Two Down and Two to Go

 Seattle 5 Tampa Bay 1

The Seattle Mariners got off
to a great start scoring four runs
in the first inning followed by
another run in the third which
was enough to beat the Rays.

The key in the game for the

second time in a row against

the Rays was hitting the ball

the other way. The Mariners

keep doing so it will be success

for them. One thing we know

the Mariners are not going to

hit a lot of home runs.

Pitcher of the game: Yusei Kikuchi

He continues to pitch well for the

Mariners. Kikuchi went seven innings

giving up four hits, one run, three

walks while striking out six.

It would be nice if he can cut down

on the walks but at least Kikuchi

didn't give up a home run in the

game. Kikuchi now has a 4-3 record.

It is nice to see the relievers were

able to keep the score at bay. It

helped Kikuchi the offense score

the four runs in the first inning as

well. It meant Kikuchi could go

after the Ray hitters without worry

to make mistakes.

Hitter of the game: Luis Torrens 

had two hits on the night driving

in two runs. The Mariners had 13

hits on the night. Ty France led

the team with three hits. Although

he didn't drive in any runs he did

score twice. JP Crawford continued

his hot hitting having two hits along

with Jake Bauers as well. It looks 

like Bauers is getting used to be in

a Mariner uniform.

Logan Gilbert will go for the Mariners

on Saturday night. Gilbert pitches like

he did in his last outing the Mariners

may win three in a row against the

Rays.

Transactions: It was a busy day for

the Mariners which has been happening

throughout the season. The Mariners 

sent catcher Jose Godoy back down 

to Tacoma after a good time in Seattle.

So the Mariners are back to Tom Murphy

and Luis Torrens as the two catchers.

Also, they placed Justin Dunn back on

the injured list after only lasting two

innings the day before. They called up

Yohan Ramirez from Tacoma along 

with Vinny Nittoli. 

What this means the Mariners will

likely go with an opener when Dunn's

spot comes up in the rotation. Nittoli

has experience in the minor leagues

to pitch multiple innings. This is some

thing the Mariners lack in the bullpen.

Depending what happens going into

Dunn's spot wouldn't be surprised if

Nittoli is the starter in the place of

Dunn since the Mariners are determined

to stay with a six-man rotation which

I don't think is necessary especially 

with several days off coming up. I

hope things change and we don't

see the six-man rotation until at

least after the all-star break. 

The Mariners will have a day off

this coming Monday before facing

the Colorado Rockies. The Mariners

will have Thursday off as well as they

go to Chicago to take on the White Sox.

They have Monday off after that before

going to Buffalo New York to take on

the Toronto Blue Jays in a three-game

series.