A Safeco First

Notice anything different?

Well, like I've said many times before you always see something at the ballpark that you've never seen before... whether it be an unassisted triple play, a weird bounce off a base or fielder, or a broken bat that sails 150 feet.  Tonight, for the first time, the Mariners played as an away team at Safeco while using National League rules.  It was the first time in MLB during the DH era that pitchers batted at an AL ballpark! 

The Mariners came into this having been swept by the Nationals despite only giving up 1 ER in 3 games.  That's inexcusable.  We fell below .500 for the first time since May 25th.  The Marlins came into the game at 2-20 for June.

The Lineups:

Mariners (37-38)

Ichiro Suzuki RF

Brendan Ryan SS

Adam Kennedy 3B

Justin Smoak 1B

Dustin Ackley 2B

Miguel Olivo C

Carlos Peguero LF

Franklin Gutierrez CF

Felix Hernandez P

Marlins (33-42)

Emilio Bonifacio CF

Logan Morrison LF

Gaby Sanchez 1B

Hanley Ramirez SS

Greg Dobbs 3B

Mike Stanton RF

John Buck C

Omar Infante 2B

Ricky Nolasco P

Watching the Mariners bat first in gray uniforms was definitely a different experience.  Usually we hear the national anthem, then the mariners gets introduced as they trot out to the field... followed by a "play ball" cheer from some lucky kid.  Side rant... how come they never had any of these running around the bases/kids day/open the game/in the broadcast booth promotions when I was a kid!  The only thing we got to do was walk around the field once a year.  This time it was "play ball" with the Mariners batting first!  The Marlins took the field to scattered applause.

King's Court going crazy with Ks

The Mariners went down in order and Felix ran into some trouble the first two innings.  He caught Bonifacio looking in the first.  King's Court, expanded to three sections tonight, waved their K signs and went crazy everytime he got to two strikes in a count.  Then, he walked Morrison who two batters later got picked off to end the inning.  The Mariners went down in order in the top of the second as well.  The bottom of the second sure was an interesting one.

Ramirez, who had been up at the plate when Morrison was picked off first the prior inning, led off by flying out to Guti on the first pitch.  Then, former Mariner Dobbs walked.  Stanton struck out swinging.  The next batter, Buck, was hit by a pitch on an 0-1 count.  The next batter is when it got really interesting.   With the count 2-2, Felix pitched inside and it looked like the ball hit off of the knob of the bat.  Infante acted like he had been hit on his hand.  The initial call was a foul, but Jack McKeon came out and protested... the umpires met for a conference and then called Wedge over to discuss.  In a rarity, the umpires reversed a call.  The delay was at least seven minutes, and the fans were not pleased.  Infante trotted out to first and the bases were loaded, all without a hit.    According to the radio it hit off the knob of the bat.  Fortunately, Felix was able to get out of the inning 'cause the pitcher was up, and Nolasco flied out to Left to end the threat.  Felix threw 41 pitches in the first two innings!

Hit It There!!

In the top of the third, there was some excitement.  Peguero sturck out but then Guti had a good AB and before he grounded out to third he hit a foul ball right in front of us in which the ball dropped between the 1B and RF.  You don't see a foul in play missed that often.  Felix Hernandez, with two outs, came up to the plate and the crowd when wild!  He got a rousing cheer.  The King's Court turned their cards around and on the back it said "Hit It There" with and arrow pointing to the field.  He fouled off the first pitch which drew appreciation from everyone.  Then, on the next pitch he hit it solidly to the opposite field, right through the hole between 1st and 2nd.  Felix had the first hit of the game, and became the first pitcher to ever get a hit at Safeco!  He was only the third pitcher to ever get an AB at Safeco after Nolasco and Hipolito Pichardo.  Ichiro grounded out to end the inning.  The Mariners then went down in order until the 7th inning.

The Marlins went down in order in the 3rd with Felix notching two Ks.  In the 4th inning he gave up a leadoff hit up the middle to Ramirez who advanced to second on a groundout to the pitcher.  Ramirez further advanced when he stole a base on a probable hit and run when Stanton struck out.  So, there were two out with a runner on third.  On a 2-2 count Buck struck out swinging, but Olivo couldn't handle the pitch and lost the ball as it went past him.  He found it and threw to first, but  Buck was safe and Ramirez had come in to score the first run of the game.  This was all on Olivo, but Felix was charged with the WP.  He got out of the inning when Infante grounded out to third.  He allowed only two more baserunners the rest of the game, a hit in the sixth and another hit batter (Buck for the second time) in the seventh.  His final line, 8 IP, 10k, 2h, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 HBP

FC, and IBB (to Ackley), Olivo came to the plate with one out looking to redeem himself.  He ended up knocking Kennedy in with the tying run on a FC.  So now there were runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 out.  Peguero hit an infield single to deep short to load the bases again, and Guti came up with the bases loaded.  He came into the game batting only .192 with 0 HR and 6 RBI.  On a 1-1 count he knocked the ball up the middle into center, driving in 2 runs and the Mariners were up 3-1!  It was a big hit for him, hopefully he will start to come out of his season long slump.

In the 9th inning with Ackley walked with one out, and Olivo had an 8 pitch AB in which King's Court started changing oo Liv o ohhhh (like the Wizard of Oz chant). Don't ask me why they started chanting like that.  But, it worked, as he knocked a pitch 352 feet just over the fence near the left field foul pole to make it a 5-1 game. Yep, I would say he redeemed himself pretty well.  Peguero struck out and Guti got another base hit.  While Guti was at the plate, Felix came into the on deck circle and the crowd went crazy! After Guti's hit he went back to the dugout and Cust came out to pinch hit amid Boos from the seats.  On the postgame show Wedge said that Felix was going to come back out to finish off the game, but when Olivo hit the homer he didn't want to risk it.  Cust struck out looking, which did not please the fans.  League came in to finish of the bottom of the 9th.

looking strange in the away grays

It was a fun and exciting game., a lot of interesting moments.  I kept looking at the wrong part of the scoreboard and it took time to get used to cheering for the gray uniforms.  The novelty of Felix hitting was cool, but I think over time that would wear off (just like interleague play).  Personally I would like to see it abolished altogether and have it go back to only in the WS and All-Star game in which the leagues meet.  Unfortunately it is all about money, and it continues to draw bigger crowds.

I had a Gyro and Kettle Corn, and scored the game.

The roof was closed in the top of the first.  

The attendance was 15,279

The Mariners improved to 38-38 overall and  9-7 when I attend.

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.

Two In A Row!

I was wavering for a couple of days on whether or not I should go to tonight's game. Well... after the come from behind win and the fact that I was a horrible fan and left early (regardless of how crappy it was), I decided I really needed to get to the ballgame for rookie Michael Pineda's first start at Safeco Field.

I did not expect perfection, I did not expect him to be "that good", but DAMN. He can bring it. As the late, great, Dave Niehaus called it... "DIABOLICAL". He's 22 years old, stands 6'7" and at least 265. He's got long legs and his first pitch was 96 mph. He stayed consistently 96/97 throughout the game. It was just a beautiful thing to see, that's the best way I can describe it.

There were 15,500, fourth lowest ever, but we had fun. Pineda struck out 7 but it felt like more. Justin Smoak saved the game in the bottom of the 8th with a runner on 3rd and 1 man out (thanks to Olivo error). With his back to HP he caught a foul ball near the stands, turned around, and fired a shot to Olivo on one hop. Patterson, the runner on third, was dead to rights. Inning ending double play and that was pretty much the ballgame as League came on in the 9th for the save. Most people stayed until the end, learning their lesson from yesterday.

Langerhans hit his third home run of the season in the third, he's leading the team in homers, although it is early. He had three all of last year. I'm liking what I am seeing from him at the plate, his defense is certainly lacking and we need Guti back yesterday, but he's shown me enough in the first couple of weeks that I want him around. Saunders is another one I am liking right now... but like I said with Guti coming back soon we're going to have too many outfielders. I'd like to see Langerhans/Saunders split time in the field and have Milton as the DH. Cust just isn't doing it for me right now. He strikes out a lot and so far he hasn't shown much power, which is what we brought him in for... to walk and hit homers.

Olivo is just how I remember when we had him in 2004/2005. He can't hit, and his defense is crap. Today he had four plate appearances, accounting for 5 outs. Defensively he practically gave the game away with a passed ball that allowed runners to advance to 2nd and 3rd in the 8th (taking away the DP possibility to get Pineda out of a jam and 8 shutout innings). Instead the 2 came around to score on a single by Patterson and Pineda was out of the ballgame. Patterson ended up stealing and then advancing to third on the error by Olivo... after which Smoak saved the day with his fantastic defensive play.

Tuesday's they always have deals on food (like two dollar hotdogs) and tickets. This year they've implemented a double discount for Season Ticket Holders of merchandise. Usually we get 10% off. I knew I needed a new hat 'cause my Pilots hat is getting pretty grungy. So I went to the team shop before the game and ended up with a new hat, two Ryan Rowland-Smith shirts, and a sweatshirt... all for $52! I will definitely be going back another Tuesday 'cause I need a new coat. My old ones are too big or got ruined by my cats.

After the team shop I headed back to The Pen to continue my exploration of the new food choices. Tonight I went to the "Cantina", which was formerly the Bullpen Pub, and picked up a Chicken Torta for $8.50. It is made to order and I declined the jalapenos and sour cream, but it came with a bean? spread, onions, and avocado. Thumbs up for letting people pick and choose what they want (hint, hint Crepe) but it was just okay and got soggy very quickly. The White Pizza still wins out, last on the list is a Burger. I will try one next homestand.


Toronto fans were pretty quiet and subdued until they started rallying in the 8th inning. I'm pretty sure they were in shock from yesterday's game. The crowd was in a good mood and joking around a lot. Yet another annoying kid, but this time he was in the row in front of me. He stood on the seat most of the game but was one seat over so no view was blocked. Best game of the year so far with great pitching. The game had everything, excitement, highly tense moments, errors, a great defensive play, and most important of all a WIN! I'm not going to the day game tomorrow, so I made it to 4 out of the 6 games on this homestand. They will be going to KC for a short trip this weekend, then it all starts over again! Things are looking up, it is much less dire than a couple of games ago. This is why I love baseball. Such a roller coaster.

The Mariners improved to 2-2 when I attend... on a 2 game winning streak!