Mariners 4, Jays 2

With a two run lead to start the top of the 9th, the song bombtrack by Rage Against The Machine blares over the speakers at Safeco as it does every time Brandon Morrow takes the mound.  But tonight was the first time as a Mariners fan when i truly felt..this game was over. Done.  I think its safe to stay tonight a new star has been born officially.  Its has now been too long for this to be a fluke.  Morrow was lights out again as he continued one of the most dominating months of relief pitching I have seen from a Mariners pitcher in recent memory.  Hitting 97, and 98 on the gun and mixing in some occasional off-speed pitches, it just appears the batters have no chance.  Tonight, he didn’t strike out the side, but kept the batters guessing, and forced three fly ball outs to pick up his 5th save in as many chances.  Really…how can you put the ball in anyone elses hands right now.  J.J. Putz is supposedly closer to a return, but one must wonder if he fears he has lost his job and is rushing back.  In fact many Mariners fans (myself included) were hoping to see Morrow start in the near future.  I am now starting to re-think that a little bit, how could i not. 

In a game without much offensive spark, Jarrod Washburn had another quality outing going six innings, striking out four.  His only blemish was a two run shot by rookie slugger Adam Lind in the top of the 5th.

Miguel Cairo filled in nicely at second for Jose Lopez hitting two doubles, along with three RBI’s.  Ichiro Suzuki reached base four times, with three singles and walk while scoring twice. 

The M’s bullpen continued its stellar play as Cesar Jimenez had his second straight quality bullpen appearence since his call up, retiring the Jays in order in the seventh.  Sean Green took over in the 8th and overcame an error by Adrian Beltre to retire the next two Jays batters.  Arthur Rhodes came in to face the switch hitting Greg Zaun and forced him to fly out to Jeremy Reed in Center field to leave Marco Scutaro at second to end the threat in the 8th to set the table for Morrow who closed out the 9th.

The win marked the third straight series won for the Mariners under new manager Jim Riggleman.  It is becoming fun to watch the team play again.  Riggleman has been shaking up batting and fielding practices in an attempt to get a spark.  It seems so far that all his moves are paying off.  But, a true test for the M’s will be this 4 game set with the red hot Tigers.  If the team can hang with them, i think we will have a better guage of their recent success and whether or not it has been a fluke or not.

Dustin McGowan picked up the loss as his record fell to 6-7.  Washburn won his second straight start to improve to 4-7.  Tomorrow’s probables are Carlos Silva (4-9) for the Mariners and Justin Verlander for the Tigers starting the 4 game series at 7:10 PT.

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Jays 2, Mariners 0

It was one of the nights.  Simply put.  A night that opponents of the greatest pitchers in the game know all too well.  A night when your ace is on.  Even in the pregame warmup Jays Manager Cito Gaston thought one run scored for his team would be enough.  Well…Cito, you were right.

Roy Halliday (w 9-6) pitched a complete game four hitter, his sixth of the season.  He struck out six, and walked zero.  Out of his 115 pitches, 84 were for strikes.  With that type of control of the pitch count he blew through the lineup only allowing two singles by Richie Sexson, and singles by Willie Bloomquist, and Jeremy Reed.  Thats it.

R.A. Dickey (L 2-4) pitched well enough to keep his team in the game, but getting no run support finally caught up with him.  David Eckstein ripped a double in the fifth, and eventually scored on a Marco Scutaro single to finally get the Jays on the board against Dickey.  A Rob Barajas tapper in the sixth with the bases loaded, scored Vernon Wells to make it 2-0.  That was all the run support that Halliday needed.

The loss snapped the teams three-game win streak, and was the Jays third in a row.  The Mariners returned to regular league play going with Jeff Clement in DH spot.  Clement continued to struggle as he struck out three times on the night.  The good thing for Clement is that the team is going to let him ride out his slump this time.  I think before the end of the year he will turn it around. 

In some other team news, the team placed Felix Hernandez on the 15 day DL.  I’m sure Felix wants to go, but with a last place team, and him being a key component to their future, i doubt the M’s want to take any chances with his ankle. 

The team also announced Ryan Rowland-Smith would get the start Tuesday night.  It will be his first start since pitching for Double A San Antonio in 2006.  I’m sure the team will monitor his pitch count and I expect him to maybe go 3 to 4 innings.  Opposing the Mariners at Safeco for game two, will be righty Jesse Litsch (8-4).  Gametime is at 7:10 PT.

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Mariners 9, Padres 2

Manager Jim Riggleman can finally smile today.  His team put together a full series for the first time this season, winning games with different phases shining through.  Today, unlike the first two games, the Mariners brought the bats..  They raked out 18 hits while scoring 8 runs in the final three innings for a 9-2 series ending sweep over the Padres at Petco.

Erik Bedard (5-4) went five and two thirds innings, allowing only one run on three hits, and striking out 3.  Ichiro Suzuki scored the first run of the game in the 3rd inning on an RBI single by Raul Ibanez to open the scoring.   Ichiro finished the day with a 5 for 5 performance at the plate which ties him for second all time in five hit games with 7 behind Dave Winfield’s 9.  Later in the 6th inning,  Adrian Beltre stayed hot hitting a towering blast into the second level balcony for his 15th home run of the season, a two run shot off starter Jake Peavy (L 5-5) two make it 3-0.

The Padres got one back on an Edgar Gonzalez sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning, but in the top of the seventh the Mariners put the Padres away.

The Padres replaced Peavy with reliever Bryan Corey to start the seventh inning.  As fast as i wrote that sentence Corey was replaced.  He allowed four straight hits as Ichiro led it off with a single, followed by a Jose Lopez single.  Ibanez singled scoring Ichiro, and then Jose Vidro singled scoring Lopez.  Out Bryan Corey, In Carlos Guevara.  Same result as Betre singled scoring Ibanez, and Jeremy Reed singled to center field scoring Vidro and Beltre. And just like that 6 straight hits, all singles, and the it was 8-2.  Jeff Clement hit his second homer of the season in the 9th to round out the scoring.  Clement finished the game 2-for-4.

The win marked the teams 6th win in the 9 game interleague roadtrip.  I’m sure it was good for the team mentally to go on the road after all the recent turmoil surrounding the team.  Many of the players are probably wishing they could stay on the road.  However, they must return home to start a series with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday.  It will be the start of a seven game homestand as they play a three game set with Toronto ending Wednesday, and start a four game series with the Detroit Tigers Friday.  It will be interesting to see if the team can gain some confidence against AL teams after such a strong interleague performance.  Tomorrow night R.A. Dickey (2-3) and Roy Halliday (8-6) are the probables for the 7:10 PT start.

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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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When Mets Manager Jerry Manuel decided to give David Wright a day off on Tuesday night, I don’t think he saw thought he would get these results from his all-star 3rd baseman.

Wright homered in his first two at bats of the night as the Mets jumped all over starter Miguel Batsita. Mets starter John Maine, who has been the teams most consistent starter this season shut down the Mariners recently hot bats and didn’t allow a hit till the fifth inning. Jose Reyes added a three run homer as well.

On a dull night for the Mariners, one positive in tonights performance was the bullpen who retired 16 straight batters to finish the game. Roy Corcoran, Ryan Rowland-Smith, Arthur Rhodes, and Brandon Morrow pitched fantastic in relief of Batista, but the 8 early runs were too much for the M’s bats to catch up from. Jeremy Reed led the Mariners going 2 for 4 with a run scored as he continued to swing a productive bat.

The Mariners will get Thursday off before heading to San Diego to start a three game series with the Padres. Jarrod Washburn (2-7) gets the ball against lefty Randy Wolf (5-6) at 7:05. (10:05 east)

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In a game that ironically became the last for manager John McLaren, R.A. Dickey, who McLaren has backed, got roughed up in his second straight start.  R.A. gave up 5 runs, on six hits, 4 walks, and a HR.  It was ultimately decisions like the one to pitch Dickey that ironically summed up his managing style for the Mariners, which too often was sticking with players for too long.  This, along with  lacking the foresight to make key personnel changes,  in the end sealed the fate of the McLaren, Bavasi era.

Mike Jacobs (2 for 5, 3 RBI’s), and Dan Uggla belted big flys for the Marlins.  Hanley Ramirez went 2 for 3 with 3 runs on 3 walks.  21 year old rookie Ryan Tucker (2-1) picked up the win going 6 innings striking out 4, and allowing only 2 runs.

A positive for the Mariners was that they out hit the Fish 13-11.  The negative, as has been for most of the season was the 25 runners left on base, many in key spots.  Recent call up Jeff Clement started at catcher, and picked up where he left off on his last call up striking out twice, but did draw two walks.  Adrian Beltre was 2-5 scoring twice while he picked up his 11th double of the season.  Jose Vidro went 3 for 5 at the dish, and Jeremy Reed continued to swing a nice bat going 2 for 3.

McLaren was fired before the team left for Atlanta.  He will be replaced by Jim Riggleman who was currently on the staff as the teams bench coach.  Lee Elia, who recently took over as hitting coach is now the bench coach.  The remainder of the staff stays in place for the time being.  McLaren’s final record as Mariners skipper was 66-88.  Its going to be very interesting to see what Riggleman does with the lineup after McLaren was so indecisive about putting it together day in and day out.

The M’s head to Atlanta for a game on Friday against the Braves.  That game will start a nine game interleague road trip.  Lets see if getting away on this road trip from the mess that has begun to unravel in Seattle among the Mariners brass can be good for the team going forward.

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Heavy hitting prospect Jeff Clement will be in uniform tonight to try to add some pop to the anemic Seattle offense.  Wladimir Balentien in turn was optioned to triple A Tacoma.  It is presumed that this move in Balentien‘s case is to get him some work in Center Field in the minors and get him back playing everyday again.

Manager John McLaren said that the team plans to work Clement in at Catcher and not have him ride the bench.  McLaren mentioned the team needs an offensive spark, and he hopes Clement will help give him that.

The Mariners outfield situation just got more confusing yesterday with the move of Ichiro Suzuki to right field.  Now it appears we have turned the clock back to 2005 with Jeremy Reed seeing most of the time in Center Field, unless another move is made.

Major moves could be on the horizon, stay tuned.

On the same day the Mariners decided to part ways with GM Bill Bavasi, Manager John McLaren announced he will be moving Ichiro back to right field.  McLaren also stated that the move isn’t temporary, its permanent.

Apparently McLaren has also been pondering the idea of using Ichiro in the 3 spot in the batting order, something that Lou Pinella tried in the past briefly in 2001 until moving him back to the lead off position.

Willie Bloomquist will get the start tonight in Center against Florida at Safeco, with Jeremy Reed, and Wladimir Balentien expected to also see time in Center Field in the near future.

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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