Mariners navigate Confused Seas to win 5-1

There is a nautical term called “Confused Seas” wherein the swell of the waves from a previous storm and new waves from current wind conditions are in conflict with each other and actually going in different directions. Tonight’s game started with the left over swell from last nights storm in the dugout with its lingering effects on the the team and the fans, and then the actual game that turned into an eventual 5-1 win for the Mariners.

  It is an odd combination of emotions as the strong undercurrent of bad energy from friday night was countered by the victory tonight against the Boston Red Sox. John Lester pitched a great game striking out 13, yet the Mariners managed to get 5 runs on only 4 hits and get a win against a Red Sox team battling with their own demons. Michael Saunders had a big two-run homer in the sixth and with his two hits on the night moves his average up to .238. The Mariners starter David Pauley pitched 5 and 2/3 innings giving up 1 run on a long-ball to David Ortiz.

   Once again the starter for the Mariners did his job and for once we got a few timely hits including a well executed squeeze bunt by Jack Wilson to bring in Milton Bradley after he tripled in the 8th. It would be nice to get a victory tomorrow and come-away with a split in this wild series. Like many of you I am having a little trouble processing all that has happened in this wacky season and look forward to some fair weather and calm Seas for the rest of the voyage…….http://jeffsmariners.com

Mariners crush Yankees again 7-0!

Lee and Hernandez a pair of Aces

    The Seattle Mariners shutout the New York Yankees 7-0 in front of 46,309 stunned fans in the Bronx. Felix Hernandez used his wicked slider mixed in with his lively fastball to blank the Yankees giving up only 2 hits en route to his third complete-game of the year. Hernandez kept the AL East leading Yankees big bats silent for the second night in a row, following Cliff Lee’s similar performance in the first game of the three game series. Hernandez who had some rough outings earlier in the year is definitely hitting his stride in the month of June delivering perhaps his best showing of the 2010 campaign.

  The Mariners offense was back on track for the second night in a row as well giving King Felix a seven run cushion to work with. In a role reversal of sorts the Mariners came up with 4 long-balls tonight, including 2 from young Michael Saunders and one each from Milton Bradley and Russell Branyon. Bradley delivered the first bomb in the top of the second inning to set the tone for the surging Mariners who moved to 33-44 on the year with tonight’s sweet victory. In the next inning Michael Saunders came up with his first homer followed by an RBI single off the bat of Jose Lopez who is quietly finding his stroke, making it 3-0. Hernandez cruised through the middle innings toying with the powerful Bronx Bombers continuing to add to his strikeout total which would eventually reach 11.

  In the top of the 7^th after Chone Figgins singled and stole second, Russell “The Muscle” Branyon blasted his first home run since returning to the Mariners and suddenly the Mariners were up 5-0. It was nice to see the burly Branyon hit his 11^th homer of the year in only his second game back to help silence the critics who second guessed this move. But the night was not yet quite over for the Mariners offense as Michael Saunders went on to add another two-run blast in the eighth inning. Hitting two homers in one night at Yankee stadium will go a long way in boosting the confidence level for youngster from B.C.

   This past few weeks have felt like a new season for the Mariners, and for the last two nights the Mariners bats have given the run support to their Aces that hasn’t been there for most of the season. We still have eleven games to go before the All-Star break and it’s entirely feasible that our boys could pass-up the Oakland A’s in the standings before the second-half of the season starts. But for now it is one game at a time, starting with tomorrow mornings final of this series with C.C. Sabathia going against Ryan Rowland-Smith. You can bet the Yankees have had enough of losing to the upstarts from Seattle, Ryan Rowland-Smith will need to continue to pitch as well as he has done lately to give the Mariners a sweep in the Bronx.

    Meanwhile the Cliff Lee saga drags on one more day with the contenders posturing in the press with rumors, in an effort to try to see if they can get the Mariners to settle for prospects. The Mariners have let it be known through channels that we are looking for a Major League- ready middle of the order bat. I applaud Jack Zduriencik for playing his cards close to his chest, holding out for what we need. In reality if we can keep playing winning ball a good case can be made for keeping Cliff Lee. More will be revealed as the summer sun grows warmer……..http://jeffsmariners.com

Mariners crush Cubs 8-1

Oh Canada! Saunders smashes 2-run bomb

 The Seattle Mariners offense exploded for 8 runs tonight giving starting pitcher Cliff Lee more than enough run support to beat the Chicago Cubs 8-1. The win gave the surging Mariners their sixth victory in a row against the dejected Cubs who despite spending 140 million dollars on payroll are quickly falling out of contention. Cliff Lee allowed the Cubs 9 hits including a solo home run in the second inning to Tyler Colvin on a night where Lee pitched his way out of several jams. Lee failed once again to allow a walk and fanned 9 Cubs on his way to his fourth complete game of the season. The crafty veteran Lee was a pitch ahead of the hapless Cubs all night mixing in his wicked breaking ball with his fastball in an unpredictable fashion. On a night when you could say he didn’t have his best stuff, Lee used his cunning and experience to keep the Cubs guessing.

   The big story tonight was the Mariners bats which came alive allowing the Mariners to score more than 5 runs for the first time since beating the Twins 7-1 nineteen games ago. Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth the M’s loaded the bases for Casey Kotchman who delivered a single to left tying the game up 1-1.Rob Johnson went down on strikes and with 2-outs the young Canadian Michael Saunders picked up the 1^st of his 4 RBI’s  with a walk. Ichiro then finished of the scoring with a single to score Josh Wilson and the lumbering Kotchman from second, to hand Cliff Lee a 4-1 lead. Lee quickly mowed down the Cubs in the top of the fifth striking out Soriano and Castro. In the top of the sixth the Cubs got the first two batters on and threatened to get back into it, but again Lee closed out the inning with a couple of his 9 k’s and some good defense by Jose Lopez at third. The M’s added a couple more insurance runs in the sixth when Saunders drove in Rob Johnson with a line drive double to right. Ichiro then laid-down a beautiful bunt to advance Saunders to third allowing, Chone Figgins to bring him home on a weak groundball. It was refreshing to see the club move runners around tonight and they were 5-10 with RISP.

  The infield had three double plays on the night to help out Lee in key situations. Interesting to note that Josh Wilson got the start at short and played well there as well as picking up a couple of hits. Something special is going on here and I think Wakamatsu doesn’t want to mess with the chemistry too much. Wak even let the struggling Milton Bradley stay in the line-up despite having Mike Sweeney available. True to form the Cubs fans rode Bradley all night so perhaps Wakamatsu is letting Bradley face his demons so to speak.

   In the eighth inning Michael Saunders connected for a 2-run blast his 5^th of the year and though I have taken a wait and see attitude with the lanky youngster, I think he may just be a good fit for this club. It was once again inspiring to watch Cliff Lee run out to the mound in the late innings just like a kid who loves to play the game and doesn’t want to give his manager a chance to tell him he can’t go back on the field. Lee is definitely a throw-back to a different era and I think his hustle and focus are setting a great example for the young guys like Vargas and Saunders. At this point it seems like it would be a shame to lose Cliff Lee for in addition to his stellar performances on the mound he is setting the tone for the next era of Mariners baseball-Thanks Cliff!

   So the bad news on the night is that Texas won again and are now 17-4 in June leaving the Mariners in their familiar spot of 13 back. On a positive note the Oakland A’s lost and are 10 ½ back so we need to keep our nose to the grindstone and make sure we catch them by the All-Star break. Tomorrow we go for back-to-back sweeps with Felix Hernandez on the mound for a 1240 start on what will hopefully be another beautiful NW day. I don’t know about you but I’m heading down to the Safe with a Wisk- broom to help cheer for a sweep! http://jeffsmariners.com