Mariners Keep Rolling and More

The Seattle Mariners  win opening game

of series against the Toronto Blue Jay's

8-3. This helps winning the opening game

of a four game series.

Takeaways: foremost  the Mariners are 

now back at even on the season at 42-42.

The thought would be here at the all-star 

break and  they are ahead of schedule.

The main thing is keep  on rolling. 

Marco Gonzales pitched well  into the 

seventh inning though he couldn't 

complete  it. He gave up the three runs

and left two runners on base with two

outs. Good  thing  Marco didn't  give up a

home run to the power Blue Jay's. He

didn't  walk a batter though no strike outs

either.

Offensively  the Mariners  had three home 

runs by Dylan Moore, Cal Raleigh  and Eugenio 

Suarez. Both Raleigh and Suarez each had

two hits and drove in three runs. Raleigh 

average  is now  .202. Quite a  leap from

where he was. He is the Mariners catcher

until  proven different. Suarez has increased

going up to now .240. We will  take that to

for sure. We can't forget Ty France back in

the lineup  at dh. He got a hit in his first at

bat.

In the NHL  draft  the Seattle  Kraken  had 

a surprise. Shane Wright  expected  to be

number  one pick by Montreal was still

available  when the Kraken drafted at 4.

We will  see  in the future  whether Canadians 

made a  big mistake or not and the other

two  teams ahead of the Kraken made a 

mistake to. Day two of the NHL draft will

take place on Friday.  I  am  sure  how the

Kraken  did taking Wright in the first round 

will make a difference in the rest of the draft.

Will other players fall down to  for the Kraken 

to change what they expected. How will they

do anything different  in signing free agents

as well.  Does Wright make the opening day

roster or not. Stay tuned. 

Mariners Take On Toronto

It is always  strange  when the  Blue

Jay's come to Seattle.  Always  feel  

like a road game since so many Blue

Jay fans come down  from  Canada. 

The Mariners  always  struggle against 

them at home.

The Mariners  winning  pretty  well  

lately  we hope this is a change. Most

of the Mariners  haven't  been on the

team when playing  the  Blue Jay's

at home. Marco Gonzales starts for

the Mariners Thursday night. He might

be the only one of Mariners to play in

Seattle  against Toronto.  I believe the

last time they faced each other here

was in 2019 with  Canadian fans. I

am sure it will  be noisy.

I haven't  heard  about any transactions 

yet, however Ty France  could be activated

on Thursday. If so then he could play

first base or dh in this first outing. In either 

case he and Carlos Santana will likely be

in the lineup together.  Haven't heard  about

Luis Torrens but he  should  be  close to 

come back  to. After those two will be Mitch 

Haniger and then  Kyle Lewis.  Most likely 

Kyle  won't  be  back until the end of July.

A lot depends on his rehab assignment.

In football  news  quarterback  Baker Mayfield 

was traded to Carolina. This means hearing

about him coming to Seattle is off the books 

for now. Any rumors about a quarterback 

coming  to  Seattle  probably  not  off the table 

as of yet. 

Mariners Let Off Fireworks

The Seattle Mariners had a good

4th of July beating the Padres in

the opening game of the series

8-2.

Takeaways:  Chris Flexen pitched

an awesome game goingnsix and

two-thirds innings. He left with a

shutout. One of the rare times

Flexen has pitched well and had

offense backing. He know has a

record of 5-8 with an era of 4.00.

The Padres didn't score until the

9th inning on a two- run homer.

A bit too late.

The Mariners scored two runs in

the first inning then two more in 

the fourth inning on a other massive

home run by Julio Rodriguez with

Dylan Moore on base. Julio became

the fastest major league ever to hit 15

home runs and 20 stolen bases in a

season. He has a good chance to

hit 30 home runs and steal 30 on 

the season. Only one Mariner has 

done that in Alex Rodriguez.

JP Crawford had three hits in the

game after coming off suspension.

Jesse Winker began his six game

suspension so will miss this series

well as the Toronto. Tuesday's 

game will be in the afternoon and

the Mariners will fly home. They

have a day off on Wednesday before

taking on the Blue Jays for four

games.

The Mariners scored three more

runs in the sixth inning when Cal Raleigh hit a double with the bases 

loaded. Cal also stole third base

his first of his major league career.

Marcus Wilson started his first

game in right field and had his

first hit in his first at bat to. Something for him to remember for sure.

For any who hadn't heard last week

USC and UCLA went to the Big Ten

Conference. Not sure what will 

happen to the Pac-12. Not sure

whether the Huskies and Oregon

Ducks will follow. This puts in question

the Cougars and Beavers as well.

The Huskies had a number of recruits

commit for 2023 but not sure how 

this will affect them we will. Camp 

for the Huskies and the Cougars

will be starting soon. The same for

the Seahawks. Football just around

the corner. The time will come fast

as we know. 

Mariners Take Series

As expected  the Mariners  took

the series over the Oakland A's. 

They didn't  make it easy on 

themselves.  For the second 

game in a row  the Mariners 

won 2-1. 

Takeaways: Again great  pitching 

on both sides or poor hitting depend

on how you look at it. Robbie Ray

continues to pitch well for the Mariners.

Ray ended up going six and  two-thirds 

innings giving  up four hits including a

home run in the seventh inning. He

struckout twelve  batters while only 

walking two.

The Mariners  offense  was made up

of Julio Rodriguez for the  most part. 

He led off the first inning  hitting  a

home run  on the very first pitch. In

the six inning Dylan Moore  had a single 

and came home run  on a hit and  run

where Julio hit a double. Julio is becoming

the best hitter for  the  Mariners since

Ken Griffey Jr which says a lot mainly

because  of  Ichiro. 

JP Crawford  should be about ready to

return from his suspension.  Winker 

probably  next as his suspension reduced

to six. Julio's has been reduced  to one 

game.

Kyle Lewis rehab starting now. He will 

be brought up when he can play some

in the outfield.  He does  look better

running  the bases. It is likely  to alternate 

with Mitch Haniger at dh when he returns. 

We do have to consider  when Ty France 

returns how much Carlos  Santana plays as 

well. The possibilities  at dh could be  crowded 

however there is pinch hitting  as well.

Mariners Win Walk Off Fashion

The Mariners and A's game 

Saturday was another low scoring

affair. The Mariners winning 2-1

with a walk off.

Takeaways: Starting pitching wasà

excellent for both sides. Paul Blackburn A's started gave up seven

runs to the Mariners in his appearance

obviously made adjustments. You can say the same for George Kirby. This time out he gave up a run in the first

inning but nothing after that. Kirby went seven innings.

Lefty Borucki gave up a hit and struck

out two in one inning. Diego Castillo 

pitched the ninth walking one and

striking out. He recorded his sixth win

against one loss. Castillo in his last 

15 outings with an era of 1.13 while

walking only three and striking out

twenty. When his slider is going he

is dominate.

The Mariners ended up scoring a

run in the eighth to tie the game

with pinch hitter Justin Upton 

hitting a solo home run. In the ninth

with the bases loaded Abraham Toro

hit a single into left field scoring

Marcus Wilson who pinch run for

Eugenio Suarez. Toro starting to

heat up having two hits on the day.

The same for Carlos Santana who

was on base before Toro's walk off.

Now the Mariners face the final

game of series Sunday with Robbie

Ray on the mound. Wouldn't surprise

me another low scoring game with

the Mariners hopefully.

The Mariners go to San Diego Padres 

to take on the Padres for two games

before returning home to play the 

Toronto Blue Jays in four games. As

we know it will be a busy and noisy

as Blue Jays fans will come from

Canada. It will be nice if the Mariners

can split the series at least. The team

has played well on the road recently

and this game will sound like a road

series. 

The Mariners are now in third place 

in west division. A game behind the

Texas Rangers who they meet before

the all-star break. Things work out 

the Mariners will be in second place

at the end of July.

The Mariners are hoping to have the

return of Ty France and Luis Torrens

soon. The possibility in Mitch Haniger

as well. Most likely Kyle Lewis will

return after the all-star break. He will

take a rehab assignment. Nothing

said whether Haniger will have a 

rehab assignment or not. I expect

his first few games he will dh.

Mariners Lack Offense Again

The Seattle Mariners lack the

offense losing 3-1 to the

Oakland A's on Friday night.

Takeaways: The Mariners scored

17 runs total in their last two 

games so a lower scoring game

was suspected sometime in the

series. 

The Mariners lone run came in 

the sixth inning with the A's 

leading 2-0. Julio Rodriguez hit a 

ball almost out but ended up a

triple. Jesse Winker drove in Julio.

Eugenio Suarez almost hit one 

out as well but was a double. A

home run of course would have 

tied the. The Mariners were not 

able to bring Winker or Suarez

home. Suarez had two of the 

four hits. 

A's catcher Sean Murphy had three

hits driving in two runs. This include

a home run off of Penn Murfee in

the 7th inning.

Marco Gonzales started the game for

the Mariners going six innings giving

up two runs. Marco continues to pitch

well but lack of offense keeps him

from winning to often. In June Marco

was 1-3 with an era of 2.90. Now starts

July with another loss.

Carlos Santana in his four games with

the Mariners since being acquired from

Kansas City has only one hit in 12 at

bats. He has played good defense but

the Mariners picked him up for his bat

especially missing Ty France. We can 

hope Santana can start to deliver.

Not sure when France will return but

does look like Luis Torrens should

when his ten days on the injured list

is done. Cal Raleigh has done the 

bulk of the catching though Andrew 

Knapp caught Friday night in his

Mariners debut. Later in the game 

Raleigh did pinch hit for Knapp and

stayed in the game.

The Mariners and A's have a Saturday

afternoon game. George Kirby will

start for the Mariners. After giving

up seven runs in his last outing to

the Orioles hoping for better results.

So far Sam Haggerty has had the

bulk work in right field since Taylor Trammell went out with a hamstring

pull and was placed on injured list.

Not sure when Trammell will return

or Haggerty plays majority of the

time until Mitch Haniger comes back.

The Mariners certainly need Haniger's

bat along with France. Adding Kyle

Lewis would be good to. 

Mariners Power Explodes

The Seattle Mariners offense came alive on
Thursday night against the Oakland A's.

Final Mariners 8 A's 6

Takeaways: After beating the Baltimore

Orioles Wednesday with small ball the

Mariners' big bats came alive Thursday

night. where Julio Rodrigues had a solo

home run. Dylan Moore had a two-run 

homer in the fourth inning putting the 

Mariners ahead 4-1.

Logan Gilbert gave up a three-run 

homer to outfielder Ramon Laureano

who had a home run in the 9th inning

as well to make the game real interesting.

I have mentioned before on the Mariners

pitching giving up so many home runs

especially with runners on base. Laureano

two home runs give him four on the 

season, 

The Mariners did take the lead in the

bottom of the fifth inning where Abraham

Toro drove in two runs and then Cal

Raleigh hit a triple but scored on an

overthrow to third. This did give the

Mariners four run cushion which turned

out they needed. 

Logan Gilbert pitched well for the most

part outside of the three-run homer. He left

the game in the seventh inning with two

runners on base. Thankfully Andre Munoz

came in without surrendering a run. Diego

Castillo and Paul Sewald finished off the 

game though each gave up a run in each

of their inning. 

JP Crawford suspension was lowered four

games from five so he will miss the series

against the A's. Jesse Winker and Julio

Rodriguez suspensions haven't been ruled

in their protests. Most likely Winker will

miss the series against the Padres in San

Diego and the Blue Jays at home depending

when the ruling takes places. If Julio has

to miss time, it will take place after Winker

unless his ruling is next.