The Seattle Mariners now will look
to sweep the Oakland A’s at Safeco Field after losing five games in a row
including a sweep by the Orioles in Baltimore.
I would not say it is an easy sweep
that they are trying to accomplish. On Saturday they had a 2-2 tie going into
fourth inning when Yovani Gallardo went only three innings giving up two runs
and five hits. He was replaced by Casey Lawrence who did even worse giving up
four runs in one-third of an inning with three hits and two walks. He was
replaced by newcomer Ryan Garton who was just called up from Tacoma. The
Mariners made a minor league trade for him in August with the Tampa Bay Rays.
He was able to get two outs in the fourth inning without giving up any more
runs. Marco Gonzales who was sent to the bullpen after not pitching well in
starting six games came in to take over for long relief. He actually did very
well out of the bullpen going four innings giving up no runs on two hits and
striking out five. Also he didn’t give up a walk either. For now it looks like
he may have found his spot in the bullpen. Gallardo may have to look to go back
to the bullpen himself if he isn’t released by the Mariners. James Paxton threw in the bullpen on Saturday
and he could end up taking Gallardo’s spot in the rotation if he is ready to
go. The Mariners are hoping that Felix will be able to throw as well and get
into the rotation as well.
The game turned out to be a final
finish. Mike Zunino hit a home run in the 8th inning to tie the
score at 6-6. In the top of the ninth inning Edwin Diaz walked and got a hit
however was able to strike out two batters to keep the tie going into the bottom
of the inning. The Mariners were able to load the bases with nobody out and
Nelson Cruz coming to bat. Unfortunately Cruz struck out and Kyle Seager had a
pop up that didn’t go deep enough in the outfield to score Segura. So now with
two outs everyone was wondering with Mitch Haniger at the plate he could drive
in Segura however the pitcher Blake Treinen threw a wild pitch that brought in
Segura for the winning run. Now the Mariners can see what they can do on Sunday
afternoon to get the sweep before the Houston Astros come to town.
Andrew Albers will be taking the
mound for the Mariners Sunday against the A’s. His last outing was not a good
one at all and most of it was not his fault. He was able to go five innings
even though there were five errors in the first inning and the eight runs he
allowed in that time only three were earned. He deserved a better fate for
sure. We hope that he is able to pitch and the outcome will be like his
previous two outings. Now that the Mariners have more pitchers in the bullpen
if Albers can go five innings and keep them in the game the relievers will be
in good shape to finish off the game for the sweep and A’s lineup doesn’t scare me at all.
It would be nice if the Mariners
could go on a good string of wins on this home stand before going on the road
again. It is amazing that they are still in the wild card race. Of course it
helps that the other teams are losing as well. Go M’s.
No comments:
Post a Comment