Media Day...

Lots of interesting "tweet tid-bits" from yesterday's Mariners Media Day - good news such as...

14 + / -
~Justin Smoak has lost 14lbs and 4% body fat
~Guti has gained 14lbs of muscle (with no signs of stomach trouble)

Casper Wells has been working out regularly and has had no further equilibrium issues

710ESPN will broadcast the games in Japan vs. the A's, as well as the exhibition game vs. Hanshin

But, the most eye-opening factoid was this...

Of the 65 invitees to Spring Training - 55 have less than five years time in the big leagues, 45 have less than one year.  Yowsa - talk about baby M's!

Then, of course, there was everyone's favorite photo of the day...

via TwitPic

Heilman and Kawasaki signed, Guti and Smoak lookin' good

Here once, for about a minute, (he came in the Putz deal, then was shipped to Chicago for Ronnie Cedeno and Garrett Olson) Aaron Heilman is back - signed to a minor league deal for a shot at joining the 'pen.

Munenori Kawasaki also signed to a minor league deal and will compete for a back-up infielder role with the M's .  Kawasaki played all-star shortstop for the Softbank Hawks (who won the Japan Series last season) and played with Ichiro in the WBC and has apparently always wanted to play in the big leagues - but only on Ichiro's team.

I didn't get to hear all if it but, last night on the Hot Stove League Show, Eric Wedge had some glowing reports re: a couple M's he'd seen this week... apparently Guti has gained 19 pounds and Justin has trimmed down - the are strong and lean respectively and he's looking for great things from them both!

g160 | Viva la Vargas!

Mariners 4 | Athletics 2

REALLY nice to see Jason end on a high note...
I've called him Jekyll and Hyde, as his seemed to be a tale of two seasons - he was either REALLY good or REALLY bad.  Tonight, his last start, was definitely in the REALLY good category.
105 pitches - EIGHT innings - FIVE hits - ONE run - ZERO walks - TEN strikeouts
His win total reached 10 on the season and his innings pitched reached a career high (201).  The 'twist' and adjustments he made late in the season seem to be playing fairly consistent dividends.  Definitely something to build upon next season.

And Brandon nails down SAVE number 37

McCarthy only gave up 8 hits....
FOUR of them were for extra bases
TWO of them home runs
ONE, a solo shot by Miggy, made him the first M's catcher to lead the team in homers and RBI
ONE, a 3-run shot by Justin, gave him the lead in TWO-out hits (despite all the time he's missed)

Getty Images

Add caption

Gotta credit those two for those feats but, it obviously doesn't speak really well for the rest of the offense.

A lot of the kids are finishing up strong...
so there is a lot to look forward to for next season and beyond.

For now, I look forward to tomorrow night...
as I'll be attending the game (my last of the season) with a good friend courtesy of the Mariners who sent me Terrace Club seats as a thank you for having my birthday party at Safeco Field!  Can't wait for us to take each other's photos with Dave's statue and, hopefully to watch a great game.

Thanks, Mariners!

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)

g155 | series victory in Minny

Mariners 5 | Twins 4

Kevin Slowey had them baffled for a time...
In fact, the only M's base-runner in the first five innings was Ichiro who got aboard via an error in the third.

And then, adjustments were made...
With TWO outs in the 6th, Ichiro singled and then the "Carolin Connection" came through - doubles by both Seager and Ackley scored TWO and tied the game.  In the 7th, the M's would add three more singles (Justin, Miggy, Tray) and a double (Ichiro) for a total of THREE more runs.

Michael's last start wasn't his best effort but, he had a great rookie season...
for one thing, he leads all rookie pitchers in K's (173).  Heard it mentioned on the post game show that he'll be perfecting his change up and a two-seam fastball over the winter/spring.  He's only just begun!

It was a tale of two bullpens...
-Jeff and Cesar getting in and out of trouble in the 5th and 6th respectively
-Shawn retiring the side in order in the 7th with 2 K's
-Tom faltering a bit by giving up a run in the 8th (only his second ER in 15+ innings)
-Brandon making it a bit too close for comfort in the 9th, giving up a run on three singles but, hanging on on for his 36th save.

g145 | M's struggle royally vs. KC pitching

Mariners 2 | Royals 4

The good news?
Michael pitched well after a rough first inning in which he allowed 3 runs - at one point retiring 14 of 15 batters and pitching a full 8 innings for the first time in his major league career.  And, his 171 K's were enough to pass Freddy Garcia for second most strikeouts by a Mariner rookie and the most by a MLB rookie since Matsusaka in '07 (201) and Kazmir in '05 (174).

Young M's (Justin and Mike) each had home runs.

The bad news?
The only Mariners hits were those homers - both solo shots.
Bit of an understatement to say the M's hitters had a rough go tonight ~ FOURTEEN strikeouts.

Makes one wonder...
with the strong arms of the Royals and the decent hitting - why haven't they won more games?

g144 | "M's offense"and "offensive explosion" in the same sentence!!!

Mariners 7 | Royals 3

These are NOT your father's Mariners...
~ What a night for Miggy! 3 hits and 2 RBI left him just a single away from the cycle!
~ Ichiro with four more hits (including another homer) leaving him now 33 hits shy of 200
~ Justin with three more hits and two RBI
~ Alex Liddi had his first major league hit ... a ringing double to left field

Blake seeming to take Doug Fister's place as the "Houdini" of the M's...
Thankfully, NOT as the recipient of lower than low run support though.  Blake has shown a propensity to get in all kinds of hot water in the first inning ~ whether it be an extremely high pitch count or actually runs allowed ~ and then to make the needed adjustments to right the ship.  Tonight was no different.  He had allowed two runs via a homer, a triple, two singles by the time I had made my way to my seat in the first inning.  But, after allowing a lead off single in the second, he retired 13-in-a-row and made it into the 7th allowing a triple and a single for another run - but, left with the lead and would get the eventual win.

Nice to see Shawn Kelley back!  
He and Jamey combined for 2.2 scoreless with three strikeouts

This game had plenty of great DEE...

• Trayvon with a great diving catch
• Justin with a super snag of a foul pop-up right at the tarp on the 1B line
• Casper with a home-run robbing leap in left field

And, on the other side - Dustin hit the ball HARD three times but was robbed each time, including twice by Francoeur - once of a homer and once of at least a double

g143 | Jason gives them a chance, Justin seizes the opportunity

Mariners 4 | Royals 1

Nice to see Jason bounce back for his first win in nearly a month...
He's had some pretty dreadful outings of late and, even though it was "only" the Royals, they are a pretty good hitting team, so allowing only one run on four hits in six innings was very encouraging.  No question that Jason needs to finish the season strong to shed the rep of a pitcher who melts down in the second half.  Looks like adding the "Felix twist" might be one of the keys to doing just that.

Jamey, Tom and Brandon, oh my!
An infield singel off Brandon in the 9th was the only hit the bullpen allowed in three complete innings.  And, Brandon earned his 34th save.

Only six hits but, they made them count...
M's still struggling like mad with RISP (0-8) but...
~ Ichiro with a lead off home run and a single (now needs 37 hits to 200)
~ Justin's first homer since June 12th great to see

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.

Getty Images

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.

g139 | swept away ... again

Mariners 5 | Athletics 8

Early in the season, the offense would have KILLED for 10 hits and five runs - 't wasn't enough today.

Blake Beavan was far from on, throwing a ton of pitches (101) and allowing way too many walks (3) for only five innings.  Josh Lueke, after a 1-2-3 sixth, was given a chance to get himself out of trouble in the seventh, and failed - miserably (giving up 4 runs).  Brandon League came in for some much needed work, allowed a single but, no walks or runs and his ERA dropped below 3.

The offense was a bit jekyll and hyde today....

The Good
~5 runs on 10 hits, including 4 for extra bases (doubles by Mike, Trayvon) and a homer for Dustin
~two-hit games from Ichiro, Guti, Dustin, Justin and Kyle
~stolen base by Ichiro

Getty Images

Getty Images

Getty Images

The Bad
~TWO for ELEVEN with RISP (including twice with the bases loaded, once with only one out)

The Ugly
~Wells was hit by a pitch on the elbow and had to leave the game (x-rays negative, day-to-day)
~Guti pulled an oblique on a pitch in the 8th (and this one looks/sounds serious)


Not to say that without the injuries that the M's would have pulled it off but, you always wonder.
In any case, good job by the young bats who were a combined 8/20 with four of the five runs, two RBI and two walks.

g137 | Sea in Oak on the diamond, Oak in Sea on the grid-iron...

Mariners 2 | Athletics 9

So, I was sitting at Century Link Field watching the Seahawks and Raiders while listening to the Mariners and Athletics play in Oakland (frankly wondering if the Seahawks would be able to score more than the M's). Neither game really mattered much to any of the teams.  On the NFL side, it was the final pre-season game, so many of the starters only played the first quarter. On the MLB side, the M's and A's appear to be battling it out for third place on the division (with the A's clearly ahead).

While the M's scored first (one in the first and one in the second), the lead wouldn't hold, as Jason Vargas played his all-too-familiar Dr. Jekyll role (where oh where have you gone Mr. Hyde?).  Cesar Jimenez and Jeff Gray were no help at all.  The lone pitching bright spot was the return of Shawn Kelley from the DL - he faced four batters - fly ou, pop up, walk and ground out.  Nice to have him back in the 'pen.

Even though there were only six Mariner hits, they were all encouraging...
-Justin Smoak was back in the line up after his rehab stint (broken nose, cheek bone) and got two hits
-Casper Wells broke an 0-28 with a double
-Ichiro got one hit closer to 200 (now needs 43)
-Brendan Ryan broke an o-15 with an RBI single
-Dustin Ackley checked in with his typical (at LEAST) one hit


By the way, the Seahawks (much to my surprise) won 20-3

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!

Getty Images

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)

g108 | Blake and Dustin and Guti, oh my!

Mariners 8 | Athletics 4

Blake earned some MAJOR brownie points tonight...
He loaded the bases with NO outs in the 1st inning on 3 straight singles.  And then proceeded to get out of the inning unscathed (except for his pitch count) via two strikeouts and a fly out.  Way to go, Blake!  He went on to throw 113 pitches in 6.2 innings scattering 7 hits, allowing 3 runs, striking out 3 and walking 2.

DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Dustin is apparently joining some elite company with his propensity for extra base hits since arriving on the scene.  After tonight's 3-run triple and one double, he has 19 extra base hits in 38 games.  Griffey had 18 in his first 50 and Alvin Davis holds the club record for extra base hits in first 50 games - 26.  Keep it going, Dustin!

And then there was death-to-flying-things...
Guti was AWESOME in the field tonight - one of his catches even made SC Top Ten! (#10)
He made a total of NINE put-outs - never gets old.  AND, he had an RBI double and scored a run.

Justin came in after Figgy left with an injury...
and had two hits (including a double), a walk and scored 2 runs - very nice to see!

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).

g102 | not so sweet sixteen

Mariners 3 | Yankees 10

rosiness...
-Dustin's double
-Justin's double and an RBI single
-Brendan's RBI double (that extends his hitting streak to 9 games)
-Ichiro's sac-fly
-Nice 1-6-3 DP

maybe not rosy, how 'bout an honorable daisy...
-Chris and David out of the pen, each gave up a run (hey, it's the Yanks) but combined for four innings

rottenness...

-Jason super rough night (for the 3rd start in-a-row)

-couple of errors that resulted in runs
-couple of bad calls at first - safe M's that were called out, out Yank called safe (he actually stepped on Jason's foot)

According to Shannon, there was much curiosity in the clubhouse prior to the game from the NY media re: "the streak"...

To that end the players and the manager answered questions patiently. Eric Wedge in his media session said that the reality of the situation is that ultimately this team probably was not as good as it was a month ago, but also not as bad as it has been recently. He was asked that if while it was good he entertained thoughts that they would contend.
"You have to," he answered. "I always have thoughts in the back of my head. I am a realist but I am also an optimist. You want to make sure that when you are doing things like that you want to make sure you are going to give it every opportunity to have legs and that's what we did."
"The reality is we were finding a way to win those ball games," Wedge continued, "and we have that in our back pocket. These guys know how to find a way to win ball games when you are in there late. The flip side is we have been playing better ball clubs and we have been in them for the most part, but we have been on the south side of that. They have been finding ways to clip us. That's what we have got to work to get back to."

g92 | shutout on the wrong side of the ledger

Mariners 0 | Rangers 5

Hey, at least the shutout differential is still positive (9-7)

Since today and tomorrow are vacation days for me (prior to starting a new job on Monday!) and by Saturday night (Sounders game in the afternoon, Mariners game in the evening) I'll be all "sports-out" I decided to trade my Sunday ticket for tonight's game.  Lucky me ;-(

Derek Hollad was absolutely on his game.  Turns out this was his second straight shutout (he shutout the A's 6-0 prior to the break).  He had a perfect game through five innings before giving up a walk to Guti and the first hit to, of all people, Figgy.  Seems like he got to 3-2 on a ton of batters but, only walked one and struck out eight.

As for Jason, just a wee bit off.  When he gave up the two-out solo shot to Hamilton in the 1st and then got Beltre to ground out, it seemed OK - solo shot, no biggie.  But then, he gave up a one-out solo shot to Cruz in the 2nd and then a couple of hits, including an RBI single in the 3rd.  Though he didn't give up any runs in either of the 4th or 5th, he had multiple runners in scoring position as the hits and his pitch count were beginning to mount to seemingly insurmountable levels.  The third solo shot, this of the lead-off variety by Napoli, came in the sixth, followed by a couple of singles and a steal.  The and the Rangers were up 5-0 and Jason was hitting the showers.

It seemed like any ball that was well struck by the M's was basically right at someone in the outfield and I had the odd thought that they should just hit it a little softer.  I don't know why, usually you would want them to hit it harder.  Maybe it's because it seemed that the Ranger hits (that weren't home runs) were bloops just past an infielder, just in front of an outfielder and it just looked to darned easy.  Anyhoo, funny that Figgy was the one to break up the no-no, good to see Miggy with two hits and Justin break an 0 fer 'too many'.

The game was not without it bright spots...

• Defensively, an awesome play by Brendan where he back-handed a hard hit grounder at the cut of the grass and made a twisting-turning throw to Adam who handled it for the out.  And, a nice 4-6-3 in the top of the 9th.  
• Nice to see "Gray and Ray" get some work in - and more than decent work it was, as Jeff and Chris combined for three hitless, scoreless innings with three strikeouts. 

Still got three games, with Doug and Felix and Blake taking the hill - let's take 'em all to head out east on a high note.

g87 | Jason good. O and D, not so much...

Mariners 0 | Athletics 2

Well, I took one look at the box score and saw THREE ERRORS and wanted to look no further (and, was secretly glad I hadn't been able to watch or listen).  Ugh.

At least none led to runs...
Jason only gave up 5 hits and 2 earned runs (solo shot and an RBI single) in 8 innings pitched (yes, ANOTHER complete game)

The offense mustered all of TWO hits, both singles...
Dustin in the 2nd and Adam in the 7th

And then there was that DEE (or lack thereof)...
Brendan, Figgy and Justin

So, the best and most exciting news of the day came after the game...
Kyle Seager is on his way to Anaheim and will be activated for the 4-game series with the Halos!

Welcome to the Show, Kyle!

g85 | 20th CFB victory!

Mariners 2 | Athletics 1

My first thought was - what happened to the A's supposedly sucky defense?
-nice outfield snag in the 3rd (in that sun!) robs Greg of at least a base hit
-great DP started by Weeks after Ichiro notched the first hit for the M's in the 4th
-awesome catch by Jackson to take a double (maybe a homer) away from Cust and double-up Smoak

AP PHOTO

Offense was scarce, so pretty easy to document...
-the first hit wasn't until the 4th when Ichiro singled, but then was promptly erased on the first DP
-the second base-runner was Justin, via a walk in the 5th, but then the second DP wasted that

-the most frustrating time came in the 9th - runners at the corners w/NO outs are left stranded 

-the first run was Bard's solo shot that tied it up in the 6th (whodathunk?)
-the other run was via an RBI double from Justin (Brendan scored after singling)

Getty Images

Michael put up another solid start to collect his 8th win...
Bit of a rough go in the 2nd when he gave up the one run (and threw 29 pitches) but, he recovered well, hung in for six innings (at one point retiring 11-in-a-row) and left with the lead after doing his part in turning a 3-6-1 DP.  Michael held a recently hot-hitting A's team (10 or more hits in their last 4 games) to only TWO hits and ONE run.

And, once again, let's give it up for the bullpen...
Aaron, David and League combined for 3IP - 1H - 1BB - 3K, 2 holds and Brandon's 23rd save
Though that last out was a bit scary - strikeout in the dirt and it seemed Josh lost it for MINUTES but he finally found it and fired to Justin just-in time!

g84 | Welcome to the Bigs, BB!

Mariners 3 | Padres 1

At the start of play today...
Blake was the 10th rookie on the M's 25-man roster this season and the 7th to make his major league debut and the M's were the last team in the majors to require a sixth starter.

At the end of the game...
Blake was the first Mariner to debut with an outing of 7 innings and only one run and he collected his first major league victory!

90 pitches | 7 innings | 3 hits | 1 earned run | 2 walks | 4 strikeouts

AP PHOTO

Way to go, Blake ~ Welcome to Seattle!

Not a lot of offense, as per usual, but just enough (Doug's got to be a bit envious)...
-Ichiro singled and stole second in the first
-Adam came through with his usual clutch RBI to drive Ichiro in
-Justin and Dustin with back-to-back sac-flys in the 3rd (Justin's oh-so-close to a grand slam!)

Getty Images

Getty Images

The bullpen was effective...
-David was a little shaky, loading the bases in the 8th, but got out of it unscathed.
-Brandon came in (fresh off his first all-star selection!) to rack up his major league-leading 22nd save!

Nice DEE all around!


This season's early returns on Cliff Lee...

MAJORS
Justin Smoak
.240/.343/.443/.786
12 HR - 19 2B - 42 BB - 41 RBI

Aaron Laffey (swapped for Matt Lawson in ST)
1-1 w/ 1.93ERA in 32.2IP and 17K

Blake Beavan
1-0 w/ 1.29ERA in 7IP and 4K (major league debut)

MINORS
Josh Lueke
2-3 w/ 2.86 ERA in 32.2IP and 29K

Last, but not least...
Congratulations to Felix and Brandon - the M's representatives at the 2011 All Star Game!

AP PHOTO