Wednesday July 9th, 2008

Athletics 2, Mariners 0

 Justin Duchscherer became the new ace of the Oakland Athletics today as they traded Rich Harden to the Chicago Cubs.  Tonight Duchscherer showed why they were so confident in the move.  Pitching a complete game 2-Hitter, Duchscherer (10-5) only faced three batters over the minimum striking out four and only walking one. 

Carlos Silva pitched a complete game as well for the Mariners striking out 5, while walking zero A’s batters.  The M’s wasted another good pitching peformance by getting no run support.  Emil Brown had an RBI single, and Donnie Murphy added a sacrifice fly to provide Oakland with all the offense they would need.  The game moved quickly only taking 1 hour and 49 minutes to complete.

The Mariners only two hits of the night came on a double by Richie Sexson, and a Miguel Cairo double.  Cairo and Willie Bloomquist started in the infield for Jose Lopez and Yuniesky Betancourt respectively, but neither could do much to jump start a suddenly struggling offense. 

 I wonder if the sudden 3 game losing streak brings the team back down to earth since their nice play of late under interim mangager Jim Riggleman.  Some tough decisions must be made by the organization in the coming weeks.  The last three straight pathetic offense performances sure do make it look like anyone could be expendable.  

The A’s will send Joe Blanton to the mound for game 3 of the four game set.  Miguel Batista returns to the rotation for the Mariners.

Mariners Blog 

In Monday’s series opener against the A’s, Richie Sexson started the M’s off with a three-run homerun to give the boys an early 3-0 lead.  Unfortunately they never crossed home plate for the rest of the night. 

Oakland 1st Basemen Wes Blankston picked up his first Major league knock, and Mark Ellis, and Ryan Sweeney knocked in runs to help get the 4-3 victory.  A’s starter Dana Eveland struggled a bit going over his 5 1/3 innings allowing 9 hits.  The M’s had runners in scoring position all night, but never capitalized on it after the 1st inning. The A’s converted three double plays to end threats, as well as tossing out Willie Bloomquist at the plate after a Raul Ibanez single.  Closer Huston Street picked up a shaky 17th save for the Athletics.

Adrian Beltre was 4-for-5 on the night for the Mariners.  Starter Jarrod Washburn continued his much improved pitching of late.  He helped out a tired and banged up staff by going all the way after the 15 inning game on Sunday.  He allowed 4 runs on 7 hits.

Tuesday nights pitching matchup will be Carlos Silva (4-10) vs. Justin Duchsrherer (9-5).  The game will be a 7:10 PT start.

Mangager Jim Riggleman also announced they will not pitch Felix Hernandez on friday like originally planned.  They have decided to move him back to the next series and pitch him against Kansas City, the teams last series before the All-Star break.  The move would allow him a few extra days to rest after his first start back.  As well, the team is expecting to get J.J. Putz some rehab work in for Triple-A Tacoma before his return to the bullpen.  Putz is expected back after the All-Star break.

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Mariners 4, Tigers 1

With Carlos Silva getting knocked around last night, the Mariners gave the ball to Erik Bedard.  When they traded for the Lefty, this is what they envisioned, a guy that could get them a win the day after a loss so that losing streaks never start.

Against a tough lineup that makes any pitcher throw alot of pitches, Bedard(6-4) struck out 6, and did a stellar job pitching out of trouble.  Besides a lead-off homerun by Miguel Cabrera in the 2nd, nobody crossed the plate on Bedard for the Tigers.  He came out of the game after the 5th inning at 99 pitches.  It was his 6th straight start without throwing 100 pitches.  Like Silva did the night before, Bedard quickly danced around the media and left with no comment.  Its starting to appear to be more and more obvious that he wants out of Seattle.  Well Erik, if you are traded, i hope the team you go to appreciates giving up the farm for a 100 pitch ace.

The Bullpen was lights out for Seattle as Sean Green 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief (season high).  He came out in the 8th with 2 outs to give way to Flame throwing Brandon Morrow.  Bombtrack stayed dominant picking up his 6th save striking out 2 in 1 1/3 innings.  Morrow an all-star? Tough call.  But think about these recent numbers since taking over for J.J. Putz.  If it holds, his ERA will be a franchise low at the All-Star break currently at 0.68.  He has allowed one hit and one walk in nine appearances since stepping in for the injured Putz with 14 strikeouts in 9.2 innings. No runs.

Raul Ibanez continued to swing a hot stick notching his 10th Homerun of the season off starter Kenny Rogers (L 6-6) in the 4th.  Catcher Jamie Burke got a rare start as he has caught for Bedard like he has for much of the season.  Burke showed no rust at the plate scoring two runs on two hits.  Jose Lopez hit a key two out two RBI double as well.

Game 3 of the 4 game set will be at 7:10 PT tonight featuring R.A. Dickey (2-4) against Armando Gallaraga (7-2).  With 8 wins in 11 games, can we officially call the Mariners hot? 

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 Tigers 8, Mariners 4

With the recent success of M’s starters, Carlos Silva was hoping to build on that success and win his second straight start.  The Tigers had other plans. 

Matt Joyce went 4-for-5 with two doubles, and Pudge Rodriguez added a three RBI.  Mike Hollimon added a Homerun as Detroit pounded out 15 hits on the day.  Justin Verlander picked up his 5th win of the season.

The Mariner bats held there own as they had 14 hits on the night, but stranded far too many baserunners in the ballgame.  Some M’s notes:

-Ichiro Suzuki and Jose Lopez both had three hits each

-In the sixth Ichiro singled for his 1700th career hit

-Rookie Jeff Clement had another bad day going 0-for-4 with 2 K’s

- Mark Lowe and Roy Corcoran looked fatigued as they both struggled slightly in late relief

Game two will be an afternoon tilt on the 4th of July.  It will feature the return of Erik Bedard (5-4) to the rotation.  Opposing him will be the crafty vet Kenny Rogers (6-5) 

Mariners Blog

Apparently facing the Padres lineup is the perfect remedy for any struggling pitcher.  One night after Jarrod Washburn picked up his first win since May 5th, M’s hurler Carlos Silva picked up his first win in 13 starts. (yes..really..13 starts)

Silva went 7 innings, allowed 8 hits, and struck out 3.  He walked none.  Silva forced alot of grounders, and had solid control throughout the night.  He pitched the type of  game that the Mariners expected from him when they signed him in the offseason from the Twins.  It was his first win since April 17th.

The win marked the teams fourth win in five games, but still gives them the worst record in the majors, 30-50.

Adrian Beltre led the way with 3 hits and 2 RBI’s.  Jose Lopez also added 2 hits, and scored twice.  Jeff Clement added a RBI on a sac fly.  Jeremy Reed also added an RBI.

Cha Seung Baek (1-4), who the Padres picked up from Seattle in May, was yanked in the 6th after allowing 4 straight batters to reach base.  He was responsible for all 4 of the Mariners runs.  Khalil Greene and Edgar Gonzalez each added two hits each for the Padres.  Tony Clark had the teams only two RBI’s adding a pinch hit single off Washburn in the 7th.

Brandon Morrow notched his 4th save, as he continues his dominance.  It was the first time getting back to back saves in his career.  I just can’t see how you can take Bombtrack out of the closer role.

Sunday’s pitching matchup should be a great one.  Erik Bedard (4-4), who missed his start Wednesday with back spasms, is scheduled to start in the series finale on Sunday against Cy Young winner Jake Peavy (5-4).

In another note, the Mariners announced Felix Hernandez will not start Tuesday at home against Toronto.  They said they want to give him more time to rest his ankle injury he suffered against the Mets earlier in the week.

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 Mariners 5, Padres 2

 In a flashback to 1978 the Mariners and Padres sported throwbacks to honor the 30th anniversary of the 1st all-star game in San Diego.  The Mariners wore the old powder blues and the Padres went with the old whites.

 Jarrod Washburn finally got off the schneid on Friday night in San Diego as he picked up his first win since May 5th.  Washburn (3-7) allowed 2 runs in 7 and 2/3′rds to pick up the win.  He credited a slight change in his mechanics for his recent success.  But facing the national leagues worst team is probably the real reason.  Washburn was solid all night till Rookie Chase Headley finally got to him in the 7th with a 2 run shot to left field.  The red hot Brandon Morrow was asked to come in to get the last four outs of the game.  He came in with runners on the corners and got out of the inning forcing a ground ball.  Then closed out the Padres in the ninth for his 3rd save.

 Padres starter Randy Wolf had a rough outing. The Mariners were all over the lefty from the start but left eight on base in the first three innings. It took four straight singles in the fourth to get runs across the plate, Raul Ibanez drove home a run, followed by an Adrian Beltre hit. Catcher Kenji Johjima doubled home Richie Sexson in the 6th, for the only extra-base hit of the night among the teams 12 hits.  Ichiro Suzuki and Jose Lopez, each had three singles and reached base four times. Sexson reached base safely for the 10th straight game adding a single and two walks.

The win for the Mariners was there third in four games.  Carlos Silva (3-9) gets the ball tomorrow night at 7:05 hoping to end his recent struggles.  If there was any team Silva would want to face to end his streak it would be the Padres.  Former Mariner Cha Seung Baek (1-3) will take the mound for San Diego.

Mariners Blog

The Seattle Mariners started the weekend with a bang with a 10-2 win at Turner Field in interim manager Jim Riggleman’s debut.  Erik Bedard turned in a nice performance until being pulled because of back spasms after three scoreless innings. Bedard isn’t expected to miss much time.

Seattle’s offense matched a season high with 15 hits. Jose Lopez continued his nice first half at the plate with 3 hits, 2 were doubles, and 4 RBI’s. Adrian Beltre added 2 hits and 3 RBI’s

The Bullpen pitched in with a nice peformance relieving Bedard, as Ryan Rowland-Smith picked up the win.

Just as we all got excited about the impressive win, we all got brought back down to earth with the Braves taking game 2 and 3 of the series. The Braves won those two games 5-4, and 8-3 respectively as the offense went back to it dissapearing act.

In game 2, the M’s took the lead to the bottom of the ninth as Miguel Batista blew the save opportunity filling in for the sore Brandon Morrow. Greg Norton hit a key double and eventually scored as Brian McCann singled in the former Mariner for the winning run. The Mariners mustered only 5 hits in the loss.

Game 3 was completely dominated by Mark Teixeira. Tex blasted 3 home runs, 2 off starter Carlos Silva who failed to pick up a victory in his 12th straight start.

Raul Ibanez picked up two hits off Braves starter Tim Hudson and seemed to be the only player with an answer to his stuff. Jeff Clement’s finally got the monkey off his back with a leadoff double in the seventh, and hit his first dinger of the year to center field in the 9th. Willie Bloomquist knocked in the final run with an RBI single late.

The Mariners head to New York for a series with the Mets starting monday. Game 1’s matchup will see Johan Santana against Felix Hernandez. Should be a fantastic matchup.

Mariners Blog

 (photo: John Froschauer/AP)

After a long day for the organization with a result they have become uncomfortably used to,  Seattle dropped their 4th straight contest overall, and 8th straight game at home to the Florida Marlins 6-1 to fall to 24-46 on the season. 

Carlos Silva got off to another slow start in the first,  giving up 3 consecutive hits along with a walk, with one out in the inning. Silva escaped giving up runs by Jeremy Hermida, who singled in the inning, and scored on a single by Mike Jacobs, and Jorge Cantu on a sacrifice fly by Luis Gonzalez.  Gonzalez finished the game with 2 RBI’s.  Silva was later ejected by umpire Bill Welke in the 5th for arguing a contreversial play that would have been an inning ending double play.  Silva saw his record fall to 3-8.

As has been the story of the Mariners offense this season, they left 18 runners on base.  In the 4th after a Richie Sexson single to load the bases with no outs in the inning, the M’s only mustered 1 run on a sacrifice fly by Kenji Johjima to score Adrian Beltre to cut the lead to 2-1. The offense was shut out the rest of the way.

The 23 year old lefty Andrew Miller (5-5), who was a key piece of the Dontrelle Willis, Miguel Cabrera trade with Detroit, pitched a solid game for the Marlins going 7 strong, allowing only 6 hits, and did a nice job pitching himself out of trouble in the 4th. 

In other Mariners notes, Ichiro Suzuki stole 3rd in the 5th inning for his 30th stolen base of the season. 

Sexson was 2-4 on the night, and has hit better recently since changing to a more open batting stance.

Miguel Batista, who recently was taken out of the rotation pitched a nice 8th inning getting 3 quick outs notching two strikouts.

Brandon Morrow got some work in late striking out Cantu, Jacobs, and Dan Uggla to strike out the side in the 9th. 

The Mariners will try to even it up tommorow for game 2 of the series at 7:10p.  Lefty Scott Olson (4-3) will face Felix Hernandez (5-5)

The Seattle Mariners dropped a close one to the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday afternoon as they lost 5-4.  It was the fourth straight loss for the Mariners and they were swept by the Angels in the three game mid-week series.

Carlos Silva threw eight innings and gave up eight hits and five runs to take the loss for the Mariners.  Silva is now 3-6 with a 5.96 era on the season.  Brandon Morrow came in and pitched a scoreless ninth inning after Silva was taken out of the game.

Jose Lopez had another good game as he went 3-5 with three rbi’s including a solo home run and two run single.  Yuniesky Betancourt also had a rbi ground out in the second inning for the Mariners.

The Mariners will try to snap their four game loosing streak on Friday against the Boston Red Sox.  It sure isn’t going to be easy, and I see the Mariners losing atleast two out of three games if not all three.

Mariners Blog

The Seattle Mariners and the Detroit Tigers combined for five home runs and 20 runs in Tuesday nights game but it was the Mariners coming out on the losing side.  The Mariners only had one of the five home runs, and only eight of the 20 runs in the game.

The Mariners made a comeback in the final three innings as they scored seven runs but it wasn’t enough as the Tigers had a huge lead.  Adrian Beltre led the Mariners with three rbi and then a slew of Mariners had one rbi in the game.  Jeremy Reed, Jose Vidro, Miguel Cairo, and Yuniesky Betancourt all had one rbi in the game.

Carlos Silva dropped to 3-3 on the season as he took the loss for the Mariners.  Silva only lasted four innings as he gave up nine hits and seven runs.  The bullpen wasn’t much better as Cha Seung Baek gave up for runs and and three home runs.  Mark Lowe pitched one inning and also gave up one run.  Ryan Rowland-Smith was finally able to come in and pitch a scoreless inning in the eighth inning but it was a little bit too late.

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