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

g120 | The Luke and Tui Show

Mariners 4 | Orioles 0

Quality start by Luke...
only three hits and the first one not till one out in the 6th

All four runs driven in by Tui...
double in the 5th to score Adam Moore and homer in the 9th with Guti and Casey aboard.

Are we seeing the the beginnings of young talent coming to fruition?

't will be an interesting last few weeks...
Here's hoping we will get a chance to see what the youngsters can do so the needs can be properly assessed going into the winter.

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