Tag Archives: Maurer

from the grief of the grid iron to the dream of the diamond . . .

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Being SO close to feeling, for a second time, the euphoria still simmering from the first championship only to have it abruptly snatched away in the final seconds was pretty brutal (to put it mildly). It’s going to take some time.

Luckily, there’s a cure . . .

the delicious distraction that is BASEBALL 🙂 – some catchin’ up to do . . .

The CY Award that wasn’t

Felix Facts | From the Corner of Edgar and Dave

Why Felix Hernandez (unexpectedly) lost the Cy Young Award | Ryan Divish, The Seattle Times

Mariners Ace Felix Hernandez not winning Cy Young Award is a Stunner | Larry Stone, The Seattle Times

 “Yeah, I did,” he said. “It was a great year. I think I pitched way better than 2010.”

Goodbye to some old friends, hello to the new

  • 1B Justin Smoak claimed off waivers by the Blue Jays
  • RF Michael Sauders traded to the Blue Jays for LHP J.A. Happ
  • Signed free agent LF Nelson Cruz
  • RHP Matt Brazis traded to the Cubs for RF Justin Ruggiano
  • RHP Brandon Maurer traded to the Padres for LF Seth Smith
  • Signed Guti and Endy to minor league deals with invites to Spring Training
  • Signed free agaFA 2B Rickie Weeks

A message from Michael Saunders to Mariners fams | Ryan Divish, Mariners Blog

Mariners sign Nelson Cruz to 4-year deal | ESPN.com

nelson

Gar continues to garner high profile support

Randy Johnson endorses Edgar for HoF | ESPN.com

tweets of the off-season

PLAY BALL!!!!

g162 | ‘t was SO sweet that September mattered . . .

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Swept the Halos to begin the season. . .
Swept the Halos to end the season . . .
Just came up a couple short but, what a ride!

sweet september

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mariners 4 | Angels 1

ON the MOUND
The closest thing that Felix has ever had to a playoff game – and, he did NOT disappoint  . . .
FIVE.ONE innings ~ ONE hit ~ ZERO runs ~ ZERO earned runs ~ ZERO walks ~ SEVEN strikeouts

The one hit was a single by Pujols in the 1st and then Felix proceeded to retire FOURTEEN in-a-row. The only reason he didn’t go longer was because during his outing, the A’s beat the Rangers which was the last straw on the camel’s back that was the M’s shot at a chance for post season. Lloyd took him out shortly after that to a thunderous ovation of pure love and appreciation for his CY-worthy, season-long effort . . .

https://twitter.com/SteveSandmeyer/status/516346360715419648

 

} Brandon replaced Felix and promptly gave up a hit and a wild pitch but, escaped the 6th unscathed and breezed through the 7th
} Joe and Yourvis combined for a scoreless 8th
} Danny took the 9th and gave up a single and an RBI double before retiring the side

AT the PLATE
~ M’s took an early 1-0 lead in the 2nd on a LoMo single and a Condor RBI double
~ M’s added on in the 4th w/ a Kendrys walk, another LoMo single, another Condor RBI double and a Zu 2-run single gave the M’s a 4-0 lead

IN the FIELD
Nice DEE all around (although NO DP’s by either team)

tweets of the game . . .

https://twitter.com/JulieSeager15/status/516344255611432960

 

 

g160 | Kuma back to Kuma

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‘t was my last regular season game in person and it was thoroughly enjoyable. Meaningful baseball on the 160th game of the season is FUN 🙂

Frog-hanging-by-a-thread

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mariners 4 | Angels 3

ON the MOUND
He had to come out of the game for precautionary reasons in the 7th . . .
But, Kuma rebounded to give the M’s exactly what they needed. His only snafu – back-to-back solo shots (Calhoun and Trout – no shame there) . . .
SIX.ONE innings ~ FOUR hits ~ TWO earned runs ~ ZERO walks ~ FOUR strikeouts

} Brandon, Danny and Carson combined for only ONE hit and FOUR strikeouts (including a classic one of Trout by the rook Smith)

} Yes, it was a FRE . . .
as Nando gave up a run on a single and a double but, the 48th arrow flew into a sea of rally towels

AT the PLATE
Not super prolific but, powerful . . .
~ Only SEVEN total hits but THREE homers (Kendrys, Michael and Ack)
~ Michael also had a double
~ Austin had a stolen base and Chris T had TWO! (only seems happy when his uni is dirty 😉 )

IN the FIELD
No double-play and one turned against them but, SOLID DEE all-around tonight (including on the other side, especially Trout’s filthy theft of  Kendry’s sure double in the 8th)

tweets of the game . . .

 

g156 | didn’t see THAT coming . . .

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Mariners 4 | Blue Jays 14

ON the MOUND
The shortest start of James’ career couldn’t have come at a worse time . . .
He gave up EIGHT earned runs tonight (after allowing only FIFTEEN in his other ELEVEN starts this season) and also broke his own league-leading streak of 142-batters faced without an extra-base hit (w/THREE allowed – TWO doubles and a triple)

TWO.TWO innings ~ SEVEN hits ~ NINE runs ~ EIGHT earned runs ~ SIX walks ~ ONE strikeout

} Brandon, Tom, Lucas, Danny and Joe combined for the remaining FIVE.ONE innings. The good news is, they didn’t walk anyone. The bad news is they gave up FIVE runs (FOUR earned) on NINE hits

AT the PLATE
FOUR is usually enough . . .
but, not tonight doubles by Robbie and LoMO and homers by Kyle and Chris D fell WAY short

IN the FIELD
a little of everything – good and bad . . .
* PB from Jesus
* error by Chris T
* an OFA by Chris D
* a double-play from Chris-to-Brad-to-Justin

tweets of the game . . .

 

g153 | Tai and the ‘pen JUST enough, the bats MORE than enough . . .

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Mariners 10 | Astros 5

ON the MOUND
Taijuan threw a LOT of pitches in the 1st (26, to be exact) and allowed ONE run but . . .
he then settled down and allowed only scattered singles and a couple of walks and ONE more run the rest of the way (nice to see the 1-2-3 bottom of the 4th after the M’s O exploded in the top of the inning) . . .
FIVE.TWO innings ~ EIGHT hits ~ TWO earned runs ~ TWO walks ~ SEVEN strikeouts

} Brandon appeared to be a bit rusty, considering he promptly gave up a double and a single for a run but, in the 7th retired all THREE straight
} Yourvis (who makes me more nervous than Nando) didn’t have a good day or had bad luck or both. A total of THREE singles and a ground out accounted for the TWO runs he allowed.
} Joe and Danny closed out the 9th with no hits and a couple of strikeouts

AT the PLATE
ahhh . . . . where to start?
~ Astros out hit the Mariners THIRTEEN to TWELVE but, the M’s had FOUR homers and a double
~ Ack with TWO homers and Kyle and Zu each had THREE-run shots in the same inning (the 4th)
~ Robbie had THREE hits, ONE an RBI single that was his 900th career RBI
~ Michael, Kendrys and Brad, the only starters withOUT at least ONE hit, combined for FIVE walks
~ Austin, James and LoMo each with stolen bases (Michael was caught)

IN the FIELD
TWO DP’s turned and THREE turned against them

tweets of the game . . .

 

g150 | of bad elbows, stellar relief and explosive OH

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going batty

 

 

 

 

 

Mariners 13 | Angels 2

ON the MOUND
Roenis had a rough 1st inning . . .
when he hit the lead-off batter and gave up THREE straight singles for the Halos first TWO runs. He settled down in the 2nd and 3rd allowing only one over the minimum but, then in the 4th he gave up a single and had to leave the game with an injury mid-way through the next AB 😦
THREE innings ~ FIVE hits ~ TWO earned runs ~ ONE walk ~ ONE strikeout

the bullpen, called into early duty and they could not have performed better = SIX scoreless . . .
} Carson continues to impress – he threw TWO complete w/ONE walk and ONE strikeout to earn his first major league victory!
} Brandon, Tom, Joe and Lucas each threw ONE inning, Joe gave up the only hit in relief

AT the PLATE
Well, well, well! What do we have here?!? RUNS, RUNS, RUNS, and lots of fun with numbers – that’s what we have here!
~ FOURTEEN hits
~ THIRTEEN runs
~ SIX doubles (Ack, LoMo, Kendrys, Chris T and Zu)
~ THREE of the SIX doubles were in the 5th inning and drove in runs (Zu, Chris, Ack)
~ Every starter with at least ONE hit
~ Kyle, Kendrys, Chris T and Zu all with TWO
~ Runs and RBI’s nicely scattered throughout the lineup
~ ZERO homers

IN the FIELD
* Joe with a throwing error
* Nice DP turned to end the 1st w/runners on
* Zu threw out Hamilton trying to steal 2B
* Gotta love Zu’s ‘wiser than his years’ handling of Roenis. Apparently he let Skip know that something didn’t seem quite right fairly early on so, they were watching him close and sure enough (unfortunately) he had to come out of the game (elbow MRI coming tomorrow)

tweets of the game . . .

g143 | STELLAR pitching, CLUTCH hitting and SPEED kills!

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Still HALF a game ahead of the Tiggers for the second wild card . . .
And now, only ONE game behind the ‘phants for the first wild card!

speed kills

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mariners 4 | Astros 1

ON the MOUND
Felix REALLY had to work in this one . . .
those pesky ‘stros took him to ninety-nine pitches and had him in and out of trouble ALL night long but, he found a way to hang in there
SIX innings ~ FIVE hits ~ ZERO earned runs ~ ZERO runs ~ FOUR walks ~ EIGHT strikeouts

Bull pen not perfect but, stellar . . .
} Brandon allowed the “almost” homer (ruled a triple) and then the Astros lone run on a sac-fly
} Danny walked one and struck out one but, got the W for his inning of work
} Nando was about 5.5 on the quiver-meter tonight – allowing a lead-off walk and a hit but, in the end, earning his 44th save

AT the PLATE
~ In the 6th, LoMo walked with ONE out, The Condor walked (after a TEN pitch AB – welcome back, Michael!) with TWO outs and then Brad jumped on the the first pitch for an RBI single and the first run of the game
~ And then, in the magical 8th, Zu drew a ONE-out walk and JJ came in to “be fast” (as Shannon said). With Michael batting, JJ stole 2B and Michael walked. With Brad batting, JJ stole 3B and Brad tripled – scoring JJ and Michael. Then, Austin’s RBI single scored Brad and the M’s took the 4-1 lead they would not relinquish.
~ Nice to see they can find ways to win when two of their thumpers (Kyle and Kendrys) go o’fer
~ SPEED is fun!!!

IN the FIELD
Despite NO DP’s (on either side) some nice DEE tonight . . .
* Nice nail of Presley at 2B by Zu (first time he was caught this year)
* How good is it to have Michael back?!? He saved a home run with his glove (originally called a homer but, clear and convincing evidence shows the ball in his glove but popped out back into the field of play: ruled a triple – arguing that point, Lloyd got run). Then, on the very next play, he  a  l  m  o  s  t  threw the runner out at the plate – perfect throw, just a tad late 😦

tweets of the game . . .

https://twitter.com/SteveSandmeyer/status/509197721497255937

 

g140 | homers galore!

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Mariners 7 | Rangers 5

ON the MOUND
Kuma wasn’t exactly lights out but, he did  j u s t  enough to keep ’em in it and get the “W” . . .
FIVE.ONE innings ~ SEVEN hits ~ THREE earned runs ~ ONE walk ~ FIVE strikeouts

The bullpen was an unusual mixed-bag . . .
Charlie was the only reliever not to allow hit, that means each of Brandon, Joe, Tom, Yourvis and Nanda  allowed a hit. Brandon and Nando each allowed ONE run. But, in the end, they got it done. M’s got their 77th victory (4th straight on the road trip) and Nando got his 42nd save.

AT the PLATE
Only SEVEN total hits but, FOUR for extra-bases . . .
~ Austin and James with doubles
~ Kendrys, Zu and Brad with homers (Kendrys w/TWO
~ Kendrys with FOUR RBI
~ Kyle (unusually!) didn’t collect a hit but, he walked TWICE and scored TWICE

IN the FIELD
Brad with another error 😦 but, also part of both DP’s the M’s turned

tweets of the game . . .

 

g139 | apparently, the M’s were quite the danger to the Rangers, while the Hawks were ‘smacking the pack’

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Yes, I admit to being fully distracted from the M’s game since I was actually AT the Seahawks game (I didn’t even check the M’s score once, as I had to turn my phone off to save battery). Needless to say, once I knew both outcomes, it was an even happier ride home on the link 😉

Mariners 10 | Rangers 2

ON the MOUND
Roenis had a nice outing . . . 
the bad news, still only FIVE innings, the good news only 72 pitches (a low number for him)
FIVE innings ~ SEVEN hits ~ ONE earned run ~ ONE walk ~ ONE strikeout

All-in-all, the Rangers had TEN hits = NINE singles and a solo shot

} Danny gave up the solo shot in the 9th but, other than that, the combined relief of Dom, Brandon, Tom and Dany was spotless

AT the PLATE
Obviously, a good night for the hitters . . .
~ Austin, Robbie, Chris D and Jesus all with multi-hit games AND at least ONE hit and ONE RBI
~ Robbie led the pack w/FOUR RBI, Jesus w/TWO
~ Ack and both Chrises had multi-score games
~ Chris T walked THREE times

IN the FIELD
Not too shabby in this category either . . .
FOUR, count ’em FOUR double-plays!

tweets of the game . . .

 

 

g127 | miracle in BeanTown

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and I missed it 😦

miracles

We were on the first leg of a road trip to Lake Tahoe (Seattle to Medford) and while I was able to catch MOST of the game on AtBat, the signal wasn’t always strong and, we were trying to check in on the Seahawks as well (yes – it’s only preseason football but, they ARE our World Champs). Anyhoo – once we finally got to our hotel, as we were in line to check in, I glanced at some tweets – and then DOUBLE checked – they had rallied in the 9th for FIVE runs to win!

Mariners 5 | Red Sox 3

ON the MOUND
Felix went less than SIX innings for the second straight start . . .
the struggle was the pitch count (100 through FIVE) not the runs (scoreless through FIVE). Felix retired the side in order and only allowed a single, a double and a HBP to that point. But, then came the 6th where he allowed a double, both walks, and the THREE-run homer to Cespedes
FIVE.TWO innings ~ FIVE hits ~ THREE earned runs ~ TWO walks ~ SEVEN strikeouts

} Brandon, Dom (6th W) and Nando (37th S) combined for THREE.ONE scoreless innings

AT the PLATE
‘t was looking pretty bleak and I was beating my “playing down to the competition drum” . . .
~ M’s sent the min to the plate in the first THREE frames as, Endy’s single in the 3rd was wiped out by Brad’s DP
~ despite THREE walks and a HBP over the course of the 4th and 5th, no runs
~ a double and THREE more walks from the 6th thru the 8th resulted in still no runs

and then came the miracle 9th ~ THREE different batters had them down to their LAST strike
and, since I missed it all, best described by the video evidence . . .

IN the FIELD

ONE double play turned and THIS SPECTACULAR ranging play by

 

tweets of the game . . .