Mariners Take Series

It shouldn’t be a big surprise; however, the Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles Sunday 13-3. It means the Mariners took three out of four games; the only loss took place Saturday afternoon.

Both the Mariners and the Orioles scored a run in both the first and second innings then the third inning it was all Mariners scoring eight runs to put the game away. The Mariners did something we would like to see more often they hit a lot of singles in the third inning. All the runs happened because of the singles hit except one and that was a sacrifice fly by Omar Narvaez which actually was the first out of the inning.

The Mariners scored two more runs in the fourth inning on a two-run homer by Mac Williamson. Though he hasn’t had a lot of hits they do count well when he does. The Orioles scored their third run in the sixth inning and the Mariners tacked on one more in the seventh inning.

Mariners brought up two relievers on Sunday from Tacoma. They both pitched in the game. Matt Carasiti relieved for Kikuchi in the seventh inning striking out three batters. His control was excellent in the game. Something we haven’t seen much from the relievers. The other reliever was Mike Wright who pitched the final two innings. He gave up a hit but struck out two batters as well. He had been scheduled to start Sunday for the Tacoma Rainiers so going to innings not a big deal for him.

The Mariners sent down Gerson Batista to Tacoma. He has a wicked fastball going upper 90s but having control problems. He will be back with the Mariners sometime this season I expect. Also, the Mariners released lefty Jesse Biddle who they had acquired earlier from the Atlanta Braves. He had struggle pitching for the Mariners, and to add Carasiti and Wright to the 40-man roster they had to designate Biddle for assignment.

The Mariners had to transfer Chasen Bradford to the 60-day injured list to make room for the two relievers as well. Bradford is on the 60-day injured list because of a strained right forearm. Right now the Mariners are not sure whether he needs surgery or extensive rehab. We hope things go well for Bradford because he can be a good part of the Mariners’ bullpen.

The Mariners have Monday off before resuming action on Tuesday at Milwaukee against the Brewers. This allows Marco Gonzales who will start Tuesday and the rest of the starting rotation an extra day off. The Mariners will play three games in Milwaukee followed by three more in Houston to finish off June. The Mariners right now are 10-12 for June so they do have a chance to break even or have a winning record for the month though not an easy task since the Brewers and Astros are good teams.

The Mariners will start off July at home taking on the St. Louis Cardinals for three games then three more against the Oakland A’s which is followed by the all-star break. The rest of July the Mariners will play mostly division rivals Oakland, Los Angeles, and Texas. The only team outside the division will be the Detroit Tigers where the Mariners will play four games them at home near the end of the month. Go M’s.