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HOUSTON (AP) — Miguel Cabrera hit two home runs and tied a career high with six RBIs, leading the Detroit Tigers over the Houston Astros 17-2 on Saturday night. Cabrera went 4 for 4 with a walk. Last year’s Triple Crown winner is hitting .390 this season. The Tigers have won eight of nine. Houston [...]
This week in Mariner-land was a time of births, plane rides, and great baseball. A bunch of good stuff happened. The Mariners first faced the Blue Jays at home, and then flew to New York to face the Yankees for the second time in as many weeks. They faced their now friendly foe, Ichiro, who has gotten a hit for his Yankees in every game that he’s started for them; this week he extended his streak to 12 games. The Mariners went 4-2 on the week.
For the first game against Toronto, fresh off a 14-hour plane ride from Japan (he was visiting his ill father), Mariner Hisashi Iwakuma, 31, set a new rookie pitching record by fanning 13 batters over 8 innings; it was a 4-1 win for the Mariners. The record had previously been held by the likes of Randy Johnson and Freddy Garcia (who each had 12 strikeouts), and is the most Hisashi has ever had in a game–including the 11 years he pitched in Japan. In the game he gave up only 4 hits. After playing the role of long reliever for 3 months, Iwakuma is now 1-1 as a starter with a 3.41 ERA over 5 starts.
Mariners manager Eric Wedge said of Iwakuma: “He was fantastic tonight and we really needed him to step up. We were obviously really short in the bullpen and for him to go eight strong innings like he did and pitch the way he did against a very good-hitting ballclub, it was just a great performance.” By “short in the bullpen,” Wedge meant that 3 of his regular relievers were missing. Closer Tom Wilhelmson was off as he was with his wife helping deliver their first child, and both Brandon League and Steve Delabar were traded to different teams, as the trade deadline approached—League went to the Dodgers, and Delabar walked across the field to the Blue Jays.
However, since all of them were gone, it was Lucas Luetge who picked up his first save. With 2 outs, the game closed with a stellar play by shortstop Brendan Ryan. “It felt good getting the save. But it felt even better looking back and seeing Ryan making that play. Off the bat, I thought, ‘Man, that’s a hit. I’ve got to work on this next guy here.’ So I was pretty pumped about it,” said Luetge. “I threw the ball about 6 inches outside and thought he was just going to take it. But he put his bat out there and it found the hole. Luckily we’ve got a superstar shortstop over there.”
Offensive highlights included Michael Saunders and Kyle Seager both going 2 for 4 with an RBI a piece. Saunders also scored a run. Dustin Ackley, Brendan Ryan and Saunders all had doubles.
As far as trading goes, rumors were swirling overhead that the reliable and consistent Jason Vargas might be the next to leave. This wasn’t the case, as the lefty went on to pitch his first career win against Toronto past the Tuesday deadline, and gathered his career-best 12th win of the season. “I think it would weigh on anybody, but I tried to do my best to just focus on what I had to do tonight,” Jason said. “I was excited when 1 o’clock hit and as time got narrower and narrower, my chances of getting traded got smaller and smaller.”
The Mariners won the game by a landslide score of 7-2, and Jason stayed in Seattle and was awarded the American League’s Pitcher of the Month award for July. Jason’s 5 July wins tied the franchise record, held by King Felix from September 2009. It was a happy ending for the Northwest.
In the game the Mariners would score fast gathering 4 runs over the first 2 innings. In fact, Dustin Ackley would homer on the first pitch of the ball game. He went on to have a 3 RBI night. This was in part due to the offensive production from the bottom of the order, as shortshop Ryan (batting 9th) went 3 for 4 with an RBI, recently promoted left fielder Trayvon Robinson (batting 8th) went 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI, and Miguel Olivo (batting 7th) went 2 for 4 with a double and 2 RBIs. The good night finally put Brendan Ryan’s average above the Mendoza line at .205; his teammates rained down beer and ketchup on him after the game in celebration of this feat.
“One thing that’s important to me,” said the Skipper, “is you’re not just doing it one way or another. You have to have multiple ways to win ballgames up here if you’re going to be a consistent winner and you’re seeing us do that.”
The players seemed to agree, as veteran reliever Josh Kinney, who struck out the side in the 9th, summed up his feelings by saying plainly, “This is fun. We’re playing good ball. Guys are feeling good. This is what it’s supposed to feel like. You come to the park and look around and guys are expecting to come here and do well. This is awesome. This is how you roll.”
The next game was a bit closer, but nonetheless won by the Mariners, 5-3. Blake Beavan pitched 7 2/3rds innings on 82 pitches, and picked up his 4th win since being recalled from Triple-A. The win would cap the longest winning streak (7) the Ms have had in 5 years.
In the trade with Toronto, the Mariners picked up outfielder Eric Thames. In his first start with the Mariners, Eric hit a homer to come from behind and tie the game up at 3 in the 5th against his old team. The next two runs came when Saunders, after hitting a double was hit in by a 2-out single by John Jaso in the 6th. Then in the 7th Ackley would hit in Ryan, who had reached on base by a double as well.
Of his new team, Thames says, “One thing I love about this team is everybody’s young and everything matters. If a guy makes a double-play pitch or good catch, everybody’s on the dugout just giving high-fives. It’s great to be a part of, it’s awesome.”
The 70 degree game at Safeco would be the last played at home for a while as the Mariners were off on a 9-game road trip, first facing the Yankees. The first game against New York’s ball club was lost 6-3 going against All-star CC Sabathia, and the Mariners were outhit 12-3. Sabathia has won his last 8 starts against the Mariners, and it was his 11th win of the season. He struck out 10, and walked only 1. Eric Wedge, who has managed Sabathia in the past, said that the pitcher was on top of his game, and that the Mariners shouldn’t take the loss much to heart. “You’ve got to recognize our guys have been playing good baseball,” Wedge said. “And they played good baseball tonight. That guy was just real good. There’s going to be games like that. That’s all it is.”
In fact, Sabathia had a perfect game going until the top of the 4th when Casper Wells stepped in and blasted a homer; it was his 7th home run of the season. The only other output from the Mariners would be a double in the 8th from Olivo, and another homer from Ackley in the 9th, with Brendan Ryan (who had reached base on a walk) scoring as well. Wedge was still very optimistic about the turnout. “We didn’t give at-bats away today,” he said. “I’m very comfortable with that. The guy was just real good. They were competing. They were in it, and we’ll come out here fresh [Saturday] and ready to rock ‘n’ roll.”
Wedge was right as the Mariners sure did put on a show in Saturday’s game. There was magic in the air for Game 2 against the Yankees. In front of a crowd of 47,067, King Felix shut out New York for the 7th time in his career. Derek Jeter, shortstop and captain of American League’s best home run hitting team commented, “We’d love to score some runs, but unfortunately, Felix was outstanding.”
Our shortstop Brendan Ryan, who’s played behind Felix for 2 years, said, “I think he could have gone 15 innings. Getting that first-strike curve over a couple times and having every bit of sharpness as it did in the first, wow. But that changeup, it defies science.” Numbers show that Hernandez is as good as anyone in the Majors right now, and the win is his 6th in a row, which is the 3rd longest streak in his career. In the game he had 6 strikeouts and only 2 walks.
On why he seems to play so well in New York, Felix responded, “I don’t know, man,” he said. “I’m just trying to throw a good game here. You know New York is a baseball city. The fans here love baseball, so I’m just trying to have a good game.”
The magic stayed in the bats as well, as new father Mike Carp, hit in the winning run on the night his new baby girl was born. Carp’s girlfriend lives in California and the couple were hoping that the birth wouldn’t happen until he reached Anaheim, but the little girl couldn’t wait. The girl was delivered minutes before the Mariners began their game at New York. “It was a good day,” Carp said. “Definitely a memorable one I’ll never forget. I found out right before we took the field.” Carp was 2 for 4 in the game with a double and an RBI; he was able to fly home right after the game.
As for the run, it came in the top of the 2nd. Catcher John Jaso led off with a double, and advanced to 3rd on a grounder from Kyle Seager. Then with 2 outs, and a full count, Carp lined the ball to right field. The Mariners outhit the Yanks 8-2.
The last game of the series was also taken by New York—score 6-2. Despite scoring first in the 1st inning, the Mariners would be outhit 11-5 in the game, and Hisashi Iwakuma would take the loss. Jesus Montero would have both RBIs, coming on 2 separate singles in the 1st and 5th. Ackley and Saunders scored.
The Mariners then hopped on a train to head down to Baltimore to face the Orioles. They head into August with a 51-59 record, and with a heartbeat of optimism. Let’s hope their long 9-game road trip ends with another win streak.
Be sure to check out other great articles at Oregon Sports News.
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Ichiro Suzuki left the Seattle Mariners this week but before that, he still had to play with the Seattle Mariners against the Kansas City Royals and the Tampa Bay Rays on the road. The Mariners were 3-1 against KC and 2-1 against the Rays. Some of the major highlights of the week included scoring 9 runs twice against the Royals, taking Tampa deep into 14 innings, breaking a 2-year, 9-game losing streak against the Rays, and Ichiro’s last word—his 2,533rd career hit.
In Game 1 against the Royals, Casper Wells had a triple and a home for a career-high 5 RBIs in the 9-4 victory. Ichiro got a triple, scored a run, and batted one in. Vargas tallied his 9th win, going 6 innings, and allowed just 3 runs.
In Game 2’s win, Montero went 3-4 with a double and 2 RBIs. Ichiro got a base hit and scored a run. Saunders had a homer and a double, Ackley had a triple and Seager and Ryan both had doubles. Of the 9-6 win manager Eric Wedge said, “When you set the [bar] early like that and give yourself a little breathing room, it allows our young players to go out and relax and play and work to their true abilities a little easier. We’ve had some guys who’ve been struggling here and working to find it, so it’s been nice to see them put some consistent days together.” Despite his low batting average, Justin Smoak also contributed by hitting home runs in each of the first 2 games.
Everybody has heroes and in Game 3, Kansas City would show us theirs—Billy Butler. Butler hit well against the M’s, having previously hit a 2-run homer in Game 1, and again he would display his power in Wednesday night’s game. With the game tied at 7 a piece in the bottom of the 9th, in the first at-bat of the side, Mr. Butler went deep, ending the game. “Bro-other,” TV announcer Dave Sims would say. “Game over.”
Of the pitch that put the Royals up 8-7, MLB Network reporter Greg Johns said, “It ran over the plate and wound up in the wheelhouse of a guy who knows what to do with a mistake.” Butler has 18 home runs on the season.
Despite the loss, the M’s still showed a lot of hitting promise, scoring 7 runs. Bombs from Seager and Wells were highlights (Wells has hit .301 since being called up June 13 from Triple-A). Ichiro and Wells both went 3 for 5 in the game; Ichiro scored 2 runs, and Wells 3 with 2 RBIs. Shortstop Brendan Ryan bagged a triple and Seager an additional double to his home run.
In a seemingly effortless 6-1, Game 4 win, in 89 pitches King Felix Hernandez worked 8 solid innings holding the Royals to just 1 run. He had 3 strikeouts. Jesus Montero again went 3-4, this time with a home run, double, run scored, and 4 RBIs. Ichiro and Saunders each had 2 hits. Ichiro, Ackley, Seager and Smoak all contributed hits and scored a run. Wells would also score a run, reaching base on a walk.
Next the Mariners faced the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Although the Mariners had a lot of run support against the Royals, they were all against a pitching staff whose ERA is ranked 11th in the American League; the Rays’ is ranked 2nd. So already, they were ready for an uphill climb. Game 1 turned out to be a marathon 14-inning battle which would last nearly 5 hours, and the Mariners ended up losing, 4-3. Writer Johns would say that Seattle “spun its wheels” for most of the game, but still, great starting pitching (six solid innings) from newcomer Hisashi Iwakuma was a highlight. Carlos Peguera had a home run, and Wells came up with a first-inning double which Ichiro scored on after hitting a triple.
In Game 2, the Mariners would score 2 runs in the first and then held the Rays for the rest of the game. Jason Vargas pitched his 10th win, and allowed just 1 unearned run. Jaso had 2 hits, scoring 1 of the M’s 2 runs, and is now 5 for 12 against his former team. Michael Saunders lined a shot to left to score Wells and Jaso in the first for Vargas’ run support. and in the top of the 9th, Ichiro would get his last hit as a Mariner. Since starting with the organization in 2001, he has had 2,533 hits.
In Game 3, right-hander Blake Beavan, in his second start after coming back from Triple-A, pitched 8 innings of 1-run ball against the Rays. He allowed only 4 hits in the pitcher’s duel, and thanked his working curve ball. “That was my best start of the year, for sure,” he said.
For his run support, in the first inning, Wells led off with a double and then on a poor bunt was thrown out at 3rd. Ichiro was left on first. He stole his 14th and 15th base of the season to get to 3rd (all in one at-bat against Montero), and Jesus doubled him in to score the first run of the game—Ichiro’s last run as a Mariner. The winning Mariner run came the next inning as Michael Saunders singled and scored on a double from shortstop Brendan Ryan.
While the Mariners rank first in run production on the road in the American League, they rank last at home. The Mariners are currently split with former teammate Ichiro as he is now playing right field for the Yankees. Tonight they will find out who the series win will go to, and then it’s another 4-game series against the Royals. Let’s hope Montero’s road rage continues. He finished off the road trip with 9 RBIs, batting .462. Go, home bats, go!
Be sure to check out other great articles at Oregon Sports News.
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Ichiro Suzuki left the Seattle Mariners this week but before that, he still had to play with the Seattle Mariners against the Kansas City Royals and the Tampa Bay Rays on the road. The Mariners were 3-1 against KC and 2-1 against the Rays. Some of the major highlights of the week included scoring 9 runs twice against the Royals, taking Tampa deep into 14 innings, breaking a 2-year, 9-game losing streak against the Rays, and Ichiro’s last word—his 2,533rd career hit.
In Game 1 against the Royals, Casper Wells had a triple and a home for a career-high 5 RBIs in the 9-4 victory. Ichiro got a triple, scored a run, and batted one in. Vargas tallied his 9th win, going 6 innings, and allowed just 3 runs.
In Game 2’s win, Montero went 3-4 with a double and 2 RBIs. Ichiro got a base hit and scored a run. Saunders had a homer and a double, Ackley had a triple and Seager and Ryan both had doubles. Of the 9-6 win manager Eric Wedge said, “When you set the [bar] early like that and give yourself a little breathing room, it allows our young players to go out and relax and play and work to their true abilities a little easier. We’ve had some guys who’ve been struggling here and working to find it, so it’s been nice to see them put some consistent days together.” Despite his low batting average, Justin Smoak also contributed by hitting home runs in each of the first 2 games.
Everybody has heroes and in Game 3, Kansas City would show us theirs—Billy Butler. Butler hit well against the M’s, having previously hit a 2-run homer in Game 1, and again he would display his power in Wednesday night’s game. With the game tied at 7 a piece in the bottom of the 9th, in the first at-bat of the side, Mr. Butler went deep, ending the game. “Bro-other,” TV announcer Dave Sims would say. “Game over.”
Of the pitch that put the Royals up 8-7, MLB Network reporter Greg Johns said, “It ran over the plate and wound up in the wheelhouse of a guy who knows what to do with a mistake.” Butler has 18 home runs on the season.
Despite the loss, the M’s still showed a lot of hitting promise, scoring 7 runs. Bombs from Seager and Wells were highlights (Wells has hit .301 since being called up June 13 from Triple-A). Ichiro and Wells both went 3 for 5 in the game; Ichiro scored 2 runs, and Wells 3 with 2 RBIs. Shortstop Brendan Ryan bagged a triple and Seager an additional double to his home run.
In a seemingly effortless 6-1, Game 4 win, in 89 pitches King Felix Hernandez worked 8 solid innings holding the Royals to just 1 run. He had 3 strikeouts. Jesus Montero again went 3-4, this time with a home run, double, run scored, and 4 RBIs. Ichiro and Saunders each had 2 hits. Ichiro, Ackley, Seager and Smoak all contributed hits and scored a run. Wells would also score a run, reaching base on a walk.
Next the Mariners faced the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Although the Mariners had a lot of run support against the Royals, they were all against a pitching staff whose ERA is ranked 11th in the American League; the Rays’ is ranked 2nd. So already, they were ready for an uphill climb. Game 1 turned out to be a marathon 14-inning battle which would last nearly 5 hours, and the Mariners ended up losing, 4-3. Writer Johns would say that Seattle “spun its wheels” for most of the game, but still, great starting pitching (six solid innings) from newcomer Hisashi Iwakuma was a highlight. Carlos Peguera had a home run, and Wells came up with a first-inning double which Ichiro scored on after hitting a triple.
In Game 2, the Mariners would score 2 runs in the first and then held the Rays for the rest of the game. Jason Vargas pitched his 10th win, and allowed just 1 unearned run. Jaso had 2 hits, scoring 1 of the M’s 2 runs, and is now 5 for 12 against his former team. Michael Saunders lined a shot to left to score Wells and Jaso in the first for Vargas’ run support. and in the top of the 9th, Ichiro would get his last hit as a Mariner. Since starting with the organization in 2001, he has had 2,533 hits.
In Game 3, right-hander Blake Beavan, in his second start after coming back from Triple-A, pitched 8 innings of 1-run ball against the Rays. He allowed only 4 hits in the pitcher’s duel, and thanked his working curve ball. “That was my best start of the year, for sure,” he said.
For his run support, in the first inning, Wells led off with a double and then on a poor bunt was thrown out at 3rd. Ichiro was left on first. He stole his 14th and 15th base of the season to get to 3rd (all in one at-bat against Montero), and Jesus doubled him in to score the first run of the game—Ichiro’s last run as a Mariner. The winning Mariner run came the next inning as Michael Saunders singled and scored on a double from shortstop Brendan Ryan.
While the Mariners rank first in run production on the road in the American League, they rank last at home. The Mariners are currently split with former teammate Ichiro as he is now playing right field for the Yankees. Tonight they will find out who the series win will go to, and then it’s another 4-game series against the Royals. Let’s hope Montero’s road rage continues. He finished off the road trip with 9 RBIs, batting .462. Go, home bats, go!
Be sure to check out other great articles at Oregon Sports News.
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This past week before the All-Star break wasn’t a very good one for the Mariners, as they lost 2-out-of-3 to each of the teams they faced.
Taking games deep into extra innings in 2 of the 3 games played against the Oakland Athletics, the Mariners would come up short both times. Tied at 1 a piece in Game 1, in the 11th inning, a 3-run, Chris Carter home run would end the duel. In Game 3, a 13th inning game was won by hitting heroics from Athletics stand-out Josh Reddick. The Mariners took Game 2, 7-1, due largely to a stellar, complete-game pitching performance by Jason Vargas. Kyle Seager and Brendan Ryan came through with multiple-RBI doubles in the contest, in addition to a Casper Wells home run.
Generally speaking, though, on his team’s hitting performance Skipper Wedge felt like he’s watching a movie on repeat. “It’s just been Groundhog Day too many times for me,” he says, and adds that in order to get more run production in the second half they are going to be making some changes and doing a lot of player evaluations over the All-Star break. “Ultimately,” he says of his players, “they’re grown men out there and they’re either going to get it done or they won’t be here.”
Something good to take into the second half was the outstanding performances put in by 27-year-old outfielder Casper Wells. Back and forth from AAA, Wells is now hitting .261 on the year. Looking at recent triumphs, it is easy to see that he has become a valuable asset to Seattle’s line-up. In their only win against the Athletics 2 weeks ago, Wells was the one who started things off with a single in the 8th to move things forward for the win. In game 1 against the Red Sox, at 0-0 in the 9th, and 1 out, Wells doubled to get into scoring position for a pinch hit from John Jaso. In game 3’s win, was one of the 3 runs scored.
Moving into this week, in the first game against the Orioles, one in which the Mariners won 6-3, the MLB headline was “All’s well that ends Wells.” Down, 3-1 with 2 outs and the bases loaded, hit a 3 RBI double to give the Mariners the lead for the night. When they didn’t have any hits in Game 2, Wells got one—a home run. He “hummed the fast ball,” said manager Eric Wedge, and in doing so spoiled Chen’s perfect game of 6-plus innings. In game 1 against the Athletics, he singled and was the only run to score. In Game 2, he singled and homered, scoring 2 runs. Batting throughout the line-up, his quick hands are becoming more and more of a spark plug in the Mariners offense, and he’s now the Mariners go-to-guy.
John Jaso, at 28, is also proving to be a star player. Numerous times this year he has come through in pressure situations and now is dubbed by radio announcers as “Mr. Clutch.” In addition to getting the walk-off pinch hit single against the Red Sox last week, in Game 2 against the Orioles, he came in as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the 8th, with 1 out, down 4-2 with runners in scoring position, and singled to right field.
With the largest baseball footprint in MLB, the Mariners are looking to make some changes to give fans a winning team to support. Manager Eric Wedge would like to get back to the time in the season when they were hitting well and splitting with number 1 ball clubs, like and . He said, “We had a stretch there on the road where we were really doing what we want to do, what they need to do. But you got to work hard to hang on to it, and if you lose it for a couple days, you got to work hard to get back with it.”
When facing the Orioles in Game 2, Baltimore pitcher Chris Tillman put up a 2-hit performance, retiring the first 10 Mariners he saw, pitching 8-plus innings. Orioles manager Buck Showalter referred to his pitcher’s performance as “fresh gunpowder.” In the first half of the 2012 season, the Mariners have certainly produced magical moments that have brought us to our feet, such as their 21-run game against Texas, their 6-pitcher combined no-no against the Dodgers, and their multiple, extra-inning wins. In Game 1 against the Orioles this week, Miguel Olivo and Dustin Ackley hit back-to-back (pitch-to-pitch) home runs in the 8th. But with a losing record at 36-51 (16-25 at Safeco), the fairy dust is fading. What the Mariners really need over this 4-day All-Star break is a refresh. With sparks flying from the bullpen and dug-out, Mariner fans all around can be sure to see some late-July fireworks.
Be sure to check out other great articles at Oregon Sports News.
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Justin Smoak #17 of the Seattle Mariners is congratulated for hitting a home run in the fourth inning against the Texas Rangers at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington on May 30, 2012 in Arlington, Texas. (May 29, 2012 – Source: Rick Yeatts/Getty Images North America) ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Justin Smoak hit two three-run homers against [...]
Justin Verlander #35 of the Detroit Tigers pitches in the fourth inning during the game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Comerica Park on April 11, 2012 in Detroit, Michigan. (April 10, 2012 – Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images North America) DETROIT (AP) — Ben Zobrist hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the ninth inning, [...]
David Wright #5 of the New York Mets reacts after hitting a ground ball out to the shortstop in the twelfth inning of a game against the Cincinnati Reds at Citi Field on September 27, 2011 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (September 26, 2011 – Photo by Patrick [...]
Brandon Allen #31 of the Oakland Athletics celebrates his solo home run with teammate David DeJesus #12 against the New York Yankees on August 23, 2011 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. (August 22, 2011 – Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images North America) (PhatzRadio/ AP / TGM Sports) – NEW [...]
CC Sabathia #52 of the New York Yankees pitches against the Chicago White Sox on August 1, 2011 at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, Illinois. (July 31, 2011 – Photo by David Banks/Getty Images North America) (PhatzRadio/ AP / TGM Sports) – CHICAGO — CC Sabathia pitched eight strong innings to earn his major league-best [...]
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