Mariners 7 | Athletics 4

ON THE MOUND
To say Joe had a rough start is a bit of an understatement . . .
giving up FOUR runs (on 40 pitches!) in the 1st inning is never a good sign but, he defied pessimism and hung in there, scattering FIVE hits over the next FIVE innings, thereby giving ’em a chance . . .
SIX innings ~ TEN hits ~ FOUR earned runs ~ THREE walks ~ TWO strikeouts

} Brandon got a little work, posting a scoreless 7th that included a strikeout
} Yoervis had a rather shaky inning, getting himself in and out of trouble (as has been is MO of late) with a hit and a couple of walks but, was able to escape damage
} Danny struck out TWO (including Cespedes to end the game) to earn his EIGHTH save in NINE tries

AT THE PLATE
~ Nick with his first home run since July 28th cut the A’s lead in half (4-2) in the 3rd

Not much happened after that, on either side, until the top of the 8th . . .
the M’s recorded FOUR consecutive hits with no outs (Michael S single, Henry double, Brad RBI single, Nick RBI single) to tie the game at FOUR. Then, Kyle walked and, with Kendrys batting, a WP scored Brad (pinch-running for Henry) from 3B and then Kendrys hit a high chopper and a close play at the plate but Nick was called safe and the score was 6-4. Nick apparently got his knee scraped up by the catcher’s cleats blocking the plate. Raul had a long AB and ended up walking then, another WP, scored Kyle to make it 7-4, where it would stay.

thank heaven for the 8th cuz the 9th look a lot like last night . . .
Humberto was up to bunt, after Brad had singled, and hit a chopper that the catcher fielded bare handed and threw to 2B but, there was no baseman so, Brad got to 3B and Humberto ended up at 1B. Then, a couple of strikeouts and then Raul walked to load the bases  . . . and Justin flied out.

IN THE FIELD

Nifty 1-3 ended the 5th and was ONE of THREE double-plays that helped Joe survive after that  L  O  N  G  1st inning (he also recorded a pick-off)

INJURY NOTE
Nick’s knee required FIVE stitches and he’ll likely be out about a week

tweets of the game . . .