g108 | Blake and Dustin and Guti, oh my!

Mariners 8 | Athletics 4

Blake earned some MAJOR brownie points tonight...
He loaded the bases with NO outs in the 1st inning on 3 straight singles.  And then proceeded to get out of the inning unscathed (except for his pitch count) via two strikeouts and a fly out.  Way to go, Blake!  He went on to throw 113 pitches in 6.2 innings scattering 7 hits, allowing 3 runs, striking out 3 and walking 2.

DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Dustin is apparently joining some elite company with his propensity for extra base hits since arriving on the scene.  After tonight's 3-run triple and one double, he has 19 extra base hits in 38 games.  Griffey had 18 in his first 50 and Alvin Davis holds the club record for extra base hits in first 50 games - 26.  Keep it going, Dustin!

And then there was death-to-flying-things...
Guti was AWESOME in the field tonight - one of his catches even made SC Top Ten! (#10)
He made a total of NINE put-outs - never gets old.  AND, he had an RBI double and scored a run.

Justin came in after Figgy left with an injury...
and had two hits (including a double), a walk and scored 2 runs - very nice to see!

g107 | nearly no-no

Mariners 1 | Rays 8

Not much to say here...
-Figgy broke up the no-no in the sixth (go figure)
-way too many M's didn't have a hit (including Dustin - but he had two walks)
-Mike had another hit and scored the lone run
-Casper Wells, one of the new guys, had a hit and the only RBI - Welcome to Seattle, Casper! 

Jason's had way too many bad outings lately ...
He didn't even make it through six innings, threw 113 pitches and gave up six runs (two unearned - ugh!) on nine hits and one walk.  Not sure what is going on with him, as I've mentioned previously he is truly "Jekyll" or "Hyde"

Speaking of which...
-the D was great, with an outfield assist DP and Brendan with his requisite awesome play at SS
-the D was dreadful, with THREE errors that led to TWO runs

Hopefully the other new guy - Charlie Furbush....
Just had some "new guy" jitters.  He gave up a lead-off home run in the 8th and a walk but got a flyout and a couple of ground outs to get through the inning,

Next up: A's for three and then they go to Anaheim and Arlington ... hopefully to play a little spoiler.

g105 | Super Sonics clap, clap, clap-clap-clap!

Mariners 0 | Rays 8

And the M's?  Somewhat less than super.

At first blush, it would appear that Erik's value took a big dive tonight, since he didn't even make it through two innings.  He walked four (going to three counts on nearly every batter) and gave up five runs (including a couple that were inherited by Aaron).  His "stuff" was there but, obviously, the command was not.  The guys in the booth commented that Erik seemed to be having trouble pushing off with the knee brace on and others (not in the booth) were complaining that he was getting squeezed.  Some were of the opinion that, considering he hadn't pitched in a month and had no rehab start, maybe he's still a chip.  I guess we will know by Sunday at 1pm.

Laffey had a real rough go but, the rest of the pen faired much better...
Jamie, Chris and Josh combined for five innings, 3 hits, one walk and six strikeouts (with Aaron having gone 1.2 - here's hoping Michael can go deep tomorrow).

As for the offense, move along, nothing to see here...
three singles (Dustin, Adam, Figgy) and three walks (Dustin, Mike and Figgy) and no one touched the Rays bullpen.

Obviously it was for naught but, got to give kudos to Figgy, he played one of his best defensive games as a Mariner.

Hey, at least it was fun to see all the old Sonics and nice to see a tribute to Rich the Peanut Man..

g98 | spitting bristles from Anaheim to Seattle to Toronto...

Mariners 5 | Blue Jays 7

Wow!
Who are these guys?!?  The M's stole THREE bases, took FOUR free passes, banged out NINE hits, including their first GRAND SLAM of the season (way to go, Miggy!)
Sounds like a winning forumla, right?

Wrong!
argh!!  Why is it when they FINALLY start hitting a bit, the pitching falls apart?!?

In the 3-game Toronto series...
the M's recorded 34 hits (including 6 doubles and 5 homers) and scored 16 runs.
SIXTEEN RUNS!  That is only ONE less run than they scored in their previous ELEVEN games.  Yesiree - the M's scored almost as many runs in this series as they had in their previous three series.  And yet, they were swept ... again!

In fact, of their past 19 losses, 10 of them would have been wins with the five runs they scored today.

*sigh*

g96 | wasted opportunity

Mariners 5 | Blue Jays 6 (14)

Due to the combination of the early start and company for dinner, I only caught an inning here and there on the radio.

If I told you the M's scored 5 runs in the first two innings (including homers by Brendan and Greg) and that before it was over, the M's would tally 4 walks and 14 hits (including 3-hits each for Brendan and Mike Carp and 2-hits for Dustin) and that Michael Pineda gave up two runs in the 1st but go on to pitch 5 scoreless innings after that, you would likely assume that the Mariners won.  And, your assumption would be incorrect.

Not only did they lose, they lost after 14 innings.  But first, Michael fell apart in the 7th, giving up a single a walk and a double.  His immediate relief was no help, Aaron and Chris gave up a run apiece before the third out was recorded.  Where the bats shone for once, the defense and base running left a LOT to be desired - Figgy and Olivo both committed errors and Figgy was picked off 1B and Mike Carp was caught stealing 3B.  In the bottom of the 14th, Mariner killer, Rajai Davis (inserted in the 9th as a pinch-runner) got a base knock, stole 2B, stole 3B and scored the winning run on a fly ball.

At least some of the bullpen guys got some work (nice to see David go 3-scoreless) and the bats just may be finally coming around a bit, but this one was hard - because they had it in had and beat themselves.

g92 | shutout on the wrong side of the ledger

Mariners 0 | Rangers 5

Hey, at least the shutout differential is still positive (9-7)

Since today and tomorrow are vacation days for me (prior to starting a new job on Monday!) and by Saturday night (Sounders game in the afternoon, Mariners game in the evening) I'll be all "sports-out" I decided to trade my Sunday ticket for tonight's game.  Lucky me ;-(

Derek Hollad was absolutely on his game.  Turns out this was his second straight shutout (he shutout the A's 6-0 prior to the break).  He had a perfect game through five innings before giving up a walk to Guti and the first hit to, of all people, Figgy.  Seems like he got to 3-2 on a ton of batters but, only walked one and struck out eight.

As for Jason, just a wee bit off.  When he gave up the two-out solo shot to Hamilton in the 1st and then got Beltre to ground out, it seemed OK - solo shot, no biggie.  But then, he gave up a one-out solo shot to Cruz in the 2nd and then a couple of hits, including an RBI single in the 3rd.  Though he didn't give up any runs in either of the 4th or 5th, he had multiple runners in scoring position as the hits and his pitch count were beginning to mount to seemingly insurmountable levels.  The third solo shot, this of the lead-off variety by Napoli, came in the sixth, followed by a couple of singles and a steal.  The and the Rangers were up 5-0 and Jason was hitting the showers.

It seemed like any ball that was well struck by the M's was basically right at someone in the outfield and I had the odd thought that they should just hit it a little softer.  I don't know why, usually you would want them to hit it harder.  Maybe it's because it seemed that the Ranger hits (that weren't home runs) were bloops just past an infielder, just in front of an outfielder and it just looked to darned easy.  Anyhoo, funny that Figgy was the one to break up the no-no, good to see Miggy with two hits and Justin break an 0 fer 'too many'.

The game was not without it bright spots...

• Defensively, an awesome play by Brendan where he back-handed a hard hit grounder at the cut of the grass and made a twisting-turning throw to Adam who handled it for the out.  And, a nice 4-6-3 in the top of the 9th.  
• Nice to see "Gray and Ray" get some work in - and more than decent work it was, as Jeff and Chris combined for three hitless, scoreless innings with three strikeouts. 

Still got three games, with Doug and Felix and Blake taking the hill - let's take 'em all to head out east on a high note.

g87 | Jason good. O and D, not so much...

Mariners 0 | Athletics 2

Well, I took one look at the box score and saw THREE ERRORS and wanted to look no further (and, was secretly glad I hadn't been able to watch or listen).  Ugh.

At least none led to runs...
Jason only gave up 5 hits and 2 earned runs (solo shot and an RBI single) in 8 innings pitched (yes, ANOTHER complete game)

The offense mustered all of TWO hits, both singles...
Dustin in the 2nd and Adam in the 7th

And then there was that DEE (or lack thereof)...
Brendan, Figgy and Justin

So, the best and most exciting news of the day came after the game...
Kyle Seager is on his way to Anaheim and will be activated for the 4-game series with the Halos!

Welcome to the Show, Kyle!

g82 | Just call him Mr. Shutout

Mariners 6 | Padres 0

Tonight was Jason's third complete game shutout in six starts (the others vs. the Rays and the Phillies). He was the master of efficiency (which I guess follows along in general for CG's).  He had only thrown 71 pitches through seven innings, ended up with 20+ in the 8th but got through nine with 106 total.  Not too shabby.

If Doug Fister is Houdini (seeming to thrive on getting out of jams) then Jason Vargas is definitely Jekyll and Hyde (ON or OFF, not much in-between).  Here's a little stat comparison of Jason's season so far...

in his FIVE losses (24.1 innigs)
28 ER
11 BB
15 K

in his SIX wins and SIX no decisions (83.2 innings)
17 ER
19 BB
60 K


It was REALLY great to see the offense score early and play add-on for a change. They scored in four different innings and four of their nine hits were doubles.  Some of the usual suspects came through (Carlos and Adam combined for 3H - 1BB - 4 RBI - 1R) and some of the recent strugglers contributed greatly (Justin, Jack C, Brendan combined for 4H - 4BB - 2RBI - 4R).

Heck, even Figgy had a decent game (and, as the evening progressed, there was a noticeable decrease in the 'boo decibal').  He made one great snare of a hot shot liner and started a nifty double play as well.  And, he even got a hit - a solid single up the middle.

Speaking of defense, it was pretty awesome all around tonight.  Brendan made a super leaping catch and Guti, though neither he or Adam could get to the fly ball, was able to catch the runner trying to stretch it to two for the second out of the 5th.  And, don't know what it is with all these NL outfielders, but it sure seems like at least once per game one of them robs one of our guys of an XBH.

Oh yeah, it was fun seeing the old uni's...

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And, here's hoping Padre Orlando Hudson is OK after a wicked foul ball he took on the shin.

g77 | CG shutout hangover?

Mariners 2 | Marlins 4

Jason was in big trouble early...
allowing three straight singles, a ground-rule double and a sac-fly to put the M's in a 3-run hole in the 1st.  He was able to settle down and hold them there until the bottom of the 6th when the Marlins led off with a ground-rule double and most thought he'd be home free when he struck out the next two batters because the pitcher was up next.  Unfortunately, said pitcher hit an RBI single. Jason probably would have pitched at least one more inning if they weren't playing NL rules (his turn to bat just happened to come with the bases loaded, so Justin pinch hit for him).

Good to see Jamey bounce back after a few rough outings lately...
TWO innings - ONE hit - THREE strikeouts

A bloop and a blast weren't enough...
The bats were stymied by Volstad through three innings, as he retired the side in order the first time through the lineup.  Ichiro reached on an error and went to 2B on a balk in the 4th but he was stranded there via three ground ball outs.  Carlos got the M's on the board in the 5th with a line drive homer to right field.  The M's tried to rally in the 7th loading the bases with three straight singles but the only scoring that occurred was Figgy's sac-fly.  And, that would be all she wrote.


Another 1000 words...

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Happy Felix Day!

and Happy non-Figgy day ....

M's twitpic

As mentioned previously, I just don't want to hear the boos.  It's not helping him and it's not helping morale, that is otherwise pretty sky-high, on this team.

g69 | a W and a day off at home after 20-straight

Great outing by EriKKKKK...
NINTY-SIX pitches - SEVEN innings - THREE hits - NO earned runs - NO walks - FIVE strikeouts

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David had a rare shaky inning but got out of it with limited damage...

Two walks and a single scored ONE but then he was able to get the third out on a K (Abreu)

Brandon with save number...
NINETEEN (league-leading btw)

And, how 'bout Ichi-Fig?!
They combined for 4 for 7 (including 3 doubles!) with 2 runs scored, 2 walks and 2 stolen bases and Ichiro had his 5th multi-hit game (10 for 21 overall) since his day off.

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MILESTONE:  Ichiro's steal of 3B in the 1st inning was his 17th of the season and the 400th of his major league career

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New ways to gather RBI...

After two strikes in the bottom of the 7th, Carlos worked the count to 2-2 before he hit a pitch up-the-middle and caught a HUGE break as the ball caught the corner of the 2B bag and bounced into centerfield allowing TWO runs to score.

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Another first!

Greg Halman with his FIRST BIG LEAGUE HOME RUN!

Always a bonus when you get a homer from your late-inning defensive replacement.  Extra bonus when his dad and brother were in attendance :-)

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Really lovely to see the clean, crisp D tonight...

Mike Carp made an AWESOME catch in left field - made a jump, braced himself on the wall and the ball fell into his glove like he'd been doing it forever (not bad for a DH/1B).  Guti made a great, diving catch (nothing new there) and Brendan had a nice play in the 9th to get a runner by his chinney-chin-chin. 

So they end a string of TWENTY straight games with a WIN (11-9 overall)...
Day off at home tomorrow and then come the Phillies.

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Oh yeah, apparently the M's will have a new player on their 25-man roster come Friday...

Dustin Ackley has (FINALLY) been recalled from Triple A

Luis the latest casualty (cuz he's got options).  Good Luck, Luis!  Hope you are back soon.

g64 | extra bases growing on trees!

Mariners 3 | Tigers 2

Well, slightly different lineup tonight, as in...
No Ichiro for the first time since August 31, 2009 (255 games) and Chone Figgins leading off for the first time ever in a Mariner uniform.  I wasn't surprised to see Carlos Peguero and Greg Halman in the lineup at the same time (w/Ichiro out) but I was a bit surprised at their places in the field - thought Carlos would be in left and Greg in right instead of the reverse.  Also thought that Carp might be in again but, it was Cust at DH instead.

How did it go?  
Great!

Not saying it was the line up shuffle that did the trick... 
(some pretty fancy pitching had a lot to do with it) but, Figgy did collect TWO hits (a double and a single) but didn't score.  The M's had NINE total hits and SEVEN were for extra bases - TWO homers (Justin and Piggy), ONE triple (Piggy) and FOUR doubles (Guti, Figgy and Adam-2).  The RBI's were collected by Justin, Piggy and Chris.

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About that pitching...
Erik didn't go long, but he did go good ('cept for the walks) 5IP - 3H - 2ER - 3BB - 6K
Then the "budget pen" came in and shut.the.door.  Chris, David and Brandon combined for FOUR shutout innings, giving up only TWO hits, NO walks and striking out FIVE.  Brandon with his 18th save.

Wedge Words...
"Warrior effort by the bullpen."  


Bonus Baseball...
I was given some tix for the M's / Halos next Tuesday at (I had been going to exchange one of my tickets but, now I don't have too!).

I missed out on the season ticket holders half-price offer for the Marlins "home games" later this month but, I did order a ticket at regular price for the Friday night game of that series.  It should be fun sto see the M's wearing gray at home and their pitchers swinging a bat at The Safe!

g61 | Un-happy Felix day...

Mariners 1 | White Sox 5

By the 3rd inning, Felix had given up 5 runs...
Surprise, surprise.  Another homer for Konerko (his NINTH in-a-row vs. the M's).  But, Felix gutted it out and would have made it through seven if it weren't for Figgins' error  6.2IP - 8H - 5ER - 2BB - 5K

And the bats, vs. Humber, ICY cold... 
0 fer 5 w/RISP (but none of those nifty "runs w/o a hit" like vs. the Yanks).  But, it was good to see both Guti and Carlos tally two hits and Luis had a hit and walked once.  Miggy had the lone RBI via a sac-fly and Figgy finally got a hit.

Wedge was none too happy...  
A thousand words, and all.

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With the loss tonight, the M's snap their series-winning streak at six.  It's also the first time since May 13th that they have lost consecutive games (when they lost the last in a string of 6-in-a-row).  Here's hoping the string doesn't get to three.

g56 | what the eff?

Mariners 8 | Rays 2


In this First game of the Four game series...


Felix pleased all the Followers in his court ~ 97P - 7IP - 5H - 1ER - 2BB - 11K

AP PHOTO

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M's hit FOUR home runs, by the FOURTH inning (JC, Justin and Peggy w/2)

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Figgy Finally breaks out of his slump with an RBI single in his First AB

Ichiro and Franklin the only batters w/o hits (Guit walked and scored), Ichiro 0 fer Five

Oh yeah, Fun, FUn, FUN!!!!

g53 | the Fabulous Mr. Fister

Mariners 4 | Orioles 3

Pitching, Pitching and more Pitching

He just keeps on throwing strikes...
Today was no different - Doug threw 110 pitches - 78 for strikes (and 23 of 30 first pitch strikes)
Basically, other than the solo shot in the 3rd, Doug was cruising until the 8th in which he allowed 3 singles (one of which could have easily been scored an error on Figgy - more on that later) and one run.  Thankfully, the offense did just enough and the bullpen was it's usual effective self so that Doug could claim the much earned W.  This guy does it all - even dives for foul balls...

ELAINE THOMPSON / AP

Bullish on the 'Pen...
Jamey came in with one out in the 8th and allowed an inherited runner to score - via an error by Figgy.  But, then recorded the second out, via a groundout.  Aaron came in to get the third out, which he did via a groundout (are you sensing a pattern here?)

Brandon appears to have fully recovered from his 4-game lapse...
Such that, he racked up his save total to a "league-leading" 14.  As our old friend Hyphen would say, "Good on ya, Brandon."

ELAINE THOMPSON / AP

Just enough offense

The excitement 'round the blog-o-shere prior to the game...
Was the lineup and the fact that Figgy was no longer ensconced in the #2 spot - he'd been dropped to #8.  Brendan Ryan had been "promoted" to #2.  There also were reports that Wedge "had words" with Ichiro - oh, the intrigue!

Well, the chat must have some impact...
Ichi went 2-4 with 2 runs scored AND a stolen base (off a catcher who nails 45% of would-be base-stealers, not exactly his MO).

Ryan extended his hitting streak to 10...
With one hit, one RBI and a run scored - appears not to matter where he bats.

And then there was the convergence of unlikeliness...
Jack Cust hit a triple ~only the second triple of his career~ and Justin scored from 1B!

ELAINE THOMPSON / AP

Bases-loaded walk kings...
This time it was Adam and Miggy with back-to-back free passes that accounted for 2 runs.  Adam's AB was particularly impressive - 12 pitches!

As for Figgy's new spot...
So far, so bad.  He was 0-3 with 2 strikeouts (one with the bases-loaded).  And now his woes seems to have made their way to his defense.  He was charged with one error today but, it could have easily been three.  It's amazing, despite the team's win today (and 3 of 4 over the weekend, including 2 to the Yanks), callers on the post game show just wanted to vent about Figgy.

But me, I'll focus on the positive (shocking, I know)
While the defense wasn't exactly sparkling today, they did manage one double-play, at the best possible time - to end the game :-)

The M's have won 11 of their last 14 and have not lost back-to-back games since May 12th and 13th.

ELAINE THOMPSON / AP

Here's to ensuring the 5th series win in-a-row tomorrow!

g52 | game loss, series win, back to .500

Mariners 1 | Yankees 7

Before it started, I told myself I'd be really happy if the M's took the series...
Two of three from the most potent offense in the league would be a good goal - it would also mean a .500 record - something the M's haven't seen this 'late' in the season for a very long time (2007, if I'm not mistaken).  So, that's what they got and I'm happy with that.

Doesn't mean I didn't get a little greedy and stuff a small broom in my bag before I headed out to the ballpark today but, the sweep was not to be.

Jason was had an off day, to put it kindly...  82P - 3IP - 5H - 6ER - 1K - 4BB
You could almost sense it early on, even though was able to get through the first two innings giving up only the solo homer (we've seen that movie before in this series) but he was throwing SO many pitches and working SO deliberately, instead of his usually fairly brisk pace.  Almost makes you wonder if he and Chris weren't on the same page (Miggy wasn't playing due to the double-whammy of day-game-after-a-night-game and resting his poor face from the beating it took at 1B yesterday)

AP PHOTO

Unfortunately, CC was on so that didn't much make for a winning combination.

There were a few positives

Gray and Ray...
the bullpen guys who don't get much work (due to the uber-effectiveness of Laffey-Wright-Pauley) got to showcase their wares a bit today and, did pretty well.  Gray and Ray combined for six innings and gave up SIX hits, ONE walk and ONE run.

Brendan HOT Ryan...
ran his hitting streak to NINE games with a single a double and a walk today.

Justin SMOAK...
finally smoked one - first since May 13th in Cleveland.  Hopefully, this will get him going again.

Wilson and Wilson...
Mike and Jack were both in the starting lineup today and each recorded a hit

Strong D ...
two double plays - and not your garden variety ones either - one was a strike 'em out throw 'em out.  The other was an flyout and then an outfield assist to Ichiro who doubled Jeter off 1B

The not so positive news

Continued struggles for Ichiro and Chone...
Seems most believe Ichi will turn things around but, most are highly doubtful about Figgy - they are clamoring for him to be moved down in the order.  Frankly, I'd like to see both - sit for a couple of days and then return to the lineup in #8 or #9

Wedge has shown reluctance to do this, maybe due to the trickle-down effect it could have.  But, it's got to be hard to be running Figgy out there night after night when all that changes is his average - for the worse.

Next up: O's for 3

g42 | JV ~ can you say "locked in"?

Mariners 3 | Angels 0

It was the battle of the "dirt bags" ~Jered Weaver and Jason Vargas played together at Long Beach State~ Happy to see the "right" dirt bag come away with the W at The Safe tonight!

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Jason has now gone SIXTEEN consecutive scoreless innings, THREE consecutive starts of 7+ innings of shutout ball.  In his last FOUR starts, Jason has 20 strikeouts, only 7 walks and a 1.47ERA - including wins in Boston and against Texas and then that heart-breaking loss in Baltimore where he went 9 innings shutout innings and the M's lost in the 12th inning.  Kinda makes up for his sucky home opener, doesn't it?

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Not exactly lighting up the scoreboard, but just enough O...

• JC doubles in Figgy
• Justin doubles in Ichiro
• JC singles in Justin

Got a little scary in the top of the 8th...
When the, so far, extremely reliable Jamey Wright had uber-difficulty throwing strikes but, after loading the bases with two outs, he got the strikeout he needed.

Found: splitter...
Wouldn't you know, a save situation presented itself after the 'day of watching' and a non-save appearance - it was time for the "old" Brandon and he earned his 10th save.

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The M's only turned ONE double play tonight but, it came at the absolute BEST time - with one out in the 9th!

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Welcome back, Guti!

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Guti looks so small compared to Carlos!

No hits yet, but they will come.  The important thing is that he is back and managing his condition and it's great to know that "death to flying things" has taken his rightful place back in centerfield.

Next up ...

day off for me, day baseball for the M's (and possibly pushing 70 degrees!!!)

g40 | diabolical pitching, 2 doubles, 2 jacks and a sac

Mariners 5 | Twins 2

Chalk up another stellar outing for Mr. Diabolical...   
99 pitches - 7 innings - 3 hits - ZERO earned runs - 7 kays and ZERO beebees
Michael had a bit of a rough patch in the 6th inning when he faced bases-loaded situation from a two out throwing error by Luis, a hit and a hit batter - but, he was able to get out of it via a ground ball and that was the only time the Twins had a runner in scoring position vs. Michael.

Aaron came and threw a 1-2-3 8th but the Twins would get a couple runs in garbage time...
thanks to a little sloppy play from the M's - with Aaron still on the mound, a runner reached on an error by Adam (who had taken over 1B after Justin was replaced by pinch runner Brendan (just as a precaution we're assured) after rolling his ankle in his AB in the 8th.  Jamey came in after a fly out and was promptly greeted with an error - this one seemingly a fairly routine DP that Figgy flubbed allowing a run to score and a runner went to 3B.  The next batter knocked in another run via a FC.  But, Jamey would finally retire the last batter via a ground out.

So yes, I'm less than impressed by the three errors BUT, lookie here - offense!

AP PHOTO

• 1st ~ Figgy single, Jack C rbi double
• 3rd ~ Ichiro single, Justin rbi double
• 6th ~ Adam and Piggy, back-to-back homers
• 8th ~ Miggy singled, Adam sac fly

Good news from the rehab front...

• Shawn Kelley pitched one inning in Tennessee - he gave up one hit, recordedbone strikeout and no walks - 13 pitches, 7 strikes
• Guti may be back as early as Wednesday!

g37 | Woes vs. O's

Mariners 2 | Orioles 4

't was NOT a Happy Felix Day.  't is rare, but it happens...
And, for Felix, moreso in May than any other month.  Going into this game, Felix was 7-15 with a 4.90 ERA for his career in May.  I look at it this way - four more starts to go and then he really kicks it into gear -  he's 15-3 with a 2.50 ERA for his career in June :-)

a few bright sights...

• 3 solid innings of relief from David Pauley
• a Michael Saunders homer
• a Chone Figgins stolen base
• 3 Adam-to-Ryan-to-Smoak double plays

unfortunately, the bleak peeks won out...

• 2 MOTO hitters go 0fer
• 1-6 w/RISP
• Ace high pai gow

Here's to ending on a good note in Baltimore tomorrow, as things ain't gettin' any easier when then head to Cleveland.

g31 | Diabolical bested by CJ

Mariners 2 | Rangers 5

Just a quick synopsis, as didn't get to see the game and only heard bits and pieces.

Michael pitched really well and definitely gave the M's a chance to win 97P - 7IP - 4R - 0BB - 9K  Two of the runs came via solo shots - clearly mistakes.  Hopefully, he learn from that.  I think most teams would take a pitcher who, on an "off" night, only allowed FOUR runs to the likes of the Texas Rangers and was able to strike out NINE and not walk a single batter.  He's ours, hopefully for a long time and he's only going to get better.

The bullpen contributions were a bit rusty, to say the least.  Neither Chris or Tom had pitched since April 23rd and, it was apparent in the THREE walks, ONE run and wild pitch (that allowed a run to score) in their combined TWO innings of work.

As for the offense, back to some of he old ways (i.e., 1-7 w/RISP) but Figgy & Miggy had nice nights...
-Chone was 2 for 4 with 2 stolen bases and 2runs scored.
-Miguel got both RBI (granted, sac flys, but hey, they count) and he threw out a would-be base-stealer.

CJ Wilson was really ON, obviously.  He struck out a dozen M's along the way to a complete game.  And man, can those Rangers play defense behind him - a couple of nice DP's, some great outfield catches and a couple of line outs to right to infielders.