Tag Archives: TBR

g57 | of super solid pitching, inept situational hitting and, don’t get me started on the base-running

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Mariners 1 | Rays 3

If you had said that the M’s were going to give up SEVEN runs in the FOUR game series, you’d have to think at least a split or even THREE wins . . . think again 😦

home sour home

ON the MOUND
Another solid outing by “Monty” (only his second big league start) and he did NOT deserve to take the loss. . .
SEVEN innings ~ FIVE hits ~ TWO earned runs ~ ONE walk ~ THREE strikeouts

} Tom, Vidal and Joe held ’em at bay (the ONE run allowed by the BY was unearned) combining for TWO innings of no hits, no walks and ONE strikeout

AT the PLATE
Nothing much to see here . . .
~ LoMo extended his hitting streak to FOURTEEN – singled in the 9th to make things interesting with runners at the corners but, Brad flied out to end the game
~ SEVEN total hits – only ONE for extra bases (another double for Seth, who leads the team in doubles w/14)
~ oh brother, are the CS’s getting annoying (TWO more today)  😦

but, to be fair, it’s not like they were facing chopped liver . . .

IN the FIELD
* Some great DEE (on both sides) including a great, leaping grab of a liner by Kyle and a couple of nice plays by Mike (great to see him field his position!)
* but, a costly error by Brad in the 8th – a bad throw allowed the runner to be safe at 1B and later score and an error by Kyle in the 9th (his first in FORTY games)

tweets of the game . . . 

https://twitter.com/SteveSandmeyer/status/607664842732797952

g56 | of losing streak stoppers, the tie-breakers and young closers . . .

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Mariners 2 | Rays 1

ON the MOUND
There’s the Felix we know and love (just kidding, we ALWAYS love him 😉 )
Maybe not as sharp as normal and even a little shaky in the 1st (walking TWO). But, he definitely OWNS the Rays. When he allowed the ONE run (after a ONE-out triple and a WP) it was the first run he’d allowed to the Rays in TWENTY-ONE consecutive innings. He left the game with a tie and may be buying Austin a steak tonight 🙂
SEVEN innings ~ TWO hits ~ ONE earned run ~ THREE walks ~ SIX strikeouts

The bully was only TWO tonight but, VERY effective . . .
} Mark allowed a single but, no runs
} Carson earned his first career big league save via a 1-2-3 9th – Congrats!!!
} Nando “working” on a couple things (should be interesting going forward)

AT the PLATE
They finally broke their scoreless innings streak (16) . . .
~ Willie with an RBI single in the 4th
~ then, they proceeded to load the bases w/NO outs but, AJ popped up and Robbie GDIP
(and the booooos rained down)
~ a great one-out bunt base hit by LoMo in the 6th was quickly made moot when he was caught stealing
~ oh thank heaven for AJ – solo shot in the 7th that gave the M’s the lead they would not relinquish!

IN the FIELD
* Robbie with a beautiful snare of a rocket and then a throw to double the runner off 1B in the 2nd
* Wiliie with a great catch and spin to get the Ray’s final out of the 3rd

tweets of the game . . .

g55 | HappY start, SAD ending

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Mariners 0 | Rays 1

M’s have now lost SEVEN in-a-row

7 in a row

ON the MOUND
Another HappY performance by JA (though the ultimate result was anything but)
He got into a couple of jams but, was able to get a K, a well placed GB, a pop-up or a K (including TWO w/a runner at 3B
Such a shame to waste, YET ANOTHER, solid start . . .
SEVEN innings ~ SIX hits ~ ZERO runs/earned runs ~ ONE walk ~ SIX strikeouts

Not so happy for Nando . . .
the first (only) run of the game came on a lead-off home run in the 9th

AT the PLATE
Once again, the all too familiar refrain . . . 0’fer SEVEN w/RISP
~ TWO on in the 1st
~ TWO on in the 5th
~ BASES LOADED in the 7th
~ Kyle ROBBED by the Rays CF’er in the 8th who dove and tumbled to snare a line drive
~ AJ with a lead-off triple in the 9th –> stranded 😦

IN the FIELD
* Kyle with a smash liner
* Brad with a nice, quick field and throw of a high chopper to get the runner at 1B for the third out of the 8th

tweets of the game . . .

g54 | nearly double the hits but, half the runs

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Mariners 1 | Rays 2

Where’s runs?!? where's runs?

ELEVENTH one-run LOSS (twenty-four ONE-run games total)

ON the MOUND
Roenis faced the minimum in FIVE of his EIGHT innings and posted YET ANOTHER quality start .  . .
EIGHT innings ~ FIVE hits (all singles) ~ TWO earned runs ~ ONE walk ~ SIX strikeouts

} Mark gave up a hit in the 9th but, struck out TWO

AT the PLATE
a familiar theme of opportunities wasted . . .
~ Mark, Kyle, Seth and Zu all stranded at 3B w/less than TWO outs, AJ stranded at 3B w/less than TWO outs
~ Zu and Nellie the only starters without a hit (though they both walked – Zu’s walk led off the 9th)
~ Mark’s first hit as a Mariner came in the first pitch he saw, his second hit came in his last AB (he struck out twice)
~ Robbie had TWO hits and an RBI but was also picked off 1B 😦
~ ONE for ELEVEN w/RISP ( double 😦 )

IN the FIELD
nothing wrong with the DEE . . . 
* seth one great catch, one really good catch
* TWO double-plays

tweets of the game . . . 

https://twitter.com/SteveSandmeyer/status/606683216485847040

g46 | of King Felix, double-plays x4 and . . . whoa Nellie!

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Mariners 3 | Rays 0

duel

Not only a scoreless game through EIGHT innings but, only SEVEN TOTAL HITS in the ENTIRE game. Now THAT’s what I’d call a pitcher’s duel. Luckily, Nelson’s bat came along in the 9th 🙂

ON the MOUND
Hard to believe that Felix has never won at The Trop but, he certainly appeared comfortable today (complete game shutouts will do that 😉 )
NINE innings ~ FOUR hits ~ ZERO runs/earned runs ~ ONE walk ~ EIGHT strikeouts

(Kudos to Archer, who went EIGHT giving up only TWO hits and NO walks and TWELVE strikeouts – thankfully, they took him out for the 9th ;-))

AT the PLATE
Well, as mentioned above, not a whole lot going on through EIGHT . . .
~ Seth with a double and LoMo with a single
~ then came Nellie in the 9th with his AL leading 18th home run
~ major kudos to both Seth and Robbie for walking (each on 3-2 pitches) to get on in front of Nellie (who LOVES RISP)

Kind of cool go to the AtBat app under the scoring tab and the only thing there is Nellie’s smiling face under “top of 9th” 🙂

IN the FIELD

FOUR, count ’em, FOUR double plays (one for each hit Felix allowed 😉 )

tweets of the game . . .

https://twitter.com/SteveSandmeyer/status/603643461292564480

g45 | oh thank heaven for Simply Seager!

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Mariners 7 | Rays 6

easy

OK – JA and JOE both deserve MAJOR kudos as well 🙂

ON the MOUND
JA put up quite the gutty performance . . .
HIs last outing was shortened by a rain delay and he was in trouble right away in the 1st: gave up TWO runs on 30+ pitches that tied the game at the time. But, he hung in there through SIX, giving up ONE more run in the 3rd and working out of trouble in the 2nd and the 5th
SIX innings ~ SEVEN hits ~ THREE earned runs ~ ONE walk ~ THREE strikeouts

} Tom and Charlie posted TWO scoreless
} and then came Nando . . . he loaded the bases with NO outs, allowed THREE runs (though the third run shouldn’t have happened – see “IN the FIELD”) that tied the game and would ultimately get the “W” (tell me how “pitcher’s wins” make ANY sense at all?!?)
} Way to go, JOE! a 1-2-3 10th for his first save

AT the PLATE
Well, ‘t was a Simply Seager kind of night . . .
THREE for FIVE, with TWO homers including a GRAND SLAM and SIX RBI – yowsa!

~ Great to see AJ back and contributing right away: lead off single, stolen base and scored a run in the 1st
~ Nellie was TWO for TWO, the second of which was his career 1000th hit
~ Welington, Brad and Chris were the only starters w/o a hit (Brad walked TWICE)
~ Robbie, Nellie, Kyle and LoMo all had multi-hit games

IN the FIELD
* AJ with a couple of nice catches (ankle seems just fine!)
* Robbie with a rare errant throw to 1B in the 9th: the runner was safe and a run scored instead of it being a game-ending DP

tweets of the game . . .

https://twitter.com/SteveSandmeyer/status/603395792225763328

g44 | Just call him Roenis “QS” Elias . . .

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Mariners 4 | Rays 1

quality starts

ON the MOUND
Roenis just keeps racking up the QS’s (his 5th in-a-row)
‘t wasn’t easy – he had runners on base in every inning except the 1st but, worked out of it and hung in . . .
SIX innings ~ SIX hits ~ ONE earned run ~ THREE walks ~ SIX strikeouts

} Mark and Carson doing their thing: each with a scoreless inning (7th and 8th respectively)
} Nando got the first TWO batters with just THREE pitches (the second one was a bit interesting as the batter’s bat shattered and then Nando couldn’t immediately find the ball – it was at his feet – but found it and threw it just in time to get the runner at 1B). Then, a base hit but, no worries! a  L O N G  fly ball to LF that Brad put away allowing Nando to draw his THIRTEENTH arrow and preserve Roenis’s second victory!

AT the PLATE
Some REALLY good signs for the offense tonight . . . 
~ Robbie coming out of it? TWO RBI singles tonight!
~ Kyle and Seth each recorded their NINTH doubles of the season (for Seth that meant TWO!)
~ baby steps re: the hits w/RISP (3 for 11 tonight)
~ BE.AU.TI.FUL at bat by Zu in the 9th:  his SIXTH homer came on the NINTH pitch (after starting out 0-2). He NEEDED that – the great AB even more than the home run.

IN the FIELD
* Brad proving serviceable in LF: several put outs tonight as well as a nice throw on a double to keep the runner from scoring
* Kyle with a super DIVING catch to rob the Rays of a base hit with TWO out ONE on in the 8th

tweets of the game . . . 

Shortly after the game, a move was announced . . .

Hope you get it back together, Danny – we want to see Lord Farquhar back real soon!

g63 | follow the yellow-brick road . . .

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Wait . . . isn’t that supposed to lead to the Emerald City?!?
With an overall record of 34-29 the M’s have logged some quirky numbers . . .
~ they have played 34 road games (their total number of wins) posting a 20-14 record
~ they have played 29 home games (their total number of losses) posting a 14-15 record

yellowbrick road

 

 

In any case, we’ll take a 7-game road trip like they just completed anytime!
6-1 record ~ outscored opponents 34-15 ~ struckout 68 batters ~ tossed 3 shutouts

 

 

Mariners 3 | Rays 0

ON the MOUND
Unfortunately, I’m sensing a pattern here ~ when Erasmo pitches, bullpen get ready . . .
He didn’t allow any runs in his FOUR plus innings but, walking FIVE batters (and a tightrope) isn’t exactly going to inspire confidence. Here’s hoping Taijuan and/or James are ready soon!
FOUR.TWO innings ~ FOUR hits ~ ZERO earned runs ~ FIVE walks ~ FIVE strikeouts

} Joe, Dom, Danny and Nando combined for the other FOUR.ONE scoreless innings, allowing only ONE hit and ONE walk and striking out another FOUR batters (Nando got to shoot the arrow for the 18th time)

AT the PLATE
Focus on THREE as all THREE runs of the game were scored in the THIRD inning . . .
~ All but THREE of their SEVEN hits occured in the THIRD inning
~ where they hit THREE singles: Joe, Willie, James (his of the bunt variety to load the bases)
~ followed by a Robbie TWO-run double
~ and a Stefan RBI ground out and wha-la! THREE run lead (that would stick)

IN the FIELD
* Only ONE double-play in the game (Robbie to Willie) but it ended the TWO on ONE out threat in the 7th
* James made a nice running catch in LCF

tweets of the game . . .

 

g62 | at a loss for superlatives . . .

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So, let’s just say . . . he’s OURS 🙂

Mariners 5 | Rays 0

Elaine Thompson | AP

Elaine Thompson | AP

 

ON the MOUND
oh, yes, that’s why they call him The K’ing (KKKKKKKKKKKKKKK) . . . Felix struck out the side THREE times (3rd, 5th, 7th) and was only at 80 pitches going into the 7th which was the inning the Rays got their first lead-off batter aboard. He was stranded at 3B, as Felix’s last pitch of the game was for a strikeout (which brought him to 100 ~ not by any means his limit ~ but, likely due to the stress nature of his outing, that was all he had to give today)

SEVEN innings ~ FOUR hits ~ ZERO earned runs ~ ONE walk ~ FIFTEEN strikeouts
(career high!)

 

 

} Yourvis took over for Felix, allowed a ONE out walk and was SAVED by the PBF (see fielding section) to leave the game scoreless through EIGHT innings. Yourvis would ultimately be credited with the win and, while I know Felix is all about TEAM wins, I must AGAIN voice my frustration at the ridiculous way they calculate pitchers wins – argh! 😦

} Dom retired the only man he faced in the 9th and Charlie ended it with TWO strikeouts (Rays with SEVENTEEN total strikeouts)

AT the PLATE
Obviously, with a scoreless game through the 8th, the other side was pitching fairly well too . . .
As usual, the M’s weren’t without their opportunities ~ they had at least ONE runner in scoring position in FOUR different innings through EIGHT
~ Robbie had the most exciting opportunity, with bases-loaded, TWO outs in in the 5th he sent a LONG fly ball to LF that took Joyce all the way to the wall 😦 then, in the 8th he legged out an infield hit and stole 2B w/TWO outs but, Zu struck out
~ Crazy legs got it going with TWO outs in the 9th – with TWO strikes he tripled and then scored after Willie walked and Endy singled. Then James ALSO tripled scoring Willie and Endy. And, for good measure, Robbie walked and scored along with James on Kyle’s double 🙂 FIVE runs in the 9th the only runs of the game. Clutch bats!!!

IN the FIELD
Lloyd wanted to ensure his catcher got credit today, first thing he said in the presser . . .

“He blocked his ass of today.”

* Kyle had a couple of nice plays at 3B, pumped to 2B to hold the runner and then threw to Willie for the second out of the 1st and a really nicely fielded bunt near the mound to get a speedy runner for the first out of the 6th
* Brad fielded a smash liner but, wasn’t quite able to double up the runner at 1B
* Robbie with a great back-handed, spin-around, across-the-body, jump-throw that  a  l  m  o  s  t  got the runner at 1B in the 7th and then an line-out, double-off, for the only double-play of the game, to get Yourvis out of the 8th

tweets of the game . . . 

 

g61 | Elias, Nando and the bats block the Rays . . .

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Good to see the bounce back (on all fronts!) after the lack-luster performance yesterday

Mariners 7 | Rays 4

parasol

ON the MOUND
Rookie Roenis continues his early success with the poise of a veteran . . .
The Rays were swinging early which resulted in THREE quick outs on SIX pitches in the 1st but, then a homer, single and a bunt where they took the lead in the 2nd. Roenis adjusted, so much so, that he only gave up ONE hit and ONE walk until the 8th where another double and a homer. Maybe, considering he’d gone the full NINE last time out, he should have been out after SEVEN (even though his pitch count was fairly efficient – 99) but, still a decent line . . .
SEVEN. TWO innings ~ FIVE hits ~ FOUR earned runs ~ TWO walks ~ FIVE strikeouts

} wow – Nando with a 1-2-3 save for the THIRD straight game! SEVENTEEN on the season now.

AT the PLATE
Nice to see double-digit (ELEVEN to be exact – FOUR for extra bases) hits again . . .
~ Kyle the only starter without a hit today (though he did walk and score)
~ Cole with his first Mariners homer (a solo shot in the 1st)
~ Willie with an RBI single and an RBI double (he just continues to produce when given the chance)
~ Endy with a sac-fly
~ Dustin with the really big hit, a THREE-run triple (with TWO outs in the 5th)

IN the FIELD
no double plays on either side (I wasn’t able to watch the game so, can’t speak to any highlight plays)

tweets of the game . . .