g51 | beating Mariano

Mariners 5 | Yankees 4

It is always a little extra-special to beat the best.  Supposedly, the M's have only done it three times, and I remember them all...

• May 7, 2007 in New York - Adrian Beltre homered in the 9th and I was listening on the radio on my way home from work on the bus

• September 18, 2009 in Seattle - Ichiro homered in the 9th and I was cheering in near disbelief from my seat in the third deck of Safeco Field

• Last night though, it wasn't until the 12th inning and there were no homers involved.  It seemed only fitting, given the M's manufacturing penchant, that it took a village.  Justin singled, Jack doubled, Luis ran for Justin at 3B, Guti was intentionally walked and then Adam hit a bloop up the middle for the game-winning RBI and I was again cheering in near disbelief from my seat in the third deck.

That was just the ending of a game choc full of unexpected-ness

Felix past dominance of the Yanks is well-chronicled...
Last season, for instance, he was 3-0 vs. New York and only gave up ONE run in 26 innings.  On this night however, with his Court assembled in the left field corner of The Safe he was far from "kingly".  A Cano solo shot in the 2nd quickly doused any inklings of a complete game shutout and a Teixeira two-run homer in the 3rd definitely gave the Yanks momentum.  Felix was just not sharp (what have I told you about Felix and the month of May).  He was throwing WAY too many pitches, getting to WAY too many 3-2 counts and walking WAY too many batters.  It seemed he might not even make it through the 5th - but, he managed to get through the 7th and leave with the game tied, having thrown a season high 128 pitches.

AP PHOTO

Then, the King's Court would have to bow down to the steller-ness that is the Seattle 'pen...
FIVE, count 'em FIVE scoreless innings of relief - Aaron, Jamey, Brandon and David (in that order) combined for:  5IP - 3H - 0ER - 0BB - 2K

And look, there is offense!
The M's got back that first run in the 2nd inning by continuing their manufacturing ways - infield single, ground out and fielder's choice.  But then in the 4th inning, they decided to change things up a bit.  Yes, there was an infield single but there were also two doubles and a solid base hit to center.  All told, three runs would score and the M's would take the lead that would last until the Yanks tied it up in the 7th on Granderson's triple high off the right field wall (a play Ichiro makes 9 times out of 10).  Then, the battle of the bullpens would begin and not be decided until that fabulous bottom of the 12th

AP PHOTO

Miggy's head-first slide to first in the 11th earned him a base hit and a seat in the dugout....
looking like he just been though a few rounds with Ali - gotta love the attitude but, feet first Miggy, feet first.

And then there were the "intruders"...
Was there a full moon last night?  FOUR idiot fans decided it would be a good idea to run on to the field (one of them sans clothing).  And, this wasn't a group effort - it was four separate instances.  Apparently, the first one being slam tackled by security and led off the field in hand cuffs wasn't enough of a deterent to the other three.  I guess they just needed shelter for the long weekend.

AP PHOTO