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

Thursday July 31, 2008

The trade deadline came and went on Thursday and the Mariners made one small but expected move dealing left-handed relief man Arthur Rhodes to the Florida Marlins in exchange for minor league pitcher Gaby Hernandez. 

The bigger story on the day was the moves the Mariners “didn’t” make.  GM Lee Pelekoudis stated earlier in the week that his team was not in salary dump mode, and he would only make moves that made his team better.  So..one would believe that today the right deal was not there.  I would expect to see Jarrod Washburn be placed on waivers at some point and potentially moved in a waiver deal. 

The big decision on the day was Raul Ibanez.  The M’s ultimately decided by keeping Ibanez that they value the two draft picks they would receive as compensation better than any offer another club made.  The M’s would receive those two picks if Ibanez departs via free agency as a type-A free agent after the 2008 season.  I also think the Mariners chose to play it safe because they want the teams 2009 general manager to make the decisions on some of their personnel.  Good call in my opinion.

Back to Gaby Hernandez.  Hernandez 22, was a third-round pick by the New York Mets in 2004.  He was acquired by the Marlins before the 2006 season in the Paul LaDuca trade.  Gaby actually had a shot at the number 5 starter spot in spring training for Florida this season before getting sent down to Triple-A  Albuquerque late.  Hernandez struggled early in the season going 2-8 with a 7.24 ERA in 13 starts.  He then spent a month on the DL with an oblique injury before coming back at the Double-A level to get back on track.  Since then he has posted a 3-0 record.

Scouts say Hernandez throws a low to mid 90’s fastball, an average to above average breaking ball, and an above average change.  At the still young age of 22, some think Hernandez maybe be ready to pitch in the big leagues in some capacity as early as 2009.

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

Wednesday July 30, 2008

Ok, I’ve been searching the Internet trade rumors.  Many of the people reporting the rumored deals have (cough cough) “sources” that say there is interest in players.  Here is a list of the players rumored and where they are rumored to have interest to go.

• J.J Putz- Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals
• Jarrod Washburn- New York Yankees, New York Mets, Colorado Rockies
• Arthur Rhodes- New York Mets, Florida Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies
• Adrian Beltre - Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, Minnesota Twins
• Raul Ibanez- Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs

I’m sure there are more.  Teams not even on this list will probably acquire any of these players.  But its still fun to speculate on what Seattle can get in return.  The non-waiver trade deadline is tomorrow.

Mariners Blog

Tuesday July 29, 2008

It is no secret this time of the year bullpen help is on every contenders wish list.  Arthur Rhodes has been linked to many rumors, the most recent appears to be the Milwaukee Brewers.  The Brewers had scouts at the game last night checking out Rhodes against Texas.  Rhodes allowed one hit and walked one, but got a big strikeout in a key spot against Josh Hamilton.

The lefty reliever is one year removed from Tommy John surgery and has made a fantastic recovery as he has done a great job in the Mariner bullpen.  His velocity is still in the low to mid 90’s and he still has that crafty slider that give lefties nightmares.  He was a non-roster invitee in the off-season, and battled back from the surgery to make the opening day roster. 

Look for Rhodes to go for a mid-level prospect before the Thursday deadline.

Mariners Blog

Tuesday July 22, 2008

Red Sox 4, Mariners 2

Patience at the plate is something the Mariners have seriously lacked this season.  Tonight was much of the same as Daisuke Matsusaka took the hill Tuesday night. The league knows to make “Dice-K” throw an abundance of pitches and force him to throw strikes .  Somebody forgot to tell Seattle.  The Mariners came out swinging at everything (just like last night) and constantly got behind in the count. The M’s lineup scraped together just five hits as Boston beat Seattle 4-2.  Dice-K was ahead in the count for most of the night as he struck out six on his way to his 11th victory of the season.  Matsusaka did walk three, but only threw 99 pitches in 7 1/3 innings.

Watching the Red Sox batters at the plate is the complete opposite.  Boston’s lineup will make you work for everything as they drew six walks and constantly waited on pitches from M’s starter R.A. Dickey.  All-star game MVP J.D. Drew displayed his patience at the plate in the first inning as he sat on the knuckleballers mid 80’s fastball.  Drew laid off the knuckler and slammed a second straight Dickey fastball over the right field wall for his 18th home-run of the season.  Dickey threw six innings of work, surrendering four runs on nine hits, walking three and failing to record a strikeout.

Boston scored three runs off Dickey in the top of the fifth. Drew and rookie shortstop Jed Lowrie added sacrifice flies in the inning and got some extra insurance on a Mike Lowell RBI double.

The Mariners managed to make it interesting off Matsusaka in the 8th.  Rookie first baseman Bryan LaHair led off the inning with his first big league hit, and later scored on a Ichiro Suzuki RBI double to make it 4-1.  Jose Lopez singled to center field on next pitch to score Ichiro to make it 4-2 with one out.  Dice-K got the yank for lefty Hideki Okajima who got the final two outs of the inning.  Jonathan Papelbon nailed down the M’s in order in the 9th for his 30th save of the season.

It was another solid outing from the Mariner bullpen as Roy Corcoran pitched a scoreless seventh, Arthur Rhodes struck out the side in the eighth, and Cesar Jimenez continued his successful call-up stint allowing a goose egg in the ninth.  Kudos to the Mariner bullpen as they have been by far the biggest bright spot in a rough season.

Mariners rookie catcher Jeff Clement had to leave the ballgame as he injured his right thumb in the netting try to catch a foul ball.  Apparently Clement lost the nail.  He had the finger wrapped and stayed in the game, but eventually gave way to Kenji Johjima.  I’m sure we will learn more tomorrow if Clement will miss any time.

Tomorrow afternoon’s 1:40 PT contest will mark the 5,000th game in Mariner history.  Its going to be a solid pitching match-up as Mariner ace Felix Hernandez (7-6) will toe the rubber against Boston’s Clay Buchholz (2-5).

Mariners Blog

Sunday July 13th, 2008

Mariners 4, Royals 3

In a season when the Mariners can’t seem to get out of their own way, the M’s finally got some luck Sunday afternoon in route to a 4-3 win heading into the All-Star break.

In the top of the 9th, a throwing error by Royals catcher John Buck during a wacky “pickle” play scored Adrian Beltre to give the Mariners a 4-3 lead.  The play happened as a result of a quick come-backer to the mound by Willie Bloomquist that caught Beltre leaning toward home plate. Thanks to Buck he luckily got out of it.

Brandon Morrow got a chance at redemption to end what has been his roughest week of the 2008 season.  Morrow again saw himself facing David DeJesus with two outs and the game on the line.  Bombtrack forced DeJesus to fly out to left to pick up the save.

Royals starter Kyle Davies was working on a nice ballgame going into the 7th inning pitching with a 2-1 lead.  That was until Jeff Clement smacked a full-count pitch over the wall to score Bloomquist to give Seattle a 3-2 lead.  For Clement, it was his 5th home-run of the season and first hit in his last 16 at bats.  Bloomquist added a solid showing at the plate going 2-for-3 with two runs scored. 

For KC Mike Aviles (3-for-4, 2 RBI) tied the score with an RBI groundout in the 7th, but the Royals couldn’t come up with any offense for the remainder of the contest.  Sean Green and Arthur Rhodes came in and combined for two scoreless, hit-less innings of work until Morrow came in to close it down.

With the All-Star break coming up, lets see what Seattle decides to do for the second half.  Manager Jim RIggleman said the staff is going to come together and figure out their “plan”.  Riggleman did mention that he has been encouraged with the teams recent play and may not want to “blow it up” just yet.   The Mariners skipper mentioned several times how he hasn’t had a healthy ball club since April and that he was anxious to see what his team will look like with a healthy lineup. He also added that he is hoping that the team doesn’t give up its best players. 

This can’t be music to Mariners fans’ ears considering all the injuries have been to the pitching staff, which is the strength of the team lately.  Hitting is and always has been the problem.  Lets face it, Riggleman doesn’t want to blow it up; he wants to be the manager in ‘09.  The only way that happens is a strong second half.  Same with the front office within the organization; they all need results to keep jobs.  We will see.

Mariners Blog

July 12, 2008

Royals 5, Mariners 4

Brandon Morrow took the hill in the 9th inning Saturday night with a 4-3 lead.  After blowing his first save of the season earlier in the week against Oakland, Morrow was looking to get back on track.  Morrow retired the first two batters he faced, and only needed to get pinch hitter Billy Butler to end it.  Morrow walked Butler and put the winning run to the plate.  David DeJesus wasted no time jumping on a Morrow fastball and putting it over the right field wall to win it for the Royals 5-4.  It was the first walk-off home-run for the Royals since 2005. 

Mark Grudzielanek recorded his 2,000th career hit earlier in the game and became the 251st player to achieve that feat.  I’m sure Grudzielanek will never forget this game.

Former Mariner Horacio Ramirez picked up the win in relief for the Royals.  He pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of another former Mariner GIl Meche.  The M’s got to Meche for four runs on ten hits.

With Meche pitching with a 3-0 lead in the bottom of top of the 6th, Raul Ibanez hit his 11th home-run of the season scoring Ichiro Suzuki to cut the lead to 3-2.  A two-run double by Jeremy Reed scored Adrian Beltre and Jose Vidro to put the M’s up 4-3 in the inning.  The middle relief was stellar again for the M’s as Sean Green and Arthur Rhodes set the table for Morrow who couldn’t hold on in the 9th.  Jarrod Washburn pitched solid allowing three runs over six innings of work.

Recent call-up Tug Hulett played in his first game in the Majors and recorded his first career hit, a single in the 5th off Meche.  Hulett was the DH for the night.

Sunday Pitching Probables :

Mariners vs. Royals @ 2:10 ET

Carlos Silva (4-11) vs. Kyle Davies (3-1)

Mariners Blog

Wednesday July 9th, 2008

Mariners 6, Athletics 4

 On the strength of three-run double by Jose Lopez in a five-run fifth inning, the Seattle Mariners ended a three-game losing streak picking up a 6-4 win in Oakland Wednesday night.  Adrian Beltre chipped in with three hits and drove in 2 runs.  Raul Ibanez also drove in a RBI for the winners.

The Mariners bullpen continued being a busy group as Miguel Batista had to leave early with a groin strain in the 3rd inning.   Ryan Rowland-Smith struggled a bit taking over as the A’s got to him for three runs on five hits in 1 and 1/3rd innings.  Enter Roy Corcoran in the 4th inning.  Corcoran inherited two baserunners from Rowland-Smith and was in lock down mode getting eight of nine A’s batters out in 2 2/3rds.  The effort for Corcoran earned him the traditional pie in the face from J.J. Putz after the game, as he picked up his first big league win.  The combination of Arthur Rhodes, Sean Green, and Brandon Morrow, finished the final three frames without allowing only one hit.  The final inning for Morrow earned him his 8th straight converted save, and lowered his ERA to a ridiculous 0.63.

In a losing effort for the A’s, Joe Blanton allowed six runs on nine hits in six innings of work to record the loss.  Jack Cust hit his 16th homerun of the season off a Batista in the 2nd inning.  Donnie Murphy added three runs batted in for Oakland.

Tomorrow’s contest will be a day game starting at 3:35 PT.  It will feature R.A. Dickey for the M’s, against Left Greg Smith for the A’s.  Ichiro Suzuki is expected to miss the contest with a tight hamstring.

Mariners Blog

Tigers 2, Mariners 1

In the series finale of a four game set, the Detroit Tigers finally tallied the winning run in the top of the 15th inning off of backup catcher Jamie Burke to come away with a 2-1 victory at Safeco.  The M’s had to use 7 pitchers to get through the day.

A Marcus Thames sac fly off of Burke scored Michael Holliman for the winning run to end a long offensively deprived baseball game.  Manager Jim Riggleman was really strapped for pitching options late.  With an already banged up staff, Riggleman was without already without Arthur Rhodes on the day who woke up with some arm soreness.  Riggleman also did not want to pitch Brandon Morrow because he has been used four of the last five games.  Ryan Rowland-Smith was not an options because he was used as a starter.  And all other relievers were used in the ballgame.  No runs were surrendered from the 5th inning till the 15th.  Both teams combined for a total of 14 hits.

It was an extremely ugly scorecard for both teams.  The Mariners had no player record more than one hit.  The Tigers only player to record more than one hit was Ivan Rodriguez who was 4-for-7.

A positive to take from the game was obviously the pitching staff who has done a tremendous job the last few weeks.  Rowland-Smith went 5 innings surrendering only one run.  Mark Lowe (1 inning), Roy Corcoran (2 innings), Miguel Batista (1 inning), Sean Green (1 inning) and Cesar Jimenez (4 innings) all combined to hold the Tigers out of the score column.  In fact, only Green allowed a hit until Burke came in for the 15th. 

Tiger pitcher Nate Robertson pitched 9 innings fabulous innings for the Detroit.  Aquilino Lopez picked up the win to see his record improve to 3-1.  Burke picked up what is most likely his first and last lost as a major league pitcher.

The M’s head to Oakland to start a four game series against the A’s tomorrow night.  Jarrod Washburn (4-7) will face lefty Dana Eveland (6-5).  

Mariners Blog