Game Recap – 5/9 (Mariners Win!)

We may have been slacking on recaps lately but can you really blame us?  This week has been terrible and extremely frustrating.  Today was fun though!

Jason Vargas pitched a really solid game and the offense finally came alive to score 8 runs.  I know that it was just one game but maybe this will jumpstart our team a little bit.  While this losing streak has been extremely annoying this team, with the rotation it has, could start a winning streak with any offensive consistency.  A post on whether we can expect any offensive consistency will come sooner or later.  

 Through 4 innings it looked as if it would be another close, frustrating loss.  Vargas was on top of his game and the Mariners would come extremely close to scoring but then wouldn’t.  Then Josh Wilson hit a home run.  Josh Wilson!  Josh Wilson has more home runs this year than our DH duo.  That shows how awful our DH’s have been.  Wilson went on to have a great day; he would have had another RBI if Jose Lopez knew how to run.  That Wilson home run was followed by a Saunders home run.  What are the chances?  Before this game the Mariners had 10 home runs in 988 at-bats.  That’s almost 1 home run per 100 at bats.  But baseball is a game where the unexpected happens and that was the case with these back-to-back home runs.  Saunders also went on to have a nice day.  He looks like a different player than he did last year.  He already has 2 extra base hits which is the same number of Griffey.  Wow. 

After that 4 run inning the Mariners kept adding on.  This is something they haven’t done all season.  Even when they’ve blown teams out it was because of one big inning.  The offense added 1 run in the 5th and then 3 in the 8th.  It was great.

The pitching was solid too.  I really think that Vargas and Fister will be the ones in the rotation once Bedard comes back.  I know Hyphen eats innings and has a better history than the other guys but Vargas and Fister look good.  Really good.  Fister has been nothing short of amazing and Vargas has that plus-plus changeup to carry him through.  The number of swinging strikes Vargas is getting is really impressive and his control has been much better this season. 

As Lookout Landing pointed out, if we were going to go 1-8 on this homestand the last game would be the one to win.  Yeah, this sucked but at least we won the last game and Cliff Lee is pitching on Tuesday.  Hopefully, things will carry over.  Just in case they don’t, remember this day because it felt so good to win.

Hero/goat and a few more notes after the jump.   

Hero: Josh Wilson.  He came a double shy of the cycle and provided a much-needed offensive boost.  Vargas and Saunders come in a close second.

Goat:  Chone Figgins.  Too many infield pop-ups.  Get it together man!

• Our 3rd base coach is awful.  Sending Jose Lopez on the Josh Wilson single was fine, Lopez should have beaten that out.  But, sending Guti was ridiculous.  I was sitting by my 12-year-old cousin when that happened and he said, “the left fielder had the ball before the runner got to third, why would you send him?”  My cousin is a smart 6th grader but if he’s able to figure this out don’t you think a professional coach should?  Seems like basic logic.  Guti was out by a good 10 feet.
• Brandon League was awesome.  When he pitches like he did today he’s the best reliever we have.
• Ichiro had 3 hits and 3 stolen bases today.  He looked more like Ichiro than he has all season.  If he keeps doing that the offense will be better.  I’m not saying it will be good but it will be better.
• Ervin Santana is not very good anymore and he didn’t get many swinging strikes but it felt like all the ones he did get were from Adam Moore.  He looks completely lost out there.
• Langerhans, Josh Wilson, and Saunders started today.  If you would have told me before this game that these 3 players would be in the lineup when we would score a good amount of runs I would have laughed in your face.  Thankfully, you were right if you said that.
• Happy Mothers Day part 1!  Apparently, Saunders mom was at the game today and is fighting cancer for the fourth time in her life.  It’s stories like these that put things in context.  Sure, baseball doesn’t compare to someone fighting cancer but I have to believe that Michael’s mom was smiling when he hit that home run and when your fighting cancer for the fourth time a smile is a present by itself.
• Happy Mothers Day part II.  As I’m sure you’ve heard, Dallas Braden threw a perfect game.  As good as the Mariners win was, the highlight of my sports day was seeing him hold his grandma after the game as she sobbed into his shoulder.  Again, its stories like these that make it so easy to love sports.
• Happy Mothers Day part III.  My mom is an amazing lady.  First of all, she’s one of the best ladies I’ve ever met.  She cares about people in a way that I can only hope to one day.  Secondly, she’s a cancer survivor.  Needless to say, she is amazing.  Love you mom.  Happy Mother’s Day to any other mom’s who read this!
• Thanks for reading!  Go M’s, lets win some games now.

Andrew