A Day of Sadness

I woke up yesterday to read the horrible news that Greg Halman had been killed at the age of 24 at his home in the Netherlands.  His brother was arrested in the stabbing.  Words can't express what a horrible tragedy this is.  He was so promising earlier this year.  I loved his passion, skill, and the way he held himself.  Nobody knows what type of player he was going to turn into.  And now, we'll never know.  In the history books he will come across as hitting .207 in 44 career games with 2 HR and 9 RBI.  He was so much more than that.  My heart goes out to his friends, teammates, and family.  Just a horribly senseless act.  I can't recall the Mariners ever losing an active player before, it is quite a shock and left me disoriented throughout the day.

The only solace we can all take is that he was able to live his dream, if for only a fleeting moment.  Not many of us can say that.

Rest in peace, brother.

Offense Fails Fister

The big story of the game is in how the only run of the game scored... but if the Mariners had been able to muster a mere TWO RUNS, it wouldn't have mattered.  Instead, Doug Fister picked up a complete game 1-0 loss.

Padres (37-46)

Venable RF

Bartlett SS

Headley 3B

Ludwick DH

Denorfia LF

Phillips C

Maybin CF

Rizzo 1B

Gonzalez 2B

Luebke P

Mariners (40-42)

Ichiro RF

Ryan SS

Gutierrez CF

Smoak 1B

Halman LF

Cust DH

Bard C

Figgins 3B

Wilson 2B

Fister P

Interesting lineup for the Mariners with Gutierrez in at the number 3 slot, obviously to try and get his .192 batting average going.  Wilson was in at 2B because Ackley was out for the second straight game to rest bruised ribs.  Well, with Ichiro, Cust, Figgins, and Wilson in there with the way Guti has struggled and Smoak mired in a slump... we were pretty hopeless.

The only two hits for the Mariners were from Greg Halman, batting 5th.  The kid doesn't play enough!  He was 12/34 (.353) coming into the game and went 2-3 with a double in the 2nd and single in the 5th.  The only other base runner for the Mariners the entire game was Ryan who reached on an error in the 7th.  He stole a base but then ended up being stranded at third.  The Mariners only had 29 total plate appearances, 2 above the minimum.

There were questionable calls by Homeplate Umpire Phil Cuzzi throughout the game.  There were 8 called strikeouts (4 by each team), and in the 5th inning after a "discussion" with Phillips (caught looking) and Manager Bud Black... he let Maybin advance to 1st on a THREE BALL WALK.  I was scoring and thought that I had missed a ball somewhere.  Nope, it was confirmed that there were only three balls in the at-bat.  Why nobody noticed in the Mariners dugout is beyond me.  Unfortunately Maybin ended up coming around on a hard hit single through short... and that was the ballgame!!

Fister didn't deserve this.  He retired the first 11 he faced until giving up two consecutive singles in the 4th.  Then, the phantom walk in the 5th.  He went the distance, maybe was even better than Vargas yesterday, but it didn't matter 'cause his teammates were inept.  His final line:  9 IP, 114 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 K .

Needless to say everyone was talking about that walk after the game.  It is one of those fluke things that happens sometimes, and if the Mariners had scored two runs it wouldn't have mattered.  Unfortunately, the baseball gods were not on our side tonight.  I'm just so pissed off at the lack of run support for Fister this year.  His 3-9 record is absolute bullshit!

I ate a Gyro and picked up a Brendan Ryan autographed baseball in their Mariners Care Auction.  The attendance was 22,798.

They dropped to 10-10 when I attend and 40-43 overall.

Phillies Win, but Future Looks Bright!

King's Court - Newly Expanded!

Tonight, it was King Felix on the mound! About a month ago the Mariners implemented a "King's Court" promotion in which you can buy a ticket in a special section and receive a shirt and crown. Genius marketing guys. Because of popularity they extended this to an additional section. Also, in quite an awesome coincidence, there was a Felix giveaway with King Felix knit caps for the first 20k fans.  It was very Felix oriented tonight, and the reigning Cy Young award winner deserves it!  Coming into the game Felix had the top June winning percentage in ML history with a minimum of 15 starts at .810.

I was unable to attend yesterday's game because of family bonding, but Ackley singled in his first ML AB and our starting pitcher, Pineda, had 5.2 innings of no-hit ball. We ended up winning 4-2 to stay just half a game back in the AL West! It was pretty magical yesterday. Today, a little of that magic remained. I am proud to say that I was there, and scored, Dustin Ackley's first Major League Homer!

Philadelphia came into the series having won 7 consecutive games with the best record in the Majors.  They have a potent lineup and top notch rotation.  Thankfully, we get to skip Cliff Lee and Roy Hallada in the series.  Here are the starting lineups. 

Phillies (43-27)

Jimmy Rollins SS

Shane Victorino CF

Chase Utley 2B

Ryan Howard 1B

Placido Polanco 3B

Raul Ibanez LF

Ross Gload DH

Dominic Brown RF

Carlos Ruiz C

Vance Worley P

Mariners (36-34)

Ichiro Suzuki RF

Brendan Ryan SS

Adam Kennedy 3B

Justin Smoak 1B

Miguel Olivo C

Carlos Peguero LF

Dustin Ackley 2B

Mike Carp DH

Greg Halman CF

Felix Hernandez P

Unfortunately, while not part of the Phillies' heralded top 4 of Halladay, Lee, Oswalt, and Hamels... we were only able to score one run off of Worley and the bullpen shut us down.  That means that Felix had to be perfect tonight.  He wasn't, and he picked up his 6th loss of the season as we lost by a final score of  5-1.  While he was in and out of trouble through various parts of the game... an unlucky double in the 7th down left field line that hit the chalk and bounced into the stands turned a tied ballgame into a 3-1 game, and his sixth loss of the season.  It looked like he was going to get out of the jam, but the Phillies aren't the best team in the Majors out of luck.  They're good.

Jimmy Rollins led of the game with a single to right then advanced to second on a Wild Pitch.  Honestly, it should have been on Olivo.  He continues to have problems blocking at the plate and catching the ball.  I know he has won us a few games with his bat, but he's lost us a few games with his glove.  Rollins had a great day as he went 3-4 with a BB, SB, and 2 Runs scored.  Victorino, batting 2nd, had an even bigger day.  He went 3-4 with a BB, 2B, 3B, HR, 1 Run and 4 RBI.  Rollins scored on a SAC Fly by Howard in the first (his 58th of the year!).

In the bottom of the first the Mariners threatened...  after Ichiro and Ryan made two easy outs, Kennedy singled to right which brought up Justin Smoak batting cleanup for the second day in a row.  He hit an opposite field bomb to left that hit off the wall for a 2B, it was just a foot shy of a home run.  Kennedy didn't come around the score, not sure if he would have been thrown out or not but we'll never know.  That would have tied the game up, but you never want to make your third out at home.  Olivo then grounded out to the pitcher.

Ackley and Smoak, both from North Carolina,  warming up.

In the second inning Peguero struck out swinging which brought up Ackley.  On a full count he launched a pitch 386 feet to the right field stands, and the crowd went absolutely wild.  People were jumping up and down, high fiving strangers.  Ackley got a standing ovation, which continued until he stepped back out of the dugout for his curtain call.  It was a pretty awesome experience.  Carp, coming into the game 5-18 on the year with a .409 OBP worked a walk, and Halman followed with a single.  He entered the game batting .409 (9-22)  Halman ended up going 2-3 with a SB and his first BB of the year.

I am really liking what I'm seeing from Halman.  Ever since he was called up this year he has hustled and produced.  Carp quietly goes about his business, Peguero has ridiculous power (In the 6th inning his broken bat went 20 rows the section behind 1st base).  Smoak, while struggling at times, has the best OBP on the team (.354 and he drew another BB today).  Ackley, there is no reason he won't be a productive hitter, he has been at every level he has ever played.  With Pineda and Felix in our starting rotation and these young fielders, how can you not be optimistic about the future!?

So the game remained 1-1 until the 7th inning, when Felix loaded the bases on 2 hits and a BB.  The walk to Rollins brought up Victorino and his ground rule double.  It hit the chalk line!  2 runs scored and that was the ballgame.  If the ball had only hit a few inches to the left, who knows what would have happened.  It is a shame, 'cause Felix had a gutsy performance and another quality start.  He wasn't in top form, but he kept us in it.

In the 9th Jamey Wright came in after Pauley pitched a scoreless 8th.  Wright has been struggling in June, and his struggles continued as he gave up a 1B to Rollins followed by a 2 Run HR to Victorino.  This was all with 2 outs.  Then, he hit Utley, but got Howard with a swinging strikeout.  So, instead of going into the bottom of the 9th within striking distance, we were down 5-1.  Halman had a 2 out single in the 9th but Ichiro ended the game with a strikeout.  He went 1-5 and ended his streak of 6 straight multi-hit games.

Tomorrow is the final game of the homestand, then we go to Washington for 3 and come home for a unique series against Florida.  U2 is on tour and will be using Florida's stadium, so the series was moved to Seattle and will be played with National League rules!  It should be interesting and I'm looking forward to it.  The Marlins aren't doing very well, only 1-17 in June!  

I went to 3 games this homestand (scored them all) and the Mariners were 1-2.  I had Garlic Chicken tonight, which is now $9.75. It wasn't as good as usual, they must have changed the recipe.

The attendance was 35,829 and the roof was closed (a lot of Phillies Red).  The Mariners dropped to 8-7 when I attend and 36-35 overall.  We are now 1.5 games behind Texas. I heard that only 1000 tickets remain for tomorrow's game.

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.