ON the MOUND
Felix did more than his part as usual . . .
Surprising that walked TWO batters in ONE inning TWICE (not sure what the issue was but, have to wonder if it had anything to do with not having Mike behind the plate – nothing against Jesus . . . it’s just that Felix is so used to Mike)
SEVEN innings ~ TWO hits ~ ONE run ~ ZERO earned runs ~ FOUR walks ~ NINE strikeouts
} Yourvis, Joe, Brandon and Nando kept ’em right where they were through the next THREE innings (including a Nando strikeout of Trout for the third out in the 9th)
Then, for the second straight night, the bullpen was called upon to dig deep . . .
} Dom gave up a solo shot in the 11th (luckily, at that point the M’s had a 2-run lead)
} Charlie earned his FIRST major league SAVE by pitching a scoreless 12th to preserve sweet victory
AT the PLATE
Hits and runs proved to be ever-so-precious for both sides (just like last night) but, the M’s were able to do JUST enough, despite Richards going FIFTEEN up, FIFTEEN down . . .
Dustin had TWO hits (including one of the M’s THREE doubles – Kyle and LoMo with the others) and scored the M’s first run (on a single by Jesus in the 6th)
The top of the 12th was a thing of beauty and a bit frustrating at the same time…
Kyle and LoMo had back-to-back doubles that gave the M’s the lead (2-1) and then Endy laid down a PERFECT bunt that stays fair and allows him to be safe at first AND to move LoMo to 2B. After Dustin strikes out, Justin pinch hits for Jesus and, with the bases loaded, singles up the 3B line (nearly a bunt single) to score LoMo and extend the M’ lead to 3-1 – James and Stefen would both make outs (hence the slightly frustrating part – though much abaited by the win 😉 )
IN the FIELD
The 7th started out pretty ugly . . .
with runners at at 1B and 2B, the batter hit one up the middle that Brad had to dive for and he couldn’t get it to Robbie so, he ended up air-mailing it from his knees to LoMo at 1B which allowed the tying run to score. With runners at the corners, a chopper was fielded and they were able to tag Hamilton out betwixt #b and home.
* In the 8th, LoMo and Brad couldn’t quite turn TWO when there was a chopper to 1B and LoMo threw to Brad at the 2B bag to get the lead runner but, Yourvis was a bit late to the 1B bag
* Jesus with a great throw to Robbie to nail Hamilton (trying to steal 2B) for the third out in the 11th
* Kyle had a line-snare of a sure double for the second out in the 12th and also made a snag for the third out
tweets of the game . . .
Compass Rosy 