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...

Getty Images

g159 | Jeepers, Sweepers...

Mariners 5 | Rangers 12

I was trying to listen here and there but...
the noise at Century Link was overwhelming my radio :-)

On a day where the M's score 5 runs on 4 home runs...
You'd expect that they would come away with a win.

Problem is, the Rangers scored 12...
The M's used FIVE pitchers and they ALL gave up runs (Furbush and Ruffin with the worst of the damage)

There were also a couple of errors, seems best just to turn the page on this one.

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).

g122 | bad Blake, good Chance, super Mike

Mariners 1 | Blue Jays 5

Blake's second rough start in-a-row...
he seems to have a bit of long-ball-itis of late - all the Blue Jays runs coming via the long ball.
I guess when half of your hits are homers, it usually bodes well for a win - Jays had only six hits but three of them left the yard. Also helps when the opposition (that would be the M's) doesn't get their first hit until the 4th inning, only three hits total and only one for extra bases.

As for the bright spots....

• the bullpen of Cortes, Ruffin and Wright combined for four hit-less innings with one walk and one strikeout.  Great to see Chance in there right away (the PTBNL in the Fister/Pauley deal), he only joined the team on Wednesday and Dan to go more than one IP.
• Mike Carp extended his hitting streak to 17 with his single in the 4th that broke up Morrow's no-no.
• Guti doubled in the 6th to drive in the only M's run (Ichiro)
• Ackley-Wilson-Carp DP

And then for the scary, scary stuff...
Casper was hit ON THE NOSE by a pitch from Brandon Morrow.
Apparently, amazingly, it's not broken and he'll be ok - whew!
And just when he was going for his 5th homer in as many games...