g105 | another, another, another, another....

Mariners 0 | Twins 4

Didn't see/hear much
(attended a concert at Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery ~ Ringo Starr and the All-Starr Band)
and it's just as well...

Another quality start for Felix, another no-show offense, another sloppy defense, another loss.

g104 | missin' the mark at Target Field

Mariners 3 | Twins 4



Good . . .
Doug improved, bullpen solid

Bad . . .
M's have bases loaded with only one out in the second and no runs ... argh!

Ugly . . .
M's commit two errors that lead to three runs ... ugh!

g103 | homer happy sox

Mariners 5 | White Sox 9

For the second night in a row. the M's not only scored 5 runs, they . . . 
racked up 10 hits,  including 2 doubles, stole 3 bases and turned 3 double plays

Sounds like a pretty good night, right?  
It would have been enough to win 60 of the 103 games they played so far.
Unfortunately, the pale hose decided to go ape nuts crazy with the long ball - 4 homers tonight.
Finally, a little spurt of offense and the pitching falls apart.

Thank goodness the M's are done with the White Sox this season . . .
11 homers in 3 games?!? - yowsa!

Off to Minny . . .
would be nice if the WS shared their homer secrets with the M's so they can beat up on Minny for them ;-)

g102 | rough ride on the south side...

Mariners 5 | White Sox 6

I think I know who's going to win the World Series ;-)
I realize the M's aren't the greatest of competition but, MAN do the Sox look strong.

Lots of good stuff in this game, despite the loss ...
~ Early runs off Buehrle
~ 11 hits, including a double and a home run
~ 5 runs, in the first two innings!
~ the bullpen looking much better of late

't was the "Figgy Show" ...
~ 2 hits, 2 runs, 2 rbi
~ his first Mariner home run
~ a steal of home!

and the bad part ...
~ Jason not havin' it (3 homers, yikes!) in a game where he FINALLY gets some support
~ 9 men left on base

g101 | ey-yi-yi

Mariners 0 | White Sox 11

Well, let's see...
Brian pitched 3 scoreless innings giving up only one hit and striking out one.
That's about as rosy as I can get.

Hyphen appears to be totally out of whack ... 
has been for quite awhile, not sure of the wisdom in continuing to run him out there.

And the bats?  What bats?
7 hits - none for extra bases

The White Sox certainly have the M's number this season.

g100 | not a very happy Felix day

Mariners 1 | White Sox 5

hmmm....
I thought Felix was supposed to STOP losing streaks :-(
Definitely wasn't his day.  I blame this tweet from The Real Mariners for jinxing him ...

Did you know that Felix has not allowed a run to the White Sox since August 19, 2008? That's a streak of 23.0 scoreless innings & counting.

Mr. Danks, on the other hand ...
Not the guy a less than potent offense wants to face to try and extend a tiny win streak.

I didn't see any of it and only heard a bit, so can't really comment much further.
Could be a long series on the south side...

g99 | splittin' in Seattle

Mariners 4 | Red Sox 2

From "the Friday Fracas" to 2 wins-in-a-row ...
This was definitely a fun one to be at and the Chamber of Commerce weather had a lot to do with it (it's days like these I canNOT imagine living anywhere else!).  We had to wait a bit for the fun on the field, as the guys had plenty of chances early but Matsuzaka kept wigglin' off the hook.  When they finally did break out in the 8th inning it wasn't your typical barrage - singles (Jose, Michael, Justin), bunt singles (Casey and Milton) and even a butcher boy (Jack) - but when the inning was over, they had three more runs to add to the one they had scored in the 3rd.

TED S. WARREN / AP

On the mound ...
Doug wasn't super sharp and only went five innings, but all-in-all showed some signs of improvement - efficient early on and only walked one.  The BP was great (as it has been nearly all home stand).  Chris is impressing early, Brandon got the win even though he only faced one batter (struck out Youkilis for the third out in the 8th) and David notched his 18th save.

Seems most would have been happy with a split vs. the BoSox ...

But then you think about how close it came to a sweep - that first game where the M's came back from 1-6 down to tie it in the 9th (as disappointing as that game was in the end, I still found more to be ENcouraged about than DIS couraged) and then the next game to lose 2-1.

Woulda, coulda, shoulda.

On to the south side...

g98 | guys not too far removed from T-Town shut down the sox

Mariners 5 | Red Sox 1

David Pauley made his third start tonight since "replacing" Cliff Lee in the rotation ...
He has now pitched to the Yanks, the White Sox and the Red Sox - no soft landings there.  While he pitched well in all three, he was tagged with the loss in the first two because of the bullpen.  Tonight, he took the no decision, as the bullpen was stellar but the offense didn't come to life till after he had departed.

Coming to life with a little bit of this and a little bit of that ...
It took awhile, but with one out in the 6th, Michael broke up Lester's no-hit bid with a home run after Patterson's error ruined the perfect game chance, allowing Jack to get to second base in the previous at-bat.  Then, in the 8th, Milton tripled and Jack executed a great bunt (eye-level pitch) to bring MB home.  Then a Michael single, Ichiro walked and Figgy doubled, for the second run of the inning.  A Guit walk loaded the bases and then Jose was hit by a pitch making the score 5-1

TED S. WARREN / AP

And how 'bout that pen?!?
While David did well holding the Red Sox to only one run (a solo shot to Big Papi, certainly no shame in that) on five hits - Chris, Jamey and Garrett held them HITLESS and SCORELESS through THREE+ innings.  Chris notched his first major league win and Garrett his first major league save.

Good night all round ... 
Save for one M who was still a bit surly in the clubhouse ~ been busy with some other things, but hope to post some comments on the whole "Figgy falderal"sometime tonight.

Now, it's off to Fenway Northwest ... er, Safeco Field!

g97 | viva la Vargas!

Mariners 1 | Red Sox 2

Tell me something new, you say?

Sorry, not gonna happen...

Jason pitches ANOTHER quality start ...
7IP - 8H - 2ER - 3BB - 2K
and once AGAIN has to take the LOSS.

JOEY ANCHONDO / THE SEATTLE TIMES

The good thing is, Jason has been fairly efficient with his pitches (101 tonight) so hopefully that will enable him to continue pitching deep into games for the rest of the season.  Seems like this is really important in terms of his development after surgery, both in terms of experience (getting his mechanics, etc. just right) AND in terms of physical stamina (getting stretched out to go be able to go 200+ innings next year).  As for the mental side ... Jason's got NO problem there ~ he will absolutely not be intimidated by anyone ~ the guy is the coolest cucumber this side of Cliff Lee.

As for the offense ...
Another scoreless innings count has begun - tomorrow's game will start at eight without a run.

Oh, by the way, I was at the game, you know... 
at "Fenway Northwest".  There were RS fans all around, but actually, at least the ones around me were civil and not really obnoxious at all.  Good to see that, despite the two losses in a row, the Mariners have at least quieted them down and maybe even made them sweat a bit ;-)

And of course, there was the dust up...

No time for this now, have to absorb some of the reports and interviews and will provide opinion later.

g96 | thiiiiiis close

Mariners 6 | Red Sox 8

Crazy one!

Nearly no-hit by Lackey ...
the M's scored a run without the benefit of a hit in the second inning (walk, steal, ground out, passed ball) and continued to go hitless until two outs in the bottom of the 8th when Josh Bard singled but was stranded when Ichi flied out.

Meanwhile, the BoSox were racking up the hits vs. RRS ...
Ryan would go six giving up eight hits and five runs.  Brian would give up one run in his inning of work and the Red Sox would go to the bottom of the ninth up 1-6...

And then it got interesting ...
't was really quite amazing, I'm tired, so I'll take the easy route (courtesy YaHoo!)...

- M. Delcarmen relieved J. Lackey

- C. Figgins singled to left center

- F. Gutierrez homered to deep left, C. Figgins scored

- J. Lopez walked

- M. Bradley safe at first on shortstop M. Scutaro's fielding error, J. Lopez to second

- J. Papelbon relieved M. Delcarmen

- J. Smoak struck out swinging

- C. Kotchman doubled to right, J. Lopez scored, M. Bradley to third

- R. Langerhans ran for C. Kotchman

- J. Bard walked

- M. Saunders ran for J. Bard

- J. Wilson grounded into fielder's choice, M. Bradley scored, R. Langerhans to third, M. Saunders out at second, R. Langerhans scored, J. Wilson to second on second baseman B. Hall's fielding error

- I. Suzuki intentionally walked

- C. Figgins struck out looking

The offense would have their golden opportunity to win it in the 12th ...

Single, single, sac-fly, walk - and then then the balloon burst - foul out, popup

The pen would hang in their for longer than expected ...
Jamey, David and Garrett combined for FIVE innings of NO hit, NO run ball, but Garrett lost the magic in the 13th ... single, out, out, walk, double

And that was all she wrote on a Thursday evening in Fenway Northwest.

By the way, nice catch by Ichi to rob Ortiz of a home run in the first inning....

hoto by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

g95 | no sweep for you!

Mariners 2 | White sox 1

Wak earns his second victory from the clubhouse :-)

Felix was OUTSTANDING and SO deserved the WIN.
Heck, the way he pitched ... allowing only TWO singles, ZERO walks, ZERO runs, EIGHT strikeouts in EIGHT innings and retiring the last SEVENTEEN batters he faced .... he deserved TWO wins.

Floyd was pretty good too - keeping the M's scoreless in his seven innings and the Sox bullpen would succeed well through ten, but then came Jenks in the bottom of the ELEVENTH...

- J. Wilson reached on bunt single

- I. Suzuki sacrificed to first, J. Wilson to second

- C. Figgins singled to shallow center, J. Wilson to third

- C. Figgins stole second

- F. Gutierrez singled to shallow center, J. Wilson and C. Figgins scored

Now THAT is what we expected from this team from the get-go.

Yes, there were once again some serious base-running issues - I trust they will be addressed once and for all.  Right now, I just want to savor the win - they are just too few and far between not to.

g94 | 2-hit, dang, danks

Mariners 0 | White Sox 4 

Congrats to Mr. Danks.  As Wak said, not the guy you want to face when struggling to score runs.

The positives of the evening, once again the pitching.  By far Doug's best outing since returning from the DL - a quality start against a good offense is nothing to sneeze at.  And Chris came in did a nice job for three innings (just one batter away from a scoreless outing).

M's base-running was .... ugh!

M's defense was decent.  WS defense was spectacular.

That's all I got ... 

g93 | 10 more to go vs. sox

Mariners 1 | White Sox 6

Six more against the white variety (2 at home 4 away) and four more against the red

~ David did a nice job going 6IP giving up 3 runs
~ Figgy with 3 walks and a hit
~ Justin with 2 more hits
~ Russell with an RBI double before leaving with a stiff back
~ Jamey .... not so good
~ Offense ... even worse (bases loaded twice and nothing to show for it)

I'm tired.

g92 | salvaged ... in more ways than one

Mariners 2 | Angels 1

The win averted a sweep as well as averting attention from more base-running blunders.
Who should come to the Mariners rescue?  Why Jose, of course!  (I believe he led the team in game winning hits last season).  Here's hoping he is poised for a strong second half.  Anyhoo, in the 10th, Guti reached 1B via fielder's choice and then stole 2B.  Jose singled Guti home for what would prove to be the winning run.

~ M's save a bit of face by four-game sweep avoidance
~ Ichiro's boo-boo is forgotten (caught in a run-down between 2B and 3B for the second out of the 10th)
...or not ...

"Ichi's got to make sure that ball gets through, and he didn't,'' Wakamatsu said. "That ball's in froint of him, and he gets caught off guard there.''

It was reminiscent of Friday's game in which Jack Wilson was thrown out trying to go from first to third on a single to left.

"That's not good baseball, and those are veteran players,'' Wakamatsu said. "Those two plays, the balls in front of them. They have to make better decisions.''

Too bad for Jason ...
Once again he throws a quality start and has nothing to show for it.  I decided to look up run support and here's what I found:  going into today's game there were 58 starting pitchers with at least 80 innings pitched.  Jason is 57th of the 58 in run support.  And, oh by the way, RRS is 50th, Cliff is 52nd, Doug is 54th and Felix is 56th.

g91 | spunky and smoakin'

Mariners 6 | Angels 7
Yeah, it was a loss in a lost season but, that made it all the more impressive to see the guys show a little heart to battle back to make it a game and give a glimpse of good things to come in the future.

And how 'bout Mr. Smoak?!?  
A single, a double and 2 RBI to go along with his second homer in as many games (and all from the right side, which is supposedly his weak side)!

MARK J. TERRILL / AP

Ryan, Ryan, Ryan...
I think it would be in his and the team's best interest for him to take a trip down I-5 for a few weeks...

pluses and minuses...
12 hits and 6 runs = good!
3 errors and 3 GDIP = bad

Oh, and welcome to the bigs, Mr. Seddon!
Nice debut for Chris.  He came into the game with runners on the corners and one out and got the M's out of the inning unscathed.  All told, he worked 1.2 innings posting ZERO runs, hits, walks

g90 | boo-boos on the bases

Mariners 2 | Angels 3

I actually looked it up to see if it was my imagination that LAA had Felix's number ... it wasn't.  

Other than one game vs. the Astros, Felix's highest career ERA/WHIP is vs. the Halos followed closely by the Rangers.  Conversely, Jered Weaver has the M's number.  So, 't wasn't a great combination to start.

on the mound

Even though Felix wasn't as sharp as he has been of late, he still managed to go the whole way (again) and definitely pitched well enough to win (again).

AP / Chris Carlson

at the plate

Congrats to Justin!

AP / Chris Carlson

his first Mariner home run came with Guti aboard to bring the M's to within one run in the 7th.  Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.

leather works

2 DP's 

around the bases

one stolen base, but totally negated by the TWO caught stealing - ugh!!

g89 | was the break too long or not long enough?

Mariners 3 | Angels 8

The break certainly seemed to agree with the Halos ...
banging out 16 hits (5 for 9 w/RISP) to get their 8 runs

on the mound
Doug definitely was not Mister Fister tonight (giving up 12 of those 16 Halo hits for 6 of the runs)
Garrett had a clean 8th but, Brian and newly aquired Jamie Wright ... not so much

at the plate
things were looking up in the 5th when Joel lost it for a bit (we Mariners fans remember all too well that "big inning" that Joel was prone too) and the M's had 3 singles in a row and Ichiro comes up with a big double to score 3 - but that would be it

leatherworks
Ichiro made a great throw to nail Aybar at the plate in the 2nd
A nice DP as well but, also an "error that wasn't an error" by Jose that could have been the 3rd out but instead ended up being a 2-run double


Good news for the future ... Dustin Ackley homered in his first AAA Tacoma at bat tonight!

R.I.P. Mr. Steinbrenner

Non-Yankee fans loved to hate him, as there are few such polarizing figures in the world of sports but, there is no question how much he loved his team and the level of passion he possessed for winning.

George Steinbrenner, Yankees' Owner, Dies at 80 | New York Times

Condolences, Yankee fans.

g88 | of errors and wild pitches and baseballs lost in the sun....

Mariners 2 | Yankees 8

Mulligan for the first inning, please?
U G L Y times in that first frame, and even though only two scored.  Even Wak, in the post game, basically said Ryan was a "victim" of the shoddy defense.  Granted, he had a couple wild pitches and made some other mistakes, but you just have to wonder if Ryan had been able to get out of the first unscathed, if the momentum would have swung differently.

Not much you can do about those ball lost in the sun../
Guess it didn't happen to the Yanks OF'ers cuz CC was getting mostly ground balls (other than Casey's too little too late homer in the 9th).

JOHN FROSCHAUER

There was some super D as well...
Guti made two great catches and Ichi another.
Frustrating to know what they are capable of and not see it consistently.

Yanks take the series and lead the season series 4-3.  M's have one more left - in NY in August.

g87 | the Venezuelan connection

Mariners 4 | Yanks 1

Felix goes the distance ...
9IP - 10H - 1ER - 2BB - 9K 
The only Yankee run came on Swisher's solo shot in the 3rd and their only other extra base hit was Granderson's double in the 9th - in which Felix would end up striking out the side.

Getty Images/Otto Greule Jr.)

Lopey with the big "O" blow ...
Grand Slam in the eighth inning

JOHN FROSCHAUER/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Vazquez was stellar, but...
M's first hit didn't come till the 6th and then the M's had their first real scoring opportunity in the 7th - with the bases loaded a couple singles and a walk, Milton pinch hit and sent a shot up the middle that Pena made a great leap to snare.  Then Chamberlain came in for the 8th and promptly gave up two singles, threw a wild pitch and intentionally walked Russell before giving up the salami to Jose (wow - bullpen implosions happen to other teams, too?)

Justin received a very nice ovation when he stepped to the plate for the first time.  He had a rough debut though (3K's) but he didn't even get to the ballpark until 1pm and undoubtedly had a few jitters after what must have been a whirl-wind 24 hours for him.

Despite the position the M's find themselves in, with one win not making a difference, victory still tastes sweeter when it happens amongst throngs of interlocking NY's

g86 | Cliff, up in Smoak

Mariners 1 | Yankees 6

The game was a bit anti-climatic after the whirl-wind day that originally had Cliff headed to the Big Apple for Jesus Montero.  By early afternoon, that deal was apparently off and another was being struck with the Texas Rangers.  The press conference was held shortly after 3pm and Justin Smoak and three minor leaguers are now Seattle Mariners.

The rather surprising "extra" piece, at least to me, was Mark Lowe.  He's curently on the DL after having back surgery, but has been one of the bullpen's best relievers over the past couple of years - his injury and subsequent absence from the pen a big reason why they have struggled so much this season.  Really sorry to see him go and, apparently, he is also.

Now, as for the game tonight.

pleasant surprise...
Mr. Pauly did quite well in his Mariner starting debut.  He gave up a solo shot to Teixeira in the first inning, but then settled into a nice groove and retired 13-straight.  Luke did OK in long releif - going three innings, striking out two and giving up one run.

unpleasant recurrence...
Unfortunately, the only walk David issued came around to score in the 6th after he was of the game, replaced by Chad (who would also give up a couple walks, three hits and a couple runs).
The offense was same ol',same ol'... despite MULTIPLE chances to score (they would out hit the Yanks 7-9) they would only plate one.

Oh, and Mr. Hughes was MUCH more effective tonight at Safeco than last week at the Stadium ...

Yep, pretty crazy day...
Best wishes to Cliff and Mark.  I really hope they do well for their new team - I'll be rooting for the Rangers to make the post season and hopefully, to go deep into it.

Maybe some more thoughts at some point tomorrow...
currently having some long blinks and have to get up early (for a Saturday) to meet my BFF for breakfast and "spa day" before "Felix Day" at The Safe.

g85 | groundhog day...

Mariners 1 | Yankees 3

~ Jason with ANOTHER quality start and and other NO DECISION to show for it.
~ BASES LOADED again and NO RUNS to show for it.
~ Two DP's, but also two ERRORS.

A stat just caught my eye ...
The M's starting pitchers have 51 quality starts that have equated to all of 34 wins.


Kudos to Andy, a rare bird that's getting better with age.

g84 | royal sweep

Mariners 3 | Royals 7

Just when ya think things might be looking up ...

Mister Fister posts his first quality start since returning from the DL and that, along with some awesome "D" from Jose and Michael and two homers from Casey would see Doug leave after six innings with a 3-1 lead.  Brian gave up his first run this season in the 7th via a wild pitch.  But, Brandon in the 8th was the death knell - walks to the first two batters and then gives up a homer.  Garrett came in and didn't fair much better, also allowing a homer.

Discouraging pattern...

~bases loaded (multiple times) and they can't score

~have a lead going into the 8th and they lose the game

All I can say is ....

g83 | offense, where for art thou?

Mariners 2 | Royals 3


the good news ...
~ RRS posts his second quality start vs. a good lineup
~ David Pauley still lookin' good - another scoreless inning
~ two DP's
~ Michael with an outfield assist
~ finally got to ZG after 31 consecutive scoreless innings

the bad news ...
even when the M's get a little something goin', they can't catch a break.
In the 8th, Jack Wilson singled, went to second on an Ichi single, stole third and scored on a Figgy sac fly.  Ichiro was still on 1B (should he have been or was Jack's SB a boo-boo?) so he was unable to score when Russell hit what would be ruled a ground rule double due to fan interference (boo!!!).  Hard to know if Ichi would have scored anyway but, you just never know.

Tip o' the cap to Mr. Grenike.

Here's to sweep avoidance tomorrow...

g82 | bullpen is a royal pain

Mariners 4 | Royals 6

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see Felix, I only saw the bad parts ....

He threw way too many pitches (113) but, still managed to leave after the 7th with a 4-1 lead, thanks to a Figgy rbi single and a Russell 2-run homer that broke a 1-1 tie in the 5th.   KC got another off Felix in the 6th to make it 4-2, which would be the score going into the 8th when Brandon surrendered 2 runs and the offense came up empty, failing to score with runners at 2nd and 3rd with NO outs - they would eventually leave the bases loaded....argh!  The ninth passed fairly quickly, with David getting through unscathed, but the bats remaining silent.  Then came the 10th where it ended ... Chad gave up 2 runs off the bats of former M's Yuni and Scotty P, and that was all she wrote.

Poor Felix.

JOHN LOK / THE SEATTLE TIMES

g81 | All Star Clifton slacking ... only 8 innings today ;-)

Mariners 8 | Tigers 1

He's "our" All-Star.
At least for the moment...

on the mound
~ Mr. Lee delivers as expected ... 8IP - 9H - 1ER - 1BB - 11K
Does he really have to go???
~ 't wasn't pretty, but Brandon managed to mop up the 9th, preserving the W for Cliff

at the plate
checking and double checking box score ... TWO 3-run homers?!?
     -one off Russell's bat (his second since returning to the M's and his 5th,6th and 7th RBI)
     -one off Casey's (now above the mendoza line after going 3/3 w/2 walks today)
Except for Josh (who has finally cooled a bit) EVERY starter had at least one hit and five (count 'em FIVE!) had multi-hit games.  Can we just be sure these guys get their Wheaties every day?!?

photos courtesy AP

g80 | another series lost...

Mariners 1 | Tigers 6

Apparently, third time was the charm for Mr. Verlander (M's had beaten him twice already this season).

Jason started out great...
cruised through the first three innings, but then came the fourth where he gave up two, but it could have been much worse.  But in the fifth, things really fell apart... another four runs.

On the good side of the pitching ledger....
Brian and David P combined for three innings of scoreless relief.

And then there was the hitting, or lack thereof....
Strange how they are able to have back-to-back seven run games and then score all of four runs in the next three games.

Time for Clifton to salvage the series tomorrow...

g79 | down in the dumps in Detroit

Mariners 7 | Tigers 1

Apparently, Scherzer is the Tigers version of Cliff and/or Felix.

Doug was clearly not the Mister Fister we saw prior to his DL stint...

The offense was back to it's normal anemic self - with Guti's solo shot counting for the only run.

Tiggers also turn THREE double plays (including a pretty spectacular one in the 9th - with two on, Lopey hit a DEEP fly ball that was caught and thrown in to get Figgy at first.

We want those guys who scored FOURTEEN runs in two games at Yankee Stadium back!
(well, and Cliff and Felix w/ back-to-back complete games again would be nice too ;-)
photo courtesy Duane Burleson / AP

Rosy's Ramblings | Please, Jack, please - can we keep him?

I know the general consensus is that Cliff will be traded, pretty much any minute now.  I'm hoping it doesn't happen.  Not because I have any grand delusions that the M's would make the playoffs if they hang onto him for the rest of the season - yes, he would probably account for another 10-15 wins - but that wouldn't likely be enough for the M's to win the West.

The reason I think the M's should keep him (short of an absolutely screaming deal) is that Cliff's worth to this team goes WAY beyond those potential 10-15 wins and the draft picks the M's would receive should he be retained for the remainder of the season and then sign with another club in the off-season.  Cliff is a A-one clubhouse guy who has stepped up as a leader (not always an easy role for a pitcher) and he has been more than willing to share his knowledge and experience with his teammates.  He also leads by example, with "Gar-like" work ethic and attitude.  Traits like these can only benefit any organization, but their worth is immeasurable to one that is desperately trying to build (or re-build) a winner.

It has been a pleasure to watch Mr. Lee go about his business in the short time he has been with the Mariners.  No matter what happens in the future, it would seem that a good amount of his teammates have gleaned benefit from his presence, both on the mound and in the clubhouse.  But it sure would be great to get a little more time....

g78 | oh. so, close.

Mariners 2 | Yankees 4

Before the series, I don't think many could have imagined the M's sweeping the Yanks in New York.  Well, they were right, it didn't happen .... but it sure was close!

on the mound
~ RRS wasn't exactly stellar, but he managed a quality start for only the third time this season.  It is interesting that his three QS all came against REALLY good teams:  Tigers, Reds and Yanks.  Maybe there is something to be said about playing to the level of your competition.  Ryan threw WAY too many pitches (109) for six innings and walked three, but still he kept the M's in it by only allowing 2 runs.
~ Brian kept his lovely 0.00ERA by retiring the side in order in the 7th
~ David, however, didn't have such a good day (new Daddy hangover?).  He allowed a single to Tex and a homer to Alex in the 8th which essentially sealed the deal for the Yanks with Mo coming in for the 9th.

at the plate
For the most part, CC did what CC does, and the M's only managed five hits (Milton with two of them and the only extra base hit).  But, thanks to a Posada passed ball, the M's scored two runs off a Russell single in the 8th to tie it up.  Unfortunately, as noted above, the tie was broken rather quickly.

leather-works
I didn't see the game (or even the replay) so can't speak to the specifics of any great plays ...
but they did turn one DP

photos courtesy Frank Franklin II / AP