Mariners Win Final Game

The Seattle Mariners win the final game of the season 3-1 over the Texas Rangers at Safeco Field. The win allowed the Mariners to have a season record of 10-9 against the Rangers. This meant they won every series against the American League West division rivals.

So the Mariners season record ended up 89-73. With the same record they would have won the division by a game in 2016 and made the 2nd wild card last year. We hope Jerry Dipoto will be able to make some trades and add free agents to the roster. Most likely they won’t go after the top free agents. Possibly the middle range free agents. They will have to decide resign Nelson Cruz to a new contract as he now will become a free agent. They need to know where they will play Dee Gordon and Robinson Cano. Gordon in center or second base and Cano at 2nd base or 1st base. They could have them go between each position as well like when Cano return in August from his suspension.

The Mariners had a different lineup for the final game. Guillermo Heredia leadoff  playing centerfield, he went 2 for 4. Denard Span in left field, later replaced by Cameron Maybin, Nelson Cruz in right field. He was replaced in the fourth inning by Ben Gamel to standing ovation. Kyle Seager at third base then he left the game for Gordon Beckham, Daniel Vogelbach at dh, Ryon Healy at first base, Kristopher Negron at 2nd base, David Freitas at catcher and Andrew Romine at shortstop.

This week I will give my report on the season along with who I think should go. Look forward to seeing the playoffs unfortunately without the Mariners. I wouldn’t be surprise seeing Dipoto make a major trade after the World Series or in November or December. Go M’s.

2018 Mariners Season Ending

It is Sunday September 30; the Seattle Mariners play their last game of the season today against the Texas Rangers.

Saturday night the Mariners had another one of those frustrating game they have had this second half of the season. In the first inning former Mariner third basemen Adrian Beltre’ hit a double to drive in the first run of the game. Finally the Mariners tied the game in the fifth inning. They broke open the game when Vogelbach scored from third when Dee Gordon hit a triple in the seventh inning. He and another run scored as well for the Mariners to win 4-1.

Nick Vincent having an up and down year was able to make it through the seventh inning and he got the win. Alex Colome pitch to hold it like he has so many times this year. It was actually his 30. Edwin Diaz came in for his 57^th save on the season. It tied him with Bobby Thigpen with the second highest save mark in the history of the major leagues. The Mariners win today and he got the save he would hold that mark all by himself.

Roenis Elias will start Sunday’s final game of the season. He has done a remarkable job primarily doing long relief and now starting his fourth game of the season. Manager Scott Servais says he hopes to have Elias more of a defined role next season. I would like to see him pitching more in the role James Pazos did this year and have Pazos move to the left handed specialist unless the Mariners can find someone else to fill the role.

Jean Segura had three hits in the game so now he has a batting average of .304. This will give him two years in arrow for the Mariners to bat over three hundred on the season. Also Robinson Cano limited to playing about half of the season will bat over three hundred as well. It would be nice if Nelson Cruz could drive in three runs Sunday so he could end the season with one hundred runs batted in. I am sure most Mariner fans hope he runs next season. I certainly do. Go M’s.

Mariners Shut Down By Rangers

Most seasons I wish the season would go on beyond the playoffs and the World Series for the Mariners but this hasn’t been one of those years.

The first three months were great on how the team played ball however some of the players forgot about it in July thru the rest of the season.

I was hoping that the Mariners would win all the games in this final series so have 90 wins to end it. Now this won’t happen. They will be lucky to get 88 or 89 wins. Disappointing can’t hit against teams like the Padres and the Rangers who are down in the bottom of the league in wins.

I don’t want to see Seager or Zunino start the final three games. They have been part of the problem all year long. They have had poor seasons before July. They can come in late in the ball game for defensive purposes. I like them both as people but baseball players who can’t hit a flee no.

Thursday’s night’s game the Mariners had three hits in the whole game. Mitch Haniger one of the guys playing consistent all year long had one of the three. The other two hits were by Ben Gamel spending about a month in Tacoma or so along with Vogelbach who was in Tacoma most of the year. Ridiculous can only get two hits off a pitcher having almost six era. Also the pitcher after him couldn’t get a hit off and he is just under seven.

The loss went to Zach Duke giving up both runs. He shouldn’t have been pitching. He will be a free agent so why bother pitching him. I don’t want to see him in the final three games. I do hope we are able to see Alex Colome and Edwin Diaz in this series even if the game where they don’t need a setup man or closer. They are a major reason the Mariners have 86 wins right now. I will let you know who I think should be back and who shouldn’t be. Look forward to February 2019.  

Mariners Face Rangers Final Four Games

The Seattle Mariners now go into their four final games at home and the season against the Texas Rangers after losing the final game of the series against the A’s.

The A’s ended up beating the Mariners 9-3 on Wednesday night. The Mariners were hoping that Felix Hernandez could have a successful outing in his last game of the season but was for naught. He started into the fifth inning however left with a runner on base. He gave up five runs on three hits, two walks and struck out four. All but one of the runs was earned. He threw a ball into the outfield trying to get a double play on ball hit back to him.

Chasen Bradford coming in for Felix lasted only two-thirds of an inning including giving up a grand-slam home run to first baseman Matt Olson making the score 8-2.

Felix gave up a home run in both the first and second inning however Ben Gamel hit a double in the bottom of the second to drive in Nelson who walked and Kyle Seager hitting a single to tie the game 2-2. Stayed that way until the fifth inning when the A’s scored six runs. The Mariners scored another run the last of the game in the bottom of the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Nelson Cruz. The A’s scored one final run with a home run Casey Lawrence gave up in the seventh inning.

The big question now will be whether Felix Hernandez can make the starting rotation, sent to the bullpen or released where the Mariners will still have to pay off $25 million left on a last year of his current contract. He could retire as well. I am sure we will find out in the months ahead.

Marco Gonzales will be making his final start of the season against the Texas Rangers in the first game of the series. Marco is going after his 14 win of the season. Though his second half not nearly good as the first half this is still better than anyone expected out of him this season. Has a lot for us to look forward to next year.

Wade LeBlanc will start Friday going for his ninth win of the season. He has a solid era of 3.55. He should have a spot in next year’s rotation depending on who the Mariners might pick up after the season. Saturday and Sunday games don’t have the starters listed as of yet. They could go with James Paxton and Mike Leake. Paxton is one strike out from having two hundred on the season so I am sure he will want to pitch. Erasmo Ramirez might start if Leake doesn’t go on Sunday.

I am sure we will see a mixture of starting position players and reserves in these last four games. If the Mariners can beat the Rangers in all four games then they could end the season with 90 wins. Though a disappointment not making the play offs after having an 11 game lead over the A’s in late May this still would be an accomplishment.

Jerry Dipoto will be looking to see what changes he will make to the roster during the upcoming off-season. We will have to see whether he moves Dee Gordon back to center field full time or have him play some second base as well. With Robinson Cano will he play some second base along with first base? How will this work with Ryon Healy? Will the Mariners decide to trade him or play him like they have since Cano came back on August 14. A lot of answers to come along with the starting rotation and the bullpen; the Mariners offense needs improvement over the second half of the season when they scored under four runs a game when they were at 4.25 before the all-star break. It will all be interesting to see. I will be saying more after the season. Go M’s.

Mariners Even Series With Walk-Off

The Seattle Mariners lost the opening game on Monday with the Oakland A’s at Safeco Field 7-3. James Paxton haven’t pitched because of illness only went four innings in the game throwing 71 pitches giving up two runs on three hits. Both of the runs were solo home runs on mistakes. I am sure that Servais felt Paxton couldn’t really throw more than the 71 pitches. We hope that in his last outing which could be on Saturday he will be able to go further. He left the game with the Mariners being behind 2-1 so the Mariners obviously had the chance to still win the game. Adam Warren who was the second reliever in the game gave up a solo home run in the sixth inning to Khris Davis hitting his 46^th home run of the season. Although it hasn’t happened this way but it feels like all his home runs are against the Mariners. Sounds like Mike Trout and a few other guys too. The Mariners though tied the score in the bottom of the sixth inning with two runs including solo home run by Dee Gordon. Oakland won the game scoring two runs in the seventh and eighth inning. Matt Chapman hit a two-run homer off of Shawn Armstrong in the seventh inning. It was his first two runs given up since he was brought up at the beginning of the month of September from Tacoma. Casey Lawrence gave up the final two runs.

On Tuesday night the Mariners made a come from behind to win the game. Mike Leake not pitching well gave up three runs in the top of the first inning however Nelson Cruz hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the inning to tie it which was so good for the Mariners. Leake had problems where he continued being hit giving up three more runs in second inning. He didn’t give up a home run at all though he did give up a triple to lead-off hitter Nick Martini then gave up seven singles. Leake should have been out of it in the first inning when a throw by Jean Seager was dropped by Ryon Healy at first base. It was a difficult grounder to Segura so it was ruled a single.

Leake only went one and a third innings. It was the shortest outing of his career. I was surprised that Servais came to take Leake out with one out the score being 6-3. Though it was the right decision I was surprised because he never did that with other pitchers early on like Felix Hernandez.

The Mariners scored a run in the second inning plus another on a home run by Jean Segura to make the score 6-5. It looked like a game being high scoring. Chasen Bradford finished off the second inning. It was his second game in as many days.  He went the one inning than was replaced by Roenis Elias who pitched three innings giving up one run on a homer in the fifth inning. Rookie Matt Festa came in for Elias giving up a run on three hits over one-third of an inning. He was replaced by left James Pazos getting the final two outs of the inning. The rest of the bullpen didn’t give up a run including Edwin Diaz pitching the 10^th inning and Alex Colome in the 11^th inning. The Mariners tied the score 8-8 in the bottom of the ninth inning off of A’s closer Blake Treinen. Colome was the winning pitcher as Chris Herrmann pinch hitting for Andrew Romine who pinch run for Ryon Healy in the bottom of the ninth then played first base. Herrmann hit a walk-off two run homer in the bottom of the eleventh inning. It was off of former Mariner Emilio Pagan pitching both the 10^th and 11^th innings for the A’s. It was his first loss of the season. Also it was the first time the A’s gave up a run eighth inning on.

This now gives the Mariners a record of 86-71. So they could still win 90 games with missing the playoffs. Felix Hernandez will start Wednesday’s night’s game in the final game against the A’s.

The final series against the Rangers will be Marco Gonzales on Thursday night followed by Wade LeBlanc on Friday. Saturday and Sunday games haven’t been mentioned who will start however the Mariners could go with Paxton and Leake to end the season. I will give my final report card for the season certainly won’t be as good as the first half.

Mariners Come Home For Final Home Stand

The Seattle Mariners ended the last road trip of the season losing 6-1 in Arlington, Texas to the Texas Rangers. This ended the season with a road record of 44-37. Not at too bad. This means right now the Mariners are 41-33 at home with seven games at home remaining.

At this moment the Mariners are eight and half games behind the Oakland A’s who will be coming in to face the Mariners at Safeco Field for three games. It would be nice if the Mariners could go 5-2 at home so they can make it 90-72 for final record of the season.

It will be odd for the Mariners to face the A’s in these final three games since the A’s have won the second wild card. The Mariners are playing for pride to end the season plus auditioning for some of the players to make next season's roster. When the season is over I will look at the overall look at the season for my final grade along with who I think should stay and who should leave. In some cases there will be a few that probably stay who shouldn’t. It will be an interesting off-season once again as well. I will look at that as well.  Probably take some time off concerning the Mariners to though will make comments on any players that are released, waived, traded or pick up by waivers or trade. Look forward to February when the Mariners report to training camp once again.

James Paxton is expected to pitch Monday night against the A’s. Long as everything goes well he will make another start on Saturday against the Rangers.

News came out on Monday that Felix Hernandez and his wife are both becoming USA citizens Monday afternoon. Congratulations for both of them. We hope that Felix does return next season with a new approach. Hate to see him retire or be released. I am sure he will have a long talk with Dipoto and Servais after the season. Go M’s.

Mariners Even Series With Shut Out

The Seattle Mariners are now down to their final eight games to go with one remaining in Arlington Texas then come home to finish the season at Safeco Field.

Later in the evening the A’s won 3-2 in walk-off fashion over the Minnesota Twins so the Mariners are now out of the wild card race as well. It will be one of the Mariners disappointing seasons though it will be one of their top nine winning-est seasons on record even if they don’t win a single more game in the last eight.

Marco Gonzales had another outstanding outing going six innings giving up only one hit in the Mariners’ 13-0 shut out over the Rangers. The Mariners will conclude this road trip Sunday afternoon. If they win this game the road trip will end 7-3. When Gonzales left the game the Mariners were ahead 4-0. The Mariners didn’t score any runs until the fifth inning when Robinson Cano who has been hot on this road trip hit a three-run homer and then Mike Zunino hit his 20^th homer in the sixth inning.

Nick Vincent pitched the seventh inning after the Mariners scored another run in the top of the inning making it 5-0. He gave up two hits and a walk without giving up a run but didn’t me much to live on since his season has been so so.

In the eighth inning veteran Bartolo Colon gave up four runs to the Mariners including a two-run homer to Dee Gordon. Zach Curtis who the Mariners got in the trade with Jean Segura and Mitch Haniger has gone here and there since gave up the final run in the eighth inning plus three more in the ninth to put the game out of sight.

The Mariners now have the remaining game in Texas with Wade LeBlanc going for his ninth win of the season. The Mariners split the remaining eight games that will give the Mariners 89 wins on the season. It would be nice if they could win 90 wins on the season though they won’t make the playoffs.

James Paxton is hoping to take the mound on Monday back in Seattle. He would be going for his 12 win of the season. He would like to be able to make one other start as well. Right now Gonzales leads the team with 13 wins. Both he and Paxton would likely have at least 15 wins if they hadn’t missed some starts by being on the disabled list.

This season overall a good one it is still disappointing what it could have been. Next season it will be nice if the Mariners could get 18 wins out of Paxton and 17 out of Gonzales. I am sure that Dipoto will look to go out and find another starter.

It will be interesting to see what the everyday lineup will look like as well. Get to that later on after the season is over. Go M’s.

A Wet One in Arlington plus more Washington Sports

The Seattle Mariners are now done to the final nine games on their season. The Oakland A's who continue being the hottest team in baseball right now just need to win one more game to clinch the 2nd wild card spot so it doesn't look like the Mariners will make it even if they won the remaining nine game. 

On Friday night Erasmo Ramirez had another rough outing  giving up a three-run home to former Mariner Beltre then  he hit another ball in his second at bat that drove in five more runs. In the end the Mariners lost 8-3 in seven innings.  Down pour came down so had a delay for over an hour then they decided to call it game. Have to see whether Saturday's game will be played. 

It seems that the Mariners are having problems in the second half of the season against the bottom of division teams. They did win a series against Baltimore two out of three games but were swept by the San Diego Padres in all four games  with two on the road and then two at home. Now they go against their division rival Texas Rangers losing 8-3 in the first game of the final series on the road for the season. This was just after taking two out of the three against division leader Houston Astros. Marco Gonzales will take the mound Saturday night then followed by Wade LeBlanc on Sunday night. They will return home playing the A's Monday thru Wednesday finishing up the season Thursday thru Sunday against the Texas Rangers.  I will have a final season look on the Mariners.

On Friday night the Washington State took a good lead in Los Angeles against the USC Trojans  however ended up losing on a block field goal that would have tied the game. The final score was 39-36. The Cougars were favored in the game but USC did a nice turnaround in the fourth quarter outscoring the Cougars 15-60. 

Saturday night the Washington Huskies take on Arizona State at Husky Stadium. The Huskies are favored to win by nineteen games. The Sun Devils won in Tempe, Arizona last year 13-7. Two years ago the Huskies won big at Husky Stadium to help them get to the national championship series where they lost to Alabama.  The Huskies do have a record of 2-1 however if they want to be in the championship series once again they do have to win this game plus all the remaining games.

The Seattle Seahawks take on Dallas Cowboys Sunday afternoon in Seattle. It is important that they win after losing their first two games on the road in Denver and Chicago where their defense was OK at best but the offense had a hard time running the ball and Russell Wilson had turnovers. The Seahawks were supposed to run the ball however like last year have passed more than they have run. It must be decided that this changes starting this week other wise it will be along season.  Go Huskies and Hawks Saturday and Sunday. 

Mariners Take Series in Houston

Thursday is an off-day for the Mariners as they travel to Arlington, Texas to take on the Texas Rangers for the last three games of the season on the road.

The Mariners took this series beating the Astros 9-0 on Wednesday after being shut out on Tuesday.

Since the Mariners were swept by the Padres to basically eliminate them from the race though not technically they have hit well against both the Angels where they beat them three out of four games before coming to Houston to win another series. It wouldn’t surprise me if they win two out of three against the Rangers or even sweep them.

Kyle Seager who has had a poor season most of the year has come alive recently. Yes he has had twenty-two home runs however this second half his defense hasn’t been that good either though he has made some outstanding plays. We can see that he has struck out quite a few times and missing balls at the plate as well. He has won a few games for the Mariners but hasn’t been there when they needed him. Stats can be misleading as well since he has hovered around .220 or less all season.

The Mariners started reliever Matt Festa who pitched most of the season with Double A Arkansas. He was the Mariners 7^th round pick in 2016.He went only the first inning before being replaced by Casey Lawrence who went three innings and recorded the victory. He was the only pitcher went more than one inning. Festa was able to get out Springer, Altuva and Bregman. Springer was the only one to get a hit among the three.  Lawrence pitching in nine games this is probably his best outing. He gave up one hit, two walks and struck out a batter.

Besides Festa and Lawrence the Mariners went with five other relievers giving up five hits all singles. Lawrence was followed Adam Warren giving up two the hits then Shawn Armstrong having a fantastic September giving up a hit and a walk. In 10 games he has given up five hits along with the one walk in this game and 10 strike outs. I would say he has a good chance of being in the Mariners’ bullpen next spring. Zack Duke, Justin Grimm and Roenis Elias finished the game off. Duke gave up the fifth and final sing of the game. The way this happen we might see more of an all reliever game.

Robinson Cano continue adding to his career doubles total with two of his three hits in the game. He scored two runs while driving in three. Kyle Seager who recently has decide to hit had a solo home run along with Mitch Haniger and Guillermo Heredia each having one. Haniger continues to raise his stock being one of the few Mariners having a good season. Dee Gordon, Ryon Healy and Mike Zunino were the only starters not to get a hit in the game. Zunino struck out three times.

Erasmo Ramirez will start Friday night’s game against the Ranger.  In his last outing he was only able to go four innings where he gave up four runs with three home runs. The first two were in the first inning back to by Mike Trout and Ohtani.  Playing in Arlington Ramirez will have to be careful since it is a home run park. The Mariners will be facing Connor Sadzeck who will be making his second start this year and his major league career. He has primarily been a reliever so the Rangers likely will do as the Mariners did against the Astros Wednesday night going with reliever. Marco Gonzales will go for the Mariners on Saturday night followed by Wade LeBlanc on Sunday afternoon. There was thought that Felix Hernandez might start in that game. Sounds like if can go Felix won’t start until the Mariners get home. Right now not sure when James Paxton will start a game but likely will be one of the final seven games at home.

The Mariners would have to win seven of the remaining ten games to tie the A’s without them winning a single game. The odds aren’t good are they? That would give the Mariners 91 wins on the season.  For the Mariners get to 90 wins they have to go 6-4 which is possible since they are playing seven of the ten remaining games against the Rangers.

Astros Blank Mariners

Tuesday night the Houston Astros shut out the Seattle Mariners 7-0 after the Mariners had won five straight games in Houston. With the loss the Mariners are now mathematically eliminated winning the American League western division. They are still in the running for the second wild card though the chances are where the Mariners will be eliminated soon from that as well. The Mariners have 11 games remaining however with combination of five Oakland A’s wins or five Mariner losses. This means that the odds are great they won’t make it.

Mike Leake had one bad inning in this game where he gave up four runs. Marwin Gonzales who has played well this season against the Mariners hit a two-run homer against Leake to account for two of the four runs. Leake gave up another run in the seventh inning before leaving with one out.

Chasen Bradford finished off the remaining of the seventh inning without giving up a hit. Nick Rumbelow who is competing to see what he could be for the Mariner bullpen for next year didn’t have a good outing giving up two runs on a hit and two walks. He will have to do better if he has any chance.

The Mariners were unable do anything off of rookie Josh James making his second start of the season. James pitched five and one-third innings giving up four hits, walking two and striking out seven. He was able to throw his fastball up to one hundred miles per hour. He is showing that he should have a place on the Astros roster next year. He could have a place on the playoff roster as well.

The Mariners only had six hits in the game and half of them were off the bat of Robinson Cano who had two doubles out of his three hits. The other hits were singles by Mitch Haniger, Ben Gamel and catcher Chris Herrmann.

Rookie reliever Matt Festa seventh round draft pick in 2016 is expected to start Wednesday’s final game against the Houston. The Mariners are hoping to take the series against the Astros. Festa spent most of the year pitching for Double A Arkansas. He will be competing for a spot in the Mariners’ bullpen in spring training for a middle reliever spot. Like Edwin Diaz he is able to throw up to 100 miles per hour.

The Mariners will likely go with a right handed lineup as they go against lefty Dallas Keuchel who has a record of 11-10 with an era of 3.57. This will be another tough game for the Mariners to go up against the Astros. Right now the Mariners have a season record of 9-9 going into their final game against the Astros.

The Mariners have Thursday off before going against the Texas Rangers in Arlington. It will be important that the Mariners can sweep the Rangers before coming home for their final home stand of the season and the final seven games of the season. They will face the A’s for three games than the Rangers for the final four. Go M’s.

Vogelbach Slams Astros

The Mariners again had another outstanding outing by Wade LeBlanc giving up one run in five and a third innings. The one run happened in the fourth inning when the Astros had back to back doubles. They were two of the three hits that LeBlanc gave up.  He did walk three batters however struck out five.

The Mariners again was silent most of the game which in some ways expect this second half of the season plus the Astros have outstanding starting pitching.

In the eighth inning Nelson Cruz started off the eighth inning with a single then with one out Kyle Seager had a single as well. Robinson Cano hit a fly ball that center fielder Jake Marisnick did a sliding dive to save the Astros at least one run. He actually had one on Ryon Healy before Seager came to the plate.

Denard Span pinch hitting for Mike Zunino was able to draw a walk that loaded the bases. Manager Scott Servais decided to pinch hit Dan Vogelbach for Guillermo Heredia.  I have to say that Servais pushed the right button this time with Vogelbach hitting a towering grand slam home run to right-center field to give the Mariners a 4-1 lead and the victory. It was Vogelbach's first major league grand slam. 

Behind LeBlanc the Mariners’ bullpen did a fantastic job in three and two-thirds innings not giving up a single hit. Ryan Cook got the victory while Alex Colome had a hold for the eighth inning and Edwin Diaz his 56^th save of the season. He only threw five pitches in the ninth inning. This is the fifth win a row for the Mariners over the Astros in Houston since they swept the last series in four games.

Mike Leake takes the mound for the Mariners against Josh James who is only starting his second game for the Astros. The Mariners always seems to have a tough time against unfamiliar pitchers so we will have to see how things go. I expect it to be another low scoring game.

The final game in the series on Wednesday the Mariners hasn’t yet announced who will go for them.

I would like to see Servais press another good button again Tuesday night. This win for the Mariners now puts the Oakland A’s only four games behind the Astros for the division lead. Not wanting to help out the A’s  however like to see an interesting finish to the season.

Angels End Mariner Streak

It is very hard for any team to sweep another in a four game series. The Mariners had the opportunity over the weekend against the Los Angeles Angels but it wasn’t meant to be though they were close losing 4-3.

The Mariners took the first lead in the top of the third when Mitch Haniger hit a double that scored Dee Gordon after he got on base with a single. In the bottom of the third though Justin Upton who had a good series against the Mariners hit a three-run homer to take 3-1 lead.  The lead didn’t last long because Daniel Vogelbach in for Nelson Cruz down with illness hit a two-run homer to tie the game.

Marco Gonzales went five innings for the Mariners giving up the three runs along with six hits, two walks and six strike outs. Other than the pitch to Upton did an ok job in the game. Shawn Armstrong pitched the sixth inning having another fine performance showing the Mariners that he could have a spot in the bullpen next season.

The Angels won the game in the seventh inning when Kole Calhoun hit a home run off of Nick Vincent. Calhoun is another one handful of players who finds a way sometime during a series to beat the Mariners. The Mariners were only able to get one hit off the Angels bullpen over four innings. A very good reason they were not able to win the game.

The Mariners now go to Texas taking on the Astros then the Rangers both in three game series. The Mariners have Wade LeBlanc going Monday night followed by Mike Leake on Tuesday. Right now they don’t have anyone scheduled for Wednesday. It is possible that James Paxton will be ready to go then or go with Roenis Elias again. The Astros will be another tough series because they do have outstanding starting pitching although the Mariners did sweep them the last time in Houston. The rotation against the Rangers hasn’t been announced as of yet. Go M’s.

Mariners Win Again In Anaheim

Saturday night’s game against the Angels started out with Erasmo giving up a two-run homer to Mike Trout and then Ohtani hit a homer for a back to back to take an early lead in the first inning 3-0.

Justin Upton added on a solo home run the first of two in the fourth inning to put the Angels up 4-0. The Mariners were able to get back into the game with utility player Kristopher Negron hitting his first home run for the Mariners and then a home run by Mitch Haniger. In the sixth inning Negron drove in Ryon Healy to make the score 4-3.

Haniger had another outstanding game with his glove besides at the plate. He threw out Mike Trout at home plate trying to score on a single by Ohtani and then he robbed Justin Upton of a two-run homer. Those two plays helped the Mariners win coming from behind.

In the eighth inning with the bases loaded Robinson Cano hit a ball over Mike Trout’s head in center field to clear the bases for a 6-4. Upton got a solo homer run in the ninth inning off of Edwin Diaz to make the score 6-5 before Diaz got his 55^th save of the season. It does look like Diaz could end the season with at least 60 saves.

The Mariners now have guaranteed themselves a winning record for the season now at 82-66 with fourteen games remaining. It is amazing that they were able to turn the switch back on in this series after having a couple bad months and likely not going to make the playoffs.

Marco Gonzales goes Sunday afternoon to see if he can help the Mariners sweep the Angels not an easy task at all. This will be his second outing after coming off the disabled list with a sore neck. Hopefully he can pitch the same way he did in his first game back. The Angels though have lost all three games they have shown some of the power that they have in their lineup. We hope that Gonzales can keep that power to the minimum. Go M’s.

Mariners: Friday night shutout

Now that the wild card race is probably over the Mariners beat the Los Angeles Angels two nights in a row this time shutting them out 5-0.

The Mariners went with the bullpen starting Roenis Elias in place of James Paxton who was down with an illness. He is expected now to meet the team in Anaheim or when they get to Texas.  When he will pitch might be in regular turn or before if he is ready to go. Elias went three and a third innings giving up one hit and a walk while striking out four.

He was replaced by Adam Warren in the fourth inning with one out. Before Elias left the game the Mariners did score three runs in the fourth inning with four straight hits that included an rbi by Robinson Cano and two by Ryon Healy who has been hitting well as of late.

Dee Gordon whose bat does seem to be coming alive recently drove in the last two runs in the seventh inning. Also he made an outstanding catch robbing Mike Trout of a home run.

In total the Mariners used six pitchers in the game giving up a total of six hits and walking three batters. Adam Warren got the victory since Elias didn’t go the five innings that was required to get the win.

The Mariners now have 81 wins so that means they will have a winning record for the season. The losses against the Padres I was wondering if they were going to win another game for the season. With fifteen games remaining in the season the A’s will make the wild card with seven wins or seven Mariner losses. The Mariners can still win 90 games however not make the playoffs. In fact the A’s are already at 90 wins.

When looking at end of the season it will seem like a successful season but most of us will look at all the ifs after a bad second half. Of course doesn’t help that the A’s got on a three-month rampage winning at a rate around 70 per cent and the Mariners bats decided to disappear for two months.  I am not sure who could fix why this happened after doing so well for three months. Too much pressure or did they play above their talent. We will never know and it will be Dipoto’s job to see about fixing it for next season.

Mariners: Open series with win in Anaheim

Now the pressure is likely off concerning the playoffs or lack off depending on how you look at it the Mariners are on the last road trip of the season starting with four in Anaheim against west division rival Angels.

The Mariners started off scoring two runs in the top of the first. A nice change over what has happened recently where the other team scores first and with the struggles the offense has had in the second half of the season.

The Mariners added another run in the second then Nelson Cruz hit a three-run homer in fourth inning to them up six to nothing;  a great thing for the pitching and the team for sure.

While the Mariners offense was going well so was the pitching of Mike Leake who has had his ups and downs on the mound throughout the season. He was shutting down the Angels until Justin Upton hit a home run to make it 6-1.

The Mariners added on another two runs in the top of the ninth innings. This is something they have lacked doing during the last month or so.

The Angels went bullpen by committee Thursday night so the chances were good that the Mariners might pull this game off.

In the bottom of the ninth Chasen Bradford came in after James Pazos had pitched the eighth inning. Bradford had a hard time including loading the bases however he ended giving up only one run with the help of the home plate umpire that gave Bradford some help. So the game ended with the Mariners winning 8-2. I had thoughts that Bradford would give up a grand slam then Edwin Diaz would have to come in and get another one run save. That is what the second half of the season has looked to me anyway.

Roenis Elias will pitch Friday night instead of Paxton who didn’t make the trip because of illness and not sure when Felix will pitch again because of his hamstring. Erasmo Ramirez will be going Saturday followed by Marco Gonzales. With Elias going the bullpen will get time in this game. Depending on the situation likely the Mariners will go with pitchers who were called up in September from Tacoma until late innings if they are ahead.

The Mariners now have a record of 80-66 with 16 games to go so they could reach 90 wins still.  The Oakland A’s are 89-58 being eight and half games ahead of the Mariners.  For the Mariners to have any chance still for the wild card they would have to go 8-2 at least on this road trip. The A’s have to go 2-8 then the Mariners sweep them at Safeco when they return a week from Monday. Even though likely won’t make it I hope the Mariners will play well and entertain us like in May and June. Go M’s.

Mariners Swept By Padres

When thinking that the Mariners could some way end things far as the offense slump they have been in for some time in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings all nine batters strike out in a row.

Prior to sixth inning the Mariners came in striking distance to possibly when the game. Going into the fifth inning they were down by five runs without scoring a run. Wade LeBlanc who had a good outing in his last appearance  gave up a two-run homer to catcher Austin Hedges that gave them a two to nothing lead in the second. The Padres scored another run in the third inning. In the fifth inning left fielder Hunter Renfroe hit the second two-run homer of the game for the Padres. They picked up another run in the top of the fifth inning to make it 5-0. The Mariners did make a game of it scoring three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning including a home run by Nelson Cruz making the score 5-3.

The Mariners could have added on to hopefully win the game but as mentioned earlier they struck out nine straight times from the sixth through the eighth. The Mariners’ bullpen did hold the Padres from scoring any more runs. In the ninth inning Kyle Seager led off by hitting a home run to make the score 5-4 to give all the faithful fans a chance for a possible victory. Dee Gordon pinch hit getting a hit but was erased on a Denard Span fielder’s choice. Span was able to steal second base with two outs after Ben Gamel struck out. Chris Herrmann pinch hit for Mike Zunino who came into the game in the seventh himself. Herrmann struck out to end the game.

Really shows how desperate the Mariners are with the offense when they use seven pinch hitters in the game. Actually only six came to the plate because Daniel Vogelbach first was to pinch hit for catcher David Freitas but the Padres brought in a left handed pitcher so Zunino replaced Vogelbach as the pinch hit. Although Vogelbach doesn’t do well against lefties Zunino isn’t a very good pinch hitter himself.

The Mariners had a starting lineup of all right handed hitters outside of Robinson Cano. The Mariners could have won the game to if it were not for errors by Kyle Seager and Gordon Beckham in for Jean Segura who didn’t play for the second straight game because of illness. Beckham had two throwing errors in the game so he showed that he isn’t a very good shortstop at all. Although Dee Gordon isn’t hitting well right now though he did get a pinch hitting single in the game he should have been playing shortstop though he bats left handed. I wonder if Scott Servais is trying to over manage right now.

The way that the Mariners are playing right now what choices does Servais have? The Mariners have 17 games remaining including the ten they have on the last road trip starting Thursday night in Anaheim against the Angels.

Padres Beat Mariners Again

I have to shake my head on how the Mariners have been playing for the last couple of months especially against the National League West who they have dominated over the years when they didn’t have as a good of a ball club.

The Mariners have twenty-one more wins than the Padres but will lose the season series against them. I am sure that most of us figured the Mariners would sweep the Padres this year or maybe lose one game however they are turning the tables on them instead.

Again the problem goes to the offense. I don’t understand that was considered the strength coming into the season has become their weakness instead the last couple months. I don’t think that Robinson Cano’s offense has been overwhelming since returning since August 14 but he has contributed about what he always has for the Mariners. This game he hit a homer run to give the Mariners the only run in the 2-1 loss. The Mariners actually had at least a couple opportunities to score runs in the game having a runner on base twice. All they had to do was hit the ball to deep outfield for a sacrifice fly. I believe it was the second time Dee Gordon hit the ball where it went off the glove of the pitcher but the Padres were able to get Kyle Seager for an out at home. I wonder if the Mariners should have pinch run for Seager because a faster runner would have been safe at home that is how close the play was.

Marco Gonzales made his first start in almost a month for the Mariners after going on the disabled list with a sore neck. He pitched an outstanding game for someone who hadn’t pitched for that long. He was only able to go five innings throwing sixty-six pitches. I expect the Mariners only wanted him to go that many innings because you would have thought he had more to give. He only gave up four hits in the five innings and the one run the Padres got was in the fourth inning in his time on the mound.

Shawn Armstrong came in the sixth inning for Gonzales. He had another good game pitching for the Mariners since coming up when the roster’s expanded and the Tacoma Rainier’s season ended. He went just the one inning giving up a hit without walking a batter or a run. In his seven games he hasn’t given up a run. He certainly has given the opportunity to show that he might have a spot in the Mariner’s bullpen next season.

Nick Vincent and Alex Colome pitched the seventh and eighth innings without giving up a hit however Edwin Diaz not having a good outing for the first time in a while gave up a run on three hits including a double that gave the Padres the win. The loss you have to give over to the offense since they had nine runners left on base. Now we have to see if the Mariners can win the final game of this home stand before going on the road for ten games. The Mariners still in the wild card race but likely won’t happen since the A’s continue winning now eight and half games ahead of the Mariners which means the Mariners have to win every game remaining on the schedule to have a chance. So goes it for another season not making the playoffs

Mariners Avoid Sweep

Going into the Yankees series the Mariners really needed a sweep to stay in the race for the wild card instead Sunday they avoided a sweep by the Yankees.

Again the Mariners offense wasn’t that much however they had good pitching and got runs when they counted. The Yankees were able get a run in the first inning but the Mariners on four consecutive single with two outs were able to score 2 runs. Cano, Cruz, Healy and Cameron Maybin hit those consecutive hits with Healy and Maybin hitting in Cano and Cruz. The Yankees tied the score at 2-2 with a run in the fourth inning.

Both starters C.C. Sabathia of the Yankees and Erasmo Ramirez went five innings giving up two runs each. So it stayed that way until the bottom of the eighth inning when Mitch Haniger drew a walk stole second base moved to third on a sacrifice bunt then slide just ahead of a throw when he went on contact on a hit up the middle to the shortstop who tried to nail him at home. Haniger was the player of the game besides when in the bottom of the ninth with two outs he dove for a catch that ended the game. If he hadn’t come up with the catch likely the hitter would have had at least a double or a triple so the Yankees could have tied the score. Edwin Diaz recorded his 54^th save of the game.

The Mariners had a starting lineup of all right handed hitters except Nelson Cruz so both Kyle Seager and Dee Gordon did not start. Actually neither one played in the game. In the sixth inning Denard Span pitched hit for Cameron Maybin though he had a good day at the plate. Kristopher Negron who started at third base in place of Seager made his first start of the season for the Mariners. The Mariners acquired him on August 30 from the Arizona Diamondbacks on a minor league deal. He was called up when the Pacific Coast season ended. Dan Vogelbach making his first appearance since being called up pinched hit for Negron in the seventh hit however he flied out. Gordon Beckham went to play third base. #45

The Oakland A’s continue winning so the odd of the Mariners are becoming almost impossible though they are not out of the race yet. The A’s continue to be hot going 7-3 in the last ten games while the Mariners are 5-5. The A’s are seven and a half games ahead of the Mariners for the second wild card. Say that the Mariners go 15-4 in their remaining nineteen games the A’s just have to go 7-11 in eighteen games. I guess this could happen but the way the Mariners have been playing and so the same goes for the A’s this is impossible. The Mariners would have to look at going 8-2 in the next ten games followed by 7-2 in the last nine games of the season. In the same period the A’s have to go 4-6 in the next ten followed by 3-5 in their final eight games. This does happen than a tie then they would play a tiebreaker to face likely the Yankees.

Unfortunately the A’s got hot in June or the Mariners may have made the playoffs with ninety wins or less. For the Mariners to reach ninety wins they have to go 11-8 giving them a final record of 90-72. Right now the A’s have eighty-seven wins so they only need three more to reach that number of ninety. If were not for the fact that the Mariners haven’t reached the playoffs for seventeen years we would be proud what accomplishments they have made this season plus the fact that they had an eleven game lead back in June over the A’s.

Although they most likely won’t make the playoffs this year we know the progress they have over the last several seasons and the fact that some seasons with ninety wins they would be in the playoffs. I am sure we all hope they can end the season on a high note instead of how they have been playing the last half of the season.

At the beginning of the season we would have thought that the starting rotation would be the guys keeping us out of the playoffs instead it has been the middle relievers and the offense; both areas for the Mariners to beef up during the off-season. Go M’s.

Mariners Take Another Loss To Yankees

When the Mariners need the offense to step up to the plate it failed them once again in the second game of the series against the Yankees losing 4-2.

Andrew McCutchen who the Yankees recently obtained from the San Francisco Giants led off the game with a home run. Some reason the Mariners give up a lot of those including Felix Hernandez who seems to give up homers early in the games. Anyway the Mariners tied the score 1-1 in the third inning on a home run by Mike Zunino who it far over center field fence. Both teams scored a single run in the fifth inning. Felix had to leave the game with no outs in the fifth inning because of a hamstring in his right leg. Shawn Armstrong did a fine job for two innings giving up no hits however Nick Vincent came in the seventh inning and surrendered a home run to catcher Austin Romine the brother of Mariner utility player Andrew Romine. The Yankees got another run in the ninth to take the lead to 4-2.

The Mariners were able to get a double from Mitch Haniger and a walk off of Dellin Betances but he struck out three other Mariners to end the game.

For the Mariners to avoid the sweep and stay in the wild card race the offense must come alive off of C.C. Sabathia and Erasmo Ramirez must pitch a good game for them to win. Ramirez needs to be able to go at least six innings in this game.

It is something to me that when the Mariners need the offense to come alive at a crucial time of the season it continues to sleep and manager Scott Servais continues sending out the same players. I am not sure whether things would be any different if another player or two were added to the lineup or not but something would be nice to be tried. At least Servais said it right when saying “it is a broken record…”.  I don’t understand a team that was playing so well through June suddenly turn into a team we don’t recognize at all. Were they over their heads or run out of steam? Obviously the pressure of being in the wild card race has gotten to them. My mind now is that Dipoto will need to go out and add at least a couple players that can hit consistently over a full season. Right not sure how many more games they will win the rest of the way but a season that looked so promising has now gone to the basement. It shows that it would be nice to have a team like the A’s who started off slow than caught on fire then one that started off good then slowed to almost a stop. The fun we had seeing a team playing for three months has come to a team that we don’t enjoy seeing much at all. Even if they don’t make the playoffs which is most likely going to happen it would be nice to see a team that is having fun once again. Time to see some of the call ups to see where they may fit for next year; one thing for sure these guys are auditioning for next season as well. Go M’s.

Sunday Begins Seahawks Regular Season

Well part two going into the Seahawks opener in Denver on Sunday. It really hard to know which this game will go. The Broncos were 5-11 last year while the Seahawks were 9-7. The Broncos usually play well at home and the Seahawks have not been good on opening day In the Pete Carroll era the Seahawks are 1-7. It will be good to see how the Seahawks offense works under the new offense coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. They hope to get back to running the ball more and successfully. This should help the new younger defense the Seahawks have as well not staying on the field so long and tiring. Pete Carroll has always wanted to run the ball that by the fourth quarter the other team's defense will be worn out. 

The Seahawks are planning to start Chris Carson at running back however first round pick Rashaad Penny is expected to get a lot of carries as well. They plan to play all four running backs so Mike Davis will see some action with C.J. Prosise coming in on the third downs. If Prosise stays healthy he should be a good running back that other teams will see that is different than the other three. 

Sometime Saturday news should come out how much Earl Thomas will play on Sunday and whether he will start. It is good to have him back because they are much better with him instead of without him. He doesn't make a lot of noise on the field but sure know when he hasn't been in the game. It will be interesting to see Rookie linebacker Shaquem Griffin starting in place of K.J. Wright. It is unknown right now how long Wright will be out. I am sure that the Broncos will try to go Griffin's direction when the season starts.

The passing game will be different this season especially without Jimmy Graham at tight end. The Seahawks will be starting Nick Vannett at tight end and rookie Will Dissly who is a favorite of Russell Wilson should see plenty of action too. Veteran receiver Brandon Marshall should see plenty action in the red zone since he is one the tallest receivers. Doug Baldwin and Tyler Lockett are expected to start. How much Marshall plays depends on his health along with Baldwin's who didn't play at all in the pre-season. I am sure we will see some action out of receivers Jaron Brown and David Moore as well. 

The Seahawks will play second game of the season at Chicago next Sunday. Before predicting how the Seahawks will do along with the Bears we will have to see how both do this Sunday. The first home game will be in two weeks against the Dallas Cowboys. I believe that should be an exciting game to see as well. How the Seahawks do this season will depend whether they can keep the games close and how the kicking game will do as well. Go Hawks.

I can't forget the Washington Huskies will be playing real soon against the North Dakota State. The Huskies are real upset by last week's loss to Auburn so this week's game could be real high scoring affair on the Huskies end. Like the Seahawks it will all start with the running game with some passes included in the offense as well. Go Huskies. 

Yankees Shut Out Mariners Friday Night

There is nothing really to say more about the Mariners offense except that it isn’t working. It would be nice to have neither Seager or Gordon in the lineup at the same time however it is hard to accomplish since one of the them has to be in the game because who plays second if both are not playing. So at least one of them shouldn’t be in the lineup until they figure things out at the plate.

Friday night Yankee starter Masahiro Tanaka shut out the Mariners on three hits going eight innings. The Mariners have never figured him out now that he is 7-0 in his career against the Mariners.  Actually Tanaka should have had only two hits charged against him because Jean Segura hit a ball that the first baseman wasn’t able to come up when the throw was thrown to him. I was surprised that an error wasn’t charged. It really didn’t make any difference. Tanaka struck out ten Mariner batters without walking one. The only threat in the game was when Zunino hit a double by the third baseman but no one was able to bring him home.

Now Felix Hernandez goes against the Yankees Saturday night. The Yankees will have Lance Lynn starting for them. He hasn’t had a good season pitching with a record of 8-10 with an era of 5.10. This will be his seventh start for the Yankees after being traded by the Minnesota Twins. His stats with the Yankees are about the same as with the Twins. Since Felix has been struggling this season though doing better after coming back into the starting rotation after relieving James Paxton getting hit in the forearm and had to go on the disabled list this game could go either way though important for the Mariners to take this game.

The Yankees will likely have another large group of fans at the game. Didn’t realize it that much until had the home run hit in the second inning and they exploded. It will be important that the Mariners take the lead early so the Yankees can’t feed off the fans that are at the game. Interesting to think the Mariners didn’t do well against Toronto or the Dodgers when they had larger group of fans than the Mariners. I wonder if the players are intimidated by these fans. Also the way the Mariners have been playing for the last couple months it is hard to remember that they are still fifteen games above five hundred with seventy-eight wins. Anyway let’s hope the Mariners can win the final two games of this series.

Seahawks Open Season on September 9

While the University Washington Huskies and the Washington State Cougars have their second game of the season  each on September 8 the Seahawks start their season on Sunday against the Denver Broncos. Over the years the Seahawks have had problems playing on the road especially on opening day. They always seem to have a slow start when the season begins and usually have more success the second half of the year. 

Last year the Seahawks season was a bit different since they actually went 5-3 on the road while going 4-4 at home. This coming season for the Seahawks to match last year's record or do even better they have to get back to the playoffs. Last season they lost their first game on the road at Green Bay which isn't ever easy. The final score was 19-7. This year they face the Broncos in Denver which again won't be easy since they are like Green Bay hard to win in Denver. This week Earl Thomas did return to the fold after holding out because of a contract dispute. How much he plays is any ones guess at this point. The Seahawks do have a better chance winning this game with Thomas instead of being without him especially that linebacker K.J. Wright will miss the game as well.

For the Seahawks to make the playoffs won't be again easy to make it. They would have to get back to have a home record of 5-3 and 5-3 again on the road at least to make it. Two of the three losses on the road were early beginning with Green Bay and then lost again in Tennessee against the Titans in a close game 33-27. The third loss was at Jacksonville in another game that took place in December losing another game by six points 30-24. The Seahawks probably had their worst December in several years going 2-3 which made them miss the playoffs. Have more details on Saturday. 

Mariners Win Important Series

It might be too late however the Mariners did take the series from the Baltimore Orioles in Seattle. A loss would have made it even more difficult since the Oakland A’s beat the New York Yankees once again. A team the Mariners will be taking on in the next series starting Friday night. Really to make the playoffs the Mariners need to sweep the Yankees at home. It will not be an easy task since we never know whether the offense or the pitching will show up any given game.

Wednesday night the Mariners took the lead in the third inning when Mitch Haniger hit his 24^th home run of the season. The Orioles scored two runs in the top the fifth inning temporarily because Nelson Cruz and Denard Span hit back to back home runs to give the Mariners a 3-2 lead. In the seventh inning the Mariners scored two more runs when Nelson Cruz hit a double followed by another by Span. After a wild pitch that sent Span to third. Kyle Seager back starting this game after not on Tuesday had a pop fly Guillermo Heredia pinch hitting for Ben Gamel had a safety bunt to score Span making 5-2.

Mike Leake went six innings giving up seven hits. Although two runs were scored by the Orioles both were unearned because of errors. Leake didn’t walk a batter and struck out four. Shawn Armstrong relieved Leake giving up one hit in his one inning followed by Alex Colome and Edwin Diaz who neither gave up a hit. Now Diaz has fifty-three saves on the season.

James Paxton will start Friday night’s game against the Yankees followed by Felix Hernandez on Saturday. Both of those are must game along with Sunday. Who starts on Sunday has not been yet determined. The Mariners have twenty-two games remaining and they are still five and a half games behind the Oakland A’s. While the Mariners play the Yankees the A’s take on the Texas Rangers so the odds of the Mariners still making the playoffs as a wild card is still hard to accomplish. Go M’s.

Big News Earl Thomas To Report

It was reported that Earl Thomas is reporting Wednesday to the Seattle Seahawks. How long he will be a Seahawk is a big question. There are reports that the Dallas Cowboys have offered the Seahawks now a two round draft pick for next year. Whether they decide to do so will depend how much they want him for this season or for the future. 

Earl Thomas did say he is still disappointing in the negotiations in getting a new contract from the Seahawks. I expect though he would want to have a contract extension in place if he were to be traded to the Cowboys as well. He was sighted in Seattle on Monday because his daughter was starting school. I am sure he stayed as well so that probably helped in getting him to report besides the fact he probably doesn't want any more fines and he wants to play football as well whether in Seattle, Dallas or elsewhere.

One thing we do know he is the best defensive player on the Seahawks and they will be a better team with him than without him but if he doesn't want to be in Seattle with the Seahawks might as well trade him for the second round draft pick instead of losing him for nothing after the season. Of course this depends to whether general manager John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll want him for future years as well. The big question though is will he be healthy enough to play over the next four years or will it be a big gamble to take to sign him. I am sure seeing him in playing action over the next month or two will make the decision more clearly for Schneider and Carroll to give him the extension. Of course we don't know whether they have made the decision to move on from him as well. You have to figure that the Seahawks don't have Kam Chancellor or Richard Sherman in the backfield any longer plus the retirement of Cliff Avril and the trade of Michael Bennett. They may believe to do a rebuilding of the defense will work better without Thomas. I believe the Seahawks would be better with him in the future well as now but of course it is not my decision. I wonder the other Seahawk fans feel about Thomas as well. The answer will be when he takes the field for them in his first game at Century Link  Field if he is still around. Of course the Seahawks first home game will be the third game of the season and that actually will be against the Cowboys so which team he suits up we will find out as well.

In the meantime the Seahawks will be getting ready to play the Broncos in Denver this coming Sunday. How they play and whether they win is a question mark right now. Playing in Denver is never an easy task either. We hope to see a better running game over the last couple years regardless if the win or not. The best way for them to win is to keep the offense on the field as long as possible. I hope to that the offense will get off to a good start in the first half as well. Over the years that Russell Wilson has been the quarterback the offense has had trouble in the first half of games along with the first half of the season then they rebound in the second half. I know that there are those who believe the Seahawks would have won more games if field goal kicker hadn't missed shots but I think the Seahawks wouldn't have won as many games if it were not for heroics by Russell Wilson in the second half of several games. I guess you could say those things reversed the record may have turned out to be the same anyway. This year though the Seahawk record could be about the same or less. It might be anyway from seven to nine wins this season depending on how the defense plays this year with or without Earl Thomas. Whatever happens we thank you for your service with the Seahawks. Stay tuned and see what happens. Go Hawks! 

Orioles Win Over Mariners

Right now the Mariners don’t look like a very good baseball team. Actually it has been going on for a while you could say back to the all-star break in July.

The culprit this time like many was the offense and middle relief. The Mariners took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Robinson Cano hit a home run but they couldn’t score any more runs until late in the game.

Wade LeBlanc who pitched an outstanding game went six innings giving up six hits, 1 walk and striking out four. I heard fans criticizing manager Scott Servais for taking out LeBlanc when he only through sixty-eight pitches. I am sure Servais reason was he wanted to keep LeBlanc’s innings at this mark to be able to use him the rest of the season. It does sound reasonable however the Mariners are in a playoff race and what is usual should not be happening. Other words I believe you have to go with the best pitchers no matter how long until they are eliminated from the playoffs. Since he had only thrown sixty-eights he should have gone one more inning. Servais could have the bullpen ready if LeBlanc gave up a hit in the seventh inning this way he could turn it over to Alex Colome and Edwin Diaz.

Adam Warren came in the seventh inning however he gave up three hits and one run without getting an out. Lefty specialist Zach Duke didn’t do much better giving up a one run in a third of an inning. Nick Vincent who has had a poor season himself gave up a hit but did finish off the seventh inning. So at this point the Orioles were leading 4-1. The way the Mariners offense has been going as of late that is hard deficit to overcome.

The offense did give them a chance in the eighth inning scoring two runs  that included another hit by Cano who actually had three in the game. Nelson Cruz got a single then Cano came home on a Ryon Healy rbi. The Mariners had the bases loaded but only were able to bring Nelson Cruz across the plate. So the score at that point was 4-3 but the Orioles score another run in the ninth but the Mariners weren’t able to produce any more runs. So the final was 5-3.

Right now the Mariners are a five hundred team at best which means unless the offense comes alive and the bullpen besides Colome and Diaz can do the job then they will be home for the playoffs. Diaz by the way was named reliever of the month once again.

Before the game Dee Gordon asked the media to leave the clubhouse because of a scuffle happening in the clubhouse. No details about who was involved however the game showed it didn’t help the offense or bullpen that is for sure; it would be nice though that this turn into something positive the rest of the season. I just hope that I can write positive posts about the Mariners then the same things happening most recently. Go M’s.