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.

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.

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.

May Games Recap

Well, only 4 games in May due to being sick and then rupturing my disc.  What fun!  In parentheses you will overall results, as May totals are added to April in several categories.

Fri 5/6 CHW W 3-2, Felix, Pep Pizza, Kettle Corn, 31,192.  ROOF

Mon 5/16 MIN W 5-2,  Pineda, Torta, 14,859

Tue 5/17 MIN L 2-1, Felix, Kettle Corn, Hot Dog, 16,015

Wed 5/18 LAA W 3-0, Vargas, Rice, Kettle Corn, Seeds 16,992

Record by Starting Pitcher
Felix: 1-1 (3-1)
Pineda: 1-0 (3-0)
Vargas: 1-0 (1-3)
Fister: N/A (0-1)

Record by Day (Overall)
Mon: 1-0 (2-1)
Tue: 0-1 (1-1)
Wed: 1-0 (1-0)
Thu: N/A  (1-0)
Fri: 1-0 (2-1)
Sat: N/A (0-2)

Record By Food
Pizza: 1-0 (2-0)
Kettle Corn: 2-1 (2-1)
Torta: 1-0 (2-0)
Hot Dog: 0-1 (0-1)
Rice: 1-0 (1-0)
Seeds: 1-0 (1-0)

Record with Roof Closed: 1-0
Record while Scoring: N/A (1-0)

Attendance:
Mon: 14,859
Tue: 16.015
Wed: 16,992
Fri: 31,192
Avg Attendance:  19,765 (20,862)

Overall Score:  Mariners 12 (36) Opponent 6 (46)
Run Differential: + 6 (-10)

Avg Runs Scored
Mariners 3
Opponent 1.5

Greatest Run Differential Win: 3 (twice)
Greatest Run Differential Loss: 1

Mariners total Runs Record:
1: 0-1 (1-3)
3: 2-0 (3-2)
4: N/A (1-0)
5: 1-0 (1-0)
8: N/A (1-0)

Opponent:
0: 1-0 (3-0)
2: 2-1 (3-2)
7: N/A (1-0)
8: N/A (0-1)
9: N/A (0-1)
12: N/A (0-1)

Overall 3-1 (7-5)
One Run Games: 1-1 (4-2)

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!

Well, we just didn't get it done today. Felix Hernandez wasn't as sharp as he needed to be in the first inning, and it cost us. He gave up 2 runs and 1 hit in the first which led to 2 runs, and that's all Minnesota needed as we lost 2-1. In 8 of Felix's 10 starts he has given up 2 earned runs or less, and his record is 4-4. That's just a shame, all you can ask of any pitcher is to go 8 innings and give up a measly two runs... they shouldn't have to be perfect!

With a runner on 1st with one out, Olivo tried to break up the fielder's choice play at 2nd in the 9th. At this point we were down 1 and it was a huge play, could have been the difference between a win and a loss. Well, Wedge ejected. You could tell as soon as he got out there. There was a lot of gesturing and very close quarters, it looked like the brims of their caps were touching. After he got ejected he stuck around a few more moments. I was hoping for an exciting dirt kick or hat tossing, but they don't make managers like good ol' Lou anymore. Well Wedgie, congrats on your first ejection. Replays on the TV showed that it was a really close play, almost too close to call... in one angle Olivo was safe, in another he was out.

Sadly the flag was at half staff and a moment of silence before the game as Harmon Killebrew, MLB Hall of Famer and Legend, passed away this morning. He was one of the greats, without a doubt.

There is some good news to come out of the ballgame. Gutierrez will be activated tomorrow! He's been out the entire year because of an undiagnosed case of IBS. He had lost 10-15 pounds and all reports say he's pretty much full strength. We need this, defensively and offensively... and just in time for "Death to Flying Things" fly swatter day this Thursday.

Another positive, after allowing a walk to the first batter in the 9th, League got out of the inning with no damage by inducing a double play. After his disastrous previous 5 outings, let's hope he is on the way to turning things around.

I ate kettle corn and a hot dog.

The attendance was 16,015 and the Mariners are now 6-5 when I attend.

Three Peat

Wow, so much to talk about on this one. Since the last game I went to, the Mariners had gone 0-6 coming into the game including a disaster of a road trip in which they lost 4 out of the 5 games the final AB.... and 2 rain outs in Cleveland. The Twins came into the game having lost 8 in a row and the worst team in baseball. Someone had to win, I'm glad it was us... although we tried to make it interesting in the top of the ninth!

Pineda was scheduled to start yesterday but because of the postponement he was pushed back to today and Felix to tomorrow. It didn't faze him, in fact he had no-no type stuff through 2.2 innings. I was just starting to regret not bringing my scorebook when he gave up a single in the third. Overall he gave up three hits and hit a batter while striking out seven in 7 innings. The dude's composure is well behind his years. I keep waiting for him to falter, it will happen eventually, but right now he sure is fun to watch and brings excitement to the ballpark. As the late, great Niehaus said "DIABOLICAL!"

The only trouble he got into was in the sixth inning, through no fault of his own. With two out Luis Rodriguez committed and error, one of three in the game, which was followed by a single by Kubel (who sucks defensively, by the way) and then hit Morneau to load the bases. At that point it was a two run game after we'd scored single runs in the 1st and 3rd innings. But Pineda gathered himself and got Cuddyer to hit into a Fielder's Choice. The game was pretty much over at that point... all that was in his way from a win was our bullpen (at least League was sitting after blowing four consecutive outings... first time in Mariners history for a relief pitcher, by the way). It was our defense that almost failed us...

We got some insurance runs in the bottom of the 6th that we ended up needing, with the first back to back homers of the year for the Mariners by Kennedy and Peguero. It was Peguero's 2nd HR of his career. The first was Friday in Cleveland (which was last official game) so he has hit them in two consecutive games. I have never seen a homer like Peguero's... it was literally a line drive straight over the fence. It would have kept going if not for the stands. Kennedy also had a sacrifice in the 8th inning to make it 5-0. I won't mention his error in the 9th, it was a routine dribbler to him just a few few off of first (a little league play) and he simply bobbled it. Could have been because he had just moved over there due to Smoak being pulled for precautionary reasons?

Anyway, we almost threw the 9th away with two errors, the other was by Figgins which should have resulted in a game ending double play. They scored two runs but we hung on and ended our losing streak. Sure hope we can put together something on this homestand, tomorrow we're going for the sweep in the short two games series.

One annoying note, the radio was 5 seconds behind the action for the first five innings... which was REALLY weird and kind of off putting. Eventually it was fixed.

Attendance was 14,859 with the roof "extended" before the first pitch. The giveaway was yet another "bag of dirt", which means I now have three. I found out that you could "check-in" at Safeco and receive deals/specials so I was intrigued. I downloaded the free MLB at-bat application for my cellphone and used it for the first time tonight. The free version is sort of lacking in features but I was able to get $2 off a Torta. So I only paid $6.50 which is pretty good for ballpark fare. Too bad the torta still isn't that great.

The Mariners are Now 6-4 when I attend and are 17-23 overall.

Felix Goes the Distance, M's Win Again!

I've been a bit sick this homestand, tonight was the first game I'd been to. Since the last game, they had gone 7-3 (including 5-1 on roadtrip) to enter the game at 15-17 and just three games behind Anaheim for the AL West lead. Okay, I know they are the LA Angels of Anaheim but sorry... they're not in Los Angeles! I can't believe I'm saying it but we are now 16-17!! Who would have thought!

Let's talk about this game, it had a little of everything. My sister said "I've never seen that before" when referring to the 4th inning blunder by Jack Wilson. With a runner on first and no out, Ramirez sacrificed with a bunt up the first base line, but it turned into a base hit when Olivo picked it up and found no one covering first... which should have been the second baseman as Smoak was charging for the ball as well. This turned into a huge mistake as there should have been one out and instead runners on 1st and 2nd. Pierre, on 2nd, ended up coming around to score the first run of the game on a sacrifice fly which should have been the third out of the inning.

In the 8th We had a rundown! A runner was caught off third after taking too large of a lead on a groundball to the shortstop Ryan, who made a heads up play and threw to third. After a couple of throws the runner was out and it provided a lot of excitement 'cause at that point we were still tied.

There was a Bradley ejection in the 8th, he got into the face of the HP umpire on a called third strike as Figgins slid into third with a steal. Konerko had earlier had a few words, but Milton was tossed and Wedge had to run out and hold him back from the umpire or he would have been facing a suspension. He waved the bat around a little. That was exciting but was lacking in the fun of those classic Lou moments when he would kick dirt, toss his hat etc.

Felix was outstanding, went 9 innings on 5 hits and just 2 runs (1 shouldn't have happened). His last out he was so fired up, my sister commented that she had never seen him that excited, that he is usually so calm. Oh no, he gets excited... and tonight was the perfect example. He picked up his 4th win of the year already.

Brendan Ryan had the game winning hit up the middle with pinch runner Kennedy on 3rd. The bench emptied and the crowd went wild, we had won the game 3-2! He had come into the game on an 1-23 slump, so this was a huge hit for him. He also had our first hit, a double, earlier in the game.

Smoak continues to impress me... since coming back from the bereavement list he has hit .353 with 3 HR, 13 RBI and OPS of 1.127. He had another good game with a key 2B, RBI, and a BB.

Ichiro Bobblehead night, annoying! But, over 31,000 fans got to see a great, entertaining ballgame. My sister and I both got pizza (Pepperoni) from The Pen and enjoyed it, but we both agreed that it wasn't enough food as we were still hungry. An annoying aspect was that I asked for the white pizza but five minutes later it still wasn't ready, and I was starving so I gave up. About halfway through the game we got some Kettle Corn ($4.75) which was decent, but the stuff outside is cheaper and better!! We had fun and she reported that it was her third game this year already, which was more than all of last year. No Dancing Grounds Crew today, but they did do YMCA early in the game which I hadn't seen in a long time. Some famous skater dude named Rob Dyrdek threw out the first pitch and my sister tried to get his autograph but the line was too long.

This will probably be my only game of the homestand since I am under the weather and need to fully recover. However, I do feel the fresh air and great game helped me out. I will see, it will be very tempting to sacrifice my health since we're one win from .500! At one point we were 4-11.

Oh, the roof was closed and they wore those ugly teal tops as you can see in the celebration picture up top.

The Mariners are now 5-4 when I attend!

April Games Recap

I thought I would sum up each month of the season year in one post.

Fri Apr 8: CLE L 12-3. Vargas, Pho, Sold Out
Sat Apr 9: CLE L 2-1, Fister, Beef Thai 30,309
Mon Apr 11: TOR W 8-7, Felix, Turkey Crepe & W Pizza 13,056 (LU)
Tue Apr 12: TOR W 3-2, Pineda, Torta, 15,500
Mon Apr 18: DET L 8-3, Vargas, Burger, Sushi, Crepe 12,774
Thu Apr 21: OAK W 1-0, Felix, Potato, Cookies, Rice Krispies 12,770
Fri Apr 22: OAK W 4-0 , Pineda, Gyro 17,798
Sat Apr 23: OAK L 9-1, Vargas, Garlic Chicken

Record by Starting Pitcher:

Vargas 0-3
Fister 0-1
Felix 2-0
Pineda 2-0

Record by Day:

Mon: 1-1
Tue: 1-0
Wed: N/A
Th: 1-0
Fri: 1-1
Sat: 0-2
Sun: N/A

Record by Food:

Pho 0-1, Thai 0-1, Crepe 1-1, Pizza 1-0, Burger 0-1, Sushi 0-1, Potato 1-0, Cookies 1-0, Gyro 1-0, Garlic Chicken 0-1

Record by Scoring: 1-0

Att:

Mon: 13,056, 12,774
Tue: 15,500
Thu: 12,770
Fri: 45,727 (SO), 17,798
Sat: 30,309, 23,355
Avg Attendance: 21,411

Overall score: Opponent 40 Mariners 24
Run Differential: 16

Avg Runs Scored:
Opponent 5
Mariners 3

Greatest Run Differential Win: 4
Greatest Run Differential Loss: 9

Mariners total Runs Record:
1: 1-2
3: 1-2
4: 1-0
8: 1-0

Opponent:
0: 2-0
2: 1-1
7: 1-0
8: 0-1
9: 0-1
12:0-1

Overall 4-4
One Run Games: 3-1