Friday July 18, 2008

Mariners 8, Indians 2

Cleveland starter Aaron Laffey had two-outs in the bottom of the second inning with nobody on. Thats when things went bad.  A single by Jamie Burke, a hit batter (Yuniesky Betancourt), and an error by shortstop Jhonny Peralta on an Ichiro Suzuki grounder loaded up the bases suddenly for the Mariners.  Laffey then walked Willie Bloomquist on an ugly four-pitch walk to score Burke.  After the error and the four pitch walk, the crafty veteran Raul Ibanez stepped to the plate thinking fastball  all the way on the first pitch.  Ibanez deposited the 88 mph grapefruit into the right field bleachers for his sixth career grand slam to give the M’s the 5-0 lead.  Jose Lopez made it 8-1 in the 4th with a three-run jack off of Laffey for his sixth home-run of the season to give the Mariners an 8-1 lead.

On Felix Hernandez bobblehead night, Felix knew he had to perform on the mound.  The 22-year-old didn’t dissapoint striking out eight allowing just four hits and two runs in six innings.  Hernandez threw 98 pitches in his second start since returning from the DL.  Mark Lowe, Roy Corcoran, and Cesar Jimenez closed out the Tribe with three scoreless innings of relief to help the M’s pick up the win.

Yesterdays call-up Bryan LaHair got his first major league at-bat as he pinch-hit in the 8th inning.  Unfortunately for LaHair, he will never forget that he grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.

Former Mariners Shin-Soo Choo, and Asdrubal Cabrera where in the starting lineup for the Indians.  Choo started in right field going 0-for-4 with 2 K’s.  Cabrera started at second base going 1-for-3 with a walk and a run.  The M’s traded Choo for first baseman Ben Broussard in 2006, Cabrera was aquired by Cleveland for first baseman Eduardo Perez in the same season. 

Game 2 on Saturday was supposed to match up lefties Jarrod Washburn (4-8) and Jeremy Sowers (0-5) on the mound.  But thanks to the flu, Washburn will move his start to Sunday.  Miguel Batista will take the mound in his place.  Cleveland will try to avoid its 11th straight road loss.  Look for Bryan LaHair to get a start on Saturday or Sunday.

Reliever J.J. Putz threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings of work for Tacoma.  Putz threw 17 pitches and said he had no soreness in the elbow.  Putz might be activated by Sunday.  Its going to be a tough call for the M’s to send a pitcher down since they all have pitched well in relief.  I suspect it will be Jimenez though.

July 13, 2008

EastValleyTribune.com in Phoenix is reporting Arizona has had some disscusions with the M’s for Left Fielder Raul Ibanez.  Arizona is actively looking to add a left handed bat before the dealdine.  The article says a major league source says the M’s asking price is too steep currently because the M’s are looking for top prospects.  The names start with second baseman Emilio Bonifacio, outfielder Gerardo Parra and pitchers Max Scherzer and Jarrod Parker.  The Diamondbacks apparently won’t give up pitching.  

I don’t know about you Mariner fans, but i’ve seen Max Scherzer pitch a little this year, and i would take him straight up for Ibanez.  Scherzer has been getting hit hard a little lately, but he still holds a low ERA and gets strikeouts, his stuff is pretty nasty.  We will see if this rumor goes anywhere.

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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.

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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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Jeff Clement Homers Twice

Mariners 3, Tigers 2

If any Mariners player has been in a slump it has been Jeff Clement.  Batting .170 going into the night, Clement has been searching for that breakout game at the plate.  That type of game that fans and players can finally say he has arrived.  Tonight Clement arrived hitting two clutch homeruns to almost single handedly beat the Tigers.  During a post game interview J.J. Putz gave the Rookie catcher a shaving cream pie to the face.  Nothing says you have gained the respect of your teammates more than that. 

Tonight the M’s needed a hot Clement bat because Armando Galarraga brought his A game the park.  Galarraga pitched 6 strong innings and left the game with a 2-1 lead thanks to homeruns by Carlos Guillen and Miguel Cabrera.  Galarraga only run allowed was a 5th inning solo shot by Clement to cut the lead in half.

Fernando Rodney took the mound in the 8th still holding on to the 2-1 lead.  After recording an out, Rodney walked Richie Sexson who was then pinch ran for at first by Miguel Cairo.  Cairo swiped second to move into scoring position for Clement.  Clement with a 1-1 count, demolished an off speed pitch over the wall for his 4th homerun of the season to put the M’s up 3-2.

In the 9th, hand it to Brandon Morrow and leave happy right?  Exactly.  Morrow blanked the Tigers for a second straight game retiring Matt Joyce, Edgar Renteria, and Ivan Rodriguez in order.  It was the 7th save in as many chances for Morrow as he lowered his ERA to 0.65.

Credit is due to the defense and pitching staff again for containing one of the more  potent offensive teams in baseball.  Starter R.A. Dickey was solid again going 6 innings, and did a good job working our of trouble with some location problems. Dickey’s signature knuckleball wasn’t dancing in his favor as he walked five batters.  But left after the 6th with only two runs against.  Miguel Batista pitched two solid innings of relief and ended up picking up the victory helping DIckey off the hook for the loss.  Batista has had some time off because of his lingering back issues, but looked to be feeling a little better only allowing two hits against the meat of the order. 

On defense, Jeremy Reed was all over the place in center field.  Reed went crashing into the wall early on a Cabrera deep fly ball, and robbed a Renteria liner later.  Raul Ibanez made a nice sliding catch in the 3rd, and had what turned out to be the biggest defensive play of the game as he threw out Dane Sardinha at the plate in the 5th.

The M’s will go for the series win sunday afternoon.  It would mark their fourth straight series win.  Ryan Rowland-Smith (2-1) will get the ball for the second time this week.  He will be opposed by Nate Robertson (6-7).  The game will start at 1:10 PT.  Lets close em out!

Mariners Blog

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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Mariners 7, Jays 6

In a roller coaster of a game, Willie Bloomquist hit a first pitch gapper to score Raul Ibanez for the winning run in the bottom of the 9th as the Mariners beat the Jays 7-6 at Safeco.

With the starting staff banged up, Seattle had to use 6 pitchers to get the job done.  Ryan Rowland-Smith, pitched three fabulous innings until Toronto got to him in the 4th with three runs.  The M’s got two back in the bottom of the inning on a throwing error by starter Jesse Litsch scoring Adrian Beltre.  Yuniesky Betancourt singled home Richie Sexson to score the second run to make it 3-2.

Roy Corcoran, and Litsch both pitched a scoreless 5th until the Jays got on Corcaran for three runs in the 6th.  Greg Zaun singled in the inning scoring Vernon Wells, and Adam Lind had a 2 RBI double to make it 6-2.  Luckily recent call up Cesar Jimenez came in and shut the door to end the inning.

It was at this point in the ballgame, the team showed what they are made of.  The M’s chipped away at the lead with timely hitting and got some stellar bullpen work.  Betancourt hit an RBI single in the bottom of the 6th to make it 6-3.  Jimenez then worked through the 7th unscathed.  In the bottom of the inning Beltre hit a two run homerun his 16th, scoring Jose Vidro to cut the lead to 6-5.

In the 8th, Arthur Rhodes got two outs, but gave up two hits.  Sean Green replaced him and almost got burned moving runners to second and third with a wild pitch.  But Green got Marco Scutaroto to strikeout looking to get out of the jam.  With Mariners needing a run, Sexson hit his 10th homerun of the season, a solo shot to tie the game 6-6.

In a smart move, manager Jim Riggleman went right to Brandon Morrow in the top of the 9th.  Morrow might be the most dominant reliever in the majors over the past month.  Bombtrack continued his mastery striking out Alex Rios, and Wells.  He then walked Lyle Overbay before he struck out Scott Rolen to end the inning.  His stuff was just plain nasty.

Ibanez led off the bottom half with a big walk.  Then Vidro moved him to second on a sacrifice.  The Jays thought they were making a smart move by intentionally walking Beltre, to not only set up the double play possibility, but also to make a below average hitting Bloomquist beat them.  The Jays went with Shawn Camp out of the pen for the right handed matchup.  But, Willie Ballgame jumped right on the first pitch and nailed it to deep right center to clinch the win.  Willie wanted to keep running because he still doesn’t have an extra base hit on the season, but i think he is happy with the single as he was mobbed by his teammates.  Morrow (1-1) picked up his first win of the season.

What a huge “team” win in what has been a really tough season.  From the bullpen being called on to step up, from the team coming from behind,  Riggleman really has them playing some good team ball as of late.  Tomorrow night will see Jarrod Washburn (3-7) against Dustin McGowan (6-6) 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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 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.

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