The Mariners faced Rangers’ lefty Derek Holland. For some reason, Chone Figgins was starting again and playing right field (Ichiro was getting his first day off) and he looked really bad out there. After a long at-bat, he struck out on a curveball (he then singled up the middle early in the count in his 2nd at-bat. He then stole a base and scored a run). Kyle Seager also struck out to end the first. Jesus Montero swung and missed (and was very late on) a 93 MPH fastball to start his first at-bat, and broke his bat on a curveball (he was lucky and it dropped in for a hit). His next at-bat he hit a homer to the opposite field, where the ball really carries in Arlington. Justin Smoak got a ground-ball that turned into a double in his first at-bat and then walked in his 2nd. Miguel Olivo was back in the lineup and worked a 3-1 count only to get a breaking ball. Olivo hit the curve though and drove in 2 runs. After a Brendan Ryan hit, Dustin Ackley had an at-bat that lasted about a month before screaming a line drive for a homer (the 8 run 2nd was the biggest inning for the Mariners all year). Holland lasted just 1.2 innings. Jesus Montero launched a 2 run double in the 3rd to make it 11-0 off Yoshi Tateyama, a side arming righty. Justin Smoak then hit a 3 run homer into the jet stream and then hit another 3 run homer in the 8th to make it 21-7
For the Mariners, Blake Beavan started. A ball right down the middle on a 2-0 count to Ian Kinsler was screamed foul, in a very lucky situation for Beavan. He was hitting 92 MPH, but it was more impressive when he threw his breaking pitch in an 0-2 count like he did with Michael Young, forcing a weak ground-out. Beavan blew through the first 5 innings pretty easily before the Rangers sprayed a bunch of balls Chone Figgins’ way to pick up a couple of runs. The Rangers continued to hit the ball hard off Beavan to pick up a total of 5 runs that inning.
Hisashi Iwakuma then came in to pitch the 7th, and was hitting 90-91 MPH. However, everything was up and he gave up two quick hits. He topped out at 93 MPH, the hardest we have really seen him throw. After a ground-ball brought in a run but got an out, Alex Liddi looked lost and awful in left, costing the Mariners another run. He then came back to pitch the 8th where he got the first out quickly, but walked Brandon Snyder for some reason but got a double play to get out of it. In the 9th, he gave up a hit, and then hit Kinsler. A ground-ball got through to originally load up the bases, but a Mike Carp bobble let a run score. He got the next 3 hitters to end the ballgame.
Tacoma lost their game against the Reno Aces 13-5. Luis Jimenez is day to day with no fracture after fouling a ball off of his foot. He was available to pinch hit, but didn’t (probably because of the score).
Trayvon Robinson fell behind in his first at-bat, but then fouled off a couple pitches before flying out to CF on a curveball. He also had a hard grounder that got past the shortstop for a single and then scored easily on a Luis Rodriquez single. Despite the good offensive stretch, Robinson had an awful defensive game. He had a really poor throw home, and then also lost track of how many outs there were on a fly-ball, allowing 2 runs to score on a SAC fly. Carlos Peguero looked pretty human at the plate again, late on several fastballs. His violent approach looks just awful when he is going like this. He did walk, but he also popped out behind the plate, and broke a bat. Vinnie Catricala had a nice long at-bat before hitting a line drive double. A Mike Wilson hard grounder to short allowed Reno to throw out slow Peguero at home (the play wasn’t even close). Casper Wells really continues to show that he should be in the Majors. He had a really long at-bat in the 3rd and walked on a pitch that was close. He later walked again, and then hit a double in the 9th. Carlos Triunfel was really having problem with Charles Brewer’s (the Reno starter) curveball. Brewer was a 12th round pick in 2009 and has a career ERA of 3.04 with a 8.9 K/9IP in the minors. Before Wednesday, he had 7 terrible starts in the PCL in 2012, with a 5.53 FIP. In the 4th inning, Wilson and Catricala got bloop singles before Scott Savastano struck out, Ralph Henriquez grounded out, and Robinson hit a double to give Tacoma the lead (that didn’t last long). I really continue to like what I see from Luis Rodriquez’s defense. He also hit a ball to the warning track to center field.
Anthony Vasquez started for the Rainiers, and he got 3 grounders followed by a strikeout to start the game. He then got an infield fly-ball to end the 1st. He was actually getting some swings and misses on his fastball, which is pretty weird for Vasquez. They started hitting the ball hard off of him in the 2nd as he was living to much in the center of the plate (which he tends to do). In the 3rd, Vasquez experienced a bout of wildness where he was missing his spot (including hitting a batter). A ground-ball got him out of the inning though. He threw a lot of first pitch fastballs down the middle (which may be related to the fact that he wasn’t really getting his breaking stuff over), but he also gave up a lot of weak hits. A low breaking ball was driven out of the park and another double finally ended it for him in just 4.1 innings. Sean Henn then came in, only to walk the first batter in 4 pitches. He was then a victim of a brutal Triunfel error, and then another softly hit ball that Triunfel couldn’t get to. He got a double play to end it and keep the game at 10-3. Henn’s fastball looked good and he had a nice inning in his 2nd inning of work. Chance Ruffin then came in and showed off a nice slider in a good inning. He was brought out for a second inning, and after giving up 2 hard luck singles, surrendered a homer on a fastball right down the middle on a 3-1 count.
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Favorite general sports moment: The Texas versus USC college football national championship comes to mind, as does Gary Matthews Jr. catch on July 1st 2006.
Favorite Seattle Sports Moment: King Felix throwing a perfect game against the Rays
Latest posts by Clint Hulsey (see all)
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