Mariners Split Series with Cleveland

The Seattle Mariners Thursday night had the chance to take the series against the Cleveland Indians however they ended up losing and split the series. Not all bad since the Indians are in first place of the American League Central and playing pretty good baseball.

The Mariners were tied going into the eighth inning when reliever Benoit was unable to hold the tie and gave up a two-run homer to center fielder Tyler Naquin then had two base throwing error that allowed the Indians to score another run.

Robinson Cano continued his hot hitting with two homers and a double. The first homer put the Mariners ahead in the first inning however Nelson Cruz was thrown out at home after singling and trying to score on a double by Kyle Seager. Cano hit his double in the third inning with two outs but was unable to score when Cruz flied out to right field. The third run the Mariners scored was a home run by Adam Lind his seventh of the season.

Starting pitcher Nathan Karns only lasted four and a third inning. He started having problems with his control in the second inning after yielding a single followed by two walks to load the bases. Designated hitter Carlos Santana hit a ball into left-center where Aoki who was playing centerfield was able to make running catch to save at least two runs. Karns lost his control in the fifth inning walking two batters in a row then he was lifted for Mike Montgomery who finished off the inning and pitched the sixth inning as well. Rookie reliever Diaz pitched the seventh inning giving up a run on two hits and struck out two batters on twenty-four pitches.

Benoit pitched the eighth inning giving up the three runs and was replaced Vidal Nuno with two outs who finished the inning on three pitches. Steve Anderson pitched the ninth inning giving up no hits and did not strike out a batter on fourteen pitches. It looks like Anderson along with Vincent are becoming key members of the Mariners’ bullpen.

Thursday was the first day of the Amateur Baseball draft. The Mariners took outfielder Kyle Lewis out of Mercer. He is an all-American who the Mariners expected to go higher however grabbed him with the 11^th overall pick. The Mariners took high school third baseman Jim Rizzo in the second round out of Virginia. The third through the ten rounds will take place Friday and the remaining rounds will be on Saturday.  

Now the Mariners take on the Texas Rangers in Seattle with Iwakuma starting on Friday against Holland who seems to have his mark on the Mariners. The Mariners have an off day on Monday so Iwakuma is expected to switch spots with Paxton who pitches Saturday for the Mariners so they Mariners won’t have two lefties pitcher two days in a row. We hope that Mariners can pay back the Rangers for what they did to them last weekend. Go M’s.