g146 | Sox complete the sweep

Mariners 1 | Red Sox 5

Back to the same-old, same-old...
Russell's solo shot in the first was one of only six hits and would prove to be the M's only run.
David P performed admirably, allowing only two runs (only one earned) through six innings.
Ryan, on the other hand, had a bit of a struggle - two walks and three earned runs in two innings...

Only two home series left...
I'll be at Friday and Saturday night's games, starting my long goodbye to my "summer home"...

:-(

g123 | what a difference a day makes

Mariners 4 | Yankees 9

And it definitely wasn't Jason Vargas's day...
It was the "bookends" that were tough ~ he threw 27 pitches and gave up 4 runs in the 1st and ran out of gas in the 7th ~ but the middle innings were quite a sight to behold ... from the 2nd through the 6th he only allowed one single to the 15th batter he faced.  Needless to say, I was quite impressed with how he settled down and mowed 'em down.  Jason is one cool cucumber, no matter the situation or opponent.

Now, as for his relief...
I think there may have been better options than Jamey Wright with runners at 1st and 3rd with one out in a tie game - but that's just me.

Who are these guys and what have you done with the "light" hitting Mariners?!?
M's have now hit TEN homers in their last FIVE games.  Ichiro hit TWO homers in this game!  Now, the fact that Russell hit a moonshot was not surprising (he always hit's 'em high) but this one was epic - supposedly the longest homer ever in the "new" Yankee Stadium - the first ever in the 4th deck (see just how high here)

Unfortunately, as exciting as the power surge was, 't wasn't enough to garner a win.

Oh, and Casey's "errorless streak" was broken.

Rubber game of the match tomorrow ~ CC vs. Luke

g122 | who's your daddy?

Mariners 6 | Yankees 0

Felix is definitely the answer the Yanks will give when asked that question.
He nearly pitched his FOURTH complete game in a row against them tonight, going EIGHT shutout innings allowing only FOUR hits and recording ELEVEN strikeouts.

BILL KOSTROUN / AP

And, lookie here...

RUN SUPPORT!!!

Russell provided all that would be needed with his THREE-run homer in the first but, he would later hit another blast for good measure (his always measure well ;-)   Ichiro and Casey also added to the score and every Mariner hitter recorded at least one hit ('cept Lopey)

BILL KOSTROUN / AP

g119 | yet another loss in extries...

Mariners 4 | Orioles 5

M's tie it up 3-3 with back-to-backers in the 3rd inning (Russell and Jose) and it would stay that way till Adam Moore homered in the 10th, but the O's would tie it right back up when Adam Jones scored on a bases-loaded walk by Julio Lugo (off David, who really struggled ... too much work lately?) and then Adam Jones would break the tie in the 11th with a squeeze bunt.

So, apparently, the TWELVE left on base was more significant to the outcome than the THREE homers.

*sigh*


On a happier note, I received a lovely, unexpected gift today...
A signed and framed panoramic photo of "First Pitch" at Safeco Field.  I was there all those years ago and now, thanks to a generous friend, I have a memento to cherish.  I'm taking it as a good omen for things to come in the future :-)

g117 | can it be? another series win? It can!

Mariners 9 | Indians 3

Third series win-n-a-row, in fact...
They won their last one under Wak and have now won both since Brown has taken over.  I'm not convinced that it is the actual manager himself that's making the difference (I've stated my opinion on the Wak firing here) but I will admit that the "idea" of shaking things up likely sparked a little fire in some that needed sparking (shouldn't be that way with professional athletes who are paid millions of dollars to play a game ~that should be motivation itself~ but it is, they are also human, after-all).

Way to go (again!) pitching ...
Another quality start from Jason and great relief (this time from Garrett and Jamey)

As for the O, it was the Josh Bard Show ...
A triple shy of the cycle with the homer being an granny!  Apparently, he had told his 4-year-old, birthday celebrating daughter prior to the game that he'd hit a homer for her - nice when promises are kept :-)  Russell and Casey also checked in with long balls.

AMY SANCETTA / AP

g116 | Friday the 13th good for "the Davids"

Mariners 3 | Indians 2

Hey, lookie here, a win!

David Pauley gets his first major league win and David Aardsma records his 23 save of the season (and combined with Sean White and Brandon League for three innings of one-hit, no-walks shutout ball).

I hate these 5pm weekday games (of which there will be MANY over the next 2 weeks) ...
They start before I leave work, I miss some of the action in the transit tunnels on my commute and they are usually over before I get home.

Daren Brown is now 3-1 in his brief Mariner tenure...
including a road-win -  something a bit hard to come by this season.

g111 | one run woes...

Mariners 1 | Royals 2

Heard on the post game on my way out of Safeco after the game ...
Mariners have scored 2 runs or less in 30 of their games.

As much as I love pitching and defense, it has become apparent that offense is just a WEE bit important as well.

Hits and runs were too hard to come by ...
Save for Russell's homer ~ that broke an 0-fer twenty-somethin' slump ~
 't was the usual anemic O

Walks were a little too easy for the Royals ...
But, none of them scored and other than throwing too many pitches, Pauley did quite well.  And, it was good to see Sean have a nice outing as well and David get some work in, even though it wasn't a save situation.

Despite a few nice plays were made in the field ...
the defense wasn't as sharp overall as last night.