Felix With 5th Complete Game

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!  What a way to end the month of August.  Carp tied the Mariners rookie mark for RBIs in a month, Felix passed Jamie Moyer for 2nd on the strike out list (trailing only Randy Johnson) as well as passed 200 strike outs in a season for the third year in a row.  This game had it all, fantastic defense, pitching, clutch hitting, and a come from behind 2-1 win.

Angels  (73-62)

Aybar SS

Kendrick 2B

Hunter RF

Trumbo 1B

Callaspo 3B

Bourjos CF

Trout LF

Mathis C

Haren P

Mariners (57-77)

Ichiro DH

Gutierrez CF

Ackley 2B

Carp 1B

Olivo C

Seager 3B

Wells RF

Ryan SS

Robinson LF

Hernandez P

With Felix and Haren on the mound, we knew it had the potential to be a great game.  When both pitchers are on, they're ON.  As with the majority of fantastic pitchers, you have to hit them in the first couple of innings or it will be a long night.

Haren gave up a walk in the first and a double in the second... which was followed by retiring the next 15 batters until a single by Carp in the 7th inning.  It was an inning in which we loaded the bases but weren't able to break out for a run. 

At that point we were trailing 1-0 thanks to a leadoff broken bat single by the speedy Trout in the 3rd who came around on another single by Kendrick after advancing to second base on a sac bunt.  The single by Kendrick followed Felix's 3rd strikeout in the game, Aybar, which made him pass Jamie Moyer to the number 2 position on career strikeouts at 1,240.  He ended up with another 6 on the night.

Felix wasn't perfect, but he was definitely sharp.  At one point, from the 4th to the 8th inning, he retired 12 in a row.  His final line:  9 IP, 109 P, 5H, 1 R, 9 K, 1 BB

So here Felix is, pitching his ass off again and looking at another complete game loss.  We got to Haren in the 7th but were unable to score.  Needless to say, I was less than confident with Robinson and Ichiro up 1 and 2 in the order in the top of the 8th.  As predicted, neither produced.  But Gutierrez, having refound his stroke in the month of August, got a single up the middle and WE WERE ALIVE!  Ackley quickly followed with a single of his own and we had runners at the corners.  All we needed was a single to tie or a well placed double to put us ahead.  Carp came up to the plate, needing those two RBI sitting on the bases to tie Danny Tartabull in 1986 for most RBIs by a Mariners rookie in any month (25).

After a pitching change in which Haren was pulled, on a 2-1 pitch Caro smoked it... and I mean smoked, to left center which got past Bourjos for a double that scored both runners!  The crowd went nuts.  Carp had tied the rookie record, we were up 2-1, and with the way Felix was pitching there was no doubt he wouldn't come out to complete the game.  To the roar of the crowd, he came trotting back out to the 9th and retired the first two batters via strikeouts.  Then, Trumbo took a 1-1 pitch deep to RF, but thankfully it was grabbed at the warning track for the final out.  Everyone went home happy and pumped up from the excitement.

Gyro
15-16 when I attend
18,520 att

Carp Snaps Streak

Losing streak, that is.  The Mariners played spoiler, knocking off the Angels 5-3 on one of their better games of the year.  We had everything, great hitting, great defense, and solid pitching.  Seeing as how we came into the game 20 games under, the only thing to look forward to is the role of spoiler and the continued development of our youngsters.  The Angels are fighting for the AL West top spot with the Rangers, but they will have to wait at least another day for a win.

Angels (72-61)

Izturis 3B

Kendrick 2B

Abreu DH

Hunter RF

Trumbo 1B

Wells LF

Aybar SS

Bourjos CF

Conger C

Pineiro P

Mariners (56-76)

Ichiro RF

Gutierrez CF

Ackley 2B

Carp 1B

Olivo C

Kennedy DH

Wells LF

Seager 3B

Ryan SS

Beavan P

Trumbo is a freaking beast of a rookie... he came into the game hitting 256 with 18 homers and 71 RBI.  He added 2 more RBI with his 2 run homer in the 4th.  The Angels added another run that inning, but that was pretty much all she wrote for their offense!

Ackley was a homer shy of a cycle, Wells got two outfield assists (3rd and 7th) as well as walked in 3 out of his 4 plate appearances (one intentional), and Carp crushed the game winning 2 run homer 432 feet to the hit it here cafe in the 8th as the Mariners won 5-3 in a thrilling game.  There were only 16,990 fans, which is pathetic considering the weather was beautiful and it is still August!  The Mariners hit a season high 7 extra base hits.  Ichiro had 2 of them, both doubles in which he came around on a sac fly to left field in the first and Ackley's triple in the 5th (which tied the game at 3).  He now has 153 hits on the year with 29 games to go on his quest for 200.  I really hope he doesn't get it.

Garlic Chicken
14-16 when I attend
I scored, but let my sister score for nearly half of the game.  She did a good job and I think had a good time.

Mariners Shut Out

Not much to say with this one, Danks went the whole way and we were shut out 3-0.  The higlight of the game was in the ceremonial pitch as Larry Bernandez (Felix Hernandez's commercial alter ego) threw out the first pitch.  It was Larry Bernandez bobblehead night.

White Sox

Pierre LF

De Aza RF

Konerko DH

Ramierez SS

Dunn 1B

Lillibridge CF

Flowers C

Morel 3B

Beckham 2B

Danks P

Mariners

Ichiro RF

Gutierrez CF

Ackley 2B

Carp 1B

Olivo C

Wells LF

Pena DH

Seager 3B

Ryan SS

Pineda P

Pineda retired the first 9 in order, then go into trouble in the 4th as Pierre led off with a high chopper of an infield hit.  Followed by two consecutive singles and then a sac fly, and we were down 2-0.  That's all Danks needed, but they added another in the 8th on a solo homer. The Mariners were only able to muster three hits and 1 walk, striking out 10 times.  At least the game was only 2 hours and 9 minutes, so it was over quickly.

Burger, Att 30,522

The Mariners fell to 13-16 when I attend

Lost Opportunities

White Sox (63-65)

Pierre LF

Lillibridge 1B

Konerko DH

Rios CF

Ramirez SS

Flowers C

De Aza RF

Morel 3B

Beckham 2B

Peavy P

Mariners (56-73)

Ichiro RF

Gutierrez CF

Ackley 2B

Carp 1B

Olivo C

Seager 3B

Pena DH

Ryan SS

Robinson LF

Furbush P

 

It was a disappointing loss as the Mariners had ample opportunity to win.  Furbush struggled early on, with 70 pitches through the first three.  He allowed the leadoff batter of the game on in a single.  Then, Olivo had a passed ball which took away a double play opportunity.  The White Sox ended up scoring two times in the first, and we never led the rest of the game.

In the bottom of the second we were able to get 1 back with a leadoff solo shot on the first pitch by Olivo.  Then, in the third we left the bases loaded.  We tied it up in the 4th, then after the White Sox immediately took back the lead with a two run homer in the 5th, we left the bases loaded once again in the 7th.  In all, we left 11 men on base and lost by the final score of 4-2.

Attendance 28,621
- Gyro/Fries

13-15 when I attend

Morrow Returns

It was the return of Brandon Morrow, our former #1 pick from several years ago.  After screwing around with him for a couple of years... we finally traded him away to Toronto for a fresh start.  He has days where he is just on, lights out... and then days when he gets rocked!  I was there for his first ML Start in which he took a no-hitter into the 8th inning.  Tonight was one of those nights.  At one point he struck out 5 in a row, ending up with 12k in 6 total innings.  He gave up just one run and picked up the win as the Mariners fell to the Blue Jays 5-1.

Blue Jays (62-60)

Escobar SS

Thames LF

Bautista RF

Lind 1B

Encarnacion DH

Rasmus CF

Lawrie 3B

Hill 2B

Molina C

Morrow P

Mariners (53-68)

Ichiro DH

Gutierrez CF

Ackley 2B

Carp 1B

Wells RF

Robinson LF

Seager 3B

Bard C

Wilson SS

Beavan P

The Blue Jays scored all their runs via the longball.  After hitting three on Monday they hit three more today.  A leadoff solo in the 2nd, 3 run HR in the 3rd, and another leadoff homer in the 4th.  5 runs was all they needed, and then some.  Wells had entered the game hitting home runs in 4 straight games.  Unfortunately this streak came to an end as he was hit on the nose in the 6th inning after striking out his first two times at the plate.  It turns out he was fine, just a little rattled, as x-rays etc came back negative.  However another streak was extended as Carp pushed his hitting streak to 17 games in the 4th.  Ackley had 3ks, he's struggling a little.  We only mustered 3 hits total in the game.

Ate a slice of Pizza
Attendance 26,579
13-14 when I attend and fell to 53-69 overall.

Homer Happy

Well it was a night of launched rockets with the Blue Jays in town in front of 28,530 fans, which seemed to be half Blue Jays fans.  I called them Stealth 'cause it is very unlike the Red Sox fans when you can definitely see the RED stand out.  Well, it was nice to get them to go quiet later in the game as the Mariners came back and went ahead for good in the 8th inning.

Blue Jays (61-59)

Escobar SS

Thames LF

Bautista RF

Lind 1B

Encarnacion DH

Rasmus CF

Lawrie 3B

Hill 2B

Arencibia C

Alvarez P

Mariners (52-67)

Ichiro RF

Gutierrez CF

Ackley 2B

Carp 1B

Wells DH

Olivo C

Robinson LF

Seager 3B

Wilson SS

Pineda P

Pineda definitely wasn't the sharpest we have seen him.  He gave up three homers, none to league leader Bautista (34), but the real problem was all the walks, 5, in just 5 innings.  He walked the leadoff batter of the game and on the next pitch, Thames launched a homer to right that traveled 357 feet.  It was nearly the same thing in the 3rd inning, except the leadoff batter grounded out to second.  Bautista walked and then on a 1-0 pitch Lind hit a two run homer himself.  In the 4th, Lawrie lead off with a 1-0 homer to left that went 409 feet that put them up 5-4, the score held until the 8th inning.

The Mariners got three in the 2nd to go up 3-2.  Wells lead off the inning by being plunked on the back.  Then, after Olivo Flied out to right, Trayvon Robinson (rookie acquired in one of the deadline trades) hit a solid ball to left that the fielder just got a hand on, but couldn't pull in.  He ended up with an rbi double and it could have maybe been a triple!  On the night, Trayvon had 2 hits (2 2B), and RBI, and run scored.  In only his second big league game last week, he went into the stands to bring back a home run.  Seager then walked, and Jack Wilson got an rbi single advancing Seager to third.  Wilson advanced to 2nd on the attempt at home with heads up base running   So with 1 out and runners on second and third up came the "mighty" Ichiro.  I was pleasantly surprised that he actually produced with runners on, by getting a sac fly to left. Guti then flew out to right. Guti continues his hot streak, extending his hit streak to 8 games with a first inning double.

The Blue Jays went ahead in the top of the third with their 2nd homer... and then in the bottom of third up came Carp. He had entered the game with a 14 game hitting streak, and for some reason I felt like he was going to knock it out.  Sure enough, on a 1-1 count he launched a solo shot to Left Center for 416 feet, and the ballgame was tied!  He hit another game tying solo shot to right in the 8th inning.  After a pitching change, in came Wells who was not to be outdone, and hit the game winning homer to left.  Back to back homers sure are fun to see!  It was a back and forth night, and boy am I glad I stayed.  At one point it was looking like it would be a 3.5 hour game.

League then came in and nailed down his 30th save.  The win went to rookie Wilhelmsen, the first of his career.

The Mariners are now 13-13 when I attend, and are now out of last place in the AL West, having overtaken Oakland.

Brisket.

On a side note, congrats go out to Jim Thome for launching two homers himself today, the second of which was career #600.  He is only the 5th player to ever hit more than 600.  Bonds, Sosa, and Rodriguez do not count as they have all been accused of or have admitted to using performance enhancing drugs.

"Infield Triple"

I've said it before and I'll say it again, one of the reasons I love baseball is that you always see something different at the ballpark.  Tonight was a wacky game!  With King Felix on the mound in front of 22,576 we saw a play that we will probably never see again.  Well, possibly... but it happens very rarely.

Athletics 

Weeks 2B

Crisp CF

Matsui LF

Willingham DH

Sweeney RF

Jackson 1B

Suzuki C

Sogard SS

Sizemore 3B

Harden P

Mariners

Ichiro RF

Ryan SS

Ackley 2B

Carp DH

Kennedy 3B

Olivo C

Smoak 1B

Wells LF

Gutierrez CF

Hernandez P

In the bottom of the first inning, Brendan Ryan, with 1 out, hit a chopper to third and was safe at first on the throw.  Don't know how it happened, but for some reason many Athletics missed their assignment.  The 2nd baseman had gone to back up at first, but nobody was anywhere near 2nd base so Ryan took off for second.  As this was happening their third baseman ran to 2nd to take a throw, which never came... and nobody backed up third!  Ryan took off for third!!!  He slid in safely and may have singledhandidly won this game, 'cause after a walk by Ackley Carp hit a 2 RBI 2B and we had spotted Felix two runs in the 1st.  We never trailed the rest of the game.

In the third inning Ackley knocked yet another triple... this time it was "ground rule" triple as a fan reached over and picked up the ball.  Ackley was already turning at 2nd so the umpire awarded Ackley third instead of calling it a ground rule double.  The fan was dressed up exactly like Ichiro and was escorted from the seat.  A lot of twitter and fan buzzing, and "Fake Ichiro" wasn't booted from the stadium.  He did a couple of interviews, more than the real Ichiro will ever do!

Wells gave us insurance with a 2 run shot in the 6th , his first homer with us after arriving in the Fister trade. It turns out we needed it as the Athletics added a Sizemore 2 run homer of their own in the 7th.  It was to straightaway center and surprised a lot of people.  He hit it solid.  And Felix's day was over.  He had another solid outing, 6.1 IP with 9K, 2R, 5 H, and 3 BB.

Then there was more weirdness in the 8th inning as the A's loaded the bases with 1 out. Kurt Suzuki, who had given us huge problems over the years, ended up striking out on a pitch that hit him!  We got out of the inning a batter later... and that was pretty much the ballgame.  We ended up halving the score from yesterday at 4-2 being the final score.

Ate Ginger Chicken Veggie Noodles and my mom joined me for most of the game.  She left in the top of the 7th. 

This is the first time we've won 2 in a row since July 4/5.  The Mariners improved to 12-13 when I attend.  We go for the sweep tomorrow!

Undefeated in August

I know, I know... this was the first game of the month.  BUT we cruised to an 8-4 victory thanks to a bases clearing triple by Ackley in the 5 run 2nd inning.  '

Oakland Athletics (49-59)

Weeks 2B
Crisp CF
Matsui DH
Willingham LF
Sweeney RF
Jackson 1B
Pennington SS
Suzuki C
Sizemore 3B

Cahill P

Mariners (45-62)

Ichiro RF
Ryan SS
Ackley 2B
Carp DH
Kennedy 1B
Olivo C
Wells LF
Figgins 3B
Gutierrez CF

However, the game may have been decided in the 1st as Beaven loaded the bases on three straight singles, weird singles, with nobody out.  But he got out of the jam and that was pretty much the only trouble he got into until the 7th.  The first hit was a ricochet off his leg followed by a line drive right over Ryan into center, who was going to 2nd to cover Weeks.  Weeks advanced to 3rd and then Matsui, batting .528 on a 9 game hitting streak, hit to 3B that ended up a single as Figgins tried to tag Weeks.  Stupid choice, Matsui is slow and would have been out.  So, the bases were loaded.  But then rookie pitcher Beavan got the next two batters and called strikes and Jackson ended the inning by flying out to Wells.  If they score there, who knows what happens the rest of the game goes.

We knocked out 16 hits.  Our first was in the first inning, a double by ryan to right field.  In the 2nd inning, after the A's went in order, is when we did our damage.  Olivo flied to center on the first pitch, then Wells, on his first pitch, got a broken bat single right past their 3rd baseman.  It was followed by a Figgins bloop single to left, then a Guti double to right that scored Wells.  Ichiro loaded the bases via a fielder's choice as he hit a chopper right to 3B.  Figgins was looked back to the base and Sizemore couldn't get Ichiro in time on the throw.  Unlike the Athletics in the first, we were able to punch through with the bases juiced.  Ryan picked up an RBI with his single to left and the bases were still loaded.

Which brought up Ackley, coming into the game batting .305 with 5 homers and 20 RBI.  The best hitter on our team since he came up.  The dude is ridiculously good.  He's the best in the majors right now at batting with two strikes, and he didn't disappoint tonight.  On a 1-2 count he lined to RF, but the ball bounced in front of Sweeney and over his glove as he was trying to dive for the ball.  It went all the way to the wall and Ackley had a 3RBI triple.  It is already his 5th triple of the year.  Carp and Kennedy both grounded out to end the inning, but when all the damage was over we had 9 batters, 5 runs, and 5 hits.

We traded Fister and Pauley away on Saturday to Detroit for the new Casper Wells (in the lineup for his second game) as well as Charlie Furbush (P) and a couple of minor leaguers.  We also were able to trade Bedard to Boston on Sunday!  I am sad to see Fister go, I really liked him.  Underrated guy, consistent... his only issue was lack of run support.  Wells ended up getting 2 singles, a run, and was hit by a pitch in his final at-bat.

Figgins was pinch hit for in the 3rd, lots of speculation but it turned out hit hurt his hip flexor diving back to third in the 2nd.  Smoak pinch hit for him in the 3rd and ended up going 2/3 with a walk and two runs scored.  Ended up being a good night on his supposed night off.  Pretty much everyone in our lineup had a good day, only Kennedy failed to reach base.

Ichiro 1-5, R, RBI
Ryan 3-5, 2B, R, RBI
Ackley 2-4, 3B, 3B, BB, R, 3RBI
Carp 1-4, BB,
Kennedy 0-5
Olivo 3-5, RBI
Wells, 2-4, R, HBP
Figgins 1-1, R
Smoak 2-3, 2B, BB, 2R
Gutierrez 1-4, 2B, R, RBI

We added three more runs in three separate innings.  In the 4th Ackley got a double and scored on an Olivo single.  And, in the 5th and 7th Smoak led off each inning with a hit (single and then double) and scored on a wild pitch and soft bloop single by Ichiro.

The attendance was 23.335.  I ate Garlic Chicken and scored the game. The Mariners improved to 11-13 when I attend!

July Games Recap

Boy this is getting exhausted and more involved than I ever thought.  I am going to have to rethink my game log for next year.  It was a miserable month as we were shut out in 3 of the 5 games I went to.

Fri 7/1 SD W 6-0, Vargas, Pizza and Garlic Fries, 23,616
Sat 7/2 SD L 1-0, Fister, Gyro, 22,798, scored
Fri 7/15 TEX L 4-0, Fister, Garlic Fries, 30,551, scored, ROOF
Sat 7/16 TEX L 5-1, Felix, Crepe, 30,896, scored
Fri 7/29 TB L 8-0, Bedard, Brisket Sandwich, 26,570

Record by Starting Pitcher
Felix: 0-1 (4-3)
Pineda: N/A (3-0)
Vargas: 0-1 (1-6)
Fister: 0-2 (0-3)
Bedard: 0-1 (1-2)

Record by Day (Overall)
Mon: N/A (2-3)
Tue: N/A (1-1)
Wed: N/A (2-0)
Thu: N/A (1-0)
Fri: 1-2 (4-3)
Sat: 0-2 (0-6)

Record By Food
Baked Potato: N/A (1-1)
Cookies: N/A (1-1)
Pizza:  1-0 (3-0)
Gyro: 0-1 (2-1)
Garlic Chicken N/A (0-2)
Garlic Fries: 1-1 (1-1)
Kettle Corn: N/A (3-2)
Crepe: 0-1 (2-3)
Brisket Sandwich: 0-1 (0-1)

Record with Roof Closed: 0-1 (2-2)
Record while Scoring: 0-3 (3-7)

Attendance:
Fri: 23,616; 30,551; 26,570
Sat: 22,798; 30,896
Avg Attendance:  26,886 (22,510)

Overall Score:  Opponent 18 (84) Mariners 7 (58)
Run Differential: -11 (-26)

Avg Runs Scored
Mariners1.4
Opponent 3.60

Greatest Run Differential Win: 6
Greatest Run Differential Loss:8

Mariners total Runs Record:
0: 0-3 (0-3)
1: 0-1 (1-6)
2:       (0-1)
3:       (4-3)
4:       (1-0)
5:       (2-0)
6: 1-0 (1-0)
8:       (1-0)

Opponent:
0: 1-0 (4-0)
1: 0-1 (1-1)
2:       (4-2)
3:       (0-1)
4: 0-1 (0-2)
5: 0-1 (0-2)
6:       (0-1)
7:       (1-0)
8: 0-1 (0-2)
9:       (0-1)
12:     (0-1)

Overall 1-4 (10-13)
One Run Games: 0-1 (4-3)