Mariners Slammed for 3rd Straight Game

The Mariners turned back the clock to 1955 today and played as the Seattle Rainiers.  The sun was shining, the players looked dapper in their throwback uniforms, King's Court was out in force, but the Rainiers lost 5-3 as Pujols hit a homer in the third straight game.

Angels (22-25)

Trout CF

Izturis 3B

Pujols 1B

Morales DH

Trumbo RF

Kendrick 3B

Aybar SS

Calhoun LF

Wilson C

Williams (4-3, 3.74)

Rainiers (21-27)

Ackley 2B

Saunders CF

Ichiro RF

Seager 3B

Smoak 1B

Jaso DH

Olivo C

Carp LF

Ryan SS

Hernandez (4-3, 2.80)

Sporting replica uniforms, looking nice guys!

The Mariners dressed in some cool duds, King's Court was increased to a record four sections with special retro red t-shirts.  The weather was ridiculous, I had to hide in the shade the sun was so intense!   There was a great crowd on hand, but unfortunately Felix wasn't in his top form.  It would have been great to show the nearly 30k fans how much fun this team can be, but all we got was another loss.

The scoring opened up in the top of the 4th when Pujols hit a monster leadoff homer, 413 feet to the Mariners bullpen.  He had homers in the previous two games of the series, I think we single handidly revived his season!  The Pujols homer wasn't the difference maker, however.  That turned out to be a surprising pinch hit grand slam by  Callaspo in the 6th  .  At that point the Rainiers were up 2-1.

We scored two in  the 5th via a double, fielder's choice, and two singles.  After the grand slam, we tacked on a solo shot by Smoak in the to make it 5-3 Angels.  That was the ballgame, pretty much.  Smoak is definitely heating up.

Felix just wasn't his usual self, giving up five runs on ten hits. He's bound to have an off day here and there, and we were still within striking distance.

The Mariners were 4-4 in May, 6-8 overall when I attend.
Attendance: 29,483
Time of Game:  3:07

League Blows the Game, Smoak Heats Up

I really thought we had this game... until League entered.  I have never felt safe with League, and sure enough he turned a 4-3 lead into a 6-4 loss on Ackley Bobblehead Night.

Angels (21-25)

Trout CF

Izturis 2B

Pujols 1B

Morales DH

Trumbo RF

Callaspo 3B

Aybar SS

Calhoun LF

Hester C

Santana (2-6, 4.22)

Mariners (21-26)

Saunders CF

Liddi 3B

Ichiro RF

Seager 2B

Smoak 1B

Jaso DH

Montero C

Carp LF

Kawasaki SS

Beavan (2-4, 4.46)

The Mariners had ample opportunity to put this game out of reach early, but just couldn't get it done.  We only scored 1 run in the first after loading the bases with one out (via a leadoff single and walks by Liddi and Seager).  Smoak got a fielder's choice RBI.  It looked like Seager was actually safe at second, the shortstop was clearly off the base but the ump made the call he made.  It should have been bases still loaded with only one out. So, Jaso walked to load the bases again, but Montero ended the inning with a groundout.  So it was 1-0 after the first inning, a good team would have at least two, possibly three, runs.  Unfortunately we have a horrible number three hitter in Ichiro.  He isn't a threat for a big homer or solid double with runners on.  The experiment needs to stop, I'm so sick of his rally killers.

We got our second run in the third after a leadoff double by Ichiro and one out RBI single by Smoak.  It was his second RBI of the game.  Then Jaso walked.  BUT another rally died as Montero hit into a 6-4-3 double play.  We finished our scoring in the fifth inning.  Seager hit a double to right field, and then Smoak took a 0-1 pitch into the right field stands to put us up 4-0.  He drove in all of our runs tonight, and is definitely showing signs that he is breaking out.

Beavan pitched another solid game, he tends to quietly go out there and do his thing but runs into an inning where he runs into an issue.  With our offense, it usually means the difference in the game.  Beavan's bad inning tonight was the sixth, when Pujols delivered a monster 3 run homer to center that was estimated at 410 feet.  Pujols came into the game batting only .225 with 5 homers and 22 rbi.  If you recall, he signed a huge contract this offseason after leaving his original team, St. Louis. 

So the score remained until a nightmare of a ninth inning, in which League gave up a first pitch single to Trumbo.  Bourjos came in to pinch run, that dude is fast!  Callaspo then worked a walk, and on an 0-1 pitch Aybar hit a bad sacrifice bunt back to League.  Instead of going for the sure out at 1st, League decided to try and get speedy Bourjos with a force at third base.  Yep, didn't happen.  Instead he threw it away, the tying run scored and the had runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out.  Aybar was then intentionally walked to load the bases and force an out on any base.  Pinch hitter Kendrick then laced his first pitch right up the middle to score the final two runs of the game.  The boo birds came out.  If Trout hadn't ground into a double play for the first outs of the inning, who knows how much more damage they would have racked up.

Needless to say it was a disappointing and frustrating night.  I don't ever want to see League in a save situation again.  I'm not buying it, nobody is buying it anymore.  We should have traded him when we had the chance last year.

The Mariners are now 6-7 when I attend
Attendance: 23,517
Time of Game: 2:52

Furbush Knocked for Another Loss

The Mariners had ample opportunity to win this game, but just couldn't get that clutch hit.  We walked eight times but had only four hits.  You could say Santana was "effectively wild", or maybe the Mariners were just inept.

Angels 73-63

Izturis SS

Bourjos CF

Kendrick 2B

Hunter DH

Trumbo 1B

Wells LF

Callaspo 3B

Trout RF

Wilson C

Santana P

Mariners 58-77

Ichiro RF

Gutierrez CF

Ackley 2B

Carp 1B

Olivo C

Seager 3B

Wells LF

Ryan SS

Robinson DH

Furbush P
Furbush didn't have a great first inning, he hit Izturis to lead off the game followed by a walk to Bourjos and then after a strikeout by Kendrick, Torii Hunter launched a 3 run homer to left.  Just like that, it was 3-0.  He ended up giving up another hit in the first and when it ended he had already thrown 29 pitches.  The Angels went in order in the 2nd, but in the third Furbush ended up giving up another homer, this time a solo shot to Kendrick.  He didn't pitch "that bad", but with the way the Mariners offense has gone at times this year, it just wasn't good enough.

After getting two walks in the 2nd inning, Wells ground into an inning ending double play.  We started the bottom of the third with two consecutive walks.  Then, on an 0-2 count Ichiro laced a double to right scoring Ryan.  Gutierrez flied out, but then "Mr. Calm" Ackley drove in Ryan and Ichiro with a single up the middle.  It was a brand new ballgame, as the Mariners trailed 4-3.  Carp followed with a single of his own but then Olivo and Seager went down with a strike out and fly to left.

Little did we know but that was the ballgame, as neither team scored again.  The Mariners threatened in the 5th after two more walks but Carp grounded into a double play.  Wright came in for Furbush in the 7th and finished the final three innings.

On another note, the Mariners released Matt Tuiasosopo.

Baked Potato
Att 19453
15-17

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 Win Big, Avoid Sweep!

The Lineups:

Angels

Erick Aybar SS
Torii Hunter RF
Bobby Abreu DH
Vernon Wells LF
Howie Kendrick 2B
Mike Trumbo 1B
Peter Bourjos CF
Bobby Wilson C
Andrew Romine 3B

Ervin Santana P


Mariners

Ichiro RF
Brendan Ryan SS
Justin Smoak 1B
Carlos Peguero DH
Miguel Olivo C
Mike Carp LF
Franklin Gutierrez CF
Chone Figgins 3B
Jack Wilson 2B

Erik Bedard P

After a CG 4-0 win for Weaver yesterday, in which the Mariners managed only 5 hits, the Angels jumped to only 1.5 games behind the Mariners. The Mariners, thanks to another loss by Texas, remained 2 games behind the Rangers. Tonight was a big game, we were looking to avoid the sweep.

Erik Bedard took the mound, my first time seeing Bedard this year He was 180 degrees a different pitcher than when I last saw him in 2009. He used to labor out there, and run out of gas in the fifth inning. We were lucky if he ever got past 100 pitches. Well, he still pretty much stays around 100 pitches this year, but he is much more efficient! In his last 9 games started, including tonight's win... the Mariners are 8-1 and Bedard has a 1.70 ERA. Um, that's good... really good!

Here are his last 9 games, beginning with his 1st win on April 27

4/27 = Ms 10-1 @ DET 7 IP, 88 Pitches, 5 Hits, 1 ER, 3 K, 0 BB (1-4, 5.96)
5/3 = Ms 4-3 vs TEX 7 IP, 103 Pitches, 2 Hits, 2 ER, 3 K, 2 BB (1-4, 5.23)
5/8 = White Sox 5-2 @ SEA 5 IP, 100 Pitches, 5 Hits, 1 ER, 9 K, 2 BB (1-4, 4.78)
5/20 = Ms 4-1 @ SD 8 IP, 92 Pitches, 3 Hits, 0 ER, 9 K, 2 BB (2-4, 3.94)
5/25 = Ms 3-0 @ MIN 6 IP, 96 Pitches, 6 Hits, 0 ER, 4 K, 1 BB (3-4, 4.48)
5/31 = Ms 3-2 vs BAL 6.1 IP, 100 Pitches, 6 Hits, 2 ER, 7 K, 2 BB (3-4, 3.41)
6/5 = Ms 9-6 vs TB 7 IP, 111 Pitches, 8 Hits, 3 ER, 7 K, 0 BB (3-4, 3.46)
6/10 - Ms 3-2 @ DET 5 IP, 96 Pitches, 3 Hits, 2 ER, 6 K, 3 BB (3-4, 3.47)

Tonight - 7 IP, 96 Pitches, 3 Hits, 0 ER, 5 K, 0 BB (4-4, 3.16)

8 out of the last 9 of his starts were quality, which is at least 6 innings with 3 ER or less.

But Erik's performance is just one story of many for tonight's game. The biggest story is the 7th inning, of course, in which the Mariners scored 2 runs. The inning started off with a 9 pitch AB in which Figgins notched his second hit of the game, a 2B to the RF wall. The next pitch, Wilson with a perfect SAC bunt. So we had a runner on 3rd with 1 out, and Ichiro up to the plate. He already had 2 doubles in the game, and a SB in the 1st inning which was his 400th of his career. He is one of only 42 players in history to steal more 400 or more in a career. So, with 1st base open the Angels intentionally walked Ichiro. Ryan, who has been struggling offensively, struck out swinging on three pitches. Ichiro stole 2nd, which was a stupid decision because that just meant that 1st was open for Smoak. They started his AB being careful, but with the count 2-0 they decided to intentionally walk Smoak to load the bases.

Peguero had been moved up to the cleanup spot for this game, but he swings and misses at a lot of pitches. So while he is a threat with his strength, he also has a lot of holes. It was a tense at at. At one point, with 2 strikes in the count (can't recall how many balls at the time), he foul tipped a ball in to the catcher's mitt. But, with just our luck the catcher didn't hold on to it and we were still alive. On the 6th pitch of the AB and the count at 2-2, Peguero muscled a pitch up the middle. At just the right time and spot, the ball hit second base and bounced straight up for a single! It scored Ichiro Figgins and Ichiro, and the crowd went wild. It is funny how in baseball games can turn on such a small thing. Weird bounces, one of the great quirks of baseball!

There were some fantastic defensive plays from both teams as well. Erik's only trouble he really got in was in the 2nd inning. With Vernon Wells on 1st with 1 out, Mike Trumbo LAUNCHED a towering fly ball to left field. The ball was headed over the fence, just to the right of the hand operated scoreboard, when Carp jumped and caught the ball... replays showed that it was going to be a homer. So, instead of being down 2-0 we had 2 out. The next batter hit what would have routinely been a single but Carp threw his relay to 3rd and Bourjos is a speedy little guy so there were runners on 2nd and 3rd. The next batter grounded to Ryan to end the threat, and Bedard pretty much coasted the rest of the way.

In the top of the 6th inning, Gutierrez made a diving catch in shallow CF in which he basically soared through the air parallel to the ground to rob Aybar.

Pauley came on in the 8th and struggled, which was unusual. He ended up giving up 1 run to make it a tight game, only the 5th ER he has given up all year (39.1 IP). Halman was a defensive replacement for Carp. Well... thanks to Halman who just so happened to lead off the bottom of the 8th, we got an insurance run when he launched his first MLB HR to CF. He is now 9/22 (.409) on the season.

League came on in the 9th and nailed down his 19th Save, which is tops in the American League. He did it in part thanks to an amazing defensive play by Ryan. With a runner on 1st and 1 out, Trumbo hit a slow and choppy grounder. At one point it looked like Figgins might grab it, but Ryan snagged the ball barehanded and threw him out at 1st on a close play. That pretty much sealed the deal, and we all left elated after an amazing game.

Can't forget the great stop by Trumbo himself in the 5th inning. We had Ichiro on at 2nd with 1 out and Smoak hit a hard hit ball down the right field line. Trumbo was able to snag it and go to 1st for the unassisted out. He stole a sure double, without a doubt, which would have scored Ichiro. At that point the game was still scoreless, so it was a huge play.

It is really hard to pinpoint who the hero of the game is, so many players were clutch... whether it was Ryan's defensive gem in the 9th, Peguero's miracle hit, Halman's HR, Bedard's pitching, Carp's stolen homer, Ichiro with his 5th consecutive multi-hit game... I will chalk this one up to the TEAM. Below is a picture of the dugout in the 7th inning. Everyone was up there cheering their teammates on. This is something we have seen all season long. They're engaged, the fans (those who attend) are starting to believe. Most importantly, we have a bright future, and damn this sure is fun. You can also see the paltry attendance.

As soon as the game ended it was announced that Dustin Ackley, the #2 overall pick in the 2009 Draft (After Strasburg) has finally been called up and will join the team on Friday. Needless to say there is just a little excitement among everyone. FINALLY! I don't think we've been this excited about a hitter since Alex Rodriguez *shudder*.

I know this was an extremely long post, but there was so much to talk about. This could be the best game of the year, due to its importance and execution. Maybe not. Regardless, it was awesome and deserved an awesomely long post.

I scored my 3rd game of the year, and got a white pizza. Unfortunately it is a new kind. It now has mushrooms, definitely not as good as the broccoli one.

The Mariners improved to 8-6 when I attend and 35-34 overall. We are now one game behind Texas! The attendance was 19,321.

I'm Back!

It has been a long time, and since I've been at a game the Mariners have totally turned things around and have been at or above .500 for a couple of weeks. They've called up some young kids like Halman and Carp, and have been a blast to watch. I completely missed the last homestand, as I ruptured my disc and was flat on my back. I was able to watch them go 7-3, and wished I could have been there. So this will totally change my total game projection. Tonight was only my 13th of the year, our 34th home game. I'm guessing I will have a hard time making it to more than 40 games this year... I'd have to go on quite a tear. Sad, but overall health is more important! Coming into tonight's game we were 34-32 and only a game and a half behind Texas, solidly in 2nd place 3.5 games above the Angels, our opponent tonight. The last game I went to we were 19-24!!

Also, I turned 30 and got an AWESOME gift from one of my sisters of 5 scorebooks (they are the same as my very first!). This should last me years. I scored my first game in my new scorebook, and only second game of the year, tonight. It was exciting to score again. Unfortunately tonight resulted in a 6-3 loss. It was a much closer game than that.

We entered into this game 1.5 behind Texas and 3.5 games up on the Angels, Texas had an off day so we had a chance to gain a game on the Angels and a half game on the Rangers. Unfortunately, we couldn't pull it out. We had chances, we were in this game... but with a KEY play in the 5th inning the game opened up and we just couldn't get back into it has hard as we tried. When you give major league teams extra outs, you're bound to pay for it.

Ichiro has been struggling mightily at the plate and in the field this year... something that for me is nice to see because finally people have woken up to his flaws. He came into the game batting only .258 with a .311 on base percentage. Absolutely pathetic.

The Lineups

Maicer Izturis 3B
Torii Hunter RF
Bobby Abreu DH
Vernon Wells LF
Howie Kendrick 2B
Erick Aybar SS
Mark Trumbo 1B
Peter Bourjos CF
Jeff Mathis C
Dan Haren P


Ichiro RF
Brendan Ryan SS
Justin Smoak 1B
Adam Kennedy 2B
Miguel Olivo C
Carlos Peguero LF
Franklin Gutierrez CF
Mike Carp DH
Chone Figgins 3B
Jason Vargas P

I'm not going to get too much into specifics, due to the fact it is currently past 11pm and I'm exhausted. However, I will mention a few things. The Scoreboard

1 X 1 X X X 3 X 1 6 8 1 - Angels
1 1 X X 1 X X X X 3 8 2 - Mariners

As you can see... the Mariners had the lead into the sixth inning, which is when, with Mathis on 3rd and one out, Figgins fielded a grounder and threw home. Mathis was dead to rights, and would have been the second out of the inning, but Olivo could not hold on to the damn ball. Mathis scored, there was only one out... and two batters later Vernon Wells hit his 2nd Homer of the game (with Hunter on via the FC). Wells came into the game batting a mere .189 with only 4 HR on the year, and the Angels only had 2 TOTAL HR in the month of June coming into the game. This defensive lapse by Olivo was the decisive play of the game, in my opinion. He stunk it up at the plate too. He has 10 HR, leading all AL catchers... but the catching aspect is more important than hitting. I will continue to ride him on his "defense" until I see solid play.

Then, in the 9th inning a balk led to an insurance run... and suddenly it seemed hopeless. We went down in order in the 9th, including the 3rd K of the game by Mike Carp (he didn't have a good game, in his 1st AB he ground into a double play)

One thing I wanted to make sure I mentioned... in the 4th inning Peguero had an impressive AB. While it ended in a strike out, he had several powerful foul balls including one in which the broken barrel of the bat ended up at least 150 feet from home plate into shallow RF. It went further than the ball. He is a strong man, without a doubt.

Oh, can't forget Pauley. He threw another scoreless inning in the 8th. He has given up only 4 ER the ENTIRE YEAR, the best in the AL. The dude has been lights out, and at this point deserves to be an All-Star

I had a Baked Potato for $7.75 and then my sister (she had nachos) went and got us some cookies in the 5th inning. There were 8 mini cookies for $3.50, which seems like a good deal!

The attendance was 20,238.

The Mariners dropped to 7-6 when I attend and 34-33 overall.

Viva Vargas!

Vargas has now pitched 16 consecutive scoreless innings... he pitched 7 with only 4 hits, and matched a career high with 9 K as the Mariners won 3-0. He was pretty much flawless. His only issue that I can remember was the leadoff batter of the game, when the ball was hit back to him at the mound and he threw the ball away for an error. The dude doesn't get enough attention, he just quietly goes out there and gets things done, letting Felix and now Pineda take all the headlines.

Then, in the 8th Wright decided to load the bases and give all of us a heart attack, but he made it out unscathed. In the 9th League came out and nailed his 10th save. Is he back on track? Could be...

On Monday we scored runs in the first and the third (as well as 6th and 8th), and tonight we got bloop single by Cust to score Figgins in the 1st. That was all we would need. Then, in the 3rd after Smoak got an RBI 2B, Cust singled again to get his 2nd RBI of the night. It was his first multi-RBI game of the year. He's hitting the ball well and is definitely heating up. Hopefully his first of many HR is imminent. It is nice that we've been scoring early in the game, at the start of the year we only seemed to be scoring late in the game when it was too late.

Guti came back, he went 0-4 but it was nice to see him in the lineup and on the field. I think he only had one fly ball hit to him. Gut received a very warm welcome when his name was announced and his first AB, and many women in the crowd nearly fainted at the sight of him.

I ate my famous concoction of rice and peanuts. Smaller container than last year, but one of the best deals at the ballpark. I supplemented it with ballpark food of sunflower seeds and some kettle corn left over from yesterday.

My next game won't be for a couple of weeks, as the Yankees will be in down the 27-30 and I don't want to deal with obnoxious Yankee fans. I'm hoping with the warming weather our bats will start picking up (yeah right) to help our stellar starting rotation out. The three games I went to this week were outstanding. The last time I went to three games in a row I was weary and exhausted, this time I am exhilarated!

I won't be going to the day game tomorrow because of work so I went to 3/4 of the games on this short homestand. So out of their 23 home games I have been to 12, or 52%. This projects to 42 or 43 games on the year. The attendance was 16,992. Getting better!

The Mariners are now 7-5 when I attend and improved to 19-24 overall.

By the way, Happy 31st Anniversary of the St. Helens eruption!