Figgins and Ichiro Go Yard

That's right, Figgins and Ichiro both hit homers as the Mariners and Vargas beat the Indians 4-1 in front of the smallest home crowd in Safeco history.

Indians (5-4)

Donald SS

Kipnis 2B

Choo RF

Santana C

Hafner DH

Duncan LF

Lopez 3B

Kotchman 1B

Cunningham CF

Lowe (2-0, 1.98)

Mariners (6-6)

Figgins LF

Ackley 1B

Ichiro RF

Montero DH

Seager 3B

Saunders CF

Olivo C

Kawasaki 2B

Ryan SS

Vargas (1-1, 3.44)

The story of the game was the first inning and Vargas.  Vargas went 7 strong innings, striking out seven while he gave up just one run on four hits.  The home plate umpire, Angel Campos, seemed to have a strange strike zone as there were a lot of called strikeouts, including two back-to-back by the Indians in the 4th.  Vargas struck out the side in that inning, he's not known for striking guys out.  He was really only in trouble one inning, when he loaded the bases in the 6th inning.  But, by that time he was up 4-1, and he was able to wiggle out of the jam.

Figgins gets my pick for offensive player of the game, he lead off the first inning by hitting the seventh leadoff home run of his career, first as a Mariner. It was also the first leadoff homer by a Mariner other than Ichiro since 2000, when Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson went yard.  Figgins has been a "new and improved" player.  The home run was on the 8th pitch of the at-bat.  He also had a single and a walk, and broke up a double play with a fantastic slide.  As soon as we signed him a couple of years ago I was thrilled we finally had a real leadoff hitter, for some reason they kept Ichiro in that spot and our team suffered for it.

Not to be outdone, Ichiro hit a homer run of his own just four pitches later.  It was almost as if he wouldn't let Figgins "show him up".  Everyone has always claimed Ichiro can hit a home run whenever he wants to, I guess this was proof.  Then why doesn't he do it more often?  Seager added a double, and Saunders a single in the rest of the first but we were unable to score.  We added our third run in the second inning after loading the bases with two outs.  Montero then drew a four pitch walk to score Ryan from third!

The Indians scored their only run in the third inning, Cunningham led off the inning with launched double to left that hit off the yellow line, right next to the hand operated scoreboard.  Manny Acta, the Indians' Manager, came out to argue with the third base umpire after which all four gathered together then jogged into the bowels of Safeco for an instant replay.  I HATE instant replay.  It has no place is baseball, and umpires are correct 95-99% of the time.  If it had gone over the wall, it would have sounded differently, and it would have bounced back differently.  Also, the bullpen had no reaction, they knew it was a double.  About two minutes later and the call was confirmed.  A waste of time.  NO PLACE IN BASEBALL!  A sacrifice bunt pushed Cunningham to third and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Kipnis.  And, that was their offense until the sixth inning.   The Mariners added another run in the 4th after Ryan walked, followed by consecutive singles.

Kawasaki is fun to watch, just because he exudes absolute joy.  You can tell he loves the game, and is very generous with the fans.  He had a walk in the bottom of the third and after a pick off attempt he did a pushup at first, then was caught stealing.  It is weird watching him because the swing is EXACTLY like Ichiro's.

Ackley had his first ML start at first base as Smoak was out with a tight hamstring.

It is a shame more people aren't going to games, they are a lot more enjoyable to watch this year.  I looked around about the third inning and wondered when we had turned into Oakland, I also thought back to the Kingdome days, but at least then we were covered and warm!  The smallest crowd ever was actually an away game vs the Marlins last year, but tonight counted as the smallest home crowd.

Record when I attend: 2-2
Attendance: 11,343
Time of Game: 2:47

Historic Night at the Safe

It was a long, cold, night in front of the fourth smallest crowd in Safeco Field history, 12,461, as the Mariners blew an 8-1 lead to lose 9-8 to the Cleveland Indians. It was also a game in which a couple of players had career nights, and the Mariners attained their 50,000th hit and 25,000th run in team history.

Indians (4-4)

Brantley CF

Kipnis 2B

Choo RF

Santana C

Hafner DH

Duncan LF

Kotchman 1B

Hannahan 3B

Donald SS

Masterson (1-1,  2.77)

Mariners (6-5)

Figgins LF

Ackley 2B

Ichiro RF

Smoak 1B

Seager 3B

Montero C

Saunders CF

Ryan SS

Jaso DH

Millwood (0-0, 1.50)

There were three ex-Mariners in the starting lineup for Cleveland: Choo, Kotchman, and Hannahan; as well as the son of a former Mariner (Brantley).  The game started out with Millwood in trouble, he gave up a leadoff full count single to Brantley, who ended up stealing second.  Montero was much better than the previous game in making it a close play at second.  He will continue to improve, hopefully.  Millwood got Kipnis and Choo to fly out, but walked Santana and then gave up an RBI single to Hafner.  Just like that, it was 1-0.  The Mariners went down in order in their half of the first,

Nothing truly of note until the third inning, except Smoak got the first of a new career high 4 hits in the 2nd inning, this after the Indians went down in order.  In the top of the third, Smoak got all three putouts, unassisted, broken up by a single by Choo.  Then, in the bottom of the third, our offense started to kick in.  Ryan got a walk with one out, then Jaso hit his first home run as a Mariner to right, putting us ahead 2-1.

In the bottom of the 4th and top of the 5th, 13 runs scored and 23 batters came to the plate.  It lasted around 45-50 minutes and started out epically awesome, followed by total exasperation as we wasted a seven run lead!!!  First, the Mariners.  Smoak lead off with his second single of the game on the first pitch, followed by yet another first pitch single by Seager.  Seager' hit was the 50,000th hit in Mariner history!  Montero swung at the first pitch but flew out to left for the first out.  Saunders got a single off a 3-0 count to right, and the bases were loaded!!!

Ryan, believe it or not, drew a bases loaded walk, his second walk of the game, to force in Smoak.  That run, our third of the game, was the 25,000th run in Mariner history!  In one inning we surpassed two pretty cool milestones.  Everyone was really pumped to see Jaso up with the bases loaded, as he had hit a homer in his first plate appearance.  Well, he got another RBI with his second... by getting hit by the pitch!  So we had loaded the bases and scored two runs via a walk, and a hit batter.  On the next pitch, Figgins got a sacrifice fly to center to score Saunders.  Ackley drew yet another walk, Ichiro got a two rbi single, and we had batted around.  Smoak, in his second at-bat of the inning, got his THIRD single of the game, driving in Ackley.  At this point Masterson was replaced.  Seager then hit a fly ball to left, ending the inning but not before we had pushed across six runs on five hits.  We were up 8-1, and all 12,461 seemed very confident.

The confidence and lead would not last long.  The Indians quickly roared right back with double and a single to start the inning.  Then, on what was a routine double play, Ryan bobbled the ball and couldn't get an out.  You can't assume a double play, but it was as routine as they get.  The runner scored, and instead of two outs with only one run in, there were runners on first and second with nobody out.  You can't give a ML team extra outs, no matter the score.  That was just the window/opportunity Cleveland needed.  It could have been a whole different ballgame if Ryan's head had been in the game.  He's one of the best fielders out there.  Two more singles produced two more runs and it was 8-4 with two runners on with the cleanup hitter at the plate.  He launched a three run homer to right and it was now a run run ballgame, and Millwood's night was over.  They added another run to tie it up.  In total, 13 Indians batted in the 5th inning.  The produced 7 runs on six hits.

It seemed like we were going to quickly answer back, as we got the first two batters on via a walk and an error.  But they were stranded there as Ryan and Jaso struck out swinging, and Figgins.  That was pretty much their last chance until the 9th inning.  In the sixth, Smoak got a broken bat single with two outs, his fourth hit of the night.  All singles, but a career high.  Two were hit to opposite field, and I'm hoping this means he will break out of his early season struggles.  He entered the game batting just .186.

The Indians added a run in the 7th to go up 9-8, but this was never a game in which I felt we had no chance.  In the 9th inning we nearly pulled it out thanks to a wacky play.  After Smoak was retired for the only time of the night, Seager had a fantastic at-bat with a single to right on the eighth pitch.  Montero, on the first pitch, hit what was probably a game ending double play.  However, it took a very strange hop and hit the shortstop in the face, the ball ricocheted to shallow center and Seager was at first.  There were runners at the corners with 1 out.  All we needed was a sacrifice fly, and the ballgame was tied.  Kawasaki came into the game to pinch run for Seager, and Olivo for Montero.  But Saunders was unable to get a deep fly, and there were two out.  Ryan then drew four straight balls and walked for the fourth time in the game.  That is a career high for Ryan too.  Bases loaded!!  But it wasn't to be as Jaso ended the game with a routine fly to right.  And, after 3 hours and 33 minutes, the ballgame was over.

Some promising events occurred, our offense is definitely improved from last year.  We scored 8 freaking runs!  However, it is our pitching that is going to be an issue this year.  Also, we only had one extra base hit the whole game, Jaso's single.  We should and could have broken this thing wide open. I always joke when we score a bunch of runs that we need to "save" some offense for the next game, especially because Vargas is on the mound tomorrow and the Mariners tend to not score much for him.  But, in this case, I wish we hadn't.

I would say that Smoak and Ryan with career highs were the players of the game, but Ryan's 4 walks and two runs didn't make up for his huge mental error in the 5th inning.

Oh, another record was made today but not at the game.  Former Mariner Jamie Moyer, now pitching for the Rockies, won his first game of the year.  He is now the oldest pitcher to ever win a game, at 49 years and 150 days old.  Awesome feat by a man who took the entire 2011 season off to have Tommy John surgery.

Record when I attend: 1-2
The Roof was closed the entire game.

April 9, 2011

We lost to the Indians, 2-1, which makes it our sixth straight loss after starting the season 2-0.

Well, what can I say... I see very little improvement from last year. In fact, I felt like we had more of an offensive threat in the final few months of the season with Russell Branyan in at DH. Figgins is off to a slow start yet again, although he had two solid hits today, and we're really missing Gutierrez both offensively and defensively. In our six game losing streak we've averaged 2.3 runs per game and have a .202 batting average. That's not gonna do it, not even in the National League

It seems like we make every pitcher look like Cy Young, the newly crowned one Masterson who struck out nine through six. We wasted another fine outing by Doug Fister (love this guy) by committing yet another miscue in the field. On a Sac fly in the 4th, Bradley threw to where he thought was a cutoff man. No such dude, and Fister ended up booting it into the dugout letting another run in. That was the ballgame.

It was frustrating, we had opportunities but couldn't come through. Especially frustrating was Ichiro's AB in the 7th when he floundered with a bunt back to the pitcher with two outs. Obviously his intention was to not hit it back to him, but for a guy who is supposed to be such a master of his craft he screwed up and killed our chances. The dude should have been trying for a hit, not a bunt... and since we've all been told numerous times he can hit a homer whenever he wants, why didn't he? Because he isn't perfect, far from it.

Erg, we need a freaking hitter... or maybe two.

Got Thai (Garlic Beef), they have brown rice as a choice this year but they didn't have any... supposed to arrive this week. Their prices were raised yet again. I went and checked out The Pen a little closer, checking out the food options. There are Tortas, Wood Fired Pizza, Crepes, and Burgers. I think I'll try the Crepes on Monday but unsure if it will be filling enough.

During one of our rallys, an obnoxious kid in the aisle over got up on his seat, turned around, and tried to get "The Wave" going. The Wave is one of the most obnoxious things you can do when your own team is up to bat... very distracting to the fans around you. People started yelling at him and after about 10 attempts he finally got the picture and sat down.

Mariners are now 0-2 when I attend. Next game will be the 11th with King Felix on the mound. I don't go to Sunday games.

Oh, forgot to add that we arrived around 5pm for Felix Cy Young Bobbleheads. The announced attendance was 30,309.

Opening Night at the Safe

April 8, 2011


Well, what a disaster. In the end, we lost 12-3... gave up 10 runs to the Indians in the 4th. This was our 5th loss in a row after opening up the season 2-0.

Safeco has a few new things, I didn't get too good a look at The Pen (renovated Bullpen Market) because we ate at Uwajimaya and didn't get into the stadium until 6:25. The pregame hoopla/ceremony was supposed to start at 6:30 and I wanted to get to my new seats. I had chicken pho, by the way. Last year the first 8 times I ate pho before the game we won, so I was trying to do my best as a fan.

The Pen was PACKED. I did get a glimpse of the new fireplace/lounge area but was trying to weave in and out of the crowd. Anyway, got to my new seats. I had moved down three rows to try and get closer to the action (and closer to other season ticket holders). My hopes were also to be able to sell tickets by being closer to the field, that hasn't really worked out yet. I haven't sold any tickets on stubhub so far.

The pregame ceremony was disappointing. We had the usual red carpet entrance and player introductions. Then King Felix got his Cy Young, and Ichiro got another Gold Glove... along with an absent Guti who is still down in Arizona with stomach issues.




Then we were supposed to have a touching tribute to Dave Niehaus. I love that man, I grew up on him. I fell asleep to his voice when I was a child... and was devastated by his loss. I went down for the informal Open House after he passed, as well as the formal memorial service. Those were very touching and emotional days for all of us... and I was expecting the same on Opening Night. The Mariners had 5 months to plan for a special ceremony, and instead that had a local rapper perform a song... which frankly was lame. They unveiled a permanent display above the broadcaster booth, and his widow Marilyn threw out the first pitch to Felix (surrounded by her family). I was very disappointed, they really missed the mark. Niehaus deserved much more than that. They also showed a clip of the unveiling of the renaming of 1st Ave S to Dave Niehaus Way. I wish I could have been there to see that. Usually I like to be there for the countdown on Opening Day, but wasn't able to make it this year.




I don't have much more to say on the game... we were blown out and it was the worst opener in Mariners history. Vargas just didn't have it.

Oh, Mom almost had her head taken off by a foul. Instead it took out a guy's cellphone and bounced over to the next aisle. She had just finished telling me that day that she no longer wanted the foul ball she caught a few years ago (it landed in her lap) off the bat of Marco Scutaro.

Grounds crew came out with a new dance... one of my pet peeves but I'm always interested in their new routines.

0-1 When I attend, it was sold out.