Mariners Overcome Slow Start Wednesday

King Felix had a slow start to Wednesday afternoon’s game against the Miami Marlins at Safeco Field. He gave up a couple runs in the first inning however he could have given more away.  The Mariners did get a run themselves that inning and then scored two runs in the second to take the lead temporarily at that point. The Marlins scored another run in the third inning to tie the game however the Mariners scored another run in the bottom of the third to take the lead for good. The biggest inning was the fourth inning which was lead off by Zunino being hit by a pitch. Each inning for the Mariners seemed long so Felix had a lot of rest between innings. It may have been part of the reason he struggled all day. He lasted just over six inning and giving up four runs. He may have given up more runs in the process to since he did struggle however got out without a lot of damage.

Wednesday’s game was the worst that Felix pitched so far this year however the Mariners were able to score eight of their ten runs while he was pitching.  Most often the Mariners struggle to score runs when Felix is on the mound however they are usually in games where he pitches his best games. This was his worst outing so far this season. We hope that he rebounds in his next outing.

Again Mitch Haniger had a great game getting three hits in four at bats plus a walk. He scored three of the Mariner runs well as driving in four. At this point he is playing the best ball of the Mariner regulars.  Another one who had a good game was Kyle Seager who drove in four runs on two hits. Both Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz had two hits in the game. Cano scored two times while Cruz scored once.

The Mariners showed in this game once again that they can score runs without hitting a home run. This time they had four doubles each by Zunino, Cruz, Seager and Haniger. Though they had no stolen bases they still showed speed on the base paths.

Fans were able to give a good applause to Ichiro in his last at-bat in Safeco Field by hitting a home run in the top of the ninth inning for the Marlins last run score. Most likely it will be Ichiro’s last time at least this year unless the Marlins and the Mariners face each other in the World Series. Odds against it but you never know.

James Paxton will face the A’s tonight in Oakland. A good way to start the road trip for the Mariners starting off with Paxton; hopefully this will be a better road trip than the one starting the season where the Mariners went 1-6. 

This new road trip will be for ten games. After facing the A’s in Oakland for four games the Mariners will play three against the Detroit Tiger and the Cleveland Indians. Last year the Mariners played well in Oakland so it would be nice if they could go 3-1. If they are able to split the games in Detroit and Cleveland the Mariners will come home with a road record of 6-4. Also would leave them with an even record of 13-13 for the month of April.

The Mariners next home stand will be May 2 thru 7 playing three against both the Los Angeles Angels and the Texas Rangers. This road trip and next home stand will tell us more on how the Mariners will do for the time ahead. Go M’s.