g162 | too much Gio

Mariners 0 | Athletics

Cute as he is, I'm thinking Anthony is not quite ready for primetime...
though, to be fair, he didn't get much of a shot to right himself (pulled after only two innings)

The M's bats were certainly not much help...
as they were helpless vs Mr. Gonzalez (and shut out for the second night in a row)

the bullpen was looking strong and stellar...
some decent pieces to build upon for next year to make it even more so

the defense made some nice plays...
-a running, leaping catch by Ichrio
-a nifty DP started by Tom to Kyle to Justin
-who says Mike can't play LF? TWO beautiful catches!

AP

Meanwhile, elsewhere around baseball....
at the start of September, Atlanta and Boston each LARGE leads in their respective wildcard races
and, at the start of play tonight...
-Atlanta and St. Louis were tied for the NL Wildcard
-Boston and Tampa Bay were tied for the AL Wildcard
TWO of the FOUR games went into extra innings and, at the end of the day, the teams with the large leads at the start of the month would end up going home and out of the playoffs.

Congrats to the Rays and the Cardinals!

I was pulling for the Braves, hoping Jack Wilson would get into the first post season of his career...

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g157 | Rangers rollin'...

Mariners 3 | Rangers 5

Tough go for Anthony...
Rangers at full strength is a pretty tall order.  Hopefully, there was something he could take from it.

Bullpen continues to impress...
Lueke, Wright and Ruffin combined for 4.2 scoreless (M's pen has the 2nd lowest ERA in the AL for the month of September)

Only 4 hits - but 3 runs...
as Dave would say "hits as scarce as hen's teeth"

and, an "inside-the-parker" "bad guys"...
as it skips on by dives from Mike AND Trayvon.

g151 | slugfest at the Safe...

Mariners 6 | Rangers 7

't was looking pretty good in the bottom of the second...
when the M's took a 4-1 lead via three singles (Adam, Brendan and Ichiro) a walk (Saunders) and a double (Seager).  But, the Rangers came roaring right back to tie it up with THREE solo homers in the top of the third.  They would put up another three-spot in the top of the fourth via three singles and a walk to take a 7-4 lead.  Mike Carp hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth to get the M's to within one - but that would be the final score.

Not sure Anthony Vasquez had a chance in this one...
he looked pretty good the first couple of innings but, you just can't keep these guys down for long (amazing that the M's were able to shut them out last night).  Hopefully, Anthony learned some valuable lessons from his short outing.

As for the bullpen...
Jeff wasn't too sharp, but gave them some innings.  Then Cesar, Chance and Jamey combined for 3.2 scoreless ... not too shabby.

Trayvon made an AWESOME catch, going into the stands in LF...

Apparently, going into this game, the M's have NEVER gotten a hit off Neftali Feliz...
And, they still don't.

As an aside...
It was kinda cool when the M's fans cheered every time there were fireworks going off next door at Century Link Field - they knew it meant goooooooooooooooallll!!!!!!

After the M's game, I went across the street to cheer for the men in rave green.  Apparently, they didn't need my cheering, as I got there just as the second half was starting and before I got to my seat there was another goal (3-nil Sounders at that point - which would end up being the final).

g146 | oh, so close

Mariners 1 | Royals 2

Pitchers, once again, solid...
~ Anthony Vasquez needed only 86 pitches to get through six innings.  He scattered seven hits and gave up only two earned runs.  It was enough for his first quality start in the majors.
~ Shawn gave up an inherited runner in the 7th and Chance threw a scoreless inning for the 8th.
~ Steve Delabar made his major league debut by retiring the side in order in the 9th (flyout, strikeout, strikeout)

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Hitters, once again, not so much...
only six total hits and no runs until the 8th, when Josh singled, Michael ran for him and scored on Ichiro's double.  There was a bit of hope in the 9th when Justin singled with two outs in the 9th and Trayvon ran for him - but, Miggy hit a long fly ball ... for the third out.

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Bring on the Yanks!
I'll be in King's Court tomorrow night!!!

g140 | What doesn't bode well for a win? FIVE errors, that's what!!!

Mariners 3 | Angels 7

I won't waste too much space talking about this one - definitely one of the ugliest games all season...
If only scoring THREE runs on ELEVEN hits was abysmal, then committing FIVE errors was atrocious.

According to the box score, only one of the SEVEN runs that Vasquez gave up was UNearned but, it sure seemed like more.  The bullpen put up 2.1 scoreless despite two of the errors committed during their stint.

All the rooks got their requisite 1-2 hits (they were a combined 8/19)


Onward and upward.

g134 | normally, six runs = a W

Mariners 6 | Angels 13

but oh, those base on balls...
of the SIX walks given up by the combination of Vasquez and Gray, FIVE scored - blah.

Good new is..

• Ichiro extended his hitting streak to 13 - now needs 46 to get to 200
• Dustin, Mike and Miggy all had multi-hit games and combined for 5 RBI
• Lueke with 3 scoreless innings and only one hit allowed

Just love this shot - if I were captioning it, I'd call it "Lunch-bucket love"

Getty Images

g128 | DH2 - rooks making a case

Mariners 12 | Indians 7

Everyone had a hit except the DH (Willie Mo) and most had multiple hits.

• Of the TWELVE runs the M's scored - FIVE were by rookies.
• Of the SEVENTEEN hits the M's recorded - TEN were by rookies.
• Of the SIX extra base hits the M's tallied - FOUR were by rookies.

Are you sensing a theme here?

Oh, and for good measure, the victorious starting pitcher wasn't only a rookie, it was his first start... congrats to Anthony Vasquez on his first major league win in his major league debut

Good to see Guti and Ichi wreaking havoc at the top of the order...
FIVE hits, FOUR runs, TWO rbi and TWO walks between them.