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

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

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 Throw 3rd No-Hitter in Team History

Oh boy, oh boy.  19 years after the last no-hitter... Chris Bosio's 1993 game ending in the famous Visquel play, the Mariners notched their third no-hitter in history.  But this time, it was a highly unusual combined no-hitter.  It is only only the 10th combined no-hitter in MLB History.  Even more rare than a perfect game, 4 homer game, or unassisted triple play!

Dodgers (37-21)

Gordon SS

Herrera 3B

Ethier RF

Rivera DH

Abreu LF

Hairston 2B

Loney 1B

Ellis C

Gwynn CF

Eovaldi (0-2, 2.64)

Mariners (26-33)

Ichiro RF

Ackley 2B

Seager 3B

Montero C

Smoak 1B

Saunders CF

Jaso DH

Carp LF

Kawasaki SS

Millwood (3-5, 3.90)

We came in after a 5-4 road trip in which we absolutely crushed the ball, scoring 64 runs, including a 21-8 drubbing of Texas.  So all thoughts were that we'd finally found our groove and were hoping that it would carry over to Safeco.  It wasn't the case, but we were able to get just enough offense to win 1-0.

Millwood started out superbly, with only 68 pitches through six innings against the best team in the National League.  He retired the first 12 men he faced until a leadoff walk by Rivera in the 5th, who was immediately erased on a double play grounder.  Millwood didn't allow another batter.  He came out in the 7th inning, tossed one warmup, then left the game.  We weren't exactly sure what was going on... speculation on the radio and twitter was that it was a blister.  I was glad to find out later that it was a mild groin strain.  If he had left a no-hitter for a stinking blister?  Sheesh.  Anyway, at that point it was still a scoreless game, and I was pretty sure the chance at seeing a no-hitter was over.  But... five guys from our bullpen all came out and got the job done.  Furbush came on for the injured Millwood, got a fly ball for the first out, then made a two-base error on a chopper back to the mound.  But he struck out Ethier, and Rookie Stephen Pryor came on to finish out the 7th with a strikeout of his own.  He throws in the upper 90s.

We scored the lone run of the game in the 7th inning, so Pryor picked up his first ML win.  We scored when Ichiro got a two out single (his third single of the game), followed by a walk to Ackley and then an RBI single by Seager.  It was his 23rd two out RBI of the year (our of 37 total), which leads the AL.

In the top of the 8th, Pryor walked the first two batters, so was relieved by Luetge who in 13 innings has yet to give up a run.  He faced one batter, a sacrifice to advance runners to 2nd and 3rd with one out.  Next followed League.  He lost his closing job a couple of weeks ago, and anytime he comes in I get really anxious. Well, Ellis hit a shallow ball to left but Figgins (who had come in that inning as a defensive replacement) was able to get to it, and quickly throw home.  It was a high throw, but Montero was able to save the run by snagging it out of the air.  League struckout Gwynn to finish the inning, and we were only 3 outs from History!!! 

Ryan came in as a defensive replacement in the ninth, and it was a good thing he did.  The dude is insane, I don't care if he is batting below the Mendoza line.  He is probably the best shortstop in the league.  Wilhelmsen came in to close out the game, and all 22,028 on hand were on their feet.  Every no-hitter has one or two spectacular defensive plays.  Seager had one to leadoff the fourth, and Ryan came through in the ninth.  Gordon hit a 0-2 pitch slowly, but Ryan charged it and was just able to get the play at first.  It was damn close, Gordon was incensed but... hell we were on the bad end of a call for the perfect game.  So even if he was safe, that's baseball!!  He sure looked out to me.  Herrera lined out to Ryan, and the final out was a ground ball to Ackley.  History was made, and the celebration commenced!

I think it is pretty cool that I have been to a perfect game and combined no-hitter this year, after 18 years of griping about leaving the Bosio no-no early... I'm rewarded with this.  I felt like the Baseball Gods decided to give something back, after the torture of the perfect game.  It wasn't the most spectacular pitching performance I've ever seen, but truly bizarre.  I think Washburn gave up one hit in a complete game, and that hit was erased on a double play so he faced the minimum batters.  That was better.   This one had a few walks and an error, but it was a great team accomplishment.  And, as it was only the 10th combined no-hitter ever, extremely rare!  I can now finally shut up about the Bosio no-hitter!

The Mariners are now 7-8 when I attend
Time of Game: 2:48
Attendance: 22,028

 

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.