g158 | relief over-rules frustration for the day

Mariners 3 | Rangers 7

I went from feeling "gotta win this for Felix" to "just win" to "please-oh-please let Felix be OK!"

I was running errands all day so didn't get to see any of the game and, I think I'm actually glad about that.  It was bad enough hearing the call when Felix got hit, not sure I could have taken seeing it live...

Thank heavens it sounds like it's not too serious, "contusion", no fracture.

Credit the BP with 4.2 scoreless innings...
though Jeff Gray allowed two of Felix's inherited runners to score when he committed TWO errors
Shawn Kelley is looking strong since his return from the DL - SEVEN K's in 10.2 innings and no ER

Obviously not their best offensive OR defensive effort...
Wedge described it as "the ugliest game of the year". But at least, for the most part, what little production there was came from the rooks/young ones (hits by Kyle, Dustin, Justin, Adam, Alex - runs by Kyle, Dustin, Alex - RBI by Mike and Justin)

g152 | Disappointment in the court ... Offensive OBJECTION!

Mariners 0 | Rangers 3

Well, lost the series, and today's offense was pretty sad (another FOURTEEN strikeouts on their way to the shutout) but, overall, it turned out better than expected.  The M's shut out the Rangers in the first game, lost by one in the second game and were shut out in the third game.
Aggregate score = a draw (10-10)

Kinsler had a homer called back (ruled foul) and then hit into a DP - looked like fortune might smile on Felix and the M's but, not so.  Felix pitched well enough to win but, wasn't his usual dominant self.

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Defense darn good all around...
~Alex made an awesome diving stop at 3B and Mike stretched and digged to ensure the out at 1B
~Great play at the plate...

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~Man, that Hamilton can play LF - totally robbed Mike of a homer.

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Now they are off to play the Tribe in a make up game in Cleveland (on what was supposed to be a day off) "on their way" to Minnesota for three and Arlington for three.

g147 | Objection!

Mariners 3 | Yankees 9

Not how it s'pose to be when Felix takes the mound vs. the pin-stripers from NY...

When the M's score 3 runs on 4 walks and 8 hits including a double (Kyle) and a homer (Miggy) for Felix, he typically walks away with a victory.

Felix giving up more runs than strikeouts?  Certainly not typical.
Felix - of the 5-0 record and 1.29 ERA in his last six starts vs. the Yanks Yankees - giving up 5 runs in one inning?  Definitely not what we are used to seeing.

We have been a bit spoiled with Felix's ability to own the Yanks in recent years.  Some would say he was "due".  Felix said they have a good lineup and he had a bad inning.  You leave the ball up and they will make you pay.

Or, you can just blame me.
It was my first night in King's Court...

At least the night wasn't a total loss.  The King's Court was great fun - from the presentation of the turkey leg to the jester (just across the isle) to the various Larry Bernandez look-alikes and, of course, the chanting....

OOOOOO-o-LEE-vo
                     Dustin Ackley - clap,clap,clap-clap-clap
                                                                        SEAfood Special!
                                                                                                 K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K

And, I got to meet a great fellow Mariners fan...
I Really enjoyed "cheering and chatting" with you @Sheryl262!
See you up in the third deck this weekend!

g141 | Happy Felix Day!

Mariners 2 | Angels 1

For starters, Felix made mince meat of "the starters" (retired all 8 lead-off batters he faced).
He recorded 13 ground ball outs to 5 fly ball outs to 7 strikeouts

All three runs of the game were UNearned...

• Justin singled in the second inning and two errors and a sac-fly later he scored.  Then in the Kyle got aboard via an error in the fourth inning, stole 2B, moved to 3B on a Robinson single and scored on a fielder's choice by Michael Saunders (welcome back, Michael!). 
• The Halos run came after Felix, uncharacteristically, botched a bunt play which allowed Hunter to get to 2B and, later in the inning, Cayaspo singled to drive in Hunter. 

Once again, they had no problem gettin' 'em on...

• Ichiro, another hit (39 from 200)
• Dustin, Justin and Miggy each with two (Dustin, his SEVENTH triple, the only M's extra-base hit) 
• Trayvon and Kyle each with one hit, and an RBI and run, respecitively
• Ichiro, Kyle and Dustin each with a stolen base (Kyle's his first in the bigs)

but NOT so good at gettin' 'em in...
only TWO for FOURTEEN - ey-yi-yi!

But hey, they scored the requisite ONE more run and played spoiler, at least for a night (as the Rangers won earlier) and Felix earned his 14th victory and Brandon his 33rd save.

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g135 | courting Felix....

Mariners 2 | Angels 1

And, for a change, he got exactly what he deserved - a hard fought WIN!
the court was over-flowing with joy...

AP PHOTO

The Halos have long been Felix's nemesis, so it was particularly pleasing the see him get the best of them and to see the M's get the best of Haren, especially after he retired 15 in-a-row at one point.  Guti and Dustin singled in the 8th and Mike delivered another clutch hit - a two out, two run double.

AP PHOTO

And then there was the King and his Prince, after the game...

@Mariners twitpic

g129 | you think Felix's day was happy, take a look at Kyle's!

Mariners 9 | Indians 2

What a great series in Cleveland (for a change) taking three of four and the offense having a bit of an explosion.

M's pounded out another SIXTEEN hits in the finale - and once again, the rooks play a BIG roll....
Especially Kyle!  4/4 with THREE doubles, THREE runs scored, ONE RBI and ONE walk

Felix recorded his 12th win...
It took him 103 pitches to get through SIX, striking out TEN, giving up TWO runs and TWO walks

g123 | sad Felix day...

Mariners 2 | Rays 3

I didn't see the game (or even a replay) but heard that a couple of the Rays seven "hits" could have easily been scored errors.  Heartbreak, once again, for Felix.  But, as usual, he takes it in stride all in stride...
8IP - 7H - 3ER - 3BB - 9K

~Mike extended his streak to 18...
~Kyle hammered his first major league homer...
~Trayvon had a double....

BUT, M's were 0-FIVE w/RISP

g118 | super-duper DEE rips the sox

Mariners 5 | Red Sox 4

Clearly, I picked the wrong M's/RS game to attend ... what a crazy one!

The M's scored all their runs in the 1st inning...
FIVE (count 'em FIVE!) runs off of Josh Becket, including a first pitch homer by Ichiro and a 2-run shot by Casper!  Mike, Dustin, Guti, and even JW, continued their hot-hitting.

The Red Sox scored all their runs in the 6th inning...
when Felix had a more than momentary lapse, allowing a lead-off triple, and two homers and a couple of singles.  Luckily, he limited the damage to one less run than the M's had scored and recovered by retiring the side in order in the 7th.  Then Jamey and Brandon came in and shut them down in the 8th and 9th respectively - Brandon notching his 28th save.

The REAL story of the game was the AWESOME defense by the M's...
FOUR double plays, including a play at the plate that will be talked about for a long time to come!
In the 4th inning, Ellsbury led off with a walk, got to 2B on an error by Carp and to 3B on a single by Crawford.  After Gonzales grounded out, Pedroia flied out to Ichiro who threw a one-hop STRIKE to Bard who fielded, blocked ~got NAILED in the face by Ellsbury's knee~ but hung onto the ball with his pinkie finger!  It was a fantastic play all around - great throw, great catch and tag and great clean, hard slide.  The memorable thing is that Ellsbury he was originally called SAFE, but after conferring, the umps got it right and changed the call to OUT!

g113 | feel for Felix

Mariners 1 | Angels 2

Hey, they won the series in the aggregate scoring (6-4) :-)

Felix went the distance...
EIGHT innings -FOUR hits - TWO runs - ZERO walks - TWELVE strikeouts - what a shame he had to take the loss (now at 10-10 on the season).

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Unfortunately, so did Santana...
And he shut down the M's bats - scattering SEVEN hits and allowing only one of the extra base variety -  - Mike's solo shot in the 9th.  In a very rare occurrence, Dustin was held hit-less AND walk-less.

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Now it's off to Arlington ...

g109 | series win!!!!!

Mariners 4 | Athletics 2

Back-to-back wins for the first time since before the break - July 4th and 5th in Oakland.

Some weird plays to start this one.

In the bottom of the 1st...
Brendan hits an infield single and takes 2nd AND 3rd on a fielder's choice (since there were no fielders by the bags).  Dustin followed that up with a walk and Mike with a 2-RBI double.

AP

In the bottom of the 3rd...
Dustin hit a line shot up the 1B line that was fielded by a fan (the "Ichi" double) and was awarded 3rd (much to Melvin's dismay) when the ump said that Dustin was well past the bag at second when the fan interfered. Dustin's FIFTH triple in 39 games.

Then not much action until the bottom of the 6th...
when the "new guy" Casper Wells hit a 2-run shot over the hand-operated scoreboard in left field.  Welcome to Safeco Field Casper!

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In the top of the 7th...
Sizemore homered with one out and one on and Felix's night was done.  He took 113 pitches to get through 6.1, walked 3 and struck out 9 along the way to his 10th victory.  Jeff finished the inning quickly, getting two outs with five pitches.

AP

AP

In the 8th...
Jeff struggled - just a tad - he loaded the bases with only one out - and proceeded to recored 2 strikeouts. In the bottom of the frame, Kyle Seager pinch-hit for Justin with 2-outs.  Justin had hurt his thumb trying to field a ball earlier in the game.  Kyle had just been called up from the Rainiers this afternoon, having played in a game earlier today.  Unfortunately, he struck out, but in the end it wouldn't matter.

In the bottom of the 9th...
Brandon retired the side in order for his 25th save.

AP

(p.s.  good to see Guti get an other couple of hits ... slow and steady improvement)

Keeping Felix...

Here’s my "rosy-teal" two cents on why it doesn’t make sense for the M’s to trade Felix…

Any trade involving a pitcher of his caliber would demand major league proven talent in return – and a LOT of it (not necessarily in terms of quantity but definitely quality). The M’s are rebuilding, that is a fact known from the start of ST (that they were able to compete a bit in May and June was a tribute to their pitching staff). A rebuilding team isn’t necessarily in a position to acquire top notch veteran talent (at least not in the middle of a season where it is apparent they are going nowhere fast). Their top priority is to evaluate the talent throughout their system - bring up the kids who are excelling in the minors and see what they've got - in order to determine what they need going forward and how best to get it – who adds value to the team, who can be a valuable chip in trade.

I've heard some fans mention that teams don’t usually build around pitching. Well, that may or may not be true, I don’t really know (though it seemed to work pretty well for the San Francisco Giants). What I do know is that Safeco Field is a pitcher’s park and that has to be considered as the rebuilding progresses. The strength of this team (despite their blip this road trip) is pitching. IMO – you find ways to strengthen your weaknesses without weakening your strengths. You find a way to keep Felix and Michael (25 and 22 respectively) at the top of your rotation while getting creative in improving the offense. You don’t flush top notch pitching for unproven minor league talent or veterans that won't be enough to make a difference.

Here's to Felix holding court in Safeco Field for YEARS to come...
may he one day wear the ring, with his one and only team, that a king is deserving of.

g104 | it's OVah!

Mariners 9 | Yankees 2

Where do I begin?  How 'bout

FINE.A.LEE!!

There was all kinds of awesome

ready for it?

OFFENSE in this game...

• Dustin & Mike combined for SEVEN hits (including a triple each), SEVEN RBI & THREE runs
• Doubles by Ichiro (4 hits total!), Adam and Guti
• Jack C, Josh & Brendan each checked in with singles (Brendan's extended his hitting streak to 10)

NICK LAHAM / GETTY IMAGES

KATHY KMONICEK / AP

ONE DP, TWO stolen bases (both by Ichiro) and an INCREDIBLE diving, twisting play - where the runner was questionably called safe - by Brendan.  That man can play shortstop.

And then of course there was Felix who is ALWAYS on his game vs. the Yanks...
He threw a lot of pitches (112) for SEVEN innings but allowed only ONE run on FIVE hits and struck out FIVE.

KATHY KMONICEK / AP

Chris gave up a "garbage run" in the 8th and Brandon retired the side in order in the 9th

Bet the plane ride home was a lot more relaxed and enjoyable than if ... 

Now, the guys get to enjoy a day off, at HOME and then take on the Rays for the weekend (which is looking pretty good weather-wise).

g99 | baker's dozen (and I ain''t talkin' maple bars)

Mariners 4 | Red Sox 7

rosiness...
*ELEVEN hits, including two doubles and one homer (Carp's 1st this season - a 3-run shot in the 8th)
*Josh Lueke, in his first outing since being recalled from AAA, went 1-2-3 in the 8th with a K

*Ichiro led off with a hit, stole 2B, stole 3B and scored (just like they write it up)

*Dustin had an RBI (he has only failed to reach base FOUR times in his 28 starts)

*FOUR double plays

rottenness...
~one of Felix's worst outings this season ended in first ever loss at Fenway
~Felix walked FOUR
~M's batters walked ONCE
~losing streak extended to THIRTEEN games, one shy of the club record (set in '92)

Here's hoping we never see the record tied, let alone broken.

g94 | Sweet and Sour

Mariners 1 | Rangers 3

The Celebration of 116 was indeed sweet.

JOEL HAWKSLEY / THE SEATTLE TIMES

2001 Mariners - Where are they now?

Unfortunately, the rest of the evening was mostly sour.


So, I won't dwell on the the facts that..
-Felix pitched well  - until the 8th inning and lost another game
-the offense took their string of consecutive scoreless innings to 30 before Ichiro's RBI single in the 5th
-another scoreless streak was started - four and counting

But instead highlight the few bright spots...

• Dustin's double tonight gave him 4 total in his early big league career.  He has reached base safely in 23 of his 25 games and has failed to collect a hit in only two.  He also has recorded 2 triples, 3 home runs, 8 walks and 2 stolen bases, showing that he is not only a bright spot for 2011 but, a beacon of hope for the future.
• Guti stole a base and made an amazing running catch look ever-so effortless - a "Guti-glide"
• two very nice double-plays (Dustin-Brendan-Justin, Felix-Brendan-Justin)

Also worth noting, for me, were my seat-mates this evening..
A delightful couple from Colorado (Steve and Becky)  He, originally from Boston and, of course, a Red Sox fan.  We chatted about all sports as the evening progressed.  I passed along little tid-bits, not necessarily nationally covered, such as: Kyle and Dustin's college days together, Justin's loss of his father, Guti's illness, and the amazing quantity of rookies that have started and made their debut as a Mariner this season.

I also pointed to the stadium across the street (where I had been in attendance this afternoon for the Sounders thrilling victory against the reigning MLS Champion Colorado Rapids) and told them of the wonderful phenomenon that is Sounders FC soccer.  When "Sonics Night" was flashed across the LCD boards between one of the innings, I reminded them that our basketball team is now in Oklahoma City.  He shared that he's a Matt Hasselbeck fan, obviously due to the Boston roots they share.

They are off tomorrow on a on a biking/camping trip on Bainbridge Island...
fingers crossed for sunshine or at least no rain.

Here's to the M's eeking out a victory in this last game of four with the Rangers, as it ain't getting any easier... next up: east coast road trip to TOR, BOS and NYY

2011 Mariner All Stars and the 2nd half starts with a bang

American League 1 | National League 5

Felix didn't pitch because of his Sunday start but, unlike some others, he was there soaking it all in with both his fellow Mariner and American League teammates.  I missed the introductions (usually my favorite part) and heard they messed up a bit and called Felix's name when it was Miguel Cabrera's turn.  Sounds like they both took it in stride though.

Super proud (if I'm allowed) of Michael.  He pitched the 3rd inning and retired the side in order with 10 pitches -8 for strikes- getting Tulowitzki to fly out to center and striking out both Rolen and Weeks - swinging.

Brandon's mind may have been elsewhere, as his pregnant wife was in attendance at the All Star Game and due to have labor induced for their third child today in Seattle.  He pitched the 7th inning and gave up a single to Pence, struck out Castro, gave up an RBI ground rule double to Sandoval (that drove in the fifth run for the NL) and got Phillips and Sanchez to fly out an pop up respectively.

The second half starts out slightly more than a cake-walk...
oh, just a 4-game homestand with the division-leading Texas Rangers and then off to the east coast for 3-game series with each of Toronto, Boston and New York.  If the M's can manage to keep their head above water (say play .500) it won't necessarily mean they are still in the race, but it will say a lot about their grittiness vs. good teams.  If, however, they stumble mightily, they may be out of the race totally but, did any of us expect that they would be there in the first place?  So, even if that happens, this season if far from a waste as they continue to determine what they have in young talent and what they will need going forward as they continue to lay the foundation and move on to the framework of building a championship team.

Go Mariners!

g91 | swept away before the break

Mariners 2 | Angels 4

The M's got off to a great start vs. Haren, scoring two in the 1st (believe it or not, for the first time since August 20, 2011 when they scored 3 in the 1st in the Bronx).  Brendan singled, Dustin walked, they both advanced on a long fly ball by Justin and both came home on Adam's base hit.

Felix wasn't to sharp early but, after giving up the homer to Trumbo in the 4th, he retired 12-in-a-row which got him through the 7th with 110 pitches.  Some would wonder, with the heart of the Halo order coming up and Felix cruising - why go to the pen?

David came in for the 8th and promptly gave up a single to Hunter and then got two outs before an intentional walk to Kendrick ended up back-firing when Cayaspo doubled to score two and put the Halos up for good 4-2

GOOD, great (but BAD for the M's) and UGLY

• Congrats to Kyle on his first MLB hit - a solid single up the middle and he gets to 3B on an error by fellow rookie, Trout.  
• Amazing diving play by Hunter in the top of the 3rd to rob Dustin of at least a double
• And, once again, the opposing team receives the benefit of a three ball walk #IneptUmps

g86 | Series win and back to .500!

Mariners 4 | Athletics 2 (in 10)

I didn't see much of the game...
Just missed Dustin's lead-off home run in the 7th that gave the M's the 2-1 lead and, apparently, Dustin was responsible for the first run as well - he singled, stole 2B, took 3B on an error and scored on Carlos's sac-fly in the 2nd.

AP PHOTO

Seems there was some base-running excitement (from both sides!)

-stolen bases by Dustin and both Suzukis

-attempted thievery thwarted (K Suzuki, Weeks, Crisp)

And, despite the usual severe lack of O (although Cahill is no chump) all was seemingly going well, with Felix looking like his All-Star, Cy Young self...
8.0IP - 4H - 1ER - 0BB - 10K
shame, shame, shame that he did not get the win.

Talk about the perfect 1000 words... (and this was even before the 9th)

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Brandon had a bit of a set-back...
he had not allowed a run and had gond 14 for 14 in save opportunities in his last 20 appearances.  Well, even Mariano blows one now and then.  If only the offense could have provided just a bit more cushion, the A's run in the 9th would have been moot.

But what a recovery in the top of the 10th!
Guti, who had been 0 for 3 to that point, led off with a single (which Wedge would later categorize as his "best AB so far this season") and stole second.  Halman struck out and Ichiro was intentionally walked.  Brendan hit a ground ball to 2b, but Ichiro went in sliding and broke up the DP - Brendon was safe at 1B and Guti scored the go-ahead run.  And then Adam, who was also 0 for 3 so far, doubled in Brendan to give the M's a 4-2 cushion.

Getty Images

And then Jamey locked down the bottom of the 10th... 
The first pitch was a bunt attempt that Adam made a nice charging play on.  Then, FINALLY, Kurt Suzuki was retired (on a GB to SS) and then Sweeney struck out.

And so...
-Felix gets the ND
-Brandon gets the BS (and the W, which I'll never understand)
-Jamey gets the first S of his big league careen (hard to believe after 16 years!)

And, the Mariners are back to .500 and still 2.5 back of both the Rangers and the Halos!


By the way, though it's not a LARGE contingent, the King's Court apparently travels...

via Shannon Drayer's twitpic

g81 | swept at home at the half way point

Mariners 2 | Braves 5

Short and mostly sour...

Prior to the game, Erik Bedard and Chris Gimenez were placed on the 15-day DL
Josh Bard and Jose Yepez were recalled from AAA Tacoma

• Unhappy Felix day 7.2IP - 10H - 5ER - 3BB - 6K
• Dustin homered and drove in two
• Josh, fresh up from AAA, for DL'ed Gimenez, doubled and drove in one
• Eric Wedge was tossed in the 2nd inning (first ejection as Mariners skipper)

g76 | So it's root, root, root for the AWAY team...

Mariners 5 | Marlins 1

I can take or leave Interleague play in general (hey, baseball is baseball) but, I've always thought that if the two leagues are going to continue to play each other under their own rules - why not give the home fans a chance to experience "the other rules"?  Well, thanks to a scheduling conflict with U2, in which the Florida Marlins were forced to move their home series with the Mariners to Seattle, some 15,000+ Mariners fans got just that chance.  For the first time ever, National League rules were played in an American League ball park.

And boy-oh-boy, was it fun!

The game, much like the weather, started out rather ominously...
Felix had a bit of a rough start to put it mildly.  He threw a TON of pitches in the first few innings - at one point, logging more balls than strikes.  But, I was just as confident in Felix's ability to settle down as I was in knowing the 'steel umbrella' would roll slowly but surely over the field to protect us as the trickle of raindrops turned to a torrent.

No question that Felix was a bit wild early on...
he walked one in the 1st and another in the 2nd and also hit back-to-back batters.  But, he didn't allow a hit or a run until the 4th after the lead-off batter singled and ended up scoring when the 3rd out was recorded as a strikeout, but a wild pitch sent the batter to 1B and the runner at 3B home.  But that would be that for The Fish.  Felix would allow another hit and another HBP but cruise the rest of the through eight innings.

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Speaking of cruising, Nolasco retired the first EIGHT M's...
and then, leave it to Felix to break up the "no-hitter".  Needless to say, the sparse crowd was LOVING it. Later in the game, the top of the 9th to be exact, Felix got a standing ovation when he appeared in the on-deck circle as the crowd anticipated not only seeing him hit again, but realized that it meant he'd be going out to pitch in the bottom of the 9th, but after Guti's single he was called back and the boos rained down.

AP PHOTO

As for the rest of he offense, let's just say they made the most of a couple of innings...
Other than Felix's single in the 4th, there were only two other innings that the M's even had runners on base. In the 7th, after Brendan walked and Adam singled, Justin grounded into a FC but Brendan was able to stay in a rundown between 3B and home long enough to allow both Adam and Justin to move up a base.

Getty Images

Dustin recorded another first when he was intentionally walked and then Miggy hit into a FC and Adam scored. Carlos, believe it or not, had an infield single.  So, with the bases loaded and Guti at the plate, Jay Buhner (who was a guest announcer on the radio with Rick) played his best Mike Blowers prognosticator and called the next play BEFORE it happened - he said something to the effect of, "...good time for Guti to get right with a base hit up the middle to score two..." and that's EXACTLY what happened.  M's up 3-1.

AP PHOTO

Then, Miggy comes through with a little insurance in the top of the 9th...
After Justin flied out and Dustin walked, Miggy had an EIGHT pitch at bat, sending that eighth pitch over the hand-operated scoreboard to put the M's up, where they would stay, 5-1.  While home runs are always fun, this had a little extra special feeling, as the crowd, led by the King's Court, was chanting O-LEE-VO during Miggy's entire at bat.

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Speaking of the King's Court...
As I tweeted after the game, it is the best thing since sliced bread.  They totally sparked a rather sparse crowd of 15k+ (which actually, considering it was all walk-up, wasn't bad).  Sporting their yellow t-shirts and holding up their "K" cards every time Felix got two strikes on a batter.  Then, when Felix was up to bat, they turned the cards around showing the "Hit it There -->" (pointing to left field fair territory).

Getty Images

Great to see Brandon get back out there...
even though it wast's a save situation, he needed some work and a confidence boost - and got just that with a flyout, a strikeout and a ground out.

And, some of the best for last, sparkling DEE all around...
-Justin made a couple of nice plays on his own, as well as combining with Felix covering 1B (I have long thought that particular play is MUCH harder than it looks and Felix makes it look absolutely effortless).
-Adam made an awesome, charging play and a strong throw to 1B for the third out of the 5th.
-And Dustin just continues to instill confidence with his play in the field, making a couple routine plays as well as a great one to end the game.
-Carlos recorded ALL THREE outs in the 7th including a nice running catch to the warning track and another where he had to reach into the King's Court crowd to snag a foul ball.

DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES

g71 | Dustin's solo shot sole "O"

Mariners 1 | Phillies 5

Congrats to Dustin Ackley on his first major league home run!

Very cool to see the kid go deep in only his fifth major league at bat - and on a 3-2 pitch that tied the game, no less!

AP PHOTO

We were even treated to a curtain call...

Getty Images

That was in the bottom of the 2nd, it seems the top of the first was an omen of things to come... 
Rollins singled on Felix's first pitch of the game, took 2B on a wild pitch, advanced to 3B on a fielder's choice and scored on a sacrifice fly.  Felix seemed to be using a little of Doug Fister's Houdini act over the next few innings - there were Philly base-runners everywhere (including at 3B twice) that weren't able to score.  Going into the 7th, it was a deadlock with five hits and one run each - then Felix allowed a single, a double and a walk to load the bases and Victorino (aka: Mariner killer) hit a ground rule double literally ON the left field line (we are talking chalk flying) that scored two to give the Phillies a 3-1 lead.

The M's bats had their chances...
and made Worley throw a ton of pitches early on (he was at 50+ pitches after two innings and was out of the game by the 5th).  In the 1st inning, Adam singled with two outs and Justin's double was just inches from a homer and a 2-1 score (and who knows what that kind of momentum would have meant) but then Miggy grounded out.  In the 2nd inning, Mike walked after Dustin's homer, took 2B on a wild pitch, Greg singled and Mike moved to 3B, but Ichiro hit into a fielder's choice and Mike was out at home and then Brendan struck out.  Worley settled down, working through the 3rd, 4th and 5th farily easily.  Stutes came in and retired the side in order in the 6th, but the M's appeared to have life again in the 7th when Greg walked with one out and stole 2B and Ichiro grounded out sending Greg to 3B and then Brendan walked but, with runners at the corners, the Phillies made a pitching change and Adam was rung up by the ump on three pitches, the second of which was clearly WAY inside.  Adam doesn't argue very often, so when he does he has legitimate beef.

The bullpen wasn't it's usual lock-down self, but then these are the Phillies...
David was a little shaky in the 8th allowing a couple of hits but also induing a double-play.  It was Jamey's outing in the 9th that sealed the deal for the Phils.  After getting two quick ground outs, Rollins singled and Victorino homered and that would be all she wrote.

Getty Images

More encourage DEE though...
~Dustin was in the middle of another nice double play (Brendan-to-Dustin-to-Justin) in the 7th.
~Adam was playing 3B for the first time as a Mariner his first fielding chance at the hot corner was a nice backhand play right at the line (dare I say, I hope we see him there more often than not)
~Of course Felix always fields his position well and that was on display in the 2nd when they turned a nifty 3-6-1 double play - Felix even had to s-t-r-e-t-c-h at the bag.

As Eric has said repeatedly....
"they need to do a better job of finishing out innings"

Here's hoping they do just that in the rubber game tomorrow.