The Seattle Times: Mariners Blog

Mariners agree this was 'playoff' type win tonight

Thu, 16 May 2013 22:22:11 PDT

I've been in Seattle quite a few years now and I've also covered plenty of playoff games at Yankee Stadium over the years, including the two fabled ALCS against Boston in 2003 and 2004 and numerous World Series here and at other places between 1998 and 2005.

And I've got to say, watching this game in this park tonight, it felt like a playoff game. I'm not the only one who thought so, either. I asked Brendan Ryan about it post-game.

"Absolutely, that's what I was going to say,'' Ryan told me, when he heard the word "playoff" mentioned. "I mean, every guy was in it. On the bench and on the field. That was playoff stuff right there. Everybody was ready to make a defensive play and our bullpen was coming in and executing pitches. That’s as fun as it gets there at the end with Tommy (Wilhelmsen) on the mound. I looked at Ack (Dustin Ackley) and I was like ‘This is awesome, this is truly awesome! This is good baseball here’.''

What gave the game its playoff feel was the way every pitch seemed to matter from about the fifth inning on. And every play, too, like Kendrys Morales diving to snag a Ryan throw in the seventh inning on an infield hit that scored one run. The tying run would have scored on the play as well had the ball gotten by Morales. But it didn't and Carter Capps got the final out of that frame.

The Mariners would never yield again and the score stayed 3-2 until the final out was recorded.

"I don't know if you get a Web Gem on something like that but that was the difference in the game,'' Ryan said. "I don't think I could bear hug him strong enough, It's hard to get my arms around him but I mean, that was one heck of a play.''

The pitching down the stretch, in high-leverage, high-stress moments was just remarkable.

You had Oliver Perez getting out of that jam in the fifth with runners at the corners and one out. Perez struck out three more guys and was credited with the win.

“I think we’re doing a pretty good job,’’ Perez said of the bullpen. “We’re like a family right there. We support each other, we have fun. It’s a long season and we treat everybody like family because sometimes we spend more time together than we do with our families.’’

Yoervis Medina got the final out with two on in the sixth, then Capps did a great job in the seventh and eighth with the tying run at second each time. With Curtis Granderson on second and one out in the eighth, Capps got David Adams to pop out and then struck out Ichiro on an 85 mph slider one pitch after showing him a 98 mph fastball.

That type of pitch alternating is what Capps worked on all winter and spring. You now see how effective it can be in throwing hitters off balance.

In the ninth, Tom Wilhelmsen admitted he was so amped-up, he wasn't even paying attention to Brett Gardner as he stole second and then third. No matter, as he struck out Jayson Nix and then got Robinson Cano to ground out to end it.

“There was no way we were going to lose that game,’’ Wilhelmsen said. “We’d just got momentum and I certainly wasn’t going to be the guy to do it. Emotions were high and no matter what side you’re on, that’s a baseball game.’’

Mariners manager Eric Wedge, ejected for arguing that Ichiro catch in the second inning, managed the rest of the game from his office. He had a team employee racing back and forth between him and bench coach Roby Thompson relaying instructions.

Wedge later told me it was tougher for him to watch the game on TV than to be in the dugout, because the stress of the late innings was indeed playoff-like. He feels this was an important win by his squad.

“They should derive a great deal of confidence,’’ Wedge said. “When you’re facing these guys here in their backyard and you play to win the way we did and finished it off and do what you need to do, it should be a great lift for them.’’

Mariners bullpen puts up great effort in clinching series

Thu, 16 May 2013 21:46:06 PDT

Now that's the type of game the Mariners will be thrilled to prevail in and the kind of series that can be a real confidence-builder for this team.

The Mariners held on to win 3-2 tonight in a game that saw both sides throw some serious pitching at one another, especially in the late going. For Seattle, this first series win in New York since 2010 gives them a 5-0-1 mark in series since that disastrous road trip to Texas and leaves them just one game under .500.

Michael Morse was the difference tonight with his 10th home run of the season -- a solo shot in the sixth off Shawn Kelley -- giving the Mariners a cushion they really needed late. Morse becomes the first Mariners player to reach double figures for home runs, something that didn't happen for this team until June 2 of last year when Justin Smoak hit his 10th.

But tonight's win was all about the bullpen, from the spot start by Hector Noesi to the relief work that came after.

Oliver Perez gets the win after logging three more strikeouts and pitching out of a key jam in the fifth with runners at the corners and only one out. You know Perez has to be happy with this victory, coming as it did in New York -- a city that became a personal hell for him while he toiled with the Mets a couple of years back.

This game had all the feel of a playoff contest at times. By the final few innings, both teams were making a plethora of mound changes and each at-bat took on added significance. Mariners fans, I'm sure, were holding their breath with each Carter Capps pitch in the seventh and eighth innings.

Capps was reaching 97 and 98 mph with consistency in both frames with the tying run in scoring position. He also did a great job of holding lead runner Curtis Granderson at second base while notching the second out, then did the same before striking out Ichiro on an 85 mph slider.

The pitch prior to that was a 97 mph fastball to Ichiro, so Capps was getting some serious differential pitch-to-pitch.

And then, in the end, the Mariners finally had a chance to use closer Tom Wilhelmsen in a save situation again. He'd gotten so rusty that the Mariners brought him in to mop up the ninth inning of Wednesday night's 12-2 rout.

Wilhelmsen gave up a one-out single to Brett Gardner, who stole second and then third. But Wilhelmsen came back to strike out Jayson Nix and then got Robinson Cano to ground out to shortstop.

Whew!

So, the Mariners take a series here in which they lost the game started by Felix Hernandez and came a few non-strike calls away from a sweep. The Yankees are not as strong offensively as in the past, to be sure. But they were also pretty hot coming into this series and had won seven of eight after taking the opener.

They aren't hot any more.

Mariners bullpen puts up great effort in clinching series

Thu, 16 May 2013 21:46:06 PDT

Now that's the type of game the Mariners will be thrilled to prevail in and the kind of series that can be a real confidence-builder for this team.

But tonight's win was all about the bullpen, from the spot start by Hector Noesi to the relief work that came after.

The pitch prior to that was a 97 mph fastball to Ichiro, so Capps was getting some serious differential pitch-to-pitch.

Whew!

They aren't hot any more.

Game thread: Mariners 3, Yankees 2, bottom of 8th

Thu, 16 May 2013 21:01:05 PDT

What a nailbiter this one is turning into as the Yankees scored a run in the seventh to cut Seattle's lead to 3-2. Yoervis Medina gave up a single and a walk to start the inning, then, after a strikeout and a groundout, Robinson Cano came up with runners on second and third. Lucas Luetge came on to pitch and got the grounder he was looking for. But shortstop Brendan Ryan really had to range for it and his throw was offline. The play was ruled a hit and first baseman Kendrys Morales did a great job of keeping the ball from bouncing any further away as just the lone run scored.

Carter Capps came on and got Vernon Wells to pop out to end the inning. The Mariners could really use another run. Three doesn't seem like it will be enough.

5:58 p.m.: Shawn Kelley keeps striking guys out -- he now has all four outs tonight via the "K" -- but Michael Morse tagged him for a leadoff solo homer over the center field wall in the top of the sixth to give the Mariners a 3-1 lead. The homer was the 10th by Morse and the 27th by a Mariners outfielder this season, leading all of baseball.

Oliver Perez replaced Hector Noesi in the bottom of the fifth and did some stellar work to escape a jam with runners at the corners and one out. First, Perez struck out Brett Gardner, then he got Jayson Nix to pop out and preserve a one-run lead.

That lead is now two runs and the Mariners have Perez largely to thank.

5:42 p.m.: Andy Pettitte just left the game after striking out the first two batters in the fifth inning. No word on an injury. This could be a huge break for the Mariners because Pettitte seemed to be getting into a groove. Then again, he's been replaced by ex-Mariners reliever Shawn Kelley, who has 25 strikeouts in just 15 innings already this season.

5:10 p.m.: The Mariners loaded the bases with one out in the fourth and managed to get one run home on a two-out infield single by Brendan Ryan. So, it's a 2-1 game, the Mariners leading. But this is starting to remind me of the series opener a bit. Seattle is by far getting the better chances in this game, but not doing a whole lot with them as this could be a much bigger lead by now.

4:44 p.m.: Hector Noesi got the first two outs of the second but then couldn't finish and allowed the Yankees to tie it 1-1. Curtis Granderson swung into a little nibbler in the grass to Noesi's right. Noesi bounced the throw by first baseman Kendrys Morales and Granderson wound up at second on the error.

David Adams -- yes, the guy who held up the Cliff Lee trade to New York three years ago before the Mariners wound up dealing the pitcher to Texas instead -- followed with a double to right center to tie it.

4:37 p.m.: Mariners manager Eric Wedge just got ejected between innings by first base ump Hunter Wendelstedt for arguing -- we think -- about that Raul Ibanez checked swing. It could be a combination of things since this umpiring crew hasn't exactly distinguished itself this series. The Mariners took a 1-0 lead in that second inning after a walk by Kendrys Morales and a single by Michael Morse put two on with none out.

The Ibanez checked swing strikeout call came after that and it looked to me like the hitter held up in time. Plate ump Greg Gibson made the quick call and there was no appeal. Jesus Montero flied out after that but then Dustin Ackley delivered the two-out double to right to bring a run in.

The Mariners nearly had at least one and likely two more runs, but Ichiro made a catch of Brendan Ryan's sinking liner to right. A very tough play for Ichiro to make but he did it.

3:55 p.m.: Well, it's safe to say Hector Noesi never expected this opportunity, so let's see what he does with it. It's not like the back-end of the Seattle rotation is flawless. A strong showing here by Noesi, he might see some more opportunities down the road.

Eric Wedge says Hector Noesi needs to stay 'aggressive' for Mariners

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:16:04 PDT

Raul Ibanez will be back in the lineup tonight despite the presence of left-handed starter Andy Pettitte on the mound for the New York Yankees. Ibanez has three home runs his last two games, nine homers in his last 11 games at Yankee Stadium and is now a career .283 hitter at the new Yankee Stadium with 19 homers, 50 RBI and a .953 OPS in 75 games.

That means Justin Smoak will sit out tonight's game as Ibanez assumes the DH role.

"I wanted to play them all,'' Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. "But I couldn't do it. It's just so we can keep Raul in there.''

Wedge has a lot on his mind today, with Aaron Harang a late scratch and Hector Noesi now starting. The Mariners could have started Brandon Maurer on his normal rest, but Wedge said he "didn't think that was fair to him'' at this stage of his career, given the change of day, opponent and venue involved.

As for Noesi, Wedge said he has to keep doing what's made his successful as a long reliever so far.

"When he's aggressive and aggressive on the plate with all his pitches, then it plays for him,'' Wedge said. "When he picks a bit, or tries to guide the ball, that's when he gets into trouble. Because you fall behind, have to come in and then it doesn't matter what you're throwing.

"But when he goes out there and really gets after it, that's when he's effective.''

In other news, Franklin Gutierrez is beginning his injury rehabilitation assignment as a DH with Class AAA Tacoma today. Josh Kinney will also be starting his rehab assignment there tomorrow night.

Wedge is on record saying Gutierrez will have to show he's ready to play every day before he returns. In other words, the Mariners could take the entire 20 days of his rehab before calling him back up.

"He has to play, but I'm not looking for him just to be to the point where he can play up here,'' Wedge said. "He's got to be further than that so we can count on him. You now what I mean? 100 percent? I don't know what 100 percent is any more. I don't think there is 100 percent. But I know he's got to be further along than he has been in the past before he comes back.''

Wedge said he'll be in contact with coaches and trainers in AAA to hear about what they see from Gutierrez. For now, he's not putting any timetable on his return.

"Of course we want him back,'' Wedge said. "But we want to know we can count on him, too.''

Eric Wedge says Hector Noesi needs to stay 'aggressive' for Mariners

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:16:04 PDT

That means Justin Smoak will sit out tonight's game as Ibanez assumes the DH role.

"I wanted to play them all,'' Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. "But I couldn't do it. It's just so we can keep Raul in there.''

As for Noesi, Wedge said he has to keep doing what's made his successful as a long reliever so far.

"But when he goes out there and really gets after it, that's when he's effective.''

Wedge said he'll be in contact with coaches and trainers in AAA to hear about what they see from Gutierrez. For now, he's not putting any timetable on his return.

"Of course we want him back,'' Wedge said. "But we want to know we can count on him, too.''

Aaron Harang out, Hector Noesi in for Mariners tonight

Thu, 16 May 2013 16:01:07 PDT

Aaron Harang began feeling some lower back stiffness yesterday and by today, it had not gone away. As a result, he's been scratched from tonight's scheduled start here in New York and Hector Noesi will take his place.

Noesi, as you may recall, used to pitch for the Yankees before coming over with Jesus Montero in the Michael Pineda deal. Last May, in a May 12 start here against the Yanks, he gave up four runs the first two innings and was down 5-0 by the fourth in taking the loss. That game saw Noesi make it through seven frames without allowing any further runs in what some pointed to as a moral victory of sorts for him.

Turned out, any victory was short-lived. Noesi continued a pattern of getting lit up early and often and was eventually Class AAA-bound. He was in AA this year before the Mariners needed a long reliever and his outings to-date have actually been better than many expected.

So, tonight, a key might be Noesi survivng the first couple of innings.

As for Harang, he's had these back issues crop up a couple of times over the years.

"Just from it getting out of allignment,'' he said. "I've had regular chiropractor treatments. Just with all the flying, you're on the plane and sitting-- I've got my legs spread out and can't put them straight forward because of how long my legs are -- it's just the little stuff I've got to keep doing. Obviously, with the last long trip and then a couple of days at home and we turn around and go on another long trip. Changing hotels...I spent the whole first month of the season in a hotel pretty much too. It's just been hard to stay on that stuff.''

Harang received treatment from team therapists today and figures that with some additional sessions, he could be good to go by the time his next scheduled start comes around next Tuesday in Los Angeles.

Harang was looking forward to pitching here at Yankee Stadium. He's never faced the Yankees before and they would have been the 30th club he's squared off against in his lengthy career.

"It was pretty frustrating, the fact that this has happened,'' he said.

That prior time against the Mets had been a scheduled July 4 outing.

"It was tough,'' he said. "We couldn't even find a chiropractor in the city because everybody took off for the long weekend.''

Eric Wedge, Raul Ibanez and playing a managerial hunch

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:16:06 PDT

We've seen Raul Ibanez hit three home runs in two games at Yankee Stadium after Mariners manager Eric Wedge openly stated that his outfielder's prior success at this ballpark was one of the reasons he'd see game action. Another reason given for Ibanez starting on Tuesday night against left-handed pitcher C.C. Sabathia was his track record of success against the southpaw.

But when Ibanez lived up to those expectations -- taking Sabathia deep on Tuesday and then popping two more homers on Wednesday -- the results were dismissed as "lucky" and a "fluke" by some of my readers on Twitter. When I tried to explain to them that Wedge was playing a hunch in giving Ibanez the rare lefty-on-lefty start against Sabathia and had it pay off, one reader expressed horror that an MLB manager would conduct himself that way.

The reader, it seemed, was shocked at the discovery that MLB managers allow hunches to dictate many of their in-game and pre-game decisions. In fact, I'll put forward -- as I did last night on Twitter -- that managers at this level are paid for their expertise and with that expert knowledge comes the ability to make educated guesses that will often exceed the thought process of the average fan. Or even the above average, self-professed thinking fan.

For me, this might represent one of the biggest disconnects I see between some who favor a more stats-oriented approach to baseball versus what those who work in the sport actually deal with on a daily basis. It's right up there along with a failure by some fans and analysts to grasp the nuances of full-time players versus part-time players, or realistic, true-life "sample sizes" versus the ideal theoretical ones that play out over hundreds, even thousands of at-bats.

There are hundreds of variables that go into every baseball game. Once you accept that reality and understand how every one game in a season of 162 can change the course of how decisions are made, it becomes much simpler to grasp why even the most stats-savy of managers will never make all of their decisions on auto-pilot based off some pre-calculated computer projections.

They can't do that. They are paid to be different from the next guy. And from the average fan sitting at home pumping out stats for every situation beforehand.

If every manager in baseball managed every game based off what the computer projections told him ahead of time, we'd have some very predictable patterns unfolding that some intelligent manager looking to buck the trend could easily exploit.

Now, back to hunches.

The easy call on Ibanez would have been to sit him against the left-hander the other night based on what the generic stats said. But the much tougher call was to view this as an opportunity to get Ibanez going against a pitcher he's seen success against before. Yes, I am aware that a lot of the success had by Ibanez against Sabathia came when he was younger and a full-time player and that Sabathia has since blossomed into a more mature, ace-like version of his younger self.

On the surface, that would appear to lessen the case for playing Ibanez.

But Wedge kept taking about the "knowledge base" Ibanez had built over the years by seeing Sabathia firsthand as both an opponent and a teammate. Wedge also knows Sabathia's pitching style very well -- having managed him for years in Cleveland -- and liked the matchup against the style of hitter Ibanez is. Wedge has spoken before about hitting styles versus pitching styles in explaining his decision-making process. That we have no real way to validate that statistically might bother some people. It doesn't bother me. The Mariners aren't paying those worried fans or pundits for their expertise. They are paying Wedge for his. And they will keep paying him for his firsthand knowledge of what goes into hitting and pitching and managing until he clearly isn't good enough at the job based on the team he's given.

So far, since I arrived in Seattle in 2006, I've seen the team deploy Mike Hargrove, John McLaren, Jim Riggleman, Don Wakamatsu, Daren Brown and now Wedge as managers. And I've seen the same complaints from the usual suspects about every in-game tactical decision and roster choice that gets made. I even see those complaints from people who previously spent years championing the cost-cutting moves by the organization that left Wedge saddled with the equivalent of a Class AAA squad the first two seasons he was here.

This team has gone through enough managers of varying styles over the years that it should be evident by now that no one field boss would have fixed what ails the Mariners. The troubles have originated much higher up the food chain than the field boss, even though he is usually the one with the highest degree of accountability -- as witnessed by the rash of recent dismissals.

This 2013 team is arguably the best one we've seen in Seattle -- at least on paper -- since 2007.

Let's see how it plays out and then decide whether Wedge deserves to stay on. Right now, after a horrific, 2008-style opening, he's got the Mariners within two games of .500 despite continued injuries and struggles by the back of the rotation. I don't have an axe to grind with Wedge or anybody else in the front office. If this team shows marked improvement, they should all get a chance to stay and keep building it -- hopefully, with added resources from ownership.

I've already set my minimal standard at a .500 season for them. If the Mariners can't reach that, then all bets are off as far as changing the folks who run the squad. The mere fact the Mariners are already back near the .500 mark so quickly demonstrates this is clearly a better team than we've seen before.

Don't believe me? Need some statistical backup?

Here you go.

2013

OPS+: 98

ERA+: 97

2012

OPS+: 89

ERA+: 99

2011

OPS+: 84

ERA+: 97

2010

OPS+: 79

ERA+: 100

Which of those teams would you go into battle with? The 2013 Mariners are clearly a much better offensive squad, even with the numbers dragged down by an April stretch in which the entire outfield was injured at one point in time. The pitching remains abut where it's been for years. The Mariners are better. Our expectations should therefore be higher and for some of us, they are.

But it's not merely about getting a computer readout and posting whatever lineup the bits and bytes tell you to shove out there every day. It's taken a lot of educated guesswork and some "hunches" to get the Mariners where they are today -- which is, back to a point where their season is more than the writeoff it looked to be three weeks ago.

Players like Jason Bay had to be expertly guided into their new roles, getting just enough playing time and trust early so they could produce if needed later. As he has.

When Blake Beavan and Kameron Loe weren't getting it done early, there were decisions made to replace them without further hesitation. Some players, like Brendan Ryan and Robert Andino, have been given much more ample rope.

There are decisions being made daily about how to bring Jesus Montero along so as not to disrupt the pitching staff with a catcher still learning the game and who may never be even a part-tume guy behind the plate. Part of those calculations have to do with Kelly Shoppach and the team's desire not to run him into the ground. Believe me, if the Mariners could, they would have Shoppach catch each and every game. But if they did that, his numbers would plummet.

It's like John Jaso a year ago. He puts up an OPS of .850 in 294 at-bats and everybody screams and yells at the Mariners for not playing him more (we'll leave his defensive liailities out of it for today).

Fast forward to 2013 and Jaso is on-pace for 420 at-bats with the Oakland Athletics, yet his OPS has dipped to a lowly .668.

Again, managing a baseball team of human beings is not like running a team of robots. In order to manage effectively, you have to know your players, see their limitations and play your "hunches" based off the knowledge base you have of how to get them where you need to be.

With Ibanez, Wedge saw the chance to kickstart a player who needed it and give his team a chance to win the game. Wedge explained his thought process and it played out the way he hoped it would.

And if too many of his hunches don't play out? The team will lose more than it wins and he will very likely be gone.

That's managing. Everybody's favorite statistics-oriented manager, Joe Maddon, plays his hunches, too. His team is a game above .500. Toronto Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos -- widely praised for his process and boldness -- is in charge of a 17-24 squad.

No one guy or "process" has it all figured out. Every one of these managers and GMs is paid to think within their own heads -- not inside some stats-laden box others want to limit them to. These guys are all paid to think. The ones who do it with greater success will stay employed. Those who fail too often at it will be looking for work elsewhere.

But yes, hunches always will be part of running a team. And sample sizes won't always matter as much as winning the next few games in front of you.

Raul Ibanez says he isn't sure the ballpark has anything to do with homer barrage

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:16:04 PDT

Raul Ibanez was asked post-game about his performance at Yankee Stadium last year and now, in the first tewo games here this season. Ibanez hit two more homers tonight in a 12-2 win by the Mariners and now has three in the two games so far. He also has hit nine in his last 11 games at this park dating back to last season, including the playoffs.

His play here is one of the reasons Eric Wedge put him in the lineup last night against left-handed starter C.C. Sabathia, although Ibanez's career numbers versus the southpaw had much to do with it as well. But asked about the park afterwards, Ibanez still would not submit to the obvious.

“I’ve been feeling better at the plate coming into this series,’’ Ibanez said. “I try not to make too much of it. I try to grind out every at-bat. I think I’ve been feeling better late at the plate and it’s carried over.’’

So, um, it's not the park?

"I try not to think about it too much,'' he said. "It's too much information for me, personally, to think about. They're all valid questions. I just don't really have an answer.''

In Ibanez's defense, his two homers tonight went to right-center and to left field. So, it wasn't the short porch coming into play this time.

Ibanez says he'll never forget his late-season heroics for the Yankees last year, with season-saving homers in September and then the two big ones in Game 3 of the AL Division Series against Baltimore. But the fans here might have forgotten a bit.

They'd greeted Ibanez with the familiar "Rauuullllll!" seranding at the game's start and last night as well. But after the second home run he hit tonight, those were boos mixed in to the cheers.

“It sounds the same,’’ Ibanez said, with a slight grin. “I don’t want to say that because I don’t want it to get louder.’’

Yankees starter Phil Hughes heard his share of boos after the Mariners chased him just two thirds of an inning in.

"I thought the guys did a good job, and not just in that first inning,'' Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. "In the middle part of the ballgame. You never know in this ballpark. So, scoring a couple of more runs in a couple of different innings and doing some things. So, to keep going is important. You score a lot of runs in the first inning, you like to think it should be enough but you never know. You don't want to be complacent with it, so you keep going and our guys did a good job with that.''

Wedge was pleased to see Ibanez finally start to produce on the field for the Mariners the way he has off of it since spring training began.

"You saw him start heading back in the right direction when we gave him that time off,'' Wedge said. "The guy works so hard. You could see his swing start to come around in BP. We gave him a couple of at-bats and it starts to leak into the game. He gets a chance to play and he keeps going with it. He's had a lot of success in this ballpark and he's the consummate pro. He doesn't worry about anything. He knows he's ultimately going to be where he needs to be at the end.''

Kyle Seager, who had the three-run blast that capped Seattle's scoring in the sixth, said Ibanez is someone the entire team looks up to.

“He’s absolutely everything you look for in leadership,’’ Seager said. “He’s a guy you can talk to, a guy you can watch. He does absolutely everything you can ask. His work ethic is second to none and we all get to see that behind the scenes a little bit.’’

Raul Ibanez and Mariners destroy the Yankees in New York

Wed, 15 May 2013 21:31:05 PDT

The Bronx Bombers were running for some shelter underground in the first inning and never really found it as the Mariners pounded them throughout in a 12-2 victory.

Hisashi Iwakuma won't have it much easier than that. The first of two homers by Raul Ibanez, a grand slam in the first off Phil Hughes, helped Seattle to a 7-0 lead and the Mariners never looked back.

Iwakuma went seven innings, allowed a pair of solo homers and improved to 5-1 on the season.

Ibanez later added a two-run blast for his third homer in two nights here. Kyle Seager had a three-run homer as well.

When Brendan Ryan legged out an infield single in the ninth, every Mariners starter had at least one hit. The Mariners hadn't done that since just under a year ago in Texas during a 21-8 rout of the Rangers.

The Mariners needed a game like this after last night's tough 4-3 defeat to the Yankees in a game they led 3-0 in the sixth inning. In that game, the Mariners failed to capitalize on numerous scoring opportunities both early and late and stranded 11 runners on base.

That wound up costing them when some late-game strike calls failed to go their way.

In this game, the umpire calls didn't mean a thing. The game was already over before Iwakuma even took the mound because the Mariners didn't miss when Hughes gave them a shot in the first.

That was all the difference.

Game thread: Mariners 12, Yankees 2, bottom of 8th

Wed, 15 May 2013 21:01:05 PDT

Kyle Seager just continued the Seattle onslaught with a three-run homer to right-center in the sixth inning, giving the Mariners 12-2 lead. A slight correction from earlier: the seven-run first inning by the Mariners was the most they've ever scored on the road against the Yankees in a first inning. They had nine runs off them in the first inning of a 1979 home game at the Kingdome.

5:45 p.m.: While some fans continue to gnash their teeth over Raul Ibanez, he just popped his second home run of the game and third in two nights to give Seattle a 9-2 lead here in the bottom of the fifth. Chris Stewart just got the Yankees a run on a solo homer this frame off Hisashi Iwakuma, but it's a bit late for the home side.

As for Ibanez, the decision to use him in this series looks good on the Mariners so far. As for those calling it "lucky" or whatever, it's not sound argumentation to deride every managerial decision when it goes bad and then dismiss it all as "luck" when the choices turn out as planned. That kind of nonsense has been allowed to permeate internet debate for far too long. Those who make a stats-based argument that doesn't pan out will still attempt to justify it by saying the "process" was sound, or that the "sample size" is too small to be conclusive, or that those pointing out the flawed logic are making a "strawman" case.

Believe me, we in the media have seen it all, know all the default catchphrases and know enough never to question anybody who makes an argument based on stats and process. All I'll say -- and continue to say -- is that each MLB game is approached by each team and each manager in increasingly small samples as the pressure to win gets ratcheted up.

If the Mariners felt they had a better shot at winning tonight, or last night, with Ibanez in the lineup and he delivers, you can't just dismiss it as a fluke simply because you don't feel that move would keep panning out over a 162-game, or 300-game sample size.

That's not how real life works. These players are human beings and the managers in charge manage them likewise. They don't take a computer program that spits out every managerial decision ahead of time. You can't manage like a robot when you're in charge of a team at this high a level. The teams pay these managers for their expertise and their hunches. Not to do the same thing every armchair manager sitting at a computer terminal would have them do.

So, when a hunch pays off, we give them their due. Because when too many of their hunches don't pay off, they get fired. That's how it works in real life.

4:50 p.m.: Vernon Wells got the Yankees on the board in the bottom of the first by taking Hisashi Iwakuma deep to left for his 10th -- that's right, 10th -- home run of the season. Arte Moreno is smacking his forehead in Anaheim right now wondering whether Wells was put on this earth to torment him. Very few people in baseball saw this Wells revival coming.

Mariners still lead it 7-1.

4:28 p.m.: The Mariners are doing their part to ensure the umpiring crew doesn't decide tonight's game. Raul Ibanez just hit a grand slam to right center off Phil Hughes and Michael Saunders added an RBI double to right-center to give Seattle a 7-0 lead in the top of the first inning. A one-out walk to Dustin Ackley got the rally started, then Kyle Seager singled to put runners at the corners. Kendrys Morales and Michael Morse followed with run-scoring singles after that.

Justin Smoak then drew a walk and Ibanez unloaded on an 0-1 pitch to blow the game open. Jesus Montero singled after that and then, following a fielder's choice groundout by Brendan Ryan, Saunders doubled to the gap in right center to end the night for Hughes right there.

All I can say is -- wow. The Mariners are still batting and many of the fans who paid hundreds of dollars for a ticket to this game are just arriving at the ballpark and staring at the scoreboard in shock.

3:55 p.m.: You usually haven't arrived as a player until you get noticed in New York and there has been some subtle buzz going on about Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma ahead of tonight's scheduled start against the New York Yankees. By now, a good part of baseball is aware that much of the Mariners' success this year has been due to the tandem of Iwakuma and Felix Hernandez.

Right now, it's tough to imagine where the Mariners might be without either.

Iwakuma is 4-1 with a 1.74 ERA in eight starts this season. He leads the AL in walks-plus-hits-to-innings-pitched-ratio (WHIP) at 0.74 and is second in the league in opponents' batting average with .167.

Hernandez and Iwakuma as a duo have allowed just five runs in their last seven starts. That's pretty impressive. And the Mariners will need it to continue tonight after letting last night's game get away from them.

Michael Morse says early homer barrage may not have been the best thing for him

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:16:05 PDT

We've seen Michael Morse collect five hits in his first two games since being pushed back from the No. 4 spot in the order to No. 5. So, was the move a stroke of genius? Or maybe Morse used a different brand of detergent on his game jersey? Point is, it's too soon to tell. You can't base anything off two games and Morse is not about to.

The one thing Morse does say, however, is that his torrid start -- when he clubbed six homers the first week of the season -- might not have been the best thing for him. I brought this up in my Talkin' Baseball segment on Monday with Mitch Levy on Sports Radio KJR. The point that perhaps Morse had so much early success that he began swinging for the fences every time up.

"I've never started out hot,'' Morse said. "And when I don't start out hot, it helps me. It keeps me humble. Keeps me down.''

Morse says he needs to be kept humble from time to time.

Lately, he added, he's been swinging at too many bad pitches that are extremely difficult to do anything with.

"I've got to stop swinging at balls in the dirt,'' he said. "You don't swing at the ball that's on the ground rolling.''

Morse says he probably got into that habit because "I felt like I could hit everything.''

Again, that would appear to boil down to the fast start that he had, which perhaps fed his confidence a little too much. Morse says his recent success has nothing to do with being bumped one spot down in the order to No. 5 and that he could pretty much hit anywhere in the middle -- from No. 3 to No. 6 -- without it changing anything he sees in a game.

"I'd love to hit seventh,'' he said, half-joking.

The reason?

"I'd see a ton of fastballs,'' he said.

Morse has indeed seen a ton of breaking balls and off-speed pitches so far this season. The double he stroked last night on a first-pitch curveball from C.C. Sabathia gave him a nice confidence boost more so than any new role as a No. 5 hitter.

One thing we've seen from Morse this month, even as his overall hitting numbers are still stagnant, has been a surprising number of walks. He's got five already in 38 plate appearances in May, compared to only four over 104 plate appearances the entire month of April.

Morse attributes it to his trying to be more selective at the plate.

"I figure if I don't swing at the balls in the dirt, maybe I'll get some walks,'' he said. "I don't walk much, but I'm trying to.''

Morse then clarified his statement.

"I try to be aggressive,'' he said. "But at the same time, if I'm not getting the pitches, I'll take take the walk.''

After all, Morse is here to do some damage with his bat -- not to walk his on-base percentage up to more respectable levels. He knows that, in the end, he'll have to do more with the hittable pitches when he does see them and they won't all be fastballs.

But at least this way, he won't be burying himself in 0-2 counts right off the bat by chasing stuff that's impossible to hit.

Why the Mariners are handcuffed in their middle infield

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:01:05 PDT

There has been plenty of justifiable discussion of late pertaining to how the Mariners can continue to carry both Brendan Ryan and Robert Andino on the same roster when Ryan is batting .129 and Andino .169.

It's certainly a valid question for any team hoping to win more than it loses. And there is a valid answer that I'm sure very few fans and pundits want to hear: the alternative could be far worse.

First of all, bringing up one or both of Carlos Triunfel or Nick Franklin will require dropping either Ryan or Andino.

Now, if you drop Ryan from the team, you throw away any of the defensive value he brings. Don't forget, Ryan has more value defensively than any of those other infielders I just mentioned. So, any improvement you get on offense will automatically be docked a bit by the value you are throwing away on defense. In other words, if you add Triunfel or Franklin, you will have to guarantee they can be substantially better at the plate (at least doubly as good as Ryan) for the net gain to mean anything.

The more logical approach would be to drop Andino, who costs less than Ryan in any event and is not as good at shortstop with his glove. Here's the catch, though: the flexibility Andino brings at being able to play multiple positions and play on a more regular basis (at least in theory, if not in reality so far) is what led the Mariners to carry only one backup infielder this year.

Drop Andino, and the club will most likely have to go with two backup infielders. And where would the extra spot come from? An outfield where the Mariners don't really have any spots to spare.

Think about it. We still don't know when Franklin Gutierrez will be healthy again and even when he is, the Mariners will always feel he is one bad step away from disaster. That knowledge means the team cannot afford to try to ram Endy Chavez through waivers and risk losing him. They will most likely have to keep Chavez on the team all year as center field backup insurance.

What that means is, for the foreseeable future, the Mariners could be placed in a position where they have to carry six outfielders for some time. We saw Raul Ibanez hit a home run last night. The Mariners don't want to give up on him when they still feel his bat could be revived. Jason Bay has been a success story to date and validated the team's decision to keep him out of spring training. Michael Saunders is emerging into an impact player. You have Michael Morse still batting in the middle of the order. Then, there is Gutierrez and Chavez.

In other words, the Mariners are already worried enough about who to drop once Gutierrez returns. As I just said, they may not drop anybody and could be forced to carry six outfielders.

What they really don't want to do now is drop one of their current outfielders so they can bring up an extra backup infielder in the event they have to dump Andino.

It gets a little confusing, but I can tell you this is likely a big reason the team hasn't already made a middle infield move. They really are handcuffed by the current roster setup. Not so much in the outfield, as some suspected they might be. But seriously impacted in the infield.

Sure, I suppose you could try to bring up Franklin or Triunfel and make them the one-man utility infielder the way Andino is.

Two problems with that: No. 1, you don't know whether either of them will be capable of playing in the majors every day. And No. 2, you don't know how either would react to not playing daily, or being bounced around the infield sporadically.

The biggest reason you could put Andino in that lone backup role is that he's been seasoned in the majors already, has put the whole learning curve thing behind him, and knows how to prepare for the role he's needed in. It clearly hasn't worked out, but that's a whle different story.

It has worked out for Bay in his transition to a more sporadic role, but read his comments from yesterday and you can see that he had some adjustments to make. And he's a guy who has already spent a decade in the majors.

Taking a raw recruit and throwing him into a backup, utility infield role probably isn't what the Mariners want to do right now...or ever, really.

Another option would be to make Triunfel or Franklin the starting shortstop and keep Andino as the backup. Again, though, we have no evidence Triunfel or Franklin can be an everyday major league shortstop without their numbers taking a serious hit. That would be a concern because -- remember -- they have to significantly out-hit Ryan to make up for the obvious lack of defense.

And if you roll the dice on that gamble and your young guy flops big, you've lost Ryan and ruined the confidence of a young prospect in the process.

I'm not saying the Mariners will never call up Franklin or Triunfel. At some point, I'd expect to see one or oth up here rather than continue with this sub-Mendoza sideshow we've been forced to witness from the team's two shortstops.

But there's a reason the Mariners are reluctant to pull the trigger. I just outlined it for you: the alternative could be even worse and have long-term reprecussions.

My guess is that the team will ride this two-headed bat monster into the month of June at least and pray that one of either Ryan or Andino finds some bat.

At some point, the Mariners will be forced to act. But at three games under .500 and 10-6 in their last 16 games, they haven't reached that point just yet where they're ready to play some Russian roulette in the middle infield.

Mariners didn't do enough damage against C.C. Sabathia, bullpen when given the chance

Wed, 15 May 2013 01:31:06 PDT

Look, I watched the game as well and I know that Charlie Furbush didn't get the strike calls he needed in that seventh inning. I know that plate umpire Jerry Layne had a rather interesting strike zone for most of the night and wasn't thrilled by the interpretation on that obstruction call in the fourth.

But hey, folks. Welcome to Yankee Stadium.

The rule employed here over the years by many a visiting team -- and many of them much better than the Mariners -- has been a simple one. If you need an umpire's call to go your way to win, then you probably are not going to win a game at this ballpark.

In other words, yes, the Mariners losing 4-3 here to the Yankees might be linked directly to some non-strike calls against Brett Gardner and Robinson Cano when facing Furbush in the seventh.

But more importantly, the Mariners stranded 11 men on base. They did not get a hit with a runner in scoring position tonight. The only hit they had with a man on base was a double by Kyle Seager in the third.

They had the bases loaded in the fourth and didn't score. They left a man on second in the third and the fifth.

The Mariners had two on in the second inning and came away empty.

All that was against C.C. Sabathia, who had to throw 112 pitches to get through 6 1/3 frames.

“I thought our guys did a nice job of fighting him and making him work and doing some things,’’ Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. “But we never really had that knockout blow there to really separate.’’

And really, if the Mariners do separate at that point, anything umpire Layne calls or doesn't call becomes rather moot. Instead, the game was left just a little too close and the Yankees capitalized.

Another key issue in the game was Wedge pulling Hernandez after six innings with his pitch count at 97. Turns out, Hernandez tweaked his back making a throw to second base in the sixth inning and that's why he later left the contest early.

It had nothing to do with the collision Hernandez had with Lyle Overbay in the fourth, in which the pitcher was called for obstruction. Hernandez actually wasn't hurt on that play, or so he told us. It was only the back -- a recurring issue -- that caused him to come out.

“I didn’t want to take any chances sending him back out there,’’ Wedge said. “I wanted to send him back out there. He wanted to go back out there. But I wasn’t going to take any chances.’’

Hernandez says he understands the decision to pull him.

“The whole game, I was good and didn’t feel anything,’’ said Hernandez, who allowed only five hits and struck out eight. “After I made that play…I’d turned around too quick and all the weight from my right side went to the left side. I felt a pinch in there. Nothing bad, nothing serious. I’ll be ready for the next one.’’

As for the obstruction, we sent a pool reporter to talk to the umpiring crew about the call. Remember, Overbay was out by several feet before any contact with Hernandez occured.

Here is what Layne said, interpreting rule 7.06 of the MLB Rule Book.

"Any time the runner is obstructed before first base, the ball is dead. He's awarded first base, and any runner that could be forced is awarded [his base]. That's why [Wells] was given second base. What had happened was when they went to field the ball, the pitcher and the first baseman were going toward the bag. There was a second there when neither one of them knew who was going to cover, in my opinion. I don't know that, but that's what it looked like. But the person that didn't receive the ball, which was the pitcher, obstructed the runner going to first base. Per that rule, any time it happens before first base, the ball is dead. That clarifies it. Eric [Wedge] said it didn't happen before first base, and that's what the discussion was about."

Third base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt also added that it didn't matter how far away the runner was from the base when the obstruction occured:

"We have a clarification in the baseball rules interpretation manual. Only one fielder can be in the act of fielding the ball. Now that fielder [in this case] was the first baseman. So that’s where the obstruction came in because there were multiple fielders fielding the [throw]. Now there's a couple of different kinds of obstruction. But on the type of play like this, which was a ground ball, it doesn't matter if the runner is 89 feet away when he gets obstructed or if he’s one inch away. If he is obstructed before first base, the ball is dead and he is awarded first base."

So, that's the way the crew interpreted it. In the end, they get final say.

And in the end, it didn't matter. What mattered was the seventh inning when Furbush helped give up the lead after not getting the calls.

"That's just the way it is, you know?'' he said. "You try to make pitches as best you can and keep your team in the ballgame.''

And he felt he'd made the pitches, especially in the Brett Gardner plate appearance that preceeded the tying double by Robinson Cano.

"Obviously, I would have liked it, that's for sure,'' he said of the non-strike call. "But it is what it is.''

Yes it is. Even after that, the Mariners had their chances with two on and none out against David Robertson. But Michael Saunders went down swinging in an ugly at-bat and then Justin Smoak lined into a double play turned by a perfectly positioned shortstop Jayson Nix.

"I was just glad I hit one up the middle,'' Smoak said. "I didn't expect someone to be standing there.''

Again, that's the kind of night it was. And to beat the Yankees in this ballpark, any visiting team has to have a bunch of stuff going for them beyond umpire calls.

The Mariners didn't tonight, good as they played for the most part.

Mariners blow late lead, lose 4-3 to the Yankees

Tue, 14 May 2013 21:31:06 PDT

This was a tough one to swallow for the Mariners, given how dominant they'd been for most of the game until Felix Hernandez had to leave after six innings. We're pretty sure Hernandez came out because he was still feeling the after-effects of that collision at first base with Lyle Overbay.

But regardless, the New York Yankees scored three runs in the seventh off Yoervis Medina and Charlie Furbush and that was the game. The Mariners go down to a 4-3 defeat and it's a tough one given how hard they fought all night to knock C.C. Sabathia from the game after 6 1/3 innings.

The Mariners had a 3-0 lead when Sabathia left and it could have been more.

They managed 10 hits off the left-hander, including that two-run homer by Raul Ibanez. But there were many other opportunities to score that they just didn't cash in on.

With Hernandez in the game, it looked like it wouldn't matter.

But once Hernandez came out, it mattered indeed.

Game thread: Mariners 3, Yankees 0, top of 6th

Tue, 14 May 2013 22:41:35 PDT

Well, if you were paying attention to the pre-game blog posts, you know that Mariners manager Eric Wedge now looks like a genius for putting Raul Ibanez in the lineup against C.C. Sabathia. Wedge said he did it based on Ibanez's track record against Sabathia, as well as his success here at Yankee Stadium. Ibanez just showed why by lining a Sabathia pitch over the short porch in right field for a two-run homer to give the Mariners a 3-0 lead here in the sixth inning.

This is what managers get paid to do. If they all managed according to what the computer spat out every morning, we'd have a bunch of tie games played every night, all season long. The job involves hunches and guesswork and trying to outthink and outsmart the guy opposite you in the dugout. Tonight, Wedge played a hunch with Ibanez -- going lefty on lefty -- and it just paid off big.

5:40 p.m.: Felix Hernandez just pitched out of a two on, one out jam in the fourth and still leads 1-0 despite a bizarre "obstruction" call that went against him that frame.

With one on and one out, Robert Andino fielded a grounder deep in the hole in shallow right field and made a last-second throw to first base. The throw was taken by Kendrys Morales but Hernandez had also gotten to the bag to cover and was a bit fooled by a pump fake to second Andino made before heaving the ball to first.

Morales caught the ball for the out several feet before a slow chugging (his normal speed) Lyle Overbay arrived at the bag. Hernandez was standing right in Overbay's way as he arrived and got clipped on the right leg as he tried to dance out of the way.

After long discussion and some arguing by the Yankees, the umpires agreed to call obstruction. Mariners manager Eric Wedge went apoplectic at that point, arguing -- we assume -- that Overbay was nowhere near reaching first base before the out was made. Now, obstruction is a judgement call and I suppose the umps could argue that Overbay might have reached first safely had Hernandez not forced him to slow up by being in his way. You could make that argument -- I won't. Common sense has to take over here. Overbay was out by the proverbial Centralia mile. He has no fifth gear to kick it into. He was running his equivalent of an all-out sprint and even had he been forced to slow a half-step because of Hernandez being at the bag, he still would have been out by a dozen or more half-steps.

Brutal call. They leave it up to the umpire's discretion because they are supposed to utilize that discretion within the realm of good sense. I'm not seeing any here.

For the record, here is the pertinent part of rule 7.06 as it applies to obstruction:

When obstruction occurs, the umpire shall call or signal "Obstruction."

If a play is being made on the obstructed runner, or if the batterrunner is obstructed before he touches first base, the ball is dead and all runners shall advance, without liability to be put out, to the bases they would have reached, in the umpire’s judgment, if there had been no obstruction. The obstructed runner shall be awarded at least one base beyond the base he had last legally touched before the obstruction. Any preceding runners, forced to advance by the award of bases as the penalty for obstruction, shall advance without liability to be put out.

4:49 p.m.: The Mariners just opened the scoring with an unearned run in the third inning. Michael Saunders reached first on a one-out error by Lyle Overbay, who bobbled his ground ball. Kyle Seager delivered a two-out double to right center and the Mariners have a 1-0 lead for Felix Hernandez, who has notched six straight outs after letting the first two hitters he faced reach base.

4:37 p.m.: Both teams have squandered some early chances and we're scoreless after two innings. The Mariners got two on with two out in the second as Michael Morse doubled and Raul Ibanez legged out an infield hit by beating a slow-moving C.C. Sabathia to the first base bag. But Robert Andino took a called third strike (yes, believe it or not, he did) and the rally fizzled.

The Yankees put two on with none out against Felix Hernandez in the first. But then Vernon Wells flied out to right and Curtis Granderson grounded into a 6-6-3 double play.

3:55 p.m.: Can't ask for a much better pitching matchup than tonight as Felix Hernandez takes on C.C. Sabathia at Yankee Stadium. The Mariners are going with a very matchup-focused lineup against Sabathia, hoping that the track records of hitters like Raul Ibanez, Robert Andino and Brendan Ryan in facing the southpaw can outweigh their recent sub-.200 hitting production.

As for Hernandez, he's owned the Yankees for most of his career. Hernandez is 8-5 with a 3.08 lifetime ERA in 14 games against the Yanks. Here at Yankee Stadium, he's 5-2 with a 2.06 ERA in seven career starts.

The Yankees finally have Curtis Granderson in the lineup tonight, making his season debut after fracturing his wrist in spring training nearly three months ago.

Mariners manager Eric Wedge explains why he's starting Raul Ibanez against left-hander

Tue, 14 May 2013 17:31:04 PDT

Hard not to notice Raul Ibanez in the lineup tonight against tough southpaw C.C. Sabathia. Ibanez has not performed well against left-handers either this year or in the recent past.

We asked manager Eric Wedge about that decision pre-game.

"He's faced him a lot,'' Wedge said of Ibanez. "I know a lot of the history goes back a ways, but that's OK. And the history he has in this ballpark, too. I think you have to take that into consideration as well.''

Ibanez is 12-for-42 (.286) lifetime off Sabathia with two homers, two doubles, a triple (!) and an OPS of .872.

Not too shabby. The question is whether he can still replicate his hitting prowess of the past. We know that Sabathia can still deal the way he used to several years back.

The Mariners aren't playing Justin Smoak tonight, going instead with Kendrys Morales at first base so that he can get in the game with Ibanez being used at DH. Wedge is also going with the light-hitting Brendan Ryan and Robert Andino in the same lineup, hoping their track records against Sabathia pay off.

Andino is 8-for-23 (.348) with a homer, a double and an OPS of .897 off Sabathia.

Ryan is 4-for-10 (.400) with an OPS of 1.038.

Morales is 3-for-9 (.333) with an OPS of .777.

So, we'll see how it all works out.

"It's just the knowledge base,'' Wedge said. "There is specific history there that they can pull from. Now, that goes both ways. But you trust your people and just certain matchups just work better. That type of pitcher versus that type of hitter. His stuff versus that type of hitter. That's just the way it works. So, you just try to put your best lineup out there.''

Jason Bay, Raul Ibanez return to New York with Mariners

Tue, 14 May 2013 17:16:07 PDT

Two veteran Mariners outfielders on decidedly different paths returned to New York for the first time since leaving their respective teams this past off-season to sign with Seattle. Jason Bay was a flop with the New York Mets but has since revived his career with the Mariners, entering tonight with a .253 batting average, four homers and an on-base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS) of .813.

Ibanez, on the other hand, was a playoff hero when he left the New York Yankees but has since struggled in Seattle, batting .194 with an OPS of .653.

"I feel a little more comfortable, at least in my preparation and in my role,'' Bay told a large media throng that held court in the visiting team's dugout a short while ago. "At the beginning of the year, I talked a lot to Raul (Ibanez). Him and I, the first few games, we were on the bench and I was like, man, knowing now, this was my role, I was asking 'What do you do?' It was more like formulating a plan because I knew early on I wasn't going to play. I might get in there to pinch-run, for defense, hit here or there. So, it was just when to be ready, how to be ready. And that was kind of a process and I feel I got a handle on that.''

Bay says he now feels he's ready for anything he's needed for. He views it as "the evolution of a career" that bottomed out here in New York and led to the Mets releasing him with a year still to go on his contract.

Bay has given the situation plenty of thought. And naturally, he was asked about it by New York media members.

"Obviously, I was trying to do the things you think you can do,'' he said. "Somewhere along the line, it wasn't happening. It wasn't for a lack of trying. I tried everything. It was to the point where I turned down offers from some clubs for more playing time to go to Seattle and be close to home and see how that worked.

"And then I had to basically make the team out of spring training, And I knew that. But it didn't really change anything. It's not like I worked any harder. It just comes with a different mindset. There were no external factors. It was all on me.''

Ibanez has much fonder memories of his season with the Yankees, where he became a valuable part-time outfielder and clubbed a pair of memorable home runs in the playoffs.

"It was a great experience, obviously, to be able to play in Yankee Stadium,'' he said. "As a kid growing up, we watched games in Yankee Stadium. I grew up watching Reggie Jackson, Bucky Dent and those guys...Thurmon Munson, Don Mattingly...so being able to be a part of that tradition, I had a great time. I really had a great time and I enjoyed it and now I'm over here trying to beat them.'

Big offensive test coming up for Mariners on this road trip

Tue, 14 May 2013 13:01:04 PDT

We're about to kick off a nine-game Mariners road trip with a gem tonight that sees Felix Hernandez facing C.C. Sabathia. And the way this trip lines up mound-wise for the Mariners, it's going to be a huge test of their offensive ability to generate some runs.

We saw last week in Pittsburgh how, even with Hernandez at the top of his game, the Mariners nearly didn't pull a victory out until a late home run by Jesus Montero. That's because the Mariners were shut down offensively most of the day by Pirates starter A.J. Burnett.

We're going to see some similar dynamics at play in this series against the Yankees, who don't score as often as they used to but are still capable of putting up an average number of runs per contest. That means the Mariners will have to score an average number of runs to give themselves a chance at winning and it will be a challenge when they face the likes of Sabathia and others.

The one thing the Yankees have done very well this year is pitch. Not just the starters. When the Yankees get a game into the seventh inning, their bullpen is highly effective at shutting opponents down via strikeouts. And we've already seen that the Mariners are vulnerable to becoming invisible when facing strikeout pitchers. So, this will be one of those early defining tests for this offense. We'll see whether they start to roll over again, as they did when facing the Tigers and Rangers a few weeks back.

Or, whether the Mariners can battle, even with two strikes on them in the count.

Once they get done with New York, the Mariners will face a much different challenge against an Indians team that's been piling on the offense so far. The Indians aren't nearly as dangerous from the mound as the Yankees are, but they lead the league by a large margin in park-weighted on-base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS) and will be facing Brandon Maurer and Joe Saunders the first two games.

In other words, if the Mariners struggle here in New York, they have the potential to see their mini-slump snowball in a big hurry once they head to Cleveland. The Indians will undoubtedly score some runs those first two games and the Mariners will have to be able to produce offensively in order to keep up.

The final two games in Anaheim will produce a similar challenge to the Cleveland series in that Aaron Harang and Maurer will start the two contests (unless a change is made before then). The Angels are reeling and trying to salvage their season and you can bet they will be playing some desperate baseball as they did last year around this time when they waltzed in and beat up on the Mariners in a four-game series.

So, again, the bats will have to be ready because expecting the back-end of the rotation to hold the Angels to a couple of runs is a bit much.

No other way to put it. This road trip represents a big moment for these Mariners hitters. The pitching matchups that favor them will largely be countered by solid mound opponents. And the "easier" starters they will face this trip will also be offset by some tough opposing bats that will require many runs of Mariners offense to counter.

It should be interesting. It may not be pretty. But we'll know a lot more about the 2013 Mariners when this trip is done.

Tonight's lineup:

55	Michael Saunders (L)	CF
12	Jason Bay	LF
15	Kyle Seager (L)	3B
8	Kendrys Morales (S)	1B
38	Michael Morse	RF
7	Kelly Shoppach	C
28	Raul Ibañez	DH
3	Robert Andino	2B
26	Brendan Ryan	SS
Starting Pitcher
34	Felix Hernandez	RHP

Mariners keep winning series, showing gradual offensive improvement

Tue, 14 May 2013 09:46:07 PDT

Nice to be back after a couple of weeks away. I'd like to thank everyone who wrote in to express their sympathies on the death of my mother during heart surgery back on May 3. Special thanks to the Times team for their support and to colleague Larry Stone for his kind words in print and on the phone and for his jumping on a plane to pick up for me in the middle of a road trip.

The Mariners keep on winning and are doing so via strong pitching from the top part of their rotation and continued, albeit gradual, improvement on offense.

We are now 2 1/2 weeks removed from the infamous road trip to Texas where the Mariners got wallopped in five of six games and saw their offense hit rock bottom in terms of strikeouts and production.

Since that trip ended, the team has rallied to go 10-5 the last 15 games. The Mariners are hitting .247 over that span, with a .329 on-base-percentage (OBP), a .405 slugging percentage and an OPS of .734 while scoring an average of 4.1 runs per game.

After that series in Texas ended, the Mariners were 8-15 with a .292 OBP, a .363 slugging mark and a .655 OPS while scoring 3.2 runs per contest. Folks were calling for heads to roll. That part has since stopped, namely since the Mariners keep winning two of every three games.

So, clearly, there has been a marked improvment.

Might some of it have to do with facing lesser quality pitchers? Sure, that factors in. But the Mariners took down a pretty good pitcher yesterday in Tommy Milone of the Oakland Athletics. They somehow managed to beat a dominant-looking A.J. Burnett in Pittsburgh last week, posting a late home run when needed. Heck, they all count.

The Mariners also were dealing with some serious injuries in the series that carried through that trip to Texas and now are playing more at full strength.

The one thing you can't argue with is the scoring of nearly one more run per game over the last 15 contests.

Score four or more and you'll be a .500 team when the front end of your rotation is led by Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma.

So, that's what the Mariners are right now. A .500 team (well, one game worse, but that's close to vanishing). For me, that's the bare minimum of what we should have been expecting when the season began. I figured a couple of weeks back that if the Mariners could return to .500 by June 1, their season would be salvaged and could begin anew. Well, they are a half-month ahead of that schedule.

Really, it made sense in March to think that if the Mariners could be at .500 come the all-star break, they'd be in good shape for a second half run.

For now, let's see whether they continue this .734 OPS pace of the past 15 games.

For the record, a .734 OPS would make the Mariners 9th out of 15 teams in the AL if that was their mark for this entire season. We're not talking about a juggernaut here; this is mere respectability even at this pace of the past two weeks. The Mariners have won more than they've lost the past 15 contests because of stellar pitching by Hernandez and Iwakuma and good pitching at home by Joe Saunders.

It's unreasonable to expect such great pitching all year long by the top of the rotation, so the offense will eventually have to pick up even more steam and the bottom starters will have to figure some things out or be replaced.

For now, there isn't much you can do with the starters other than swapping in Jeremy Bonderman for your back end guy at some point soon.

On offense, the team really hasn't seen all from Michael Morse that he is capable of. His OBP is about 40 points below what you'd expect and that's why all the homers he's hit have still not made him the impact player the Mariners hope to eventually have. For me, that's the biggest key. Morse getting some of his plate discipline back and swinging at better, more hittable pitches.

The other fix is from the shortstop position, where Brendan Ryan is hitting .122 and Robert Andino is at .159. Both guys are living on borrowed time at the moment and really, they should expect to be pulled from the lineup and even the roster any day now if this keeps up. The problem is that the fixes in Class AAA are far from certain. Nobody really knows what Carlos Triunfel will give you defensively and his offense at the big league level might not be much better.

Nick Franklin is hitting big in AAA right now. But the Mariners have already started to view him and play him like a future second baseman. Not sure they feel he can provide the defense-first aspect so crucial to shortstop.

And that is the only reason the Ryan-Andino show has continued.

Don't forget, as well, that if you bump Andino off the roster, the team would likely wind up going with a second backup infielder and that would force them into an outfield roster call they don't want to make. Especially with Jason Bay tearing the cover off the ball and Franklin Gutierrez still on the DL.

In other words, there is no easy answer to a middle infield question which appears -- on the surface -- to be the No. 1 candidate for an instant offensive fix.

Interesting times indeed. Bottom line? Morse has to beome a better hitter in 2013 than he's shown us thus far. Do that for a lineup that's sustained a .734 OPS since the Texas debacle and this team will buy time to make it to June, or even the all-star break at least a .500 club. Time to think through the offensive fixes in more detail and decide what they can live with.

After that, it's anyone's ballgame.

Mariners-A's game thread, May 12

Sun, 12 May 2013 18:01:05 PDT

After 8, M's, 6-1 -- Should be a fourth series victory in the last five (with one push in Pittsburgh), assuming the M's close out the A's in the ninth.

Bay gets M's one more -- Jason Bay whacked a Jerry Blevins pitch over the dead centerfield fence in the seventh with nobody on, giving the M's a 6-1 lead entering the eighth.

M's 5, A's 1 after 6 -- Joe Saunders is now into the seventh over the 100-pitch mark and looking strong, having allowed four A's hits. Whoops, make it five now. Saunders is just now exiting, having thrown 104 pitches and going 6 1/3 innings and pointed toward his third win of the season -- all at Safeco, of course.

M's get another run -- In somewhat unorthodox fashion, the Mariners have stretched their lead to 5-1 after five innings with a run in the fifth. Michael Saunders led off with a bunt single -- a bit of a lucky one, in that he blooped it about 25 feet high, but it fell perfectly maybe six feet inside the first-base line where nobody could track it down. Then Jason Bay hit a hard grounder to the left of third baseman Josh Donaldson, who seemed to get his feet tangled, and the ball hit his glove and squirted into short leftfield on what could have been a double play. Kyle Seager's deep drive to the rightfield warning track scored Saunders.

M's extend lead -- Jesus Montero's line single to left scored Michael Morse, who had doubled leading off, and the Mariners have a 4-1 lead after four.

M's 3, A's 1 after 3 -- It hasn't exactly been a smooth ride for Joe Saunders, who has allowed five baserunners in the past two innings. But he's still atop a 3-1 lead entering the fourth. He got a break when, with two on and one out in the third, Josh Donaldson, on a checked swing, foul-tipped a third strike into Jesus Montero's mitt, and then Saunders got Luke Montz on a hard grounder to second.

M's 3, A's 1 after 2 -- Joe Saunders wavered in the A's second, allowing back-to-back doubles by Josh Donaldson and Luke Montz, followed by a hit by Derek Norris that moved Montz to third. But after allowing that run, Saunders regained control, getting Nate Freiman on a fielder's choice at the plate, striking out Brandon Moss and inducing a weak pop to first by Michael Taylor.

Big Start for M's -- Kendrys Morales, whom Mariner manager Eric Wedge had spoken of as pressing just two hours before, took Tommy Milone deep to left for a three-run homer in the M's half of the first inning to stake his team to a 3-0 lead. Michael Saunders led it off with a hit to left and Kyle Seager walked on four pitches to set up Morales, who got a fat pitch about thigh-high and rode it out for his fifth homer.

Hey folks, Bud Withers here at Safeco Field. Happy Mother's Day to y'all. Our great weather is departing us, but the roof is rolled back to reveal partly cloudy skies this afternoon.

Mariner pre-game notes, May 12

Sun, 12 May 2013 15:01:05 PDT

Three-hole blues

After slotting Kendrys Morales and Michael Morse in the 3-4 spots the first two games of the series, Mariners manager Eric Wedge has put Kyle Seager back in the three hole for the first time since Wednesday in Pittsburgh.

“I’m playing around with it a little bit,” Wedge said before Sunday’s game. “I still stand by the fact Morales and Morse and trying to do too much. They know they’re ‘the guys’ here.”

Morales is hitting .262 but with limited power – three homers and 14 RBIs. Morse, on the other hand, has been a big source of power for the M’s with nine homers but is hitting only .220, after three years of .289, .303 and .291 with the Nationals. He was also hampered by a broken pinky finger in April.

“You see both of them chasing a little bit more than you should be chasing,” said Wedge. “And you start trying to do a little more than you should be trying to do, when sometimes, you gotta just lay the bat down (take a walk) and let the next guy try it. They’re not gonna come into the zone unless you allow them to.”

Playing into the equation is Seager’s continued strong effort at the plate. He’s hitting .287, and in Wedge’s words, “is a very mature young hitter. There’s not much we can give him he can’t handle. He’s proven that.”

Wedge says that in the big picture, he sees Seager as a No. 2, 3 or possibly a 5 hitter, but in the short term, much of the Mariner lineup revolves around the progress of Morales and Morse.

“When you bring somebody over here and they’re ‘the guys,’ it’s a little bit different from when they’re the secondary guy, and they know that,” Wedge said.

Ackley takes a rest

Wedge is giving second baseman Dustin Ackley, who is 1 for 12 over his past three games, the day off. Still, Ackley has had a good run over his past 21 games, hitting safely in 16.

“I had a good talk with him earlier,” said Wedge. “He’s done a great job of kind of fixing himself fundamentally. I just need to give him a break mentally. These guys want it so bad – I respect the hell out of it – they want it so bad their heart gets in the way. He just needs to trust his ability.

“Sometimes a day off, especially a day before an off-day (the M’s have a travel day to New York Monday), can be a big help.”

Pryor update

Reliever Stephen Pryor is starting to play catch, Wedge said, in his recovery from a tear in the right latissimus dorsi (side) muscle, but his return date is indefinite.

“That injury’s going to take a little time,” Wedge said. “For a pitcher and a guy his size (6-4, 250), it is a tricky spot. We’ll evaluate him after this road trip and kind of go from there.”

The nine-game trip through New York, Cleveland and Anaheim takes the M’s through May 22.

Humber humbled

It's been a spectacular fall from grace for Philip Humber, the Houston pitcher who, as a member of the White Sox, threw a perfect game at the Mariners April 21 of last year.

The lowly Astros just designated Humber for assignment, after he compiled a 9.59 ERA and 2.02 WHIP for them in the first six weeks of the season. Humber was 0-8, and after five weeks in the Houston starting rotation, he was demoted to the bullpen. But he allowed five hits and five runs Saturday in two-thirds of an inning against Texas, and that was the last straw for the Astros.

Mariners-A's lineups, Sunday, May 12

Sun, 12 May 2013 13:31:07 PDT

	Michael Saunders (L)	CF		Adam Rosales	SS
	Jason Bay	LF		Jed Lowrie (S)	2B
	Kyle Seager (L)	3B		Yoenis Cespedes	CF
	Kendrys Morales (S)	DH		Josh Donaldson	3B
	Michael Morse	RF		Luke Montz	DH
	Justin Smoak (S)	1B		Derek Norris	C
	Jesus Montero	C		Nate Freiman	1B
	Robert Andino	2B		Brandon Moss (L)	RF
	Brendan Ryan	SS		Michael Taylor	LF
Starting Pitcher			Starting Pitcher
	Joe Saunders	LHP		Tommy Milone	LHP

M's can't get the clutch hit they need

Sun, 12 May 2013 01:01:13 PDT

The Mariners put constant pressure on the A's over the final three innings tonight with eight base-runners. But just one of those scored as the M's stranded two in the seventh, three in the eighth, and two more in the ninth. So after mounting a comeback from being down 3-0 in the fifth to pull within one, they lost 4-3.

Seattle also lost a chance to move past the A's into second place in the AL West as the A's snapped a five-game losing streak.

“We had so many opportunities those last three innings,’’ manager Eric Wedge said. “Everyone was working real hard to create opportunities to at least tie the ballgame, and probably end up doing more being at home. A few guys stepped up, a few guys didn’t. I loved the fight. There was a lot of fight there. Guys were in it all the way to the end and made them work real hard for that win. But ultimately they got it done."

The Mariners best chance came when Michael Morse stepped to the plate with one out in the eighth and runners on the corners. All he needed was a fly ball to tie the game, but facing Ryan Cook, Morse struck out. And when Justin Smoak followed with a walk to load the bases, Endy Chavez also struck out.

In the ninth, off Oakland closer Grant Balfour, Kelly Shoppach walked with one out. But Robert Andino struck out on three pitches. Michael Saunders kept Seattle alive with a single that moved Shoppach to second. Balfour went 3-0 on Kyle Seager and threw a pitch I thought was high enough to be ball four, which would have brought up Kendrys Morales with the bases loaded. But it went for a called strike, and Seager grounded out to second on the next pitch to end the game.

I'm going to make this one brief, but one final thought: I just can't believe the Mariners can go much longer with their current shortstop situation. Brendan Ryan looks completely and totally lost at the plate. He flied out and struck out before being pinch-hit for, his average dropping to .128. And Andino's strikeout dropped his average to .167.

It's time to try something new, like bringing up either Carlos Triunfel or Nick Franklin from Tacoma. Franklin is now sitting .340/.464/.510, but if the Mariners really can't stomach his defense at shortstop, then give a shot to Triunfel, who is hitting .295. Personally, I'd like to see what Franklin can do. The time has arrived.

Game thread, Mariners vs. A's, May 11

Sun, 12 May 2013 00:01:03 PDT

MARINERS EIGHTH: A golden opportunity slips away as Michael Morse strikes out with one out and tying run on third, and Chavez strikes out with bases loaded to end inning. 4-3 A's.

MARINERS SEVENTH: M's pull within one on three straight one-out singles by Smoak, Ibanez and Ackley. Smoak ran through the stop sign of 3B coach Daren Brown to score on Ackley's hit, barely beating the throw from right. 4-3 A's.

A'S SIXTH: Charlie Furbush was greeted with the A's third solo homer of the night, this one by Brandon Moss. 4-2 A's

MARINERS FIFTH: Parker has flirted with a no-hitter before, taking one into the eighth inning against Texas last June 4 before Michael Young led off the 8th with a single. He lost his tonight with two outs in the fifth when Kelly Shoppach, on a 3-2 pitch, took him yard to the opposite field, scoring Ackley to cut Oakland's lead to 3-2. Brendan Ryan struck out, dropping his average to .128. And Charlie Furbush is coming in to work the sixth.

A'S FIFTH: The A's add one more run after Maurer started the inning with two quick outs. Seth Smith doubled to right, and Jed Lowrie brought him in with his third hit, a single to center. Maurer is at 95 pitches already. 3-0 A's.

MARINERS FOURTH: Jarrod Parker still has a no-hitter going. He walked two in the inning, but Saunders was picked off on a snap throw by catcher Derek Norris. 2-0 A's.

A'S FOURTH: The long ball bit Maurer again as Daric Barton, recently called up, hit a homer to right to give the A's a 2-0 lead.

MARINERS THIRD: They got down 1-2-3 and are hitless through three against Jarrod Parker. 1-0 A's.

A'S THIRD: Lowrie gets his second hit with one out, but Maurer gets the tough Cespedes to hit into a 5-4-3 DP to end the inning. 1-0 A's.

A'S SECOND: The A's got a run on Josh Donaldson's one-out homer, but a great defensive play by Ackley prevented another. With two outs, Maurer walked two, then went full on Jaso, who hit a smash headed to right field. But Ackley made a diving stop to his left and threw out Jaso to end the inning. 1-0 A's.

MARINERS FIRST: After a one-out walk by Seager, Morales hits into the Mariners' 38th double play. That ties them with the Angels for most in the American League.

A'S FIRST: Coming in, lefties were hitting .358 off Maurer, who hasn't pitched since April 30. He struck out two lefties to start the game (John Jaso and Seth Smith), but a third, Jed Lowrie, doubled. Maurer got out of it on a soft liner by Cespedes -- who homered off Maurer in his major-league debut. A much better start than last time out.

Raul Ibanez is back in the lineup after his big three-run homer last night. Eric Wedge said Jason Bay would be back in there Sunday against left-hander Tommy Milone.

"We were forced to play everybody just a little bit too much early on, and I think that worked against us a little,'' Wedge said. "We were able to get Jason going a little bit. We feel like he’s in a good place, and we’d like to do the same with Raul. We're just trying to run that balance."

In his last five games since April 27, Ibanez is 4-for-10 with a double, triple, home run and two walks, while striking out just once and driving in four.

The pitching matchups for the upcoming Yankee series in New York include a marquee matchup on Tuesday: Felix Hernandez against CC Sabathia. That will be followed by Hisashi Iwakuma vs. Phil Hughes on Wednesday, and Aaron Harang vs. Andy Pettitte on Thursday.

Justin Smoak is hitting just .148 (4-for-27) with runners in scoring positon, but he has doubled four times in his last seven games (and in each of his last four games at Safeco), and Wedge sees positive signs. He particularly liked Smoak's double in a seven-pitch at-bat on Friday in the first inning with runners on the corners.

"You have to like the fight in his at-bats,'' hesaid. "He’s more consistent the way the ball’s coming off his bat in BP, both from the right and left side. He has better balance, he’s over the plate better, in a stronger position to hit. I think he’s more relaxed with that approach. You put that all together, it’s the combination you want from a big strong guy like Justin."

Ackley, Seager pleased by success of Mets phenom Matt Harvey

Sat, 11 May 2013 21:11:43 PDT

Matt Harvey, the Mets' 24-year-old phenom, has been the talk of baseball this year with his 4-0 record, 1.28 ERA, and near perfect game last week. Throw in the New York hype machine, and it's no wonder he's exploding on the MLB scene.

Watching intently, and with pride, are Mariners infielders Dustin Ackley and Kyle Seager, who were Harvey's teammates for their final two seasons at the University of North Carolina. Seager, in fact, roomed with Harvey his last year at UNC in a house with a few other players.

"He was always a guy, even in college, you knew he was going to do good things,'' Seager said. "He has the stuff, the body, the mentality. He’s got everything you’re looking for from a pitcher."

Agreed Ackley, "He had every tool to be a star. In college, he wasn’t quite the pitcher he is now. He had all the stuff. He threw hard. One thing he didn’t have in college he has now that seems like his best pitch is the slider. I don’t think he quite developed that when I was there. I think a pitch like that for him, he throws it 88 to 90 mph, is pretty devastating. I think all of his teammate knew he was going to be pretty special."

Ackley said it hasn't been hard monitoring Harvey's progress.

"I’ve been keeping up on him because, I mean, he’s been all over the TV,'' he said with a laugh. "I’m happy for him. He deserves it. He works hard. He’s in the weight room all the time, a real athletic kid. He’s going to be great."

Ackley, Seager and Harvey were teammates on the 2008 and 2009 Tar Heels teams. Ackley and Seager were drafted by the Mariners in 2009, Ackley No. 2 overall in the first round, Seager in the third round. Harvey played one more year in college and was selected in the first round in 2010 (No. 7 overall) by the Mets.

It's amazing to look back at the talent from that UNC era -- besides those three, there's pitchers Alex White (Astros) and Adam Warren (Yankees), and catcher Tim Federowicz (Dodgers), as well as numerous players in the minors, such as reliever Brian Moran in the Mariner organization.

"It's hard to keep up with all of them, there's so many,'' said Ackley.

"We had some really good squads,'' Seager added. "You look back at guys not only in pro ball, but in the big leagues, there's a lot of guys. There's a lot of guys in the upper minors who are right there. It’s pretty cool just the family of it all. A lot of teams have a North Carolina guy, so it’s pretty cool to keep up with everybody."

One regret is that those Tar Heels squads didn't win a title. They made it to the College World Series in all three seasons with Ackley and Seager, but finished second (losing the title game to Oregon State), third and sixth, respectively.

"We never won it, but we had a great time,'' Ackley said.

Saturday's lineups, Mariners vs. A's

Sat, 11 May 2013 16:16:04 PDT

Iwakuma: 'My finger is good now. It's all healed up, and I was able to pitch my game.'

Sat, 11 May 2013 03:01:05 PDT

Apologies for not being able to get to a more in-depth postgame piece -- my other beat is calling ahead of an early game Saturday -- but here is some reaction from the Mariners following a 6-3 win Friday to open a three-game series against Oakland.

* * *

ERIC WEDGE, manager

(On Iwakuma's performance...) "'Kuma was good again. What he's been doing is just executing pitches. He kept the ball down good. He had good nice splitting work tonight. He did a good job of using his fastball and moving his fastball around. Another solid effort by 'Kuma."

(At this point, are you surprised to see him allow runs?) "What you like to see is him come back and get us back in the dugout after that, and he kept going. He pitches with a lot of experience out there. You can tell in the way he handles himself, the way he handles the situations."

(On pulling him after seven...) "We talked to him a little bit, and that was enough. We talked a little bit. Not directly ... (laughs) ... but we talked a little bit and felt like that was enough there. Oliver, that first guy got him, but after that Oliver did a great job, did a nice job. And of course Tommy finished it off."

(On if Iwakuma's blister is OK...) "Yeah. He's in good shape there."

(On what Iwakuma does well...) "You know what he does is he repeats. He's so consistent with his delivery, his arm action, his arm slot, release point. It's tough to see what's coming out, which is what you have to do if you're going to be a solid starting pitcher up here. You have to do that."

(On Ibanez' home run...) "Yeah. Big. Good for Raul. Good for us. That was a big shot in the arm for us. The guy has been working so hard and you know he's going to continue to get better. But that was a big boost for us today."

(On the team's offensive approach...) "I thought our guys did a good job of being patient and seeing some pitches early on and making them work. Smoak came up with a big hit there. Of course Raul. Seager getting on base. There are a lot of things that you like, and it's more sporadic -- in a positive way. It's not just one guy or a couple of guys. It's not necessarily the same guy each night, and when you start doing that, then things really start to come together."

(On Iwakuma's blister being OK...) "It should be. Knock on wood. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, but I think he's in pretty good shape. We just obviously have to continue to manage it and make sure we stay ahead of it."

RAUL IBANEZ, left fielder

(On the home run...) "It's always nice to contribute. The last few games I've played have been better. It's always nice to be a part of the team scoring."

(On his approach...) "You just keep working; you keep fighting. It's more a mindset than anything else -- staying positive and expecting good things to happen. Fortunately it worked out tonight."

(On Iwakuma...) "That was awesome. He's so consistent. He goes out there and gives you a great outing every time. He's a great pitcher, a lot of fun to play behind."

(On the team's improvement...) "We're doing it together. It's a collective effort; it always is. Guys are contributing. Guys are having good at bats. There's definitely a good feeling in here, but we're doing it as a group and as a team, and it's a great environment."

HISASHI IWAKUMA, starting pitcher (through interpreter)

(On the blister...) "My finger is good now. It's all healed up, and I was able to pitch my game."

(On key to retiring 16 in a row...) "Pitch with composure. Just stay patient, because we had the lead in the first inning. ... Pitch my own game."

(On what is easier with a healed finger...) "Nothing drastic, just pitching my game and controlling each side of the plate."

(On getting an early lead...) "It was a mental relief. Being able to pitch with that much of a lead is big for myself, so being able to pitch with a better rhythm helped me pitch through seven innings."

(On if he wanted to stay in the game longer...) "Well yes, I wanted to stay in the game, but you have to think about the next start, too."

KYLE SEAGER, third baseman

(On the win...) "It was definitely a good win and it was good to especially jump on them early and give yourself a little cushion."

(On the Hernandez/Iwakuma combo...) "It's special. Our starters have all done well; those two have just been on a different level. 'Kuma is up there. Everybody knows Felix, obviously, but 'Kuma is kind of flying under the radar a little bit. He's been just as impressive. It's been pretty fun to play behind those two."

(On his night...) "Definitely getting first stolen base was nice. I got caught a few times, so it was good to be able to get one and hold my head up a little bit."

Iwakuma, Ibanez lead M's to 6-3 home win against Oakland, game thread

Sat, 11 May 2013 00:16:06 PDT

* * *

Final -- Tom Wilhelmsen closes out the win for his 10 saves in as many opportunities. Hisashi Iwakuma goes seven strong (retiring 16 in a row at one point) to get the win and go to 4-1. Raul Ibanez had the big hit with a three-run home run in the third.

9:38 p.m. -- The A's cut the lead to 6-3 on a solo home-run by Derek Norris off Perez.

9:28 p.m. -- Oliver Perez in for Iwakuma. Endy Chavez in for Raul Ibanez. Iwakuma goes seven innings, allows two runs (both earned) on four hits, and strikes out nine (second most this season for him).

9:14 p.m. -- Another 1-2-3 inning for Iwakuma, who has nine strikeouts tonight (his second most in a game this season).

8:57 p.m. -- The A's get to Iwakuma, who retired 16 in a row at one point. Sogard ended the streak with an infield single (originally ruled an error by Ryan but quickly changed). Jaso followed up with another single and eventually Jed Lowrie drove them both home with a double to right. It's 6-2.

8:40 p.m. -- Attendance announced as 25,509. The M's go up 6-0 in the fifth inning, as a double to deep right-center by Morales scores Seager from first. Seager has reached base three times and scored three runs.

8:31 p.m. -- That's 15 straight retired by Iwakuma and five K's through five innings. Impressive, impressive stuff.

8:11 p.m. -- Raul Ibanez launches a three-run homer to right field to give the M's a 5-0 lead in the third inning. A's in trouble.

7:55 p.m. -- Iwakuma sharp again tonight as he has retired nine in a row after the leadoff single by Jaso. He's got three strikeouts through three inning.

7:35 p.m. -- Seattle jumps out to a 2-0 lead. Saunders leads off with a deep fly to left, and then the rally starts. Seager walks, advances to third as a Morales' grounder sneaks through the left side of the infield, and then Morse singles up the middle. Smoak drives in a second with a double to left after a battle of an at bat. Ibanez grounds out and Montero strikes out to end it.

7:13 p.m. -- We are underway, and ex-Mariner John Jaso leads off with a single, but Iwakuma strikes out Yoenis Cespedes to end the inning.

Pregame: Good evening. I'll be updating this post throughout tonight's Mariners-Athletics game. I have added pregame quotes from manager Eric Wedge in the previous post, with an update on Franklin Gutierrez among other notes.

Hisashi Iwakuma on the mound as the M's start three-game series with Oakland

Sat, 11 May 2013 15:53:52 PDT

Good afternoon everyone. I'm pinch-hitting on the Mariners beat today as the team returns home and kicks off a three-game series with the Oakland A's.

Hisashi Iwakuma, who has been sensational with a 3-1 record and 1.61 ERA, will be on the mound for Seattle, which could actually jump up into second place in the AL West with a sweep this weekend. The M's are 16-19 and the A's are 18-18 behind division-leading Texas.

Lot of potential lefties in the Seattle lineup against Oakland's starter, rightie Dan Straily (1-0, 5.94).

I'll be back with a game thread closer to first pitch.

After the jump are some pregame thoughts from manager Eric Wedge:

(On Ibanez being back in the lineup...) "I want to give him an opportunity. He hasn't played a great deal lately. He played quite a bit earlier on, but I want to give him an opportunity to get going. He had a big pinch-hit for us the other night. I think he had one start on the road, but trying to get him back in there after an off day, and hopefully he'll do something that helps us win the game."

(On where Gutierrez is at this point...) "He's feeling pretty good, but he's going to probably take some BP today, but we're not at the point where we're going to run him just yet. He's going to take some time to get back. But he's progressing."

(He said he's running some...) "A little bit. We just haven't done anything 100 percent, nothing on the bases, but he's been swinging the bat and he'll take some BP today."

(On pushing Felix and Iwakuma up a day in rotation going into New York...) "It's a combination of everything. ... I think the dynamic has worked well with those guys back to back, so if we have an opportunity to keep it the same, we'll do it. ... We just felt that works best for everybody. Wherever we do these things we take all five guys into consideration."

(On the benefit of off days in giving young guys some time off...) "We want to manage his inning -- I'm talking about Maurer -- but it also allows you to get some of your starters an extra day or two. When they're pitching every fifth day for almost the entire month of April, an extra day goes a long way."

(On if Maurer has worked on anything...) "He's throwing a couple of sides. Again, it's all about him just being consistent and throwing his fastball where he wants to and using all his pitches. He's a young man, so give him a little extra time -- it's a good thing."

(On some umpiring controversies in the past few days...) "I'm not going to comment on that. They've got a tough job, so I'll leave it at that."

(On the use of replay...) "I think replay is healthy for the game, as long as they keep it within reason. I think they've done a good job of that."

(On Jeff Datz being back and if he's ready to return to third-base coach duties...) "No. He might sit in the dugout depending on how he feels. It's good to see him out there, but he's not able to go out there."