Wednesday, October 03, 2012

g162 | shutout and series win on the final day

Mariners 12 | Angels ZIPPO




whoa! Nice way for Mr. Beavan to finish out his season...
EIGHT shutout innings - SEVEN hits - ONE walk. The ZERO strikeouts was rather odd but, Pryor helped make up for it a bit, striking out TWO in his ONE inning of work.

as for the O...
ELEVEN hits and TWELVE runs - I'll take it!

and the D...
TWO double plays, including my favorite kind, an outfield assist to nail a runner at home (and, in this case it was Casper to Jesus to nail Trout ... sweet!)

Mr. Montero gunned down Mr. Trout trying to steal (keeping him from #50 on the year)
Trout had been caught only FIVE times this season - TWICE by Olivo, ONCE by Montero

other funny contrasts between M's and Halos...
Felix was 0-3 vs. the Halos
Iwakum was 4-0 vs. the Halos
Weaver was 0-3 vs. the Mariners

bye-bye summer home...

Edgar's street....

more than a backward glance....

lights in the twilight...

my section of choice this season....

Until April, Safeco Field, I will miss you so!


Tuesday, October 02, 2012

g161 | Kuma owns the Halos

Mariners 6 | Angels 1

Well, seems the Halos have Felix's number but, Kuma has theirs :-)
Six shutout innings with only six hits and one walk and SEVEN strikeouts

M's middle of the order faired pretty well vs. Haren...
3-7 (Seager, Jaso, Smoak, Montero, Saunders) went 9/19 with SIX runs and FOUR rbi

Halo's top of the order, on the other hand...
struck out EIGHT times

A little sloppy on both sides...
FIVE total errors (Halos 3, M's 2)

The big news prior to the game as it was announced that the Mariners are "moving in the fences" for the 2013 season...


I used to think that it seemed silly to bring in the fences because what might give the Mariners hitters a slight advantage would also give opposing hitters that same advantage and thereby give Mariner pitchers a disadvantage - so, what would be the point? But, I've come around because of the way Jack Z and others have explained that it will still be a "pitcher's park" just a bit more fair. And, if even Felix likes the idea, who am I to question it ;-)





Some other thoughts and facts...

Shannon Drayer | My Northwest.com
Larry Stone | Seattle Times
Greg Johns | MLB.com

Tomorrow, one of the most melancholy days of the year for me ;-(

Monday, October 01, 2012

g160 | Halos eliminated

Mariners 4 | Angels 8

So, despite yet another victory over the M's, the Angels post season hopes were dashed tonight when the A's beat the Rangers, clinching at least the Wild Card spot. I must admit to a bit of schadenfreude, especially with the 3 Halos fans sitting directly behind me. It's one thing to have fans of the opposing team around when it's a packed house with both teams fighting for something - that's good fun. It's quite another in a nearly empty stadium with nothing but pride on the line ... that's just kind of depressing and very annoying.

Anyhoo...
Good on the A's! I was rooting for them - always nice to have some new blood.

As for our game..
What is it about the Angels? They are Felix's nemesis....
In his last 6 starts, he had 4 losses (2 to the Angels) and 2 no decisions (one to the Angels)
Ironically, one of the few Mariners who was flying high for most of the season, finished with more than a bit of a thud.
Larry Stone tweeted "After shutting out MIN on aug 27 --his 9th straight win -- Felix finished 0-4, 6.62 in last six starts. Had been Cy Young favorite"
Shannon Drayer tweeted "Felix's ERA without the Angels starts this year 2.56. They did some damage."
Greg John's game recap
Hernandez said the one good thing coming out of his finale was that he finished the season healthy, having thrown 232 innings, his fifth straight season of 200-plus innings.Asked to assess his season, he said: "It was fine. It was OK. I need to get better. That's it."
What exactly would The King like to improve on?
"I need to pitch better against the Angels," he said.
Elaine Thompson | AP
the good?
* NINE hits - including THREE doubles and ONE home run
* FIVE walks
* Wells apparently becoming CJ's daddy (TWO homers and ONE double in SIX career AB's)
* Wells also w/an OF assist (doesn't rhyme like "don't go on Ichiro", but the "new" RF'er can throw and this time it was to get the speedy Mike Trout trying to stretch a single into a double
* Smoak on base THREE times tonight
* nice DP - Ackley-to-Ryan-to-Smoak

the bad?
besides Felix's outing ... TWO errors

the ugly?
3-12 w/RISP