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.
.
.

g44 | from 15 in one to 2 in two....

Mariners 1 | Padres 8

Even I, cannot put a rosy spin this.

Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

Maybe a day off at home will be the ticket....  

Play golf, go fishing, watch old movies.  

Do anything but think about baseball for a day.

Come back renewed and rejuvenated and ready to HIT.

A girl can hope, can't she?

(oh, and btw, just because I used a photo of Junior, this is NOT all on him, it just seemed an apropos depiction of nearly the entire lineup - sad, isn't it?)

g43 | from feast to famine

Mariners 1 | Padres 2

It's a game of inches as they say - and the inches involved tonight weren't falling the M's way.  Whether it be Padre pitches inches off the plate called strikes or Padres hits falling just inches fair.  But, the M's didn't do much to help their own plight, despite being in position to all game long....

“It’s little things that cost you ballgames,” manager Don Wakamatsu said.

AP

strengthening signs
~ Ian was swell, especially considering this was his first start since the end of April.
~ Mike still swinging a hot bat - here's hoping his back holds out
~ Figgy with 2 more hits - baby steps
~ Milton stops short of shattering his bat after striking out in the 9th
~ Some super "D"

hindering hints
~ No walks, no DP's
~ Getting picked off at first
~ Botched bunt
~ Plenty of opportunity created, no advantage taken

frustrating facts
~ M's are now 5-12 in one-run games
~ Last year through 43 games they were 11-9 in such affairs

g42 | fUn wiTh cRooKeD nUmBerS

Mariners 15 | Padres 8

No, that's not a typo.
It wasn't the Chargers vs. the Seahawks (although the weather certainly seemed more like November than May)

In his previous FOUR starts, Cliff gave up a total of SEVEN earned runs, yet had only ONE win.
Tonight, he notched his SECOND win, despite giving up SEVEN earned runs.

That's baseball.

On their last home stand, the Mariners scored a total of TWENTY runs in NINE games.
Tonight, they recorded FIFTEEN hits (including 3 doubles & 3 home runs ) scoring FIFTEEN runs.

That's baseball.

Coming into this game, both the Padres and Mariners had had shown GREAT pitching and ABYSMAL hitting.  One would have expected a two hour, 2-1 affair.
Tonight - the M's didn't pitch well, the Padres pitched horribly, the M's absolutely crushed the ball and the Pads scored plenty enough to win about 99% of the time.

That's baseball.

In their last TEN games, the Mariners have played SEVEN one-run games.
Tonight, they won by SEVEN runs.

That's baseball.

Glad I was there.
I like baseball.

Rosy's view from Section 331

g41 | happy, happy, joy, joy

Mariners 4 | Blue Jays 3

TED S. WARREN / The Associated Press   AP

12:30pm on a weekday is a crummy time for a baseball game to start.

But, Junior finally reminded us of how great one can end.

At last ... on the right side of a walk-off win!

Congratulations to Don Wakamatsu who notches his 100th win as Mariner Manager
(and gets tossed for the first time as a major league skipper in the process!)

g40 | at least the jays didn't leave the yard

Mariners 2 | Jays 3
Yes, it was another loss (5 in-a-row) but...
there really was a lot to be encouraged about in this game.

MARK HARRISON / THE SEATTLE TIMES

#1 - how 'BOUT that Mister Fister?!?!

Doug faced a very difficult test tonight going up against the number one homer team in the league and he passed with flying colors.  Really showing his mettle in the 2nd inning - two runs scored on a double, single, single, walk, HBP - but he managed to limit the damage and went on to pitch a full eight - not allowing a single base-runner the rest of the way.  Look up STUD in Webster's and no doubt Mister Fister's picture will be starin' back at ya ;-)

#2 - Figgy comin' 'round!
Another hit, an RBI and a stolen base.  Kinda fun to see him discussing hitting on the bench with Ichi ... you just get the feeling watching their interaction that things are really starting to turn and he's not letting it get him down


#3 - Offense in general
Second straight night of double-digit hits.  Now, getting more runs than the other team is still an issue.  But, come on, baby steps....


#4 - Solid fundamentals
I wasn't able to see the entire game, but from what I saw and heard, I don't believe there were any major mental lapses of the sort that were all to prevalent on the road trip - in fact, there was some very good defense and very good base running - keep it up boys (control those "controll-ables" as Shannon would say)


#5 Milton returns and goes 2 for 4


Early start tomorrow....
hopefully they can pick up the good things right where they left off tonight and get the split to start off the home stand.

g39 | lotsa good stuff, b u t . . .

Mariners 5 | Athletics 6

no "W" to show for it.

• Figgy with two hits! (including a double and a run and an rbi)
• Casey with two hits! (and two rbi)
• Robby with a homer! (apparently, he likes hitting vs. Sheets)
• Robby also throwing 2 runners out (we won't talk about his out on the basepaths ;-(
• Junior with a hit!
• Mike with a pinch-hit rbi (that tied the game at 5 in the 8th)
• Michael turns an AWESOME DP - shoes string catch and throws the runner out at 2B

10 total hits and 5 walks ... THAT's what I'm talkin' 'bout!

Now, the bad part...

• Felix wasn't Felix but, although he had to work darned hard for it, he did leave with the lead
• The pen, unfortunately, was "the pen" (as of late, they just can't hold it late)
• Guti hesitated on throwing to 2B on a long fly ball out that could have resulted in a DP
• Rob thrown out at 3B (OK, so I mentioned it)

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...

g37 | poor Clifford...

Mariners 1 | Rays 2

Another absolutely STELLAR pitching performance by Mr. Lee
8IP - 5H - 2ER - 1BB - 10K
(vs. the best team in baseball!)

And yet, he loses argh!!

One crummy home stand (1-8) followed by a disheartening road trip (2-4)
The run differential on the road trip so far? 19-20 - I want the one-run winners back!

It just doesn't seem possible that the struggling bats can continue to struggle at the same pace for much longer.  What worries me is (and this is SO totally UN-rosy of me) when the bats do finally break out, and give the bullpen some breathing room, will the starting pitching then come back down to earth?