2012 Player Stats

I saw Felix pitch in over a quarter of all the games I went to.  He had some hits and misses, but the last start really skewed the stats.  Not indicative of his overall "ace" stuff.  The Mariners finally gave him a little bit of run support, as well.  Seven of the games we scored 4 or more runs and were 4-3.  He was the only one with a complete game.


Below you will see the monthly stats compiled by all hitters.  The .227 average over 47 games is not acceptable.  The only month we were semi respectable was June.  Take out the total PA and we struck out 20.7% of the plate appearances.  That is a slight improvement over last year, but no thanks.  The .227 is a slight improvement as well, but this could be because I attended more games and therefore larger sample size to work from.

Like last year I compared the batters with over 100 AB.  This year there were 8. It is organized by OBP, BAA, and plate appearances.  Then I weighed them based on several factors.  I ranked each player based on their position in each category and in conclusion Jaso was far and away the top hitter.  No wonder I like the guy so much.  He ranked number one in on base percentage, batting average, walk/so ratio, and rbi per plate appearance.  Next best was Wells.  These two players had the least amount of at-bats but they were more efficient.

A good batter will have an OBP of at least 75 points higher than their BA.   A great one will be 100 or more above.  The team was 67 points for the year. For the eight players, here is how they ranked:

1. Jaso (.111)
2. Ryan (.106)
3. Saunders (.071)
4. Wells (.070)
5. Ackley (.058)
6. Smoak (.056)
7. Seager (.050)
8. Montero (.036) 

Here are the players listed by the percent of their hits being extra bases.  Overall the team percentage was 28.61%

1. Wells (40.00%)
2. Jaso (34.78%)
3. Saunders (34.48%)
4. Seager (28.95%)
5. Smoak (27.59%)
6. Montero (24.44%)
7. Ryan (19.05%)
8. Ackley (15.00%)

Let's look at the Strikeouts per Walk ratio.  The lower, the better. Team combined for 2.60 strikeouts per walk.

1. Jaso (.875:1)
2. Ryan (1.44:1)
3. Ackley (2.43:1)
4. Smoak (2.50:1)
5. Seager (2.54:1)
6. Saunders (3.00:1)
7. Montero (4.14:1)

Finally, RBI percentage based on number of plate appearances.  Granted it is a little off because top and bottom of the order are less likely to get RBIs.  Still, I find it interesting.  As a whole the team had an RBI in 8.25% of its plate appearances.

1. Jaso (17.48%)
2. Montero (11.49%)
3. Wells (10.38%)
4. Seager (8.06%)
5. Smoak (6.54%)
6. Ryan (5.34%)
7. Saunders (5.13%)
8. Ackley (3.83%)

If we "weigh" all the leaders in the categories I talked about above, here is a list of the top batters for the year.  There are 7 categories: OBP, BAA, PA, BAA above OBP, XBH%, BB/K, and RBI %. 

1. Jaso
2. Wells
3. Montero
4. Seager
5. Ackley
6. Ryan
7. Saunders
8. Smoak

Like I stated above, Jaso was far and away the top batter.   Montero through Saunders were only separated by 4 points so let's call it a tie.

Hoping that in 2013 the hitting will continue to improve.  I see a little bit of a trend in the right direction.

2012 Year End Recap

Boy oh boy, 2012 was quite a year.  I witnessed a Perfect Game, a combined No-Hitter, and got to see Ichiro finally get traded! I went to a total of 47 games for a combined 23-24 record. 

 

As with last year, the worst day to go to was Saturday.  We were 0-9 last year, thankfully I saw a few more wins this time around.  They had a total of 15 one run games, we were 8-7 in these games.  Once again the stats show that if they scored more than 4 runs in a game they were likely to win with a 16-5 record.

As you can see from the stats, I saw the Mariners play 16 different teams, 3 NL and all AL teams.  Our record in Inter-league games was 3-3.  It isn't surprising that the top three teams I saw most frequently were from our division.  38% of the time I hit Safeco I had the pleasure of watching us take on our division (7-11).  That's not good, you need to beat your own division, especially at home!  We particularly sucked against the Angels.

Now I will show a game of all game results organized by date played.  I will do another post on individual batter/pitcher statistics.  As you can see by the chart below, losses are in red and wins in black.  The Perfect Game and Combined No-Hitter are in bold and underlined (games 6 and 15). 
 
The Greatest Loss was on Opening Night, as we lost by 8 runs to Cleveland.  Our Largest Win was the final game at 12-0

Average attendance per game I attended was 20,526 down from 22,798 last year.  The average time of game was 2:51.  The shortest game of the year (Game 10) clocked in at 2:06, and the longest was in Game 3 at 3:33.  The next day they had the smallest crowd of the year at 11,343.  Opening Day was the only sellout.

Sep/Oct Games Recaps

The Mariners went 4-7 the final month of the regular season to end in 23-24 for the year.  It started out terribly with losing the first six. The Mariners scored 37 runs and their opponents 40, but 12 of those runs came on the final day for us.  We scored 1 run in five games, winning just one of them.  The average attendance was 16,652 vs 22,559 in August.

Our starting pitchers had a higher combined ERA at 3.71 vs 3.12 in August. The starters accounted for 71% of the innings pitched compared to 75% in August.  They accounted for 80% of the runs given up. Felix had is worst month of the season, by far.

Our OBP was a respectable 69 points higher than our average, compared to only 26 points in August.  Of our 96 total hits, 32.2% were extra base hits compared to 28.9% in August.  Smoak had a great month as well as Montero, with Ackley falling off.

August Games Recap

It takes too much effort to blog game after game, so I will only be updating sporadically now with stats.  To be honest I am doing this right now after the season, because I got too exhausted doing it every day!

The Mariners went 4-2 in August and are now 19-17 when I attend.  The Mariners scored 20 runs and their opponents 22, for a run differential of just two, but the 8/31 game really fudged the numbers.  The average attendance was 22,559 vs 23,265 in July.

Our starting pitchers had a higher combined ERA at 3.12 vs 2.92 in July. The starters accounted for 75% of the innings pitched compared to 73% in July.  They accounted for 73% of the runs given up.

Our OBP was only 26 points higher than our average, compared to 49 points in July.  Of our 45 total hits in July, 28.9% were extra base hits compared to 25.9% in July.  Thames, Ackley (surprise!), and Jaso were the best hitters.

July Games Recap

The Mariners went 5-3 in July, an improvement of their 4-4 record previous two months, and are now 15-15 when I attend.  There were just three one run games, no shut outs, and we had 1-2 record.  The Mariners scored 31 runs and their opponents 22, for a run differential of nine!  Last month it was 18 vs. 17.  The average attendance was 23,265 vs 19,957 in June.

Our starting pitchers had a higher combined ERA at 2.92 vs 2.59 in June. But it doesn't matter if you don't get the run support.  It is a team game. The starters accounted for 73% of the innings pitched compared to 77% in June.  They accounted for 81% of the runs given up.

Despite having worse stats in practically every category, we scored more runs and won more games.  I guess it comes down to being more clutch in July.  We had three more homers, and more stolen bases but that's pretty much it.   Our OBP was only 49 points higher than our average, nearly identical to the 50 points in June.  Of our 54 total hits in June, 25.9% were extra base hits compared to 16.67% in June. 

Jaso, Seager, and Montero were the only really productive hitters.  Everyone else stunk it up especially Peguero. At least we said goodbye to Ichiro!!!  I think this proves without a doubt it does not matter how many hits you get, what matters is when you get them.

Iwakuma 8 Strong

Davis led the game off with a solo shot but the Mariners scored two in the bottom half of the inning and never looked back.

Royals (51-50)

Davis DH

Rasmus CF

Lawrie 3B

Encarnacion 1B

Snider LF

Escobar SS 

Johnson 2B

Mathis C

Gose RF

Romero (8-7, 5.79)

Mariners (47-57)

Ackley 2B

Saunders CF

Montero C

Jaso DH

Seager 3B

Wells LF

Carp 1B

Peguero RF

Ryan SS

Iwakuma (1-2, 4.56 )

The Mariners are now 15-15 when i attend

Attendance: 22,443

Time: 2:45

Mariners Roll

Millwood went 6.1 innings and Wilhelmsen picked up his 13th save of the season.

Royals (41-58)

Gordon LF

Escobar SS

Moustakas 3B

Butler DH

Betancourt 2B

Pena C

Francoeur RF

Hosmer 1B

Dyson CF

Bruce Chen (7-8, 5.54)

Mariners (45-57)

Ackley 2B

Wells RF

  Saunders CF

Montero DH

Seager 3B

  Olivo C

Carp 1B

  Robinson LF

Ryan SS

Millwood (3-8, 4.13)

The Mariners are now 14-15 when I attend

Attendance:  32,111

Time:  2:42

Mariners Cruise to 6-1 Victory

Jaso got us on the board in the first with a three run shot to right field, and that was all we needed as we added two more in the 2nd and a solo homer launched by Carp 396 feet in the 6th inning.

Royals (41-57)

Gordon LF

Escobar SS

Cain CF

Butler DH

Moustakas 3B

Perez C

Francoeur RF

Hosmer 1B

Getz 2B

Guthrie (0-1, 9.0)

Mariners (44-57)

Ackley 2B

Saunders CF

Montero DH

Jaso C

Seager 3B

Wells CF

Carp 1B

Peguero RF

Ryan SS

Beavan (5-6, 5.54)

The Mariners are now 13-15

Attendance:  14,953

Time:  2:30

Take That, Damn Yankees

Michael Saunders had two base hits, including a home run in the first, as the Mariners beat their former players Freddy Garcia, Alex Rodriguez, Raul Ibanez, and Ichiro Suzuki by a score of 4-2

Yankees (58-38)

Jeter SS

Granderson CF

Rodriguez 3B

Cano 2B

Teixeira 1B

Ibanez LF

Chavez DH

Ichiro RF

Stewart C

Garcia (4-3, 5.37)

Mariners (42-56)

Ackley 2B

Saunders CF

Montero DH

Jaso C

Seager 3B

Wells LF

Carp 1B

Peguero RF

Ryan SS

Hernandez (8-5, 2.82)

Felix went a solid 7.1 innings, giving  up a solo shot to Granderson in the first and then getting out of a bases load jam in the 4th.  After that he pretty much soared until the 8th inning when he hit the leadoff batter, Jeter, who would come around to score after Felix was taken out of the game.

The Mariners are now 12-15 when I attend
Attendance: 31,908
Time of Game:  2:50

Sayonara Ichiro

It was truly a bizarre turn of events today.  I had already sold my personal tickets when, at approximately 3pm, I heard breaking news on the radio that Ichiro was possibly traded.  This is something that I have been dreaming of for around 4 years.  Could it be true!?  Well, turns out it was, as he was shipped to the New York Yankees for a couple of minor league pitchers.  What made it even more weird is that the Yankees were in town for a three game series, so Ichiro would be playing against us!  I rushed home, changed, and headed down to the ballpark to catch a historic game.  I didn't care about the outcome, I was there to celebrate.

We lost 4-1, but who cares!!!!

Mariners Start Second Half On a Familiar Note

They lost ANOTHER one run game, this time 3-2, as they were shutout through 8 innings.  They sure made the 9th an exciting one, but it was too little too late.

Rangers (52-34)

Kinsler 2B

Andrus SS

Hamilton LF

Beltre 3B

Cruz RF

Young 1B

Murphy DH

Napoli C

Martin CF

Holland (5-4,5.63)

Mariners (36-51)

Ackley 2B

Ichiro RF

Wells LF

Montero DH

Seager 3B

Smoak 1B

Olivo C

Saunders CF

Ryan SS

Millwood (3-6,3.69)

I thought Millwood did a pretty good job of keeping the Rangers at bay.  They are full of Mariners killers, practically the entire lineup, so holding them to three runs in 6.2 innings is something I will take from our starting pitcher every outing.  Unfortunately our offense did not suddenly transform over the all-star break.  It wasn't like we didn't have opportunities, we loaded the bases with one out in the 4th but couldn't capitalize.  We had only four hits until we banged three in the bottom of the 9th as we scored two runs.  That's unacceptable.  We have to start scoring early.  And Ackley in particular, along with Smoak, needs to start producing.  He ended the game striking out, with runners at first and third and down by only a run.

This series is going to be very interesting.  If things don't start changing, I predict heads will roll.

The Mariners are now 11-14 when I attend, 5-7 in one run games
Attendance: 23,721
Time of Game:  2:58

Mariners Lose Another Close One

The Mariners lost their 6th game by one run when I attend.  They've won 5 of them.  So out of the 24 games I've been to so far, pretty much half have been one run ballgames.  That's too much tension for one person to take, and we're only halfway through the season!

Orioles (42-37)

Nady LF

Hardy SS

Davis RF

Jones CF

Thome DH

Wieters C

Betemit 1B

Flaherty 3B

Andino 2B

Chen (7-4, 3.73)

Mariners (35-47)

Ichiro RF

Wells LF

Seager 3B

Montero DH

Olivo C

Saunders CF

Smoak 1B

Ackley 2B

Ryan SS

Hernandez (6-5, 3.09)

Felix Hernandez ran into one inning of trouble when he gave up four straight hits to the orioles.  Four runs ended up coming around to score and he was pulled after lasting only 5 1/3 innings.

It was looking dire for awhile as the Mariners were retired in order until one out in the 7th inning.  We made Chen look like Cy Young.  But thankfully Wells hits homer to left to end the perfect game.  We added three more in the 8th to tie the ballgame thanks to four straight hits and a bases loaded walk by Seager.  Unfortunately Montero stranded the runners to tend the inning.  In the top of the 9th Furbush gave up a two out homer to Andino, and we put up no threat in the bottom of the inning to lose by a final of 5-4.  Furbush has been unbelievable this year, so it is unfortunate that he slips up in a tied ballgame.

The Mariners are now 11-13 when I attend
Attendance: 16,270
Time of Game: 2:59

Olivo and Ackley Go Back To Back

Joy of joys, the Mariners scored more than a couple of runs, and even had TWO homers in the 8th inning as they won 6-3.  And, we saw a little history as for the first time in ML History a team featured three Japanese born players in the starting lineup.

Orioles (42-36)

Andino 2B

Hardy SS

Betemit 3B

Jones CF

Thome DH

Wieters C

Davis RF

Reynolds 1B

Pearce LF

Hammel (8-3, 3.29)

Mariners (34-47)

Ichiro RF

Wells CF

Jaso DH

Seager 3B

Olivo C

Ackley 1B

Figgins LF

Kawasaki 2B

Ryan SS

Iwakuma (1-1, 4.75)

Iwakuma had his first ML start due to injuries, he's been our long reliever all year.  He pitched pretty decently.  There was one pitch he would have liked to do over, the three run homer by Davis in the 4th.  But he went 5 innings, and the Bullpen came in and did what they've been doing pretty much all year long.  The Bullpen only allowed two base runners the final four innings, a walk and a hit batter! The walk was to Thome, passing Mantle for 7th all-time.  Thome just joined Baltimore a few days ago, I can't believe he's still playing!

The Mariners were down 3-1 going into the bottom of the seventh, but we put ourselves up for good with a bases loaded double by Wells in the right-center gap to put us up 4-3.  We added two insurance runs in the 8th via back to back one out homers by Olivo and Ackley.  Ackley's was on the first pitch.

It was nice to see the Mariners come back and score some runs.  However, they need to start learning how to score early to reduce the pressure on their starting pitchers to be perfect.


The Mariners are now 11-12 when I attend.  The roof was closed the entire game.
Attendance: 14,805
Time of Game: 2:34

June Games Recap

As they were in May, the Mariners went 4-4 during the month and are now 10-12 when I attend.  There were an amazing six one run games, 4 of those shut outs (2-2 record).  June 8th was the combine no-hitter.  The Mariners scored 18 runs and their opponents 17, for a run differential of, you guessed it... ONE!  Last month it was 28 vs. 21.  The average attendance was 19,957 compared to 21,028 in May.  June 26th was tied for the third lowest attendance at Safeco with April 19th of last year.  Take out the San Francisco games and the average attendance was 16,541!!

 Our starting pitchers had a slightly higher combined ERA at 2.59 vs 2.48 in May, yet I felt like we had much better performances.  Maybe because all the the games were so tight. Ramirez came in for Beavan, who was sent down to AAA.  His only outing was stellar, but he was the victim of a shutout.  Same with Noesi, good outing yet the offense couldn't come through.  The starters accounted for 77% of the innings pitched compared to 75% in May.  However, they accounted for 94% of the runs!  That's absolutely unbelievable pitching by our Bullpen.

Despite scoring 10 fewer runs than May, we definitely cranked out more hits.  So we are getting people on, we just can't produce runs like we should.  We hit a lot more singles, but had fewer extra base hits and walks.  Our OBP was only 50 points higher than our average, versus 94 in May.  Of our 66 total hits in June, only 16.67% were extra-base hits.  In May, 37.5% of the hits went for extra bases. 

Montero was the big bopper, which is interesting because he had only 1 RBI the entire month of June.  I guess I just picked the right games to go to.  Wells, after being recalled from AAA, went on a tear.  Gutierrez came back from a couple of injuries to make his 2012 debut and was productive.  Smoak continued his ineptitude, I'm sick of his wasted potential. Seager was just as pathetic, but he has been more productive over the year so I'm willing to overlook it.

Masterful Felix Goes the Distance

It was probably in the top three performances I've seen by Felix... possibly the number one.  He was spot on, fired up, gutsy.  Striking out a career high 13 via 128 pitches.  And, just his luck, the Mariners were able to pull out a walk-off 1-0 win.

Red Sox (40-35)

Nava LF

Pedroia 2B

Ortiz DH

Saltalamacchia C

Gonzalez 1B

Middlebrooks 3B

Ross RF

Kalish CF

Aviles SS

Morales (1-1, 3.12)

Mariners (32-44)

Ichiro RF

Gutierrez CF

Seager 3B

Montero DH

Wells LF

Olivo C

Ackley 2B

Ryan SS

Felix (5-5, 3.36)

It was Morales' third start of the year, and he pitched 7 good innings.  However, Felix showed once again why he is The King!!!  

Scary moment in the 4th after Gutierrez got on with a the Mariners' first hit of the night.  In a pickoff attempt, Morales hit Guti in the face with the ball.  He was down on the ground writhing and remained on the ground for several mintues while they checked him over.  He was replaced by Saunders.  We weren't sure exactly where he was hit.  At one point someone said his jaw, but it looks like it hit him on his ear and he has a slight concussion.  That's the best possible outcome I can think of.  The dude has just horrible luck.  First his stomach issues last year, then his torn pec muscle and foot issue this year!  Hopefully he won't be out too long, but it was scary for awhile.

Casper Wells made two fantastic plays in the 8th inning to rob Aviles and Nava of base hits, the last a sliding grab toward foul territory to end the inning.  In the bottom of the 8th the Mariners went meekly in 7 pitches.  The 9th inning was probably the most gutsy and clutch inning I've seen in awhile.  Felix had 105 pitches through 8 innings.  He matched his career high 13 strikeouts with Pedroia then gave up a first pitch base hit to Ortiz, followed by a full count walk to Saltalamacchia.  It was his one and only walk.  Lillibridge came on to pinch run for Ortiz.  So we had runners on 1st and 2nd with one out.  Felix then proceeded to battle Gonzalez for an epic 9 pitch at-bat.  He was now in the 120s for his pitch count and running on pure guts and determination.  The ninth and last pitch of the at-bat was a towering fly ball that seemed to travel forever to left-center, but Saunders tracked it down to everyone's relief.  Next pitch, pop-up to second and Felix finished pumped up.

Wells, with those two fantastic plays in the eighth, stroked a one out double to left-center.  Boston intentionally walked Smoak to get to Olivo.  Except, Mr. Clutch John Jaso came in to pinch hit, and needed no time to stroke the game winning single to right.  The throw was close, but Saltalamacchia dropped the ball and the ballgame was over!  Celebration ensued.  Jaso continues to impress, stepping up time and again with the clutch hit.  Baseball sure is fun when you win.

The Mariners improved to 10-12 when I attend, with their 4th shutout.
Attendance: 20,692
Time of Game: 2:40

The Roof was closed the entire game.

Mariners Score! Mariners Win!

See what happens when you score some runs guys, you can actually win the damn game!

Oakland (36-38)

Weeks 2B

Hicks 1B

Reddick RF

Cespedes CF

Inge 3B

Smith LF

Gomes DH

Norris C

Pennington SS

Blackley (1-2, 3.15)

Mariners (31-44)

Ichiro DH

Gutierrez CF

Seager 3B

Montero C

Smoak 1B

Saunders LF

Wells RF

Ackley 2B

Ryan SS

Vargas (7-7, 4.66)

Jason Vargas pitched a good game after his last few outings in which he was rocked with homers.  He actually struck out 5 in a row at one point (1st-2nd), and had a career high matching 10 strikesouts.  Matching the 10 strikeouts of Ramirez yesterday, it is the first time since 1999 Mariners pitchers have had back-to-back 10 K starts!  Oakland got runners on in the 3rd and 4th who were erased by double plays.  In the 5th he sandwiched a walk between striking out the side, and gave up another walk in the 6th.  But, at that point the Mariners were up 2-0 and Vargas was able to work out of issues each time.  In the 7th, he wasn't so lucky.  He gave up a monster homer (424 feet) into the Mariners bullpen by Cespedes.  Vargas then gave up a two out double to Smith and was pulled for League.  He then proceeded to fuck it up for Vargas and give up two consecutive singles to tie the ballgame.

Oakland had Travis Blackley on the mound, former Mariner.  It was interesting to see him again, and he had a wicked pickoff move, catching Wells in the 5th.  He lasted 7 innings.  In the 8th inning Wells lead off with a one strike single to left for Wells.  He then stole second base as Ackley was wrung up, and then scored on a Ryan single for the final run of the game.  Ryan himself stole second on a 2-1 pitch to Ichiro, which caused Oakland to intentionally walk him to face Guti and Seager, both who flew out.  But the one run was all we needed as Wilhelmsen came in to nail down the save.

It was nice to see the Mariners come through in the 8th inning with some clutch hitting.  Hell, I'm just excited that they scored more than 1 or 2 runs! 

The Mariners are now 9-12 when I attend
Attendance: 12,411 - tied for 3rd fewest ever with 4-19-11
Time of Game: 2:45

Rookie Ramirez Runs into Support Problems

Erasmo Ramirez went a strong 8 innings pitched, striking out 10. He made one mistake, giving up just a solo homer.  Unfortunately the Mariners offense was shutout for the 2nd straight game.

Oakland (35-38)

Crisp CF

Weeks 2B

Reddick RF

Cespedes DH

Smith LF

Inge 3B

Moss 1B

Suzuki C

Pennington SS

Milone (7-4, 4.13)

Mariners(31-43)

Ichiro RF

Gutierrez CF

Seager 3B

Montero DH

Smoak 1B

Saunders LF

Olivo C

Ryan SS

Ramirez (0-1, 5.40)

The lone run of the ballgame occurred in the 2nd inning when Seth Smith took the first pitch he saw of the game into deep center field, an estimated 418 feet.  Ramirez struck out the side in both the 1st and 7th innings, 10 total, and gave up a mere TWO hits.  Yep, 8 innings of 1 run 2 hit ball and he picks up the loss.

Meanwhile, the Mariners had two hits alone in the 1st inning,  7 total, but ground into 2 double plays and couldn't take advantage of the scattered opportunities.  This script is getting a little old.  SCORE SOME DAMN RUNS!!!

The Mariners are now 8-12 when I attend
Attendance: 17,101
Time of Game: 2:18

The Roof closed in the top of the 7th inning

Montero Powers Mariners to Victory

Yippee, we snapped our six game losing streak as we beat San Francisco 7-4 thanks to Montero's three hits on Season Ticket Holder Appreciation Night.

Giants (37-28)

Blanco RF

Theriot 2B

Cabrera LF

Posey C

Pagan CF

Sandoval DH

Belt 1B

Arias 3B

Crawford SS

Lincecum (2-7, 6.00)

Mariners (27-39)

Ichiro RF

Wells LF

Seager 3B

Montero C

Saunders CF

Smoak 1B

Ackley 2B

Jaso DH

Ryan SS

Millwood (3-5 ,3.57)

Tim Lincecum, two time NL Cy-Young winner and former UW Husky, made his first appearance in Seattle since his college days.  He's been struggling this year and continued them in the first as he gave up two solo shots to left field, to Wells and Montero.

It was Millwood's first start since his injury during the combined no-hitter.  For good luck I wore the new t-shirt they produced commemorating the feat, looks like it worked out as our offense woke up for at least the day.  In addition to the two runs in the 1st we also added two in the 5th to tie the game, then the final three in the 6th to make it 7-4.

For the first time ever, I actually won something at the game!  I ended up winning 4 seats to the All-Star Club on the Suite level!  I just have to give them three games to pick from.

It was nice to see a win. only our second of the home stand.

The Mariners are now 8-11 when I attend
Attendance: 30,589
Time of Game: 2:49

Mariners Drop Sixth In a Row

Well, more poor base running and lack of clutch hitting led to the Mariners losing their sixth game in a row since the no-hitter.  The Giants hit two home runs and beat the Mariners 4-2 in front of nearly 30,000 fans.

Giants (36-28)

Blanco RF

Theriot 2B

Cabrera LF

Posey C

Pagan CF

Sandoval 3B

Belt 1B

Arias SS

Christian DH

Vogelson (5-2, 2.26)

Mariners (27-38)

Ichiro RF

Gutierrez CF

Seager 3B

Montero DH

Saunders LF

Smoak1B

Ackley 2B

Olivo C

Ryan SS

Vargas (7-5, 3.90)

Montero was once again caught off second base on a fly ball, the second time in three games. We got our two runs n the 8th inning after Cabrera hit a two run homer in the top of the 8th to make it 4-0.

The most interesting aspect of the game was probably in the top of the 9th when a fan jumped on to the field to snag a foul ball.  All I saw out of the corner of my eye was a guy, with his arm raised in triumph and the ball in his hand, get tackled.  Didn't see how he got on the field.  You don't see that every day!

It was nice to see Gutierrez back out there.  Olivo had more shitting blocking behind the plate.  Sick of his shit.  Another thing I'd like to comment on is that half the stands were filled with obnoxious Giants fans.  I can't wait until we are drawing 40k regularly again, this will not be tolerated or possible then.  So no I have to add Giants games as games I won't go to in the future.

I'm really hoping the Mariners will win again!! We've been close pretty much every game, so it shouldn't be too long.

Mariners are now 7-11 when I attend.
Time of Game: 2:45
Attendance: 29,818

Noesi Loses 1-0 as Offense Fails Again

Yikes... Noesi went 8 strong innings and gave up the only run of the game via a leadoff homer in the 7th.  Unfortunately his teammates had plenty of opportunities to score yet couldn't capitalize.  We have yet to win since the combined no-hitter.

Padres (21-41)

Venable RF

Cabrera SS

Headley 3B

Quentin DH

Kotsay LF

Alonso 1B

Maybin CF

Hundley C

Amarista DH

Marquis (0-1, 3.00)

Mariners (27-36)

Ichiro RF

Ackley 2B

Seager 3B

Montero C

Smoak 1B

Saunders CF

Jaso DH

Wells LF

Kawasaki SS

Noesi (2-6, 5.99)

As stated above, Noesi pitched a fine game with one mistake, and that was the ballgame as we lost 1-0.  We had some opportunities, eight hits and four walks, but we just couldn't get that clutch hit when he needed to.  Montero had a huge base running blunder in the 3nd after leading off with a single and advancing to 2nd on a Smoak walk.  Saunders hit a line drive to left, and for some reason Montero didn't notice what was going on, and he was doubled off second.  No chance was that ball dropping in.  To top it off, the very next pitch was a wild one advancing Smoak to second.  We could have had runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out!  Montero's young, but that's no excuse.

Smoak hit a ball deep to center in the 6th which was hauled in at the warning track.  After what happened yesterday in which he hit two very long fly balls... he was visibly irritated and slammed his helmet to the ground.   The very next batter of the game, Kotsay, hit a homer to right field.  And that was the ballgame.  It was pretty funny.  It was almost as if... "Hey Smoak, watch me, this is how you hit a homer at Safeco".

I guess the biggest news of the day is that there were several players moved today. Gutierrez was picked up from the DL, Carp and Pryor both placed on the DL, Liddi and Beavan sent down to AAA, and Delabar, Wells, and Ramirez recalled from AAA.  Good to see Wells back, and especially Gutierrez who has been bothered by injuries the last couple of years.  I hope he can return to form soon.  He wasn't in the lineup tonight, but should be tomorrow.

I've decided to make a change to the blog, it is getting to be too much to get so detailed.  Plus I get behind, as I'm writing this it is actually June 21st and they have an off-day in San Diego.

The Mariners are now 7-10 when I attend and have been shut out 3 times.
Attendance: 13,931
Time of Game: 2:46