to score Adrian Beltre in the 2nd inning, and hit a two run shot scoring Beltre in the sixth.  It was the 7th homer of the season for Lopez. 

Lets see if the much rumored Jarrod Washburn deal happens before his afternoon start tomorrow.  Some media outlets are reporting that its practically a done deal.  We will keep and eye on it.

In other Mariner news, the team signed RHP Jorge Sosa to a minor league deal.  Sosa started the season with the New York Mets before being designated for assignment in May.  Is this possibly an extra arm for after the deadline?

Mariners Blog