st 20 | Jason gave up 7, the bats scored 7

Mariners 7 | Cubs 12

7 runs in 2/3 of an inning isn't exactly a confidence builder for your last start of the spring...
Jason walked the first batter on 4 pitches (never a good sign) and ended up with 40 pitches, only 24 for strikes. He said after the game that he felt fine and really had no reason for his horrible outing other than "just one of those days" - said they were hitting good pitches and bad pitches.

Steve Delebar had his first rough outing and Charlie Furbush gave up his first ER of the spring.

On the pitching bright side - the two Shawns...
Camp and Kelley combined for 5.1 IP - 4H - 1ER - 0BB - 2K
Even though Kelley took the loss, the fact that he was able to pitch 3 full was encouraging

And, look, the M's have bats!
I think they'd take 12 hits, 5 walks and 7 runs everyday and twice on Sunday!

• Ichiro, Montero and Seager all with homers (Jesus and Kyle back-to-back to tie the game at 7)
• Figgy picked up where he left off in the rain delay with 2 more hits (including a RBI triple)
• Smoak was 3-3 with 2 walks (now the camp leader in OBP at .500!)

Sounds like the D was pretty impressive today...

• Ackley to Smoak DP
• Outfield assist for Figgy
• Gold Glove play for Ryan

st 19 | CANCELLED due to desert rain

This was only about the 3rd or 4th game slated to be televised so far this spring and, the first one that I was going to be able to watch the entire broadcast.







No box score (since none of the stats will count) but, here are some of the happenings...

• Hector Noesi went 4IP - 4H - 2ER - 2BB - 1 K and threw 60 pitches, 33 for strikes.  He tossed a couple of wild pitches (that resulted in one run) and had just given up back-to-back singles when the game was called
• Kyle Seager hit his 3rd homer of the spring to tie the game with his 6th and 7th RBI of the "no count" variety
• Figgy had two hits and an RBI that gave the M's the lead (again, they do't count)

Mariners twit pic

Prior to the game, Eric Wedge commented on... 

• Brendon Ryan - doing better but still nursing a sore leg, gotta find a way to get him to stay healthy
• Cuts coming - some may come down to the final day ... can take 30 players to Japan
• Beavan and Ramirez - both making VERY strong bids in the rotation competition
• And, don't discount the importance of a long reliever 

Jack Z was interviewed during the game..

• Hector Noesi a very important piece of the trade
• Ramirez has been on the radar for awhile
• Felix will pitch two of the "three openers" as the rotation ebbs and flows with the crazy schedule
• Emphasized player attitude/work ethic and that NOBODY is guaranteed anything - so, they better come ready to play - especially, for a manager like Eric Wedge

st 18 | too much Peavy

Mariners 0 | White Sox 5

the bad news....

~ Mariners were shut out for the first time this spring - they managed only 2 hits and 3 walks - Peavy was just too much to handle, no-hitting the M's in his 5 full innings.

~ Kuo has really been struggling and, today was no exception - he gave up 4 of the 5 runs in only 1IP





the good news...

~ Blake Beavan continued to look strong.  He gave up a double and a single that led to the one run he allowed but, then he only gave up one more hit and he retired the last 5 batters he faced.

~Luetge and Camp posted nice scoreless outings of 2 IP and 1 IP respectively.

~Liddi and Saunders got the M's hits and are both hitting .400+ for the spring (and, playing some more than decent defense at their respective positions).





See what I did there?
Found more good than bad, even in a loss...
but then, I wouldn't be Rosy if I didn't, would I?

:-)

st 16 & 17 | splittin' the split squad - 6-1 win, 1-6 loss

Mariners 6 | Brewers 1

Felix appears to be ready and rarin'...
6 innings - 6 strikeouts - 1 hit - 0 runs - 1 walk

And then...
the combination of Jimenez, Fox and Kinney allowed one run on only one more hit (yes - the Brewers were 2-hit!) and no walks

Liddi, Ackley, Robinson - oh my!
Alex and Dustin each with 3 hits (Liddi -homer, Ackley -double) and Trayvon with 2 hits


Mariners 1 | Athletics 6

Iwakuma is ruffed up, again...
giving up 3 earned runs and 5 total in his 5 innings of work but, he did settle down a bit to retire 6 of the last 8 batters he faced and after the game Wedge said Wedge said...

"I think if you look at his last few outings, he has had better stuff and he's staying down in the zone," Wedge said. "He still needs to move forward [with] regards to his total game, but we've seen some good indicators." after the game he was encouraged that he saw improvement.

the bully, on the other hand...
well, Kelley and Delebar specifically, was STELLAR! Those two combined for 3IP - 2H - 4K
Ruffin looking like he may not yet be ready for primetime.

the O has seen much better days this spring...
though Ichiro, with his 3 hits, is now over .400 in CL play. Guess his getting comfortable in the 3-hole.

st 15 | some good, some bad but, all-in-all coming along...

Mariners 5 | Giants 7

Erasmo has an ERA now after giving up a single and a double in the first but, otherwise pitched well.

After a nice 1-2-3 5th inning, Kuo fails to execute on the DP and in the end it costs him a 2-run home run

Sherrill had a bit of a rough time as well...
although the defense behind him was none too crisp.  There were at least three plays that should have been made but weren't and he ended up allowing three runs in his one inning of work (not TOO concerned about George though, I seem to remember his poor springs being legendary).

BUT, then in the 8th Vinnie recorded a web-gem!
Awesome snare of a line drive and a strong throw  j  u  s  t  getting the runner at 1B

One of the lowest hit totals in a spring game thus far but, nice hit-to-run ratio :-)

st 14 | Millwood pitching to pitch

Mariners 6 | Royals 2

(first ST game on TV but, missed most of it ;-( )

Millwood threw 53 pitches in his four innings of work and, despite walking three, gave up no runs.
In fact, none of the M's pitchers (Delebar, Perez, Jimenez, Wilhelmsen) gave up any earned runs - Perez was charged with 2 unearned runs when Liddi committed an error at 1B in the 7th

Ichiro and Catricala with two hits each
Catricala and Saunders with two RBI each

THREE DeePees!!!

st 13 | Noesi making a case, hitters keep hitting

Mariners 7 | Brewers 4

Noesi gave up his first earned run of the spring (a solo shot on a change up - which he was supposedly working on along with his slider).  He went 3 full innings that included on of the 1-2-3 variety and a pick-off (apparently, his first ever).  Hector is slated to throw 80 pitches in his next outing.

League, Furbush and Henn each pitched a scoreless inning and had one strikeout apiece.
Kinney gave up two late via a single and a homer.

Ackley and Saunders were the RBI guys (each with TWO)
Smoak and Saunders each had two hits
And hey, lookie here, three walks - Wells, Peguero and Smoak

st 12 | watch Blake pitch, watch Jesus hit...

Mariners 6 | Rangers 4

A nice outing for Beavan today...
Even though he gave up 2 runs, it was good to see that he made it through 5 full innings using 64 pitches (43 for strikes!) oh, and NO walks.  BB is definitely making a case for the starting ro.

the bully was a bit of a mixed bag today...
Kuo and Sherrill each tossed a scoreless inning (though George walked 2)
Ruffin and Camp each gave up a run in their respective innings of work.

The 8 hits were scattered nicely throughout the lineup...
but the RBI were concentrated mostly at the catcher and DH position: Miggy hit a 3-run bomb off Nathan in the 6th to give the M's the lead at the time and Jesus hit a 2-run double in the 9th to give the M's the lead for good.  Oh, and Vinnie hit his second homer of the spring.

Great Cactus League Report tonight (thank heavens for the podcasts, as we had company for dinner and I couldn't listen live). Jack Z, Saunders, Wilhelmsen, Smoak, Montero, Robinson and Jim Caple

st 11 | good signs, even in loss

Mariners 5 | Giants 7

Sometimes, OK most times, spring training is about individual prep and progress rather than team results.
Today was such a day.  Granted, Felix's line was nothing too special but, he threw 53 pitches in 4 full innings and got that much closer to being ready for Opening Day in just over two weeks! Eric Wedge had this to say after the game...

"He threw the ball well again today, used all his pitches, so he's right on target," Wedge said. "He'll be ready to go out there and pitch as long as we need him to, once we get to Japan. We've had him and [Jason] Vargas as well as a few other guys mapped out for quite a while. So he's right on line."

Now, as for the bullpen...
seems they'll need a bit more prepping as 2 of the 4 gave up 2 runs, 1 gave up 1 and the other walked 2

Seems the outfield competition just gets more heated by the day...
Saunders with another 2 hits, a runs scored, an RBI and a stolen base
Robinson went 3 for 4 with a home run and a double

And, Catricala continued his hot hitting...
with another 2 hits including a double