Felix Takes Down New York

King Felix did not have one of his great games against the New York Yankees today (Saturday) however the Mariners still won 3-2.

Another interesting game where the Mariners scored no more than three runs which has happened in all three games this season. At least this time the Mariners won the game. They lost the opening game 3-2 against the Texas Rangers where he gave up only one hit however the Mariners had two errors.  This game he did not pitch much better but was able to get out of several innings. He lasted a total of five innings.

The Mariners were able to get ahead of the Yankees scoring the three runs but had to hold on. Steve Cishek pitched the ninth to save the game though the Yankees did have two runners in scoring position.

Felix in the five innings he pitched gave up four hits and struck out five however a career high six walks. The  last player he faced in the fifth inning he struck out to tie Randy Johnson in most strike outs by a Mariner pitcher. So in his next outing he will become the Mariners all-time strikeout King. The amount of strikeouts he has to tie the Big Unit is 2162.

I did a little research in games where the Mariners scored 3 runs or less and so did the opposition in which Felix pitched was a total of 101 games. It is like pitching three full seasons and the Mariners won 54 and lost 47 times in those games. It shows that Felix is used to being in close low scoring games. This does include the three games he has pitched so far this season.

The Mariners scored all three runs against the Yankees in the fifth inning. The Mariners were behind 1-0 when Leonys Martin hit a towering home run over right field. With two outs Robinson hit a single up the middle that scored Marte from first base and Cano advanced to second on the throw. Nelson Cruz hit a double to score Cano.

Joaquin Benoit got into this game in the eighth inning for his first action in some time. He gave up no hits or walks. There may be a chance that he will get into tomorrow’s game to.

The Mariners will be going for a sweep against the Yankees with Iwakuma on the mound against fellow Japan pitcher Masahiro Tanaka. This game will be seen by millions in Japan that is for sure. Expect this game will be another close low scoring game.

The Mariners rested Kyle Seager against lefty CC Sabathia today however he will be back in again tomorrow against right hander Tanaka. We can hope the day off will energize Seager who has started off with a slow start to the season. After this series the Mariners will be off to Cleveland to play another three game series. Go Mariners!