A Safeco First

Notice anything different?

Well, like I've said many times before you always see something at the ballpark that you've never seen before... whether it be an unassisted triple play, a weird bounce off a base or fielder, or a broken bat that sails 150 feet.  Tonight, for the first time, the Mariners played as an away team at Safeco while using National League rules.  It was the first time in MLB during the DH era that pitchers batted at an AL ballpark! 

The Mariners came into this having been swept by the Nationals despite only giving up 1 ER in 3 games.  That's inexcusable.  We fell below .500 for the first time since May 25th.  The Marlins came into the game at 2-20 for June.

The Lineups:

Mariners (37-38)

Ichiro Suzuki RF

Brendan Ryan SS

Adam Kennedy 3B

Justin Smoak 1B

Dustin Ackley 2B

Miguel Olivo C

Carlos Peguero LF

Franklin Gutierrez CF

Felix Hernandez P

Marlins (33-42)

Emilio Bonifacio CF

Logan Morrison LF

Gaby Sanchez 1B

Hanley Ramirez SS

Greg Dobbs 3B

Mike Stanton RF

John Buck C

Omar Infante 2B

Ricky Nolasco P

Watching the Mariners bat first in gray uniforms was definitely a different experience.  Usually we hear the national anthem, then the mariners gets introduced as they trot out to the field... followed by a "play ball" cheer from some lucky kid.  Side rant... how come they never had any of these running around the bases/kids day/open the game/in the broadcast booth promotions when I was a kid!  The only thing we got to do was walk around the field once a year.  This time it was "play ball" with the Mariners batting first!  The Marlins took the field to scattered applause.

King's Court going crazy with Ks

The Mariners went down in order and Felix ran into some trouble the first two innings.  He caught Bonifacio looking in the first.  King's Court, expanded to three sections tonight, waved their K signs and went crazy everytime he got to two strikes in a count.  Then, he walked Morrison who two batters later got picked off to end the inning.  The Mariners went down in order in the top of the second as well.  The bottom of the second sure was an interesting one.

Ramirez, who had been up at the plate when Morrison was picked off first the prior inning, led off by flying out to Guti on the first pitch.  Then, former Mariner Dobbs walked.  Stanton struck out swinging.  The next batter, Buck, was hit by a pitch on an 0-1 count.  The next batter is when it got really interesting.   With the count 2-2, Felix pitched inside and it looked like the ball hit off of the knob of the bat.  Infante acted like he had been hit on his hand.  The initial call was a foul, but Jack McKeon came out and protested... the umpires met for a conference and then called Wedge over to discuss.  In a rarity, the umpires reversed a call.  The delay was at least seven minutes, and the fans were not pleased.  Infante trotted out to first and the bases were loaded, all without a hit.    According to the radio it hit off the knob of the bat.  Fortunately, Felix was able to get out of the inning 'cause the pitcher was up, and Nolasco flied out to Left to end the threat.  Felix threw 41 pitches in the first two innings!

Hit It There!!

In the top of the third, there was some excitement.  Peguero sturck out but then Guti had a good AB and before he grounded out to third he hit a foul ball right in front of us in which the ball dropped between the 1B and RF.  You don't see a foul in play missed that often.  Felix Hernandez, with two outs, came up to the plate and the crowd when wild!  He got a rousing cheer.  The King's Court turned their cards around and on the back it said "Hit It There" with and arrow pointing to the field.  He fouled off the first pitch which drew appreciation from everyone.  Then, on the next pitch he hit it solidly to the opposite field, right through the hole between 1st and 2nd.  Felix had the first hit of the game, and became the first pitcher to ever get a hit at Safeco!  He was only the third pitcher to ever get an AB at Safeco after Nolasco and Hipolito Pichardo.  Ichiro grounded out to end the inning.  The Mariners then went down in order until the 7th inning.

The Marlins went down in order in the 3rd with Felix notching two Ks.  In the 4th inning he gave up a leadoff hit up the middle to Ramirez who advanced to second on a groundout to the pitcher.  Ramirez further advanced when he stole a base on a probable hit and run when Stanton struck out.  So, there were two out with a runner on third.  On a 2-2 count Buck struck out swinging, but Olivo couldn't handle the pitch and lost the ball as it went past him.  He found it and threw to first, but  Buck was safe and Ramirez had come in to score the first run of the game.  This was all on Olivo, but Felix was charged with the WP.  He got out of the inning when Infante grounded out to third.  He allowed only two more baserunners the rest of the game, a hit in the sixth and another hit batter (Buck for the second time) in the seventh.  His final line, 8 IP, 10k, 2h, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 HBP

FC, and IBB (to Ackley), Olivo came to the plate with one out looking to redeem himself.  He ended up knocking Kennedy in with the tying run on a FC.  So now there were runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 out.  Peguero hit an infield single to deep short to load the bases again, and Guti came up with the bases loaded.  He came into the game batting only .192 with 0 HR and 6 RBI.  On a 1-1 count he knocked the ball up the middle into center, driving in 2 runs and the Mariners were up 3-1!  It was a big hit for him, hopefully he will start to come out of his season long slump.

In the 9th inning with Ackley walked with one out, and Olivo had an 8 pitch AB in which King's Court started changing oo Liv o ohhhh (like the Wizard of Oz chant). Don't ask me why they started chanting like that.  But, it worked, as he knocked a pitch 352 feet just over the fence near the left field foul pole to make it a 5-1 game. Yep, I would say he redeemed himself pretty well.  Peguero struck out and Guti got another base hit.  While Guti was at the plate, Felix came into the on deck circle and the crowd went crazy! After Guti's hit he went back to the dugout and Cust came out to pinch hit amid Boos from the seats.  On the postgame show Wedge said that Felix was going to come back out to finish off the game, but when Olivo hit the homer he didn't want to risk it.  Cust struck out looking, which did not please the fans.  League came in to finish of the bottom of the 9th.

looking strange in the away grays

It was a fun and exciting game., a lot of interesting moments.  I kept looking at the wrong part of the scoreboard and it took time to get used to cheering for the gray uniforms.  The novelty of Felix hitting was cool, but I think over time that would wear off (just like interleague play).  Personally I would like to see it abolished altogether and have it go back to only in the WS and All-Star game in which the leagues meet.  Unfortunately it is all about money, and it continues to draw bigger crowds.

I had a Gyro and Kettle Corn, and scored the game.

The roof was closed in the top of the first.  

The attendance was 15,279

The Mariners improved to 38-38 overall and  9-7 when I attend.