Thankfully, I wasn’t able to actually see the action ~ not sure my heart could have taken it 😦
(hearing bits and pieces and reading my twitter feed was bad enough)
There was SO much good to take away from this game . . .
– from Joe gutting it out to save the pen, to the “new guy” mowing through the Tribe’s order
– from some BIG hits LATE to build confidence that they are never out of it, to some awesome plays in the field
And then there was the bad . . .
I rarely lay blame on one player, as that’s hardly ever deserved over the course of a NINE inning game but, Jesus has some ‘splain’ to do 😦
# in the 3rd, he got caught between 2B and 3B with TWO on, NO out in a ONE run game at the time
# in the 5th, still a ONE run game, he hit into a double-play to END the inning
# in the 9th, he fielded a FC on an apparently awesome diving catch and throw by Brendan – and Jesus didn’t have his foot on the plate. Granted, the bases were loaded at the time so obviously Ollie deserves some blame as well but, heretofore, Ollie has been awesome – Jesus, not so much. There still would have been a long row to hoe even if they’d gotten the out but, with momentum and another GB, ya never know . . .
foot off plate | Jason Miller, Getty Images
ON THE MOUND
Joe, as has been the case on the road so far this season, struggled ALL the way through his a l m o s t SIX innings of work – he had multiple runners on base in every inning except one. He held it close though – not giving up his second earned run until the 5th and then things really unraveled and he was unable to make it out of the 6th. Gotta give him credit for hanging in though (120 pitches!)
Enter Danny Farquhar (part of the Ichiro trade with the Yanks) to make his Mariners debut . . .
Danny was recalled from AAA Tacoma after the Yankee series when Hector was sent back down (due to his availability -or lackthereof- out of the pen after his outing at YS). Anyhoo – what a debut!
2.2 innings ~ ZERO runs ~ ZERO walks ~ FIVE stikeouts . . . can we keep him?!??
the 9th brought a rare meltdown that led to the heartbreak . . .
Ollie allowed a single, a double and then an intentional walk and it would then be up to Yoervis, who he gets the ground ball he wanted (Brendan makes an awesome play) but . . . (see above)
AT THE PLATE
suffice it to say, the lead-off double was hardly the good omen it appeared to be . . .
McAllister, essentially mowed the M’s down through seven innings, giving up only FOUR hits and ONE walk during that time. But then, something we’re not terribly used to seeing . . . a late rally!
~ in the 8th, after Justin hit a lead-off double, Brendan (of all people!) hits his first homer of the year to cut the Tribe’s lead in half (4-2)
~ in the 9th, with two outs, Raul and Justin hit back-to-back home runs to tie the game!
IN THE FIELD
* M’s only had ONE double-play but, it was a doozy! Another OF assist as Raul makes a nice catch on a L O N G fly ball to LF and then relays to Brendan who relays to Justin to nail Asdrubal at 1B
* Jesus’s tough day already mentiond
tweets of the game (too many to choose!) . . .
Compass Rosy 