Tag Archives: Liddi

Congrats to Kuma and The King ~ 2013 All-Stars

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CONGRATULATIONS to the M’s collective 1-2 punch!!!

Felix named to his 4th ASG | Marinerds, etc. blog

Felix named to his 4th ASG | Marinerds, etc. blog

Kuma gets first ASG selection | NewsTribune

Kuma gets first ASG selection | NewsTribune

Felix earned his fourth All Star selection and Hisashi his first. If the rotation stays as is – Kuma would be scheduled to pitch the Sunday before the ASG which, in recent years, would deem him ineligible to actually pitch in the game. But, some changes in the CBA have changed that . . . Larry’s run down of the new rules

Iwakuma, however, is scheduled to start for the Mariners next Sunday, the last day before the All-Star break. If that happens, MLB rules dictate he may opt to be replaced on the American League roster, or be limited to one inning.  Iwakuma would still attend the game at New York’s Citi Field and go through all the festivities and be introduced with the team.

Iwakuma has the lowest ERA in the American League (2.60), followed by Hernandez at No. 2 (2.69). Iwakuma also has the lowest WHIP in the AL (0.88) to go with a 7-4 record. Hernandez is 8-4 and ranks fourth in the AL with 130 strikeouts. Iwakuma’s chances seemed to have dimmed with a stretch of four starts in which he went 0-3 with a 5.54 ERA to raise his ERA from 1.79, but his body of work over 18 starts prevailed.

Unfortunately, no Rauuuuuuul . . .

 

Alex Liddi traded to the O’s and International Draft picks swapped . . .

The Mariners have traded third baseman/first baseman Alex Liddi and their international signing slot No. 3 for the Orioles’ international signing slot No. 2.

Liddi is reportedly headed for the Orioles’ Triple A affiliate in Norfolk.

Liddi, 24, has appeared in 8 games with the Mariners this season (.059/1×17), spending most of the season with AAA Tacoma. With the Rainiers he is batting .263 (63×240) with 11 home runs and 43 RBI. Liddi was originally signed by the Mariners as an international free agent on Sept. 9, 2005. The native of Sanremo, Italy is the first Italian-born and developed player to appear in a Major League game.

This basically gives the Mariners more money to spend on the international free agent market.

Liddi was designated for assignment when the Mariners called up Brad Miller. The team had 10 days to either release, trade or outright Liddi. With the Orioles likely to claim him off of waivers, the Mariners picked up some more money on the international market instead.

 

Good news on the bullpen front . . .

g64 | when the pitching comes through, the bats do not

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Mariners 1 | Yankees 2

I decided at the last minute to attend the game today. It would have been SO worth it if the M’s had pulled it out. As it was, the loss made my mound of chores and errands put off all the more daunting. Oh well, at least there was that bit of history in seeing Mariano Rivera throw his last pitch ever at Safeco Field which resulted in his 23rd save of the season and a series win for the Yanks . . .

ON THE MOUND
Felix really had to work hard today (especially in the first TWO innings, where he threw 40 pitches and gave up both his walks and his only run). Despite his great final line, it just seemed like he never truly got into a groove. He also didn’t get a lotta help from his defense and, there was a bit of a scare in the 7th – after he got the first two batters out, Rick Griffin came out to the mound with Wedge. Not sure what the issue was but, he stayed in and struck out Gardner on THREE pitches for the final out.

SEVEN innings ~ FIVE hits ~ ONE earned run ~ TWO walks ~ SEVEN strikeouts

} the bullpen of Charlie + Yoervis + Ollie wasn’t particularly sharp today, giving up a couple walks, a couple hits and the go ahead run in the 9th

AT THE PLATE
The M’s made Phelps work a bit in the first couple of innings as well. Jason led off the 1st with a single and Kyle walked with two outs but they couldn’t capitalize. In the 2nd, they were able to tie it up: Kelly had a great NINE pitch AB that resulted in a double and Alex walked (his first time on base since his call up) and Brendan singled to get Kelly home and tie the game.

But, 1-1 is where it would stay until the 9th. In fact, Phelps faced the minimum in innings 3-7.

Alex had a lead off double in the 8th but, after a sac bunt by Brendan, Jason and Nick struck out to end the threat.

There was a glimmer of hope in the 9th when Kyle roped a single (extending his hitting streak to 13) on the first pitch but, Kendrys killed the hope by grounding into a double play (I’m thinking he needs to sit out a game or two and rest that back, clearly he’s not been himself the past few games). Raul was intentionally, unintentionally walked and hope rose again when Chavez, pinch hitting for Kelly hit a single but, as I tweeted above – that was all she wrote.

IN THE FIELD
There was a nice DP turned in the 2nd but, other than that, the defense looked a bit sub-par today (Brendan with a throwing error allowing a runner to be safe at 1B) and Nick with an attempt at a back hand that failed

tweets of the game . . .

(there was a conspicuous absence of tweets during the game but, found this one much later)

 

g152 | Series Win!!! (and SEASON series TIE)

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Mariners 1 | Rangers 0

Yes, the RISP woes continued…
M’s were 0-6 in such opportunities.
Good news was, the Rangers were 0-8 🙂

Beavan has been great vs. his old team all season and tonight was no exception…
8hits – 0runs – 1walk – 2strikeouts
the M’s and R’s had another 1-0 contest earlier in the season in Arlington which the Rangers won – Blake was the pitcher in that one as well.
He can field his position too – a batted ball hit his foot and he was able to spin around, get the ball and fire a rocket to Smoak at 1B for the out

Ted S. Warren | AP

Kinney was IMPRESSIVE…
after Beavan gave up a double and a walk to start the 8th, Josh came in and got a two strikeouts and a ground ball

Closing time passed without the need for tums…
THREE ground ball outs (including a bit of a tricky hop that he handled) and The Bartender notched his 29th save (not too shabby considering he didn’t start closing until early June)

Jesus had a nice night…
two hits but even better behind the plate catching the impressive trio of Beavan-Kinney-Wilhelmsen
also – throwing out a would-be base-stealer AND getting an out at home plate on a relay.

Ted S. Warren | AP

Smoak also continued to perform well vs. his ex-teammates…
coming into this game he had a .400 BA and a 1.262 OPS

Ackley was still out with a sore neck, so Seager played 2B and Liddi was in at 3B…
not a good day for Alex … 0-3 w/3K’s

Another 2 DP’s from the DEE!

oh by the way…
12 consecutive games with at least one home run

the moves, as expected…

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tweet from the M’s…

Mariners
Franklin Gutierrez, Erasmo Ramirez, Steve Delabar, Casper Wells join #Mariners. Carp & Pryor to DL, Beavan & Liddi to AAA Tacoma.

Heal fast and well, Mike and Stephan!

Good luck, Blake and Alex!

Welcome back to the Show, Guti, Erasmo, Steve and Casper!

g47 | strikingly bad…

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Mariners 0 | Angels 3

Well, THAT was disappointing.

Needless to say, watching (in person) the M’s lose to the Halos by striking out 14 times against Haren was NOT the greatest way to start my 4-day weekend. At least the young adults sitting behind me (two gals and three guys) were entertaining – the gals were explaining the game to the guys 🙂

I didn’t have a great vibe even before Albert’s homer…
Vargas seemed to be pitching in molasses or something – he was taking  F O R E V E R  between pitches. But, all things considered, his final line was respectable and definitely gave them a chance to win. And, Delabar was great – two hitless/scoreless innings with 3K’s. So, the pitching, as expected was not the problem vs. the Angels who have scored even fewer runs than the M’s

‘t was all about the bats – or lack thereof…
vs. really good pitching. Haren hasn’t gotten off to the greatest of starts – and unfortunately, he was able to take a huge leap in the right direction vs. the M’s. Wedge was not at all in a “cap-tipping” move after the game and no bones about his displeasure with his post game comments. He said that Haren was pitching exactly the same in the 9th as he was in the 1st because the M’s hitters made absolutely no adjustments. Here’s hoping they learn to adjust, with Liddi leading the charge. FOUR has been his number the last couple games : 4 RBI on one swing on Wednesday vs. the Rangers, 4 K’s on Thursday night vs. the Halos…

Elaine Thompson | AP

Prior to the game…
Miguel Olivo was activated from the DL and Casper Wells was sent to Tacoma

g46 | Millwood mows and Liddi launches…

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Mariners 5 | Rangers 3

of course, due to the early start, I was unable to watch or listen (and was green with envy toward some of my co-workers who got to enjoy an outing at The Safe today!!) But, I kept track here and there via GameDay…

What has gotten into “old man Millwood”?!?
first the Yankees in NY…
then the Rockies in Colorado…
and now the Rangers at The Safe???

SIX innings – THREE hits – ZERO runs – ONE walk – TWO strikeouts
those are good numbers against ANY team – against the Rangers, they are GREAT
way to go, Kevin!

The 7th was a bit curious…
it took THREE pitchers to get through FOUR batters for THREE out – but, they did it.

The Bartender made things a bit too interesting in the 8th…
a single, a steal, a double, a home and boom! the Rangers had THREE runs

Maybe Tom just wanted to ensure Brandon of the save opportunity…
which he seized completely (without so much as a lead off walk even!)
Cruz fly out, Torrealba strike out, Napoli strike out

Nice to see Jesus catching the dreaded “day game after a night game”…
and he’s still standing (posted a double and ANOTHER walk (his 6th in 11 games – he had 2 in April)

Offense posted only FOUR hits, but SIX walks and…
oh, yeah – this Italian kid, Liddi, hit one a LONG way with the bases loaded

Otto Greule, Jr | Getty Images

Whadaya know?!?
the M’s not only won a series against the Rangers, they managed to hold them to only SEVEN runs on FOUR hits and strikeout TWENTY-FOUR in the 3-game set.

by the way, apparently Italian grand slams are a bit on the rare side…

Liddi’s slam was just the second in major league history by an Italian born player. Reno Bertoia hit a grand slam on May 7, 1958, for Detroit against Washington.

g45 | hard luck Hector

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Mariners 1 | Rangers 3

AWESOME performance by Hector!
~ just one rough inning, really only one mistake pitch – a hanger to Andrus for a 2-run triple in the 3rd
~ love how he has continued to improve and am REALLY impressed how he worked this lineup
8IP – 3H – 3R – 2BB – 7K
He only allowed ONE hit after the 3rd (and Luegte and Delabar combined for a 1 hit 0 rin inning)

Offense started out so well…
a Liddi walk, an Ichiro single and a Smoak single had the M’s on the board in the first
then Seager walked to load the bases and Wells  a l m o s t   hit one out  to really break it open but, Hamilton showed that he is not JUST a hitter (and later he would similarly rob Liddi of at least a double)

Ted Warren | AP

M’s actually outhit the Rangers 7 to 4 and they each had 2 walks

But, they just couldn’t put it all together tonight when it counted.

Rubber game tomorrow….

g26 | series lost, lessons learned

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Mariners 4 | Rays 5

On the day that the youngest Mariner (Erasmo Ramirez) turned 22 there were….

A FEW GLIMPSES OF GLORY
~ Seager’s first multi-homer day comes off an ace
~ Montero records his 6th straight hit and catches on back-to-back days for the first time
~ Ramirez (in relief of Beavan) and Montero make a nice play on a bunt to nail a player at the plate
~ Ichiro makes 10 putouts (Mariners record for RF) AND passes Ozzie Smith on the all-time hits list

SOME LOOKS AT LESSONS
~ mis-communication on a mile high popup that dropped between Liddi and Ackley
~ a ball went right thru Liddi’s wickets
~ another PB for Montero
~ a ball tipped off Saunders’ glove over the wall for a homer
~ Ackley picked off 1B – with 2 outs
~ oh, and strikeouts by the gazillion

And so it goes in a season of development… 
We take the good with the bad, the excitement with frustration and the opportunity with the adversity.

No one said it’d be easy but, everyone knows it is necessary and, in the end, it will be worth it.

g25 | the battery of Hector and Jesus

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Mariners 1 | Rays 3

Hector seemed to be in an ‘every other inning’ groove….
With a very rough 1st and a so-so 3rd thinning and an easy sail through both the 2nd and 4th
But then, he broke the pattern and breezed through the 5th and, retired 9 of the last 10 batters he faced.
Nice goin’, Hector!

J. Meric | Getty Images

FOUR for FOUR for JESUS…
3 singles (including a 404 footer) and a double (but where-oh-where are the base runners?!?)
He does like to hit when he catches … and, with Miggy’s DL stint, he’ll be doing a lot more of that.

As Michael sauntered up to the plate…
I was thinking, I’ll bet he wants a little redemption (a do over of sorts for his bunt blunder last night) and, before I even completed my thought … LAUNCH!!!

 

J.Meric | Getty Images


O
They made Matt Moore work and got their share of hits (out hit the Rays, in fact,9 to 3)
just way less than their share of runs (now ZERO for THIRTY w/RISP in the last FOUR games)

D
nice diving grab and throw by Alex in the 4th
PB for Jesus (first pitch from Luetge in relief) but overall nice job in his first as primary C

btw ~ Welcome back, Mike Carp!

g21 | of opportunities, comebacks and grand slams

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Mariners 9 | Blue Jays 5

Close game, see-saw game all the way (until the end!)
M’s kept coming back and were able to take advantage of some very costly Jays boo-boos.

Jesus started the first rally in the 7th…
with a one-out, solo shot (to deep center field, of course!) and Casper collected his first RBI with a ringing double to score Miggy and tie the game at THREE

The Jays came roaring back in the bottom of the 8th on The Bartender’s worst ever inning… 

he got a quick ground out but, gave up solo shot and the lead and then made a bad toss to Justin at 1B that allowed the runner to get all the way to 3B and eventually score on a sac fly.

and then came the 9th…
~ with one out, Michael hit a solo shot on the 9th pitch of his AB
~ Kyle pinch hit for Casper and was safe at 1B on a freaky hop
~ Kawasaki pinch ran for Wells and with Dustin batting the catcher threw the ball into right field trying to pick off Kawasaki who then got all the way to 3B
~ Dustin was intentionally walked and
~ Jaso pinch hit for Ryan and singled home Kawasaki
~ Ackley was thrown out at the plate trying to score from 1B thanks to a weird play by the CF (he dove for the ball, missed it and it bounced off his bare hand which prevented it from rolling all the way to the wall for a double)

the Bartender and the Rabbits foot preserve the chance for extries…
~ good on Tom for coming in and retiring the only batter he faced in the 9th after that awful 9th
~ and kudos to Charlie for another great outing as he retired both batters he faced

and you thought the 9th was exciting…
after Ichiro grounded out, Smoke, Montero and Liddi loaded the bases for Michael Saunders, who launched one to deep right for a GRAND SLAM!

Frank Gunn | AP

Brandon League then checked in (in a non-save situation) to record 3-straight ground ball outs

woot! woot! FOUR in-a-row!!!

Not to be over-looked in the excitement, M’s fielders looked darned good on that darned turf…
* Casper and Ichiro both showed off their guns…
~Caspers a l m o s t worked
~Ichiro’s connected beautifully with Miggy’s glove and he made a great reach to tag the runner out
* Ryan made a nice play to knock down a ball that kept the runner from advancing from 2B to 3B
* Saunders made a really nice running grab with two on for the third out with in the 6th
* Liddi made a lovely hot shot play at 3B by to get Bautista at 1B in the bottom of the 9th