Mariners Third Loss to Astros

The Seattle Mariners starting pitching had a good series against the Houston Astros however the relief pitching did a poor job and the offense sputtered some.

Andrew Moore making his first start for the Mariners for some time had the third quality start against the Astros.  Moore was able to pitch six innings giving up three hits and two runs. Kyle Seager continued his hot hitting getting another home run in the game however in the top of the ninth inning with the score tied 3-3 Edwin Diaz gave up a double and then a home run to Cameron Maybin to win the game 5-3. This was the second game in a row that Maybin who the Astros picked up on waivers for the Los Angeles Angels recently won the game.

It is really sad that the bullpen that has had some good times did not do well in the series against the Astros. The Astros are showing that the difference between them and the Mariners is to be able to win late in games. The Mariners have had done so on occasion but nothing like the Astros. It is a shame because the Mariners were in every one of these games and this might have put them out of the wild card race. The Mariners will have to rebound against the Angels over the weekend to have any chance at all now.

It is amazing though that the Mariners are in the race at all with the injuries they have had all season especially to the starting pitching. I am sure the bullpen has had issues of late because until now the starters outside of Erasmo Ramirez haven’t made many quality starts. What has helped the bullpen is bringing up long relievers on a regular basis to at least not tired them out so much and using relievers like Vincent and Diaz primarily when they have been ahead.

Although the relievers have been tired it is time that they make every effort to keep the game where the Mariners have the best chance of winning. The offense needs to get back to scoring five or more runs a game as well so the pitching doesn’t feel they have to throw a perfect pitch each time out.

Right now Cano and Seager are doing well however Cruz and the other guys have to start doing their fair share as well. The Mariners have seemed not to be able to win a lot of games at home. They are around even however it would have been nice if they could have five to ten more games at home. They started the season not doing well on the road however have done better since then on the road instead of home. The last road trip they were 6-6 which we would take anytime even though they started out well going 4-2 in the first two series. It would be nice to win at least two out of three against the Angels before going back on the road. It is important that they win a good clip since they don’t have a lot games remaining in the season. Go M’s.

Tough Loss to Houston

A time when the Mariners really needed to win against the Astros the bullpen and the offense decided to collapse. I might be exaggerating a little bit however I am sure you know what I mean.

For the second game in a row going against tough starting pitching the starter for the Mariner came to pitch. On Tuesday Ariel Miranda had his best outing for a while not giving up a home run at all. His struggle though was able to get the ball over the plate. He walked six batters in six innings while striking out five batters. In six innings he didn’t give up a single hit. He threw 112 pitches because of the lack of control so he had to leave the game. When he left the game the score was tied at 1-1.

Miranda was replaced by James Pazos who got one out and walked a batter in the seventh inning. Emilio Pagan came in and gave up a two-run homer for the final score of 3-1. Like in most cases the Mariners lost a game scoring three runs or less. Pagan has been struggling late I believe because he hasn’t pitched this late into the season. Right now I would give him a few days off or not put him in situations like this for a little while. Ryan Garton and Shae Simmons pitched the eighth and ninth innings not giving up a run.

Justin Verlander pitched six innings in his first outing for the Astros giving up one run on six innings and struck out seven with one walk. The one run he gave up was a home run to Kyle Seager in the 4^th inning. The seven total runs in the game three of them were off the bat of Robinson Cano.

The Mariners will have another tough game on Wednesday facing Lance McCullers Jr who just returned to the rotation. He will face Andrew Moore for the Mariners who recently was called back up from Tacoma. The Mariners hope to get a good outing out of Moore like they did with Ramirez and Miranda with a better result score wise. This game will be crucial since the Mariners don’t have many more games to lose where they can stay in the wild card race. We hope that the offense can come back alive in this final game against Astros. They have Thursday off before facing the Angels over the weekend at Safeco Field. Go M’s.

 

Mariners Take One on the Chin

 Erasmo Ramirez had another quality start for the Mariners. He went a total of six innings. He was matching Houston Astros star pitcher Dallas Keuchel pitch for pitch until the fifth inning when he gave up two home runs. The only runs he gave up in his six innings. Another quality start for Ramirez. Right now he is the ace of the starters with Paxton and Felix out. Paxton could be back pitching in a week and Felix maybe ten days. He is expected to do simulated game on the weekend. When He left the game Ramirez was behind 2-1 but Kyle Seager tied the score with a home run in the bottom of the sixth. The tie was short lived since the Astros scored four runs with two off of lefty specialist Mark Rzep (keep it short) could get anyone out and reliable Nick Vincent gave up his first two runs all season at Safeco field. Vincent left the game and Danny Altavilla finished the seventh and pitched the eighth as well without surrendering a run. Newcomer Ryan Garton pitched the ninth without giving up a hit. The final score was 6-2.

This shows that the Mariners are close but a little bit off the number one team the Astros. They were able to keep it close until the bullpen came into the game. Justin Verlander will make his debut for the Astros Tuesday night. I expect great things from him since he will want to impress his new teammates. This could be another tough hard game and it may come down to the Mariners’ bullpen again if Ariel Miranda can pitch a quality game. He has struggled throughout the second half of the season. He is the only one on the Mariner staff that has started every game. This being his first full season in the major leagues you have to wonder if he has pitched his limit. We will see Tuesday night for sure.

The series against the Astros will be tough and I wonder how it will be against the Angels over the weekend. Depending how these two series end this could be it for the season run toward the wild card. A lot will depend on how much heart they have.

Do we now have to look at what Dipoto will do setting the team up for next year to compete against the Astros. With the young team that they have we know that the Astros will not leave anytime soon. Of course we can’t forget the Angels and Rangers. I am sure it will be a few years for the A’s to rebuild since they got rid of a lot of their top players over this season.

It will be interesting to see what Dipoto will actually do during the off-season. We know that he will be busy and he will add more parts to the team. Primarily he will be working on the pitching staff. We know the position players are in a good place although we are not sure whether Danny Valencia and Yonder Alonso will both be back. I am sure they would like to however how much it will cost is anyone’s guess. The Mariners may look at trading a position player to get a quality starting pitcher. The real one in that regard would be Kyle Seager who has had an up and down season. The same goes for catcher Mike Zunino. I am sure that Dipoto will want him to return at this point.

The starting pitching right now looks to be James Paxton and King Felix as long as both can stay healthy. I don’t think Iwakuma will return next season and then there is Mike Leake who they recently picked up. Those will be in the mix and the Mariners will look to add to that. Erasmo Ramirez could be the fifth starter or be in the mix in the bullpen. The same would go for Ariel Miranda. Marco Gonzales who had an outstanding game pitching in relief in his last outing may find a place as well. The remainder of September may decide what Dipoto will do. Also we can’t forget Andrews Albers who has pitched well in the place of Paxton. We do know that the Mariners won’t have room for them all in the rotation or in the bullpen. We will talk about the bullpen later on. Go M’s.

Mariners Sweep No Question

 

The Seattle Mariners had two close games against the Oakland A’s at Safeco Field on Friday and Saturday night however Sunday afternoon they decided to make the sweep no question at all.

It started out with Robinson Cano hitting a two run homer in the first inning to take the early lead. It was his second home run in two days after going over a month without one. We hope that Cruz can go on another streak as well along with Seager who has a mediocre season outside of hitting over thirty doubles. He has struck out in horrible fashion and his defense has been suspect at time. We hope that he can finish off in good fashion.

Andrew Albers made his fourth start for the Mariners and he did a great job pitching a no-hitter going into the sixth inning. The no-hitter not only ended but he gave up a home run to first baseman Matt Olson as well. At that point the score became 3-1 however the Mariners scored a run in the sixth and seventh inning however blew it open in the eighth scoring five runs.

Cooch Ruiz who was catching in place of hot hitting Mike Zunino had a great game hitting a home run and a double. Gordon Beckham pinched run for Ruiz in the eighth and scored. Also he was able to bat in the eighth inning too. Mike Marjama went in to catch in the top of the ninth inning in place of Ruiz. It allowed him to make his Mariner debut after being called up Friday from Tacoma.

Cano not only had the home run in the first inning he had a total of four hits in the game and scored two runs. Also Jean Segura had three hits and scoring three times. That’s good for the leadoff batter. Mitch Haniger continued his hot hitting getting a double along with a home run driving in four runs and four hits. Ben Gamel was the only one in the starting lineup that didn’t get a hit. He left six runners on base so he had his opportunities fortunately the Mariners won easily anyway.

The Mariners now take on the Houston Astros at Safeco Field beginning with a late afternoon game on Monday. The series will go for three days.  It would be nice to get a sweep here however I will be glad to start off with a win in the first game. Erasmo Ramirez who has been pitching well for the Mariners will start Monday’s game against the Astros. He has been pitching well of late for the Mariners. The Astros though will go with Dallas Keuchel who has been having an outstanding season with a record of 11-3 with an era of 2.91. He did give up six runs in six innings against the Texas Rangers last Wednesday so there is hope for the Mariners. Tuesday Justin Verlander will make his debut with the Astros so they will be making it tough on the Mariners for sure. Go M’s.  

Mariners Go For Sweep

 

The Seattle Mariners now will look to sweep the Oakland A’s at Safeco Field after losing five games in a row including a sweep by the Orioles in Baltimore.

I would not say it is an easy sweep that they are trying to accomplish. On Saturday they had a 2-2 tie going into fourth inning when Yovani Gallardo went only three innings giving up two runs and five hits. He was replaced by Casey Lawrence who did even worse giving up four runs in one-third of an inning with three hits and two walks. He was replaced by newcomer Ryan Garton who was just called up from Tacoma. The Mariners made a minor league trade for him in August with the Tampa Bay Rays. He was able to get two outs in the fourth inning without giving up any more runs. Marco Gonzales who was sent to the bullpen after not pitching well in starting six games came in to take over for long relief. He actually did very well out of the bullpen going four innings giving up no runs on two hits and striking out five. Also he didn’t give up a walk either. For now it looks like he may have found his spot in the bullpen. Gallardo may have to look to go back to the bullpen himself if he isn’t released by the Mariners.  James Paxton threw in the bullpen on Saturday and he could end up taking Gallardo’s spot in the rotation if he is ready to go. The Mariners are hoping that Felix will be able to throw as well and get into the rotation as well.

The game turned out to be a final finish. Mike Zunino hit a home run in the 8^th inning to tie the score at 6-6. In the top of the ninth inning Edwin Diaz walked and got a hit however was able to strike out two batters to keep the tie going into the bottom of the inning. The Mariners were able to load the bases with nobody out and Nelson Cruz coming to bat. Unfortunately Cruz struck out and Kyle Seager had a pop up that didn’t go deep enough in the outfield to score Segura. So now with two outs everyone was wondering with Mitch Haniger at the plate he could drive in Segura however the pitcher Blake Treinen threw a wild pitch that brought in Segura for the winning run. Now the Mariners can see what they can do on Sunday afternoon to get the sweep before the Houston Astros come to town.

Andrew Albers will be taking the mound for the Mariners Sunday against the A’s. His last outing was not a good one at all and most of it was not his fault. He was able to go five innings even though there were five errors in the first inning and the eight runs he allowed in that time only three were earned. He deserved a better fate for sure. We hope that he is able to pitch and the outcome will be like his previous two outings. Now that the Mariners have more pitchers in the bullpen if Albers can go five innings and keep them in the game the relievers will be in good shape to finish off the game for the sweep and  A’s lineup doesn’t scare me at all.

It would be nice if the Mariners could go on a good string of wins on this home stand before going on the road again. It is amazing that they are still in the wild card race. Of course it helps that the other teams are losing as well. Go M’s.

Seahawks Make Roster Moves

On Saturday the Seattle Seahawks trimmed their roster as required by the NFL. There were some surprised that happened. I don’t recall anything like this in the past years. Also some that was expected as well. One thing for sure the defense is going to have a different look this year however I am sure improved as well. The rest of the NFL I know has taken notice.

The biggest surprise was wide receiver Kasen Williams put on waivers. It was such a surprise Richard Sherman couldn’t believe it. He made some spectacular catches along with special teams that everyone expected him to be on the ball club. Of course you never know Seahawks always make changes so he could be back on the roster as well in any day. I am sure he will play somewhere this season.

The Seahawks made three trades on Saturday after two on Friday. Tramaine Brock was traded to the Minnesota Vikings for a 2018 seventh round pick. Interesting he was only on the squad for few days. They traded a seventh round pick to Kansas City to pick up offensive lineman Isiah Battle to add depth to the position and then the third trade was sending Cassius Marsh to the New England Patriots for a 5^th and 7^th round picks. It was a surprise to me though he did have a personal foul made against the quarterback in the last two pre-season games. I am not sure whether that was the reason however I am it didn’t help.

I could go on and on about those who were traded or released but I won’t. I will mention that three veterans had their contracts terminated. Former University of Washington Huskie fullback Marcel Reese, linebacker Mike Morgan and Ahtyba Rubin defensive tackle. I am sure Rubin contract was terminated after the Seahawks traded wide receiver Jermaine Kearse to the New York Jets on Friday for defensive end Sheldon Richardson along with the reason they were able to trade Marsh as well. Probably see Michael Bennett play more at tackle this year.

At this point the Seattle Seahawks have a different backup quarterback. Trevone Boykin was waived so now the job belongs to Austin Davis. I would not be surprised if the Seahawks are shopping around for another quarterback to backup Russell Wilson. Someone who is more of a veteran quarterback however there are not a lot of quality backups out there and we hope that Wilson won’t get hurt and take most of the snaps this year.

The wide receiver core now is Doug Baldwin and Paul Richardson with Tyler Lockett being number three. At this point the fourth and fifth receivers are rookie Amara Darboh and Tanner McEvoy who is a surprise to me making the ball club. I would have thought that Williams would have been in the position instead of McEvoy.

In the days to come I will go over the other positions too and see what other changes they make before playing the Green Bay Packers on Sept. 10. Go Hawks!

Huskies and Mariners Win

The University of Washington Huskies had something in common Friday night besides winning their games. They started out slow before winning. The difference was the Huskies won 30-16 while the Mariners won 3-2.

Rutgers took the lead in the first quarter scoring a touchdown on their first possession and then the Huskies kicked a field goal to end the quarter 7-3. The Huskies went ahead near the end of the first half when punt returner Dante Pettis ran one back to make it 10-3 at half time.

The second half the Huskies scored a touchdown and a field goal in the 3^rd and 4^th quarters. Rutgers scored a touchdown in the fourth to make the final score 30-14. Jake Browning had some struggle passing the ball throughout the game as he completed 17 out of 30. The touchdown in the 3^rd quarter was thrown to running back Lavon Coleman and then starting running back Kyle Gaskin scored a 14 yard pass at the beginning of the 4^th quarter. Pettis not only scored the punt return he set up first two field goals and touchdown by Coleman. The Huskies must of felt it was important to exploit Rutgers secondary because they didn’t run the ball that much until the fourth quarter.

Newcomer Mike Leake the Mariners traded for with the St. Louis Cardinals made his debut Friday night starting the first game of the series against the Oakland A’s. The first inning sounded like Oh no because he gave up two runs and it looked like he might give up more however he settled down the rest of the game as the Mariners came back to win 3-0. In fact Leake was able to pitch seven innings for the Mariners which were more than any starter in recent times. If he can do that in all his starts the rest of the season he will be valuable for the Mariners.  

Left specialist Marc R. got the first out in the eighth inning and then Nick Vincent finished the inning getting both outs however he did walk a batter. Edwin Diaz came in and got the final three outs of the game including a strike out for another save.

Saturday night Yovani Gallardo will be making the start for the Mariners against Jharel Cotton who has a 7-10 record. With these two guys both bullpens could get a lot of use Saturday night.

The Mariners had the return of Jarrod Dyson who came off the 10-day disabled list. He started in center field while Guillermo Heredia started in left since the Mariners were facing a lefty. Cotton is a right hander so likely Ben Gamel will start in left field in place of Heredia.

Besides Dyson the Mariners brought up pitchers Dan Altavilla, Andrew Moore, Shae Simmons and Ryan Garton from Tacoma. Simmons had been on the disabled list most of the season while Garton came in a trade with Tampa Bay during August. The Mariners also brought up catcher Mike Marjama who was in the same trade with Tampa Bay. He will allow the Mariners to be able to use three catchers during September. I like the fact the Mariners could use a pinch hitter if necessary for the catcher. The Mariners lost Sam Gaviglio on waivers to Kansas City. This could be tough because Gaviglio had some promise as a starter for the Mariners though guys like Andrew Moore will be ahead of him.  

The Tacoma Rainiers season will be ending on Monday so likely several more players will come up and they will likely be mostly relievers. Go M’s and Huskies.

The Seahawks made a trade Friday sending Jermaine Kearse to the New York Jets for defensive end Sheldon Robinson who is expected to improve the Seahawks defense and they also picked up cornerback Justin Coleman from the New England Patriots. More moves will be made on Saturday as the Seahawks have to trim at least thirty-seven off the roster. Other trades could be made as well. More details will come forth Saturday or Sunday. Go Hawks!