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!

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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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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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With Felix Hernandez not taking the mound on Tuesday night against Toronto, and with Miguel Batista ailing, Manager Jim Riggleman said that the team may go with the relief staff tuesday against the Jays.  “We’re pretty sure it is going to be a combination of guys out of our bullpen,” Riggleman said. “We know it’s not going to be Felix. Depends on what happens out there today and tomorrow.”   Riggleman mentioned Ryan Rowland-Smith, Sean Green, Mark Lowe or Roy Corcoran, or potentially having a combination of all pitch a few innings.  It seems as though alot depends on how long R.A. Dickey can go tonight.  Stay tuned

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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 the top of the second inning with the bases loaded Mariner’s Ace Felix Hernandez came to the plate against one of the leagues best, Johan Santana.  It took one pitch for Hernandez to deposit the Santana fastball out of the park opposite field to right for the first grand slam by an American League pitcher since 1971. The Felix slam put the Mariners up 4-0, and was the first homerun of his career.  Hernandez also was pitching a nice game.  That was until he was forced out of the game in the 5th due to an ankle injury after Jose Reyes slid into home to make it 5-1.  Hernandez left only needing one more out to officially qualify for a win in the game.

In a game that lacked offense, the Mariners only got one other run in the ballgame on a 5th inning single by Jose Lopez scoring Willie Bloomquist.

The Mets only recorded 4 hits as the Seattle bullpen got out of some jams relieving Hernandez.  Roy Corcaran (1.1 innings), and Ryan Rowland-Smith (2 innings) helped keep the score 5-1 going into the bottom of the 9th.

With Miguel Batista starting the later in the week, and Brandon Morrow due back Tuesday, along with J.J. Putz still on the DL, the Mariners went into the 9th with Sean Green.  Green struggled giving up a run on two hits and a walk.  Then enter…Arthur Rhodes.  With one out and two baserunners on, Rhodes shut the door.  The 38 year old vetran one year removed from Tommy John surgery, struck out Carlos Delgado, and Damion Easley to end the game.

Ryan Rowland-Smith (2-1) picked up the victory. Johan Santana (7-6)got the loss.  These two teams meet again tomorrow night at 7:10 at Shea Stadium.  Seattle is expected to go with struggling knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (1-1) as the Mets counter with Oliver Perez (4-5) . David Wright is expected to get the day off for the Mets. 

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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.

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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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The Seattle Mariners scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning to take the game into extra innings but then went onto lose on a walk off home run in the tenth inning to the Texas Rangers by the score of 13-12.  Ramon Vazquez took Brandon Morrow deep to win the game for the Rangers.  Morrow took the loss and is now 0-1 on the season.

Starting pitcher Erik Bedard was roughed up in only two innings of action.  Bedard gave up seven hits and six runs as he was hit hard all night long.  Cha Seung Baek pitched the next two innings without letting in a run but then Ryan Rowland-Smith gave up two runs and Mark Lowe gave up four more runs.

The Mariners did hit three home runs in the game.  Kenji Johjima had the big three run blast in the top of the ninth inning to tie the game.  Raul Ibanez had a two run home run in the first inning and Wladimir Balentien had a two run shot as well in the eighth inning.

Johima led the the Mariners with four rbi while Ibanez wasn’t too far behind with three rbi.  Balentein had two rbi and Yuniesky Betancourt finished up the game with one rbi.

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The Seattle Mariners took a big win over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday 4-2 behind the great pitching of Miguel Batista putting them at 10-10 for the year.  The Mariners held the Angels to a scoreless game until the bottom of the ninth when the Angels started to rally but didn’t have quite enough to take home the win. 

Batista came onto the mound to open the game and stayed there for seven and two thirds innings and even though he gave up 8 hits, no Angels’ runners were able to reach home plate.  Ryan Rowland-Smith was brought it to finish off the night and was able to secure his 2nd save of the season.

Seattle was swinging hard with Richie Sexton driving a home run putting him at five the season and a pair of RBIs as well. Ichiro Suzuki and Jose Lopez each picked up RBIs as well. 

Coming off a 4 game winning streak do you think that the Seattle Mariners have what it takes to go up against the Balitmore Orioles ranked number 2 in the American League East?  I think the Mariners will do really well against the Orioles.

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