Tag Archives: Thames

Ups, Downs, all-arounds . . .

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Just catching up on some of the movement of late.

Brad Miller’s call up set off some dominoes . . .
Reporting to AAA Tacoma were IF Carlos Triufel (optioned to make room on the 25-man roster) and RP Josh Kinney (out-righted, to make room on the 40-man roster) and 3B Ty Kelly (received in a trade from Baltimore for OF Eric Thames) and 1B Alex Liddi was designated for assignment.

Minor League Recognition . . .

M*A*S*H
* Guti back to the 15-day DL (hamstring) after only playing 1.5 games back from his last stint
* Michael M (strained quad) is getting close to being sent to Tacoma for a rehab assignment
* Jesus Montero scheduled to DH tomorrow in AZ (will be limited to DH/1B for the remainder of the year)
* Danny Hultzen was scratched a couple of nights ago from only his second start in Tacoma since coming off the DL – tests revealed no structural damage but, he’ll have 10-14 days before throwing again.

International Free Agents . . .
M’s sign 16-yr old Venezuelan OF, Greifer Andrade
Top-30 and where they’ve signed

 

 

g153 | Sunday, not so Funday

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Mariners 2 | Rangers 3

THIRTEEN straight games with at least one homer but…
a solo shot each by Thames and Ryan wasn’t enough as Texas also hit two but one of theirs came with one man on – and there’s your difference in the game.

Good series though, as until the first homer in the 4th (by Napoli) the M’s had held the R’s scoreless for FIFTEEN innings!

Today was the M’s 51st ONE-run game overall

apparently, hitting w/RISP is not the end all be all…
the M’s were 0-5 but the R’s were 0-10 and still won 😉

No harm, no foul, so to speak…
~ rare error by Brendan in the 1st ends up not hurting
~ silly fan getting in Thames’ way ends up not hurting
~ awesome play by Seager – a step and a dive and strong throw to nail the runner at 1B and hold at 3B
~ nice catch and throw by Thames on a medium fly ball that kept the lead off triple at 3B in the 9th

the 8th inning was the big opportunity squandered….
two-on for Jaso who grounded out but, advanced the runners, then an intentional walk to Smoak (been awhile since that happened!) but then Thames (strikeout) and Jimenez (flyout) weren’t able to come through with the bases juiced.

1000 words…

Otto Greule Jr | Getty Images

Off to the land of Disney they go….

g148 | rumblin’, bumblin’, stumblin’ vs da birds

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Mariners 4 | Orioles 10The good news?
THREE doubles (Seager, Jaso, Montero)
THREE home runs! (Saunders, Thames and Jaso)

The bad news?
EVERYTHING else.

Starting with the starter…
Hector was absolutely pounded. After 54 pitches and SEVEN runs he was lifted with only ONE out in the 2nd inning. He old nemesis, the 0-2 homer, reared it’s ugly head again (he’s giving up 5 homers on 0-2 counts)

Then the first half of the bullpen…
Capps and Perez combined to give up another THREE runs in their 4.2 innings of work.

The second half BP ~ Kelley and Pryor ~ pitched well, combining for a scoreless THREE innings

Then there was the usually sparkling DEE that was anything but…
only ONE recorded error (Ryan) but it felt like they were missing plays all night long. It’s one thing for a young starter to have a horrible game (even Felix does now and then) but really discouraging to see the defense play like that. Hopefully, it was just a very temporary lapse.

It was especially frustrating to be sitting near fans who, by their comments, clearly were not as invested in the team as I. But, I just didn’t have the energy to explain to them that poor pitching and defense was an anomaly for this team. Now, their comments about the lack of decent batting average … I couldn’t argue with.

tweet from Shannon…

Shannon Drayer (@shannondrayer)

#Mariners will be 1-7 in games after returning home from road trips w/no off day.

 

g139 | another not so happy Felix day…

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Mariners 1 | Athletics 6

Go figure – Felix didn’t even make it through FIVE…
happens to the best of them, I guess but why does it have to be the last TWO I’ve attended?

And, of course, that had to be coupled with the O going totally cold…
as opposed to being just luke-warm

Thames made a serious boo-boo in the field BUT, made up for it…
with an AWESOME OF assist to nail a runner at 3B.
The the rest of the DEE was super – a great diving catch by Guti (who seems not to have lost a step in the field) and a sweet DP to end the 8th

And then there’s Luis Jimenez…
a neat story – he got his first major league hit in his first major league start – at the age of 30 AND, hs parents were in attendance to see it in person. That’s. Just. Cool.

Otto Greule, Jr. | Getty Images

g129 | fifth for FiFi

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Mariners 1 | Twins 0

So apparently, Felix made a little bit of history….
– he became the only pitcher in M’s history to record FIVE shutouts in a single season
– he is the first pitcher since 1976 to get the win in 4+ complete games (Blyleven, Jenkins, Drysdale, Gibson and Horlen last five to do it)

Felix is 9-0 with a 1.40 ERA over his last 14 starts which ties his career win streak.

So anyway …
Felix was good.

Jim Mone | KansasCity.com

Prior to the game, the M’s activated Guti from the DL and optioned Casper Wells to AAA.

Guti had a single in his first AB, two stolen bases and an awesome catch at the wall. Not too shabby for his first day back.

Jim Mone | KansasCity.com

I didn’t see the game but, heard mention he seemed a little “gun-shy” when at 1B – understandably so! He even admitted after the game that it’ll take awhile for him to get over the “flashbacks” (maybe he should talk to Justin – seems like he’s overcome it pretty well).

And the hitting hero of the night…
The Twins actually outhit the M’s 5-3 but Eric Thames made his count in the 8th inning with his 7th home run of the season.

courtesy SB Nation

g127 | almost, again

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Mariners 3 | White Sox 4

If only Michael and Eric hadn’t collided…
not only might the M’s have won the previous game, they wouldn’t be down two starting outfielders for this one. Them’s the breaks.

And yet, they ALMOST did it again.

They scored early and often,
They scored in the clutch late.
But, it was the lost opportunities that would haunt them in this one.

g125 | another sweep makes it EIGHT STRAIGHT!

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So it seems, Thames and Jaso are “trading pies”..
at least they have had the sense to switch from shaving cream to whipped cream 🙂

Iwakuma didn’t go long and he threw a ton of pitches but kept ’em close.
And, the bullpen continued its stellar run

late inning magic…

Heading into the eighth of a 1-1 game, the Mariners started their rally with a hard-hit ball into the right-center field gap off the bat of Kyle Seager. The throw beat Seager to second, but a nifty slide allowed him a double. After Indians manager Manny Acta was tossed for arguing the call, John Jaso was put on first with an intentional walk.”He was thinking double out of the box,” Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. “He busted his tail out of the box. When you get your doubles, it’s not when you round first, it’s those first two or three steps right out of the box. That’s when you get it done. Just great hustle on Kyle’s part.”
Jesus Montero followed with a strikeout, but Thames came through by ripping a double down the right-field line to score Seager and Jaso.
“After those three at-bats, I was on fire. I was pretty hot,” said Thames of his earlier struggles. “It’s just, you get lost in the minute. It was a big situation, and like I said, I was trying to have my approach, just get the head on the fastball. I did and the ball landed where nobody was standing. We scored and we won.”

g123 | stirred, not shaken, vs. the Tribe

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Mariners 5 | Indians 3

47-2 when leading after NINE innings …

make it FORTY-EIGHT – TWO!
make it SIX in-a-row
make it THIRTEEN out of the last FOURTEEN at home (first time in franchise history)

Old Man Millwood
Kevin struggled a bit early, making one wonder whether he’d even get through FIVE, let alone SIX. But, after that rough first he cruised through the second, third and fourth. He hit a blip in the fifth – walking one with one out and then allowing three singles for two runs – but got through six and turned it over to the very capable BP

Furbush
Charlie was great – tossing TWO scoreless – what a lift to have him back in the pen!

The Bartender
Tom was a bit stirred without his deadly curve tonight but, he wasn’t shaken and with the bases loaded and only one out – his DEE come through with the DEE PEE!!

The Condor
Wow! Michael drives in FOUR of the FIVE runs with TWO 2-run homers!

Thames
Eric with a homer and a triple

DEE DEE DEE
~ Mr. Robinson with an awesome grab climbing the left field wall + a record 10 put outs in left field
~ Seager with a awesome snare of a hot smash for the first out of the 9th
~ TWO dp’s – including the one to end the game – LOVE LOVE

Dean Rutz | The Seattle Times

g122 | SWEEP complete!

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Mariners 5 | Twins 1

I’m not a huge horse racing fan and, I hardly ever win. Could be because of my super-secret handicapping prowess – I pick the horses based on any combination of their names, their number, their odds and the jockey’s silks 😉 Anyhoo, I was at Emerald Downs today for the 77th running of the Longacres Mile with hubby and several friends. It was a fun afternoon (and I actually won a few bets this time!).

I was keeping one eye on my AtBat app, of course.

Beavan only made it through FIVE, but he also only gave up ONE run.

The bullpen had a rather interesting line…
they combined for 3.2 innings and gave up FOUR walks but, ZERO runs and ZERO hits

Despite grounding into THREE dp’s, the O did more than enough….
nice to see Ackley with another couple of hits, Thames with three and Saunders with a 2-run shot!

 

g118 | dousing the Rays

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Mariners 3 | Rays 2

Way for Kevin to bounce back from his last start and from that first inning…
he scattered EIGHT hits in SEVEN innings, gave up ONE walk and TWO runs and K’d EIGHT

In the post game show, Shannon pointed out a fun fact… 
KW was down 3-0 with THREE different hitters with RISP – and he STRUCK ’em ALL OUT!

Stephen Pryor was none too shabby himself…
the only hit he allowed in 1-2 innings was a lead-off double and then proceeds to strikeout the next two and get a fly ball for the third out.

Moore had been holding left handers to a .176 average but…
Ackley was able to pound out THREE hits
Seager had two hits and scored a run
Smoak (just recalled from Tacoma due to Carp’s injury) lined a double in his first AB

And, in the 9th, vs. the best closer this season…
-Seager singles
-Figgy pinch hits for Wells (who had K’d 3x) and lays down a bunt to move the runner but, Pena makes a bad throw and Figgy ends up on 2B and Seager on 3B
-Smoak hits a sac-fly scoring Seager to tie the game and Figgy gets to 3B
-Olivo strikes out
-Thames (after striking out 3x) singles on a 1-2 count, Figgy scores….

Mariners WIN!!!!!!!!!!
 
courtesy ESPN
courtesy ESPN
BTW ~ Carp to the 15-day DL (after that super stretch) and Smoak was recalled
International Signing front….
Brazilian Left-hander, Luiz Gohara

Moment of Silence tonight to remember a very special community member we lost all too soon…

courtesy M’s twitpic