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 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

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

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

 Wednesday July 23, 2008

Red Sox 6, Mariners 3 

Red Sox 2nd Baseman Dustin Pedroia scores in the 3rd.

In the top of the 12th inning in a hard fought ballgame, Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell hit a two-run single to finish off the M’s 6-3 taking advantage of two critical outfield errors that ultimately cost the M’s the ballgame.  The sweep for the BoSox was their first sweep in Seattle in fifteen years.

The Mariner lineup had some rare second half firepower as Raul Ibanez hit his 14th bomb of the year in the 4th, and Jose Vidro added a two-run shot in the 6th off of Boston starter Clay Buchholz to tie the game at 3-3.  It was Vidro’s 6th home-run of the year. 

The score remained tied at 3-0 until the 12th as both teams got some great relief pitching. 

Felix Hernandez came out after six innings, with six hits, six strikeouts, three runs, and a season high five walks. Buchholz countered allowing seven hits and three runs in 5 1/3 innings, with two walks and seven strikeouts. 

J.J. Putz and Brandon Morrow combined to pitch four scoreless innings of relief totalling 5 strikeouts, and only one hit. American League Games pitched leader Sean Green (2-3) picked up the loss in the 12th.  Jonathan Papelbon was forced into duty in the 11th for the third straight day and ended up picking up the win.  Craig Hansen recorded his second save of the season after finishing off Seattle in the bottom of the 12th.

It was an up and down game in the field for gold glove outfielder Ichiro Suzuki.  In a scoreless ballgame in the third, Ichiro sprinted with his back turned to the ball, running straight back towards the wall and leaped above the wall to take what would have been a three-run homer away from J.D. Drew.  A few pitches later, Boston’s Kevin Youkilis hit an RBI single to right field that Ichiro fielded then bobbled and hiccuped, scoring Dustin Pedroia and Coco Crisp.  It was the second error of the season fro Ichiro.  Ichiro was also picked off at first base earlier in the game.

Mariners left leader and team leader Raul Ibanez summed up the Mariners tough stretch of play after seeing his team lose it 5th straight game. “It’s tough,” Ibanez said. “But you keep battling and keep fighting. Scratch and claw all the way to the finish line, no matter what happens. Whether 22 games up or 22 games down, you go out there with same tenacity every single day, no matter what’s going on around you.”

The Mariners will have a much needed day off on Thursday before heading to Toronto for a weekend road trip against the Jays.

Is there going to be any changes to the team before Friday?

Mariners Blog

Monday July 21, 2008

Red Sox 4, Mariners 0

Hometown boy Jon Lester was declared cancer free in 2007 in Seattle after receiving treatments for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.  Tonight Lester put on a show for the hometown fans.

Lester (8-3) struck out six and walked zero batters in 7 1/3 innings of work to lead the Red Sox to a 4-0 shut out at Safeco in Seattle.  It took a hard chopper off his shin to get him out of the ballgame.  The Tacoma native has traditionally not pitched well in Seattle. “It’s nice to come back home and pitch halfway decent,” Lester said.  Lester had left the bases loaded when he left the mound, but Jonathan Papelbon got Raul Ibanez to ground into a double-play to get out of the jam.  Papelbon finished of the M’s in the ninth for his 29th save of the season.

Seattle starter Jarrod Washburn kept it close through four innings shutting out the potent Red Sox lineup.  In the fifth inning though, the Red Sox finally got on the board.  Former Mariner prospect from the past Jason Varitek hit a two-run shot over the left field wall scoring Coco Crisp to make it 2-0.  “Wash” allowed seven hits in 5 2/3 innings allowing only two runs.  For the M’s lefty it was the seventh out of eight starts with two runs or less allowed.  He only has picked up two wins over those starts.  Washburn has rebounded over the last month and should draw some interest before the July 31st deadline.

Jed Lowrie added a two-run single in the eighth, and Manny Ramirez slammed three singles for Boston to lead the attack.  Ramirez has hit safely in 10 straight games.  Tampa won last night, so Boston remains 1½ games behind in the AL East.

The Mariners bats remained silent stranding six base runners.  Ichiro Suzuki went without a hit for the second consecutive game and remains within seven hits of 3,000 professionally.  Adrian Beltre and Yuniesky Betancourt each had two hits for the Mariners.

In Game two of the series tomorrow night, R.A. Dickey (2-4) will take the bump against Daisuke Matsuzaka (10-1) at 7:10 PT.

Mariners Blog

Saturday July 19, 2008

Indians 9, Mariners 6

Shin-Soo Choo was a 7 year-old in South Korea when the Indians and Mariners wore the uniforms they sported at Saturdays contest at Safeco Field.  Too bad for Choo it can’t be 1989 more often.

Choo slammed pitches in two at-bats off of Mariners starter Miguel Batista as he hit a two-run homer in the first, and a ground-rule double for another RBI in the third.  He added another double in the eighth off of R.A. Dickey to round out his 3-for-5 day. 

It was another sad performance for Batista for the M’s.  I just don’t understand why they keep running him out there if he says he is not healthy and keeps getting consistently lit up.  Batista pitched two innings, allowing eight runs on seven hits.  At some point here the M’s need to shut him down or make a decision about his future if he is indeed healthy. Miguel has just been awful this season.  The process might already be underway as they pitched spot starter Ryan Rowland-Smith four innings today.  There has been some talk about converting Rowland-Smith into a starter as he performed well when called upon.

The M’s bats were not that bad today, but they had to dig out of a 9-1 whole by the third inning.  Left fielder Raul Ibanez homered for the second straight game as he hit his 13th big fly of the season.  Jose Vidro had an two RBI’s on the day including an RBI double in the second.  Ichiro Suzuki added a two run home-run, his 4th of the year, in the bottom of the ninth to make things interesting.  Rookie Bryan LaHair got his first career start at first base going 0-for-3 with a walk.

For Cleveland, the win ended their ten game road losing skid.  Jeremy Sowers was not overly impressive, but did pick up his first win of the season to move his mark to 1-5.  Jhonny Peralta went 2-for-5 on the day picking up two RBI’s and two runs scored for the tribe.  Washington native Grady Sizemore walked a season high four times on the day, but strangely never scored a run on the day.

In the series finale, Carlos Silva is expected to start.  Jarrod Wasburn was expected to try to go after missing his start with the flu.  Maybe they are moving him back again.  All-Star starter Cliff Lee is expected to get the ball for the Indians.  It will be 1:10 PT start.

Mariners Blog