Mariners take 2 of 3 from Oakland
The Mariners continue to be one of the hottest teams in baseball after winning the three-game set against the Athletics. Next up for Seattle is a four-game series against Mike Trout and the Angels.
Game One:
Newly-recalled righty Joe Wieland got the starting nod from Scott Servais for the first game of the series and Oakland greeted him in the most unkind way possible.
Stephen Vogt got the scoring started in the bottom of the first with an RBI double which scored Marcus Semien. Khris David followed that up with a two-run blast and the Oakland lead was suddenly 3-0.
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Lefty starter Sean Manaea pitched for Oakland and didn’t give up his first hit of the game until the 5th inning when Kyle Seager hit a line drive that barely cleared the right field fence and the lead was cut to 3-1.
A Shawn O’Malley triple and a Franklin Gutierrez sacrifice fly tied the game in the 6th inning, but Yonder Alonso singled in two runs and Danny Valencia singled in another extend Oakland’s lead to 6-3. The A’s bullpen would hold on after solid performances from Liam Hendricks, Ryan Dull, and Ryan Madson, who earned his 25th save of the season.
Game One Notes:
Manaea has a dirty slider and is really tough on lefties. He threw a lot more offspeed pitches than his last outing against the Mariners.
Shawn O’Malley has really hit the ball well since he’s started getting more regular playing time. He played in left field this game so looks like Servais will try to get him in the game whenever it’s possible.
Game Two:
Hisashi Iwakuma continued his streak of good pitching and earned his 14th win of the season after pitching 5 and 1/3 innings giving up three runs and scattering nine hits.
Coco Crisp got the scoring started with an RBI single that drove in BBQ connoisseur Billy Butler in the 2nd inning.
The Boomstick, Nelson Cruz, came up big and tied the game in the top of the 4th inning with a solo blast. Seth Smith drove in a run with a single in the 5th, and Robinson Cano hit a home run in the next at bat. The lead was suddenly 4-1 in favor of the Mariners. All the runs came off of Oakland’s starter Kendall Graveman who pitched six innings and gave up the four runs on seven hits.
Khris Davis homered for the second consecutive game to make it a two-run game in the 6th inning, and Jake Smolinski drove in Billy Butler with a single to make it a one-run game.
The game then shifted to a battle of the bullpens and thanks to solid performances from Nick Vincent, Arquimedes Caminero, Tom Wilhelmsen and Edwin Diaz, the Mariners held on to the one-run lead and won 4-3.
Game Two Notes:
Player of the Game: Cruz may have tied it up with a bomb, but Robinson Cano’s two-run bomb was ultimately the difference maker for this game.
Iannetta had two hits which was kind of a shock.
Diaz once again was lights out. What more can you ask for?
Khris Davis may be short, but boy is he strong. He has big time pop.
Game Three:
A fairly high scoring affair went in favor of the Mariners thanks to a pretty balanced offensive attack.
Adam Lind hit a solo home run in the 2nd inning to start the scoring for this contest. Ryon Healy answered with a solo blast of his own in the 2nd, and the game was tied at 1-1.
Kyle Seager drove in O’Malley with a double in the 3rd, and Robinson Cano drove him in during the very next at bat.
O’Malley drove in the big guy, Dae Ho Lee, with a single in the 4th, and a bases clearing double drove in three thanks to Kyle Seager. The Mariners had the lead 7-1.
In the bottom of the 6th, Khris Davis decided he still hated the Mariners and hit his third home run in as many games. Brett Eibner hit a solo blast and the lead was cut to 7-4.
Norichika Aoki drove in Leonys Martin to make it an 8-4 ballgame and ultimately that was the final run of the game.
Wade LeBlanc started the game for the Mariners and earned his second win of the year. LeBlanc threw six innings and gave up three runs and five hits and struck out seven Athletics batters.
On the opposite end, Zach Neal started for Oakland and gave up five runs in 5 and 1/3 innings. The next pitcher for Oakland, Daniel Coulombe, gave up three runs in 2 and 2/3 innings pitched.
Game Three Notes:
Player of the Game: Kyle Seager. He drove in four runs and showed once again why he is one of the more underrated players in baseball.
Lind’s home run was an absolute bomb. Watch the clip below, it’s insane how strong he is.
Wade LeBlanc has been such a saving grace for the Mariners. He’s allowed them to get rid of the underwhelming Wade Miley and send Taijuan Walker to AAA. He constantly gives you six innings per start.
More Notes:
Another series win! They’re eight games over .500, just two games back of the second wild card spot, and are 10-3 in the month of August.
I know the Angels aren’t good and that we just swept them, but I always get sketched out when the Mariners heads down to play them. It must be the rally monkey.
How good has the bullpen been of late? My goodness, they have been incredible since making Diaz the closer and acquiring Caminero. Tom Wilhelmsen and Drew Storen have pitched much better since coming to Seattle this season also.
Charlie Furbush is out for not only this season, but most likely all of 2017 as well after undergoing shoulder surgery on his rotator cuff. Best wishes to him in his recovery.
Next: M's Win Rubber Game in Oakland
Steve Cishek will be on a rehab assignment for the Everett Aquasox on Monday the 15th.
Here’s to more series wins and hopefully they can catch one of those top wild card teams!