ON THE MOUND
Felix did what he does . . .
pitched extremely well, allowing only TWO solo shots in the 5th, and managed to keep his cool when he got NO run support. But, no doubt he was as happy as the rest for the TEAM WIN . . .
SEVEN innings ~ SEVEN hits ~ TWO earned runs ~ TWO walks ~ SEVEN strikeouts
} Yoervis struck out the first batter he faced in the 8th and then gave up a hit
} Charlie came in and tossed 1.2 scoreless/hitless innings
} The BEST news of the night, is not just that the M’s won, it’s that CLOSING TIME is BACK!!
Tom came into the 10th and retired the side for his first save since June 10th (his first opportunity since June 18th – which he blew and lost his role). It wasn’t a total surprise as he has been working his way back – coming into this game, in his last FOUR outings ~total of 3.1 innings~ he hadn’t allowed a hit OR a walk and struck out FOUR . . . Good on ya, Tommy!!!
AT THE PLATE
Things started out well . . .
~ Jason led off with his ELEVENTH homer of the season (all solo shots) marking a new club record for lead-off shots (SEVEN). But then, a string of gettin’ ’em ON (at least TWO runners on in the 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th) without gettin’ ’em OVER, let alone IN. The 6th was particularly frustrating as they loaded the bases with ONE out and were only able to push ONE run across – granted, via a great AB by Mike Z, he was down 0-2 and ended up with an RBI single that tied the game at the time (but, no one would argue that they should have gotten more). oh, and the FOURTEEN strikeouts weren’t exactly pride-worthy.
~ Encouraging to see Justin with another THREE hits (batting .310 since his return from the DL June 18)
~ Kyle was the hero in the 10th, as he launched a TWO run shot (his third hit of the game) to give the M’s a TWO run lead. Honorable Mention goes to Michael S for working a walk prior to that – he was down 0-2 and drew FOUR straight balls.
Kyle rounds the bases in the 10th | Tony Gutierrez, AP
IN THE FIELD
Only ONE dp but, it was a big one – ended the 7th with TWO on and preserved the tie at the time
tweet of the game . . .
Compass Rosy 