The Seattle Mariners held off the Texas Rangers by the score of 8-7 on Wednesday afternoon. The Mariners gave up four home runs to the Ranagers but answered back with plenty of rbi singles to somehow win the game. The two teams split the short two game series.

Mariners starting pitcher Cesar Jimenez only pitched the first three innings and then was taken out of the game. He had only given up one hit and struck out four but walked two batters. Jared Wells pitched bad in his one inning of action as he gave up three hits and four runs including two two-run home runs. Jake Woods gave up a two-run home run as well in the game. Not to be left out, Miguel Batista served up a solo home run.

Roy Corcoran ended up getting the victory while J.J. Putz recorded his 13th save of the season.

Raul Ibanez led the M’s at the plate with two rbi singles and a rbi double to finish the game with three rbi. Kenji Johjima wasn’t too far behind as he finished the game with two rbi on a two-run single. Yuniesky Betancourt and Matt Tuiasosopo finished up the rbi’s with one each.

Good win for the Mariners even though the pitching staff gave up four home runs. The offense sure picked them up this game. Mariners Blog

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

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

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.

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 

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 

Mariners Blog

It took a ninth inning rally but the Seattle Mariners were able to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by the score of 2-1 on Wednesday afternoon.  Raul Ibanez hit a rbi single to right field that scored Ichiro Suzuki for the go ahead and winning run in the game.  Ichiro stole second and third in the ninth inning.  Good win for the Mariners who really needed to pick up a victory.

Yuniesky Betancourt got the Mariners scoring started in the seventh inning when they were down 1-0.  Betancourt roped a rbi triple to deep right center field and Richie Sexson scored the first run for the Mariners.  There wasn’t a whole lot of offense for the Mariners, but it was enough to come away with the victory.

I was very impressed with the Mariners pitching against the Blue Jays.  Felix Hernandez tossed eight strong innings while only allowing four hits and one run while striking out eight Blue Jays.  Hernandez was able to improve his record to 5-5 on the season with the victory.

J.J. Putz came in at the beginning of the ninth inning but was pulled out of the game after walking the first batter.  Brandon Morrow was then brough in and he was able to get the Mariners out of the game and pick up the save.  Morrow got the save which was his first of the season as the Mariners ended their road trip with a 3-3 record.

Mariners Blog

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 Los Angeles Angels got off to a hot start they combined to score nine runs in the first five innings of the game, but then there was no scoring the final four innings as the Mariners lost 5-4 to the Angels.

Erik Bedard dropped to 4-4 on the season as he took the loss.  Bedard gave up seven hits, five runs (four earned), and three walks as he only lasted 3 1/3 innings.  Bedard needs to start throwing the ball a lot better and earn that money he is making.

R.A. Dickey pitched the final 5 2/3 innings and only gave up three hits.  Maybe he should have started the game instead of Bedard lol.

Jose Lopez hit a solo home run in the fourth inning and then Jose Vidro had a rbi single in the fourth inning.  Those two runs were the only recorded rbi’s in the game as the other two Mariners runs came off errors in the fifth inning.  Yuniesky Betancourt and Lopez both scored on errors in the fifth.

The Mariners will try to get things going again on Wednesday afternoon as they will face off against the Angels once again but this time it will be an afternoon game.

Mariners Blog