First Blown Save

Wednesday night Edwin Diaz had his first loss of the season. I thought about calling it his first blown save but that actually was on Juan Nicasio who came in the eighth inning giving up a two run homer to Jed Lowrie. This situation was tough because Matt Joyce came in to pinch hit for left fielder Chad Pinder and hit a double. I would have thrown pitches out of the strike zone to see if Lowrie would pop up or strike out. The problem with that is he could walk as well then the Mariners would face Khris Davis who has hit quite a few home runs against the Mariners. So Nicasio could only do his best and it didn’t work out this time. The Mariners had a chance to score runs in both the bottom of the eighth and ninth innings to at least tie or win the game.

I was reading on social media that most fans felt it was the right move to take out James Paxton after seven innings. Personally I believe that manager Scott Servais should have left Paxton to start the eighth inning. If he had walked a batter or given up a hit then take him out of the game. This was a special game because Paxton left giving up five hits through the seven innings while walking only one batter and striking out sixteen batters. It would have been nice to see Paxton leave the game to a standing ovation. Of course that didn’t happen and we will never know what would have happened if he stayed in the game. Also fans were concerned about his health whether he would be affected by pitching the eighth inning. It is a possibility however we won’t know that either. At least on the positive side the rest of the bullpen is rested and can be used in Thursday night’s game against the A’s.  Speaking of this game Wade LeBlanc will be making his first start of the year for the Mariners after pitching in long relief. Right now you would have to favor the A’s in  this game since their starter is Sean Manaea who was named American League pitcher of the month of April. He pitched a no-hitter against the Los Angeles Angels on April 22 and then on April 27 he beat the Houston Astros in seven innings giving up an unearned run. In his six starts he has a record of 4-2 with an era of 1.03 and giving up only twenty hits in forty-three and two-thirds innings. The odds are against the Mariners but a win is not impossible. The Mariners beat the Cleveland Indians last weekend winning three out of four games and faced three of the Indians top pitchers losing only one of them.

In other news the Mariners announced just after eleven am that Ichiro Suzuki was moving into a new role as special assistant to the Mariners Chamber of the Board. His agent says that he isn’t retiring at this point just transitioning into a new position and he will no longer be on the roster. His future after this season hasn’t been determined. We are all glad Ichiro is sticking around the Mariners in a new position. We wish him the best and he will have active presence on the ball club both at home and on the road. The Mariners are recalling reliever Erik Goeddel from Tacoma to take his spot on the 25 man roster. Go M’s.