g99 | splittin' in Seattle

Mariners 4 | Red Sox 2

From "the Friday Fracas" to 2 wins-in-a-row ...
This was definitely a fun one to be at and the Chamber of Commerce weather had a lot to do with it (it's days like these I canNOT imagine living anywhere else!).  We had to wait a bit for the fun on the field, as the guys had plenty of chances early but Matsuzaka kept wigglin' off the hook.  When they finally did break out in the 8th inning it wasn't your typical barrage - singles (Jose, Michael, Justin), bunt singles (Casey and Milton) and even a butcher boy (Jack) - but when the inning was over, they had three more runs to add to the one they had scored in the 3rd.

TED S. WARREN / AP

On the mound ...
Doug wasn't super sharp and only went five innings, but all-in-all showed some signs of improvement - efficient early on and only walked one.  The BP was great (as it has been nearly all home stand).  Chris is impressing early, Brandon got the win even though he only faced one batter (struck out Youkilis for the third out in the 8th) and David notched his 18th save.

Seems most would have been happy with a split vs. the BoSox ...

But then you think about how close it came to a sweep - that first game where the M's came back from 1-6 down to tie it in the 9th (as disappointing as that game was in the end, I still found more to be ENcouraged about than DIS couraged) and then the next game to lose 2-1.

Woulda, coulda, shoulda.

On to the south side...

g96 | thiiiiiis close

Mariners 6 | Red Sox 8

Crazy one!

Nearly no-hit by Lackey ...
the M's scored a run without the benefit of a hit in the second inning (walk, steal, ground out, passed ball) and continued to go hitless until two outs in the bottom of the 8th when Josh Bard singled but was stranded when Ichi flied out.

Meanwhile, the BoSox were racking up the hits vs. RRS ...
Ryan would go six giving up eight hits and five runs.  Brian would give up one run in his inning of work and the Red Sox would go to the bottom of the ninth up 1-6...

And then it got interesting ...
't was really quite amazing, I'm tired, so I'll take the easy route (courtesy YaHoo!)...

- M. Delcarmen relieved J. Lackey

- C. Figgins singled to left center

- F. Gutierrez homered to deep left, C. Figgins scored

- J. Lopez walked

- M. Bradley safe at first on shortstop M. Scutaro's fielding error, J. Lopez to second

- J. Papelbon relieved M. Delcarmen

- J. Smoak struck out swinging

- C. Kotchman doubled to right, J. Lopez scored, M. Bradley to third

- R. Langerhans ran for C. Kotchman

- J. Bard walked

- M. Saunders ran for J. Bard

- J. Wilson grounded into fielder's choice, M. Bradley scored, R. Langerhans to third, M. Saunders out at second, R. Langerhans scored, J. Wilson to second on second baseman B. Hall's fielding error

- I. Suzuki intentionally walked

- C. Figgins struck out looking

The offense would have their golden opportunity to win it in the 12th ...

Single, single, sac-fly, walk - and then then the balloon burst - foul out, popup

The pen would hang in their for longer than expected ...
Jamey, David and Garrett combined for FIVE innings of NO hit, NO run ball, but Garrett lost the magic in the 13th ... single, out, out, walk, double

And that was all she wrote on a Thursday evening in Fenway Northwest.

By the way, nice catch by Ichi to rob Ortiz of a home run in the first inning....

hoto by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

g92 | salvaged ... in more ways than one

Mariners 2 | Angels 1

The win averted a sweep as well as averting attention from more base-running blunders.
Who should come to the Mariners rescue?  Why Jose, of course!  (I believe he led the team in game winning hits last season).  Here's hoping he is poised for a strong second half.  Anyhoo, in the 10th, Guti reached 1B via fielder's choice and then stole 2B.  Jose singled Guti home for what would prove to be the winning run.

~ M's save a bit of face by four-game sweep avoidance
~ Ichiro's boo-boo is forgotten (caught in a run-down between 2B and 3B for the second out of the 10th)
...or not ...

"Ichi's got to make sure that ball gets through, and he didn't,'' Wakamatsu said. "That ball's in froint of him, and he gets caught off guard there.''

It was reminiscent of Friday's game in which Jack Wilson was thrown out trying to go from first to third on a single to left.

"That's not good baseball, and those are veteran players,'' Wakamatsu said. "Those two plays, the balls in front of them. They have to make better decisions.''

Too bad for Jason ...
Once again he throws a quality start and has nothing to show for it.  I decided to look up run support and here's what I found:  going into today's game there were 58 starting pitchers with at least 80 innings pitched.  Jason is 57th of the 58 in run support.  And, oh by the way, RRS is 50th, Cliff is 52nd, Doug is 54th and Felix is 56th.

g87 | the Venezuelan connection

Mariners 4 | Yanks 1

Felix goes the distance ...
9IP - 10H - 1ER - 2BB - 9K 
The only Yankee run came on Swisher's solo shot in the 3rd and their only other extra base hit was Granderson's double in the 9th - in which Felix would end up striking out the side.

Getty Images/Otto Greule Jr.)

Lopey with the big "O" blow ...
Grand Slam in the eighth inning

JOHN FROSCHAUER/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Vazquez was stellar, but...
M's first hit didn't come till the 6th and then the M's had their first real scoring opportunity in the 7th - with the bases loaded a couple singles and a walk, Milton pinch hit and sent a shot up the middle that Pena made a great leap to snare.  Then Chamberlain came in for the 8th and promptly gave up two singles, threw a wild pitch and intentionally walked Russell before giving up the salami to Jose (wow - bullpen implosions happen to other teams, too?)

Justin received a very nice ovation when he stepped to the plate for the first time.  He had a rough debut though (3K's) but he didn't even get to the ballpark until 1pm and undoubtedly had a few jitters after what must have been a whirl-wind 24 hours for him.

Despite the position the M's find themselves in, with one win not making a difference, victory still tastes sweeter when it happens amongst throngs of interlocking NY's

g84 | royal sweep

Mariners 3 | Royals 7

Just when ya think things might be looking up ...

Mister Fister posts his first quality start since returning from the DL and that, along with some awesome "D" from Jose and Michael and two homers from Casey would see Doug leave after six innings with a 3-1 lead.  Brian gave up his first run this season in the 7th via a wild pitch.  But, Brandon in the 8th was the death knell - walks to the first two batters and then gives up a homer.  Garrett came in and didn't fair much better, also allowing a homer.

Discouraging pattern...

~bases loaded (multiple times) and they can't score

~have a lead going into the 8th and they lose the game

All I can say is ....

g76 | talk about playin' to the level of your competition...

Mariners 7 | Yankees 4
Well, we knew what Clifton was capable of vs. the Yanks, so his complete game was certainly not a surprise (although the one walk and the 4 runs were pretty un-Cliff like)

SETH WENIG / AP

But how 'bout those bats?!?

TWELVE hits!
including FOUR doubles (Jose, Michael and Rob w/2) ONE Guti homer and an Ichi SF!

SETH WENIG / AP

g74 | power and pen...

Mariners 5 | Brewers 4


There were lots of question going into this game...
~ How would Mister Fister be in his first start off the DL?
~ Who would step up in the pen (with Kelley to the DL and DA home to be with his newborn)?
~ Would the offense be able to get anyone in to make up for the possible pitching problems?

And answers during and after...

~ The good answer regarding Doug's start was that he was able to exceed his pitch count and still felt fine.  The bad answer was that 92 pitches only got him through four innings - giving up 4ER along the way (back- to-back homers in the 3rd) but, the Brew Crew is third in the majors in home runs, so not a lot of shame in that, especially for his first start off the DL.

~ The answer to the bullpen question was more resoundingly positive.  Wow - welcome back, Brian Sweeney!  Nice story here that details the timeline of Brian's career, from being drafted by the M's traded to the Padres and his time in Japan.  Anyway, back to the game and his part in it...
4IP - 1H - 0R - 0BB - 4K

~ The answer to the offense, well, for the most part they are still searching for that spark to "get 'em in" as another 11 were left on base.  BUT, at least a little pop showed in the form of a solo shot from MB and a 2-run jack from Lopey.  Also good to see it happen when it did, in the inning immediately following the opponents offensive burst.

And, don't look now, but Figgy has SEVEN hits and SEVEN stolen bases in his last SIX games....

Morry Gash   AP Photo

g51 | considerable victory

Mariners 7 | Twins 1

I didn't get to see most of this one, but sure looks like there were only rosy thing that occurred...
Stellar starting pitching, reliable relief with 7 runs on 13 hits, a DP and an SB - as it should be.

ELLEN M. BANNER / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Really good to see two who have been struggling mightily break out a bit ~ Figgy and Lopey combined for 4 hits and 4rbi.

Believe Big.

:-)

g46 | eighth inning magic

Mariners 5 | Tigers 4

Wow - a sweep of the Tiggers!
OK, 't was only a two game series - but considering it's the first series win since the end of April when they took 2-3 from the Royals, I think they'll take it.

Jason wasn't terribly sharp but was able to get through five only allowing 2 runs.  RRS and Brandon didn't do so quite so well and weren't helped at all by the defense (something that is increasingly disturbing).  But, thanks to some eighth inning offensive magic (what? is this the M's?) from a Guti single, a Mike homer, a Lopey single, a Rob double and a Josh single that equated to 4 runs and then throw in a 1-2-3 ninth by the DA ... it didn't matter in the end.

Certainly hoping this offensive spark and the good feeling of two wins vs a good team will carry over to the weekend in the land of Disney....
where there will be both a Happy Felix Day and a Happy Cliff Day :-)

I'll have to miss all the games, as I'm headed to Austin, Texas in the morning for the long weekend to visit my daughter who just moved there.

Go Mariners!!!

g45 | all is not lost ...

Mariners 5 | Tigers 3
I eagerly await the day when victory brings true joy instead of mere relief.
Tonight was a step, or five, in that direction.

DEAN RUTZ/SEATTLE TIMES/MCT

on the mound
They call him Mister Fister, but the should call him Mr. Stellar.
Seven of Doug's nine starts have been quality and, with just a smidge more offense he'd be 8-1 instead of 3-2 (two of his last three ND's and his last loss were all by 1-run).  He got into some trouble (although certainly not only of his own accord - his defense wasn't his friend tonight) in the second inning, but great to see him work through it and go 7+  but his ERA did balloon to just over 2.00 with the two runs given up ;-)  Keep up the good work, Dougie!

Nice work Shawn and David!!

at the plate
Wow - over half the hits were for extra bases!
~ Milton and Guti with homers - Chone and Josh with doubles
~ Milton had the single that scored Figgy for the go-ahead run in the 8th
~ And Lopey knocked in Guti with a sac-fly for a little insurance

"The way I was feeling, I needed to share it with my teammates," Bradley said. "It was a good feeling. I came through."

leather-works
Unfortunately, not a lot to crow about here ... save for a nice DP in the 3rd
I was only able to watch the last couple of innings, but on the radio it sure sounded like some of those hits in the 2nd inning should have been outs.  Here's hoping they can get that fundamental focus back.
.
.

g38 | too little, too late (in so many ways)

Mariners 4 | Athletics 8


OK, so if RRS was going to cough up another one, BIG time, why couldn't they have scratched out those runs in two of the other games this road trip? Coulda won both of the previous series.  Guess it doesn't work that way....

What to do with RRS?

What to do with the bats, or lack thereof.

There's bound to be a breakout at some point ...
tomorrow is as good a day as any ~ Felix Day!
(here's to a game that lives up to it's namesake)

p.s.  I shouldn't ignore Tui's first homer (even though it was "aided" a bit by Davis's glove) and Lopey's 3RBI - baby steps...

Road Reflections | CHI, KC

Chicago was about as bad as it gets...
Three games, three heart-breaking losses, all by one-run (in fact, all but one of the games on this road trip were decided by one run, and that one by two).  To twist the knife a bit more, two were walk-offs and one was in the 8th.  RRS continued to struggle, Doug and Jason continued to shine.  While the bullpen's lapse was a bit concerning, the late surge by the offense in two of the three games was encouraging.  As for the "D", despite a couple of errors, there were five DP's turned.

Back on track in KC...
Felix took his first loss, but still put up a quality start (maybe not to "Felix quality", but quality nonetheless).  Ian's line wasn't great, but the way in which he was able to escape self-induced trouble was pretty impressive.  RRS was on his way to a solid start, looking good for five innings, but couldn't finish things in the 6th - apparently, April is not his month.  As for the rest of the pitching staff, right back up on that horse, er,  mound they got.  The pen as a whole pen recovered pretty darn well from their debacle on the South Side - pitching 8 scoreless innings in KC and the DA notched two more saves (of the one-run variety).  The offense, while certainly far from potent, showed a little spunk, especially in the last game, bunching some runs to go ahead early, losing the lead and then scratching out a run late to win.

Regarding Jose...
Something occurred to me the other day.  Many are concerned, understandably so, about the offense and there's already be quite a lot of mention about Jose ... his lack of patience, etc. This is nothing new and he's typically a slow starter.  The thing that struck me was the lack of concern about something that many had a fair amount of trepidation about going into the season... how would he perform at his new position?  Well, so far, question answered - in spades!  He has not only performed adequately, he has embraced the change and seems very comfortable in his new home at the hot corner.  Considering the shoes he had to fill, this is excellent, if seldom mentioned, news.

Milty = Mr Happy...
Some good signs from MB ... he was out of commission in Chicago, but back in action in KC and contributing.  Some nice gestures with the fans as well - like when he tried to toss a ball to a Mariner fan above the M's dugout in KC, but a Royals fan interviened and caught the ball - he went into the dugout, got another ball and personally handed it to the fan.  Love it.

g17 | dem's the breaks ...

Mariners 6 | White Sox 7
buuuummm-er!

RRS definitely didn't have it tonight and unfortunately, the defense didn't help him much.  There was the excitement of Lopey's first home run of the season that, oh by the way, was also the first grand slam of his career - off old buddy, old pal J.J.  That made the score 6-5 in the 7th.  The ChiSox would tie it up in the bottom of the inning and tied it would stay ... until the bottom of the 9th with 2 out and a pitch that no doubt Mr. Lowe would like to take back - to Andrew Jones (his second of a game that saw 5 homers).

Here's hoping the bats can pick up where they left off today and Mister Fister can continue his dominant ways to help the M's avoid back-to-back losses (last time 11th and 12th).

Oh, and here's to J-Dub getting well soon ....
injured thumb in the 3rd inning and was replaced by Tui - supposedly not broken, but likely day-to-day.

g15 | series win!

Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

Mariners 3 | Orioles 1
And some were worried about the 3,4,5 .... hmph!
As mentioned previously, we'll cut Ian some slack with the emotional AND physical stuff he's had to deal with the past 10 days or so.  We saw Mister Fister last night and the start before last and now.... methinks some difficult decisions coming for Skip and crew when Mr. Lee returns...

on the hill
~ Jason records his second SOLID start...
7IP - 3H - 1R (in the first) - 2BB - 5K
~ Mark in the 8th
~ David in the 9th
The way it's spoze to be :-)

at the plate
Not quite the hit explosion of last night, but certainly adequate, considering the pitching performance.  Nice to see the hits spread throughout the lineup and a couple more doubles (Adam and Jack)

leather-works
Jose had a little boo-boo, but also a really nice bare-handed charge play.  Again, just lookin' more and more like he belongs at the hot corner.  And Kotch continues to dig...

Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

Tomorrow.... Felix Day!

g10 | series win!!!

Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

Mariners 4 | Athletics 2

Finally!

2 wins in a row AND a series win!
Nice for the boys to go into the off day at home on a good note.

on the hill
Another solid start by a BoR guy - gotta love it.  Way to go Jason!
6IP - 5H - 2ER - 6K - and our favorite (for the second night in a row, I might add) ZERO walks!
And, how 'bout Brandon League?  2 scoreless/hitless innings tonight (heck of a lot better than "the other Brandon") and, the DA a rare 1-2-3

at the plate
Hits all up and down the lineup (including Adam's first two hits of the season) and RBI's all in the middle (all with 2-outs!).  Only one extra base hit (Jose's double) and a few too many left on base - but hey, it was enough and looks to be headed in the right direction.

leather-works
Jose is looking comfortable at 3rd ... very nice snare of a hot shot and another cool bare-handed throw of a slow roller.  Adrian would be proud.

We'll let Wak deal with the base-running faux pas....

g3 | another walk-off loss

BENMARGOT/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Marniers 5 | Athletics 6

on the hill
He ended the season strong last year, after being injured early, and had a decent spring this season, so, expectations were high for RRS (especially with Cliff on the DL to start the season).  His first start of the season is not likely one he'll be writing (or tweeting) home about, but I'm sure he'll learn from it.

Unfortunately, RRS wasn't alone in the less than stellar performance category.  In fact, other than Sean White, none of the arms were at their best.  't is early ... 

at the plate
The scoring was back and forth all evening betwixt these two "power-houses" and the M's showed some offense life and a little bit of everything...
~ Milton with his first hit as a Mariner - a two-run home run
~ Figgy with his first RBI as a Mariner - a sac-fly
~ Jack W with his first hit this season - an RBI single
~ Jose with a stolen base!

But, though they answered well, they just couldn't add on despite multiple chances.

leatherworks
As Matt Pitman was complaining about the 2 errors on the post game (Ichiro and Adam), I thought I'd take a quick peek at Baseball-Reference.com to see how this platinum gloved team fared early on last season - sure enough - they had 3 errors in a series in Oakland.  Must be something in the water....
Anyhoo, then there was that play, depending upon your vantage/view point, that Milton should/could have made - but instead ended up being the game winner for the A's.  It was a pretty tough play, I don't think I'm willing to blame him for the loss (he did after all contribute offensively with his blast in the first and made a couple of great run-saving plays in the field). 

And so, despite this being the first game the M's recorded any errors and no double-plays, I'm not worried about the defense.  It will be fine.  More than fine, in fact.

Now, if the M's ever need a good 7+ innings from a starter, today would be the day...
You go, Mr. Fister - help salvage the split!!

Happy First Felix Day!

Yep, Felix's first start of the spring is today in Tucson vs. the Rockies, with Adam Moore behind the plate.

Sounds like things were a little rough yesterday...
giants 8 | mariners 4

• Doug Fister had a rough outing (although only one of the four runs he allowed was earned and Wak said he saw some positives and they are still working on some things (it is only March 14th)
• As for the unearned runs, Chone Figgins, very uncharacteristically, made two errors in one inning (not totally excusing things, but Wak did mention the field was a bit hard)
• Eric Byrnes slid into second base (literally) and banged up his face a bit.  That guy seemingly has no 'take it easy' mode - it's either full bore or off because full bore resulted in injury
• Looks like Garrett Olson is swiftly losing his shot at the 5th spot in the rotation

On the happy side of the ledger...

• Jose made a GREAT play at third base, prompting Dave to say, "He looks like a third baseman!"
• Jose and Eric both had doubles
• Michael Saunders hit his first springtime home run
• Nice DP turned 

Even though I was at work, I got to listen here and there as there was finally a game broadcast on the radio.  I'll be listening from work again today ...

Go Felix!
Well, mostly go just enough to get your work in and work on whatever you need to work on and gradually get ready for the season.

Going to take some time....

To put into words the experience of the last day of the 2009 season...

M's 4 | Rangers 3

I'll be back later to try...

G151 | The Ichiro-Jose Show

AP Photo/Chris O'Meara


M's 4 | Rays 3

Of course, after I dub him "Snowman" for his propensity to go 8 innings....
Ryan has a bit of a struggle and is unable to get out of the 6th inning.
He allowed 4 walks and 3 runs in total, but he did do a pretty good Hudini impression in the 2nd - after loading the bases with 1 out, he was able to induce a couple of pop-ups. Ryan would load the bases again in the 6th - this time with NO outs. Shawn came in and allowed 2 runs that tied the game, but could have been a lot worse. From that point on Miggy and Mark nailed it down.

Yet again, the bats come through J U S T enough...
M's pick up their 32nd one-run victory
~ Ichiro a 2-run homer in the 5th
~ Jose with a solo shot in the 8th (gave the M's the lead they wouldn't relinquish)

And then there is that little matter of the jerk fan who caught Jose's home run....
It was his 25th (17 was his previous season high) and he wanted the ball.
Apparently, efforts to negotiate for it (autographed bat, ball, etc.) were in vain.

Someone should have that guy read Baker's piece in the times (linked in my previous post)
Maybe THEN he'd get a heart.

Cried my mascara off this morning....

.

JACOB DE GOLISH / GETTY IMAGES

I read the Seattle Times everyday during my morning commute via the link-light rail. I wasn't quite prepared for the story I found on the front page of the sports section - definitely needed tissue I didn't have!

It was all about Jose and the promise he made at his sister's funeral - that he would hit 20 home runs this season in her honor.

Being an only child, I can't imagine what it must be like to lose a sibling - and Jose has now lost two. His brother died in an auto accident during the season last year and, unfortunately, he wasn't able to get there for the funeral.

I knew that he had lost his sister to cancer earlier this season. I remember when he left the team to go to the funeral and be with his family in Venezuela (at about the same time Rob lost his mother-in-law and Russell lost his grandfather). What I didn't know was how very close he was to his sister. From the article, it sounds as if she was more like a mother to him during his childhood and a best friend in adulthood.


In any case, it was a very moving story...
I'm so glad he can take comfort in the fact that he's honored his sister's memory by working hard and having a fabulous season.

Here's to many more, Jose!!

JIM BATES / THE SEATTLE TIMES