MARINERS: Home opening series preview

Sorry for the serious lack of posts the last couple of days, me and Matthew had some mid-term finals this week and couldn’t get around to writing about the Texas Rangers series. There wasn’t much to talk about, as the M’s lost every game, only averaged 3 runs over the series, and blew decent pitching performances from Erik Bedard, Michael Pineda, and Felix.

The 2-4 Mariners now come back to Seattle for the home opener vs. the Cleveland Indians. You knew the Mariners would have to honor Dave Niehaus somehow during the pregame festivities, so Garfield High alum Macklemoore will be performing his Dave Niehaus tribute song, “My oh My”, before the game.

Here’s the starting pitching matchups:

To Continue...

Game 1: MARINERS: Jason Vargas(0-0, 1.35 ERA, 6 SO). Vargas performed well in the second game of the season vs. Oakland, throwing 6 2/3 innings and only

CLEVELAND: RHP Carlos Carrasco (0-1, 9.45 ERA, 2 SO). He blew up in his first start of the season, giving up 7 runs in 6 2/3 innings. And he was on my fantasy team (since dropped), so, I hope he blows up again.

---

Game 2: SEATTLE: RHP Doug Fister (0-1, 3.18 ERA, 2 SO) is going to start for the Mariners. He gave up 8 hits and two earned runs in 5 2/3 innings during a 7-1 setback at Oakland on Sunday. The righty pitches well at Safeco, where his career ERA is 3.64 vs. 4.86 on the road.

CLEVELAND: RHP Justin Masterson (1-0, 1.29 ERA, 0 SO). A good outing by Masterson in his first start of the season vs. Chicago, throwing 7 solid innings and only giving up 1 run.

---

Game 3: SEATTLE: Erik Bedard (0-1, 5.40 ERA, 3 SO). If you want to pick the worst oppeonent and venue for your first start in 20 months, it would be the Texas Rangers at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington (props for the totally original name). So, facing the deepest lineup in the majors, Bedard pitched 5 innings while giving up 3 runs.

CLEVELAND: Josh Tomlin (1-0, 1.29 ERA, 3 SO). Tomlin gave up 1 run in 7 innings vs. The Boston Red Sox last Tuesday.

---

Mariners Keys to the series:

1) Don’t get frazzled by the home opener hysteria. This especially goes for starting pitcher Jason Vargas, who can’t get behind with how unproductive the Mariners offense is.

2) Make sure the starting pitchers go at least 6 innings. The bullpen has already imploded two times this season, and will again if guys like Erik Bedard and Doug Fister can’t stretch their innings.

3) The Red Hydro can’t win. Why you ask? At the last second, that evil red hydro ALWAYS steals the win from the unsuspecting yellow hydro while riding the back of an Orca Whale. If it wins, the Mariners lose.

Check it.

Reach Nathan Parsons at nathanparsons98@yahoo.com Read more

MARINERS: What's happening this week

(Note: All Mariners games televised on ROOT Sports and on radio through 710 ESPN Seattle.)

Monday: Mariners at Texas Rangers starting at 5:05 on PM. Erik Bedard should starting for the M's.

Tuesday: Mariners at Texas Rangers starting at 5:05 PM. Highly touted prospect Michael Pineda is the probable starter.

To Continue...

Wednesday: Mariners at Texas Rangers starting at 5:05 PM. Happy Felix day.

Thursday: Nothing.

Friday: Mariners vs. Cleveland Indians at 7:10 PM. Mariners home opener! Jason Vargas should be pitching.

Saturday: 1) Sounders vs. Chicago Fire at Quest field taking place at 1:00 PM. Broadcast on KONG.

2) Mariners vs. Cleveland Indians at 6:10 PM. Doug Fister the probable pitcher.

Sunday: Mariners vs. Cleveland Indians at 1:10 PM. Trusting Erik Bedard isn't hurt at this point, he'll be the starter.

Hunker down, because there's a lot of baseball left... Reach Nathan Parsons at nathanparsons98@yahoo.com Read more

MARINERS: M's take two of three in Oakland

The great thing about having no expectations for this season is when the Mariners actually perform well, it feels even sweeter. The M’s did well to an extent, winning 2 out of 3 games vs. the Oakland Athletics.

Game 1: Mariners beat A’s, 6-2

The good:

- Felix Hernandez started his 2011 Cy Young campaign by hurling a complete game using only 108 pitches. So basically, Felix was just being Felix.

- Chone Figgins hits a solo home run in the 6th inning, after only sending a ball deep one time last year. Figgins has repeatedly said that he is going to be more aggressive with his swing this year, and showed it here.

To Continue...

- Ichiro had two hits, two stolen bases, and one RBI.

- The Mariners hitters displayed patience at the plate, forcing a lot of 3-2 counts, and eventually forcing A’s starter Trevor Cahill out of the game in the 5th inning, already at 105 pitches. This proved to be the determining factor in the game, as the A’s bullpen had a meltdown in the 6th and 7th innings, giving up 5 runs.

The bad (there wasn’t a lot):

- 4 strikeouts by Ryan Langerhans. Not a big deal, considering that once Franklin Gutiérrez recovers from his stomach ailments, Langerhans will be sent back to the bench.

Game 2: Mariners beat A’s, 5-2.

The good:

- Ichiro breaks Edgar Martinez’s franchise record of 2248 hits, with an infield single no less. Actually, the hit turned out to be the winning play for the Mariners, as it drove in Jack Wilson to put the Mariners up 3-2.

- Jason Vargas pitched very well, going 6 2/3 innings, fanning 6 A’s, and only giving up one run. I think with all the hype around Michael Pineda and the comeback of Erik Bedard, Mariners fans have forgotten about the consistent Vargas.

- Brandon League gets the save only using 13 pitches, 10 of them for strikes. I’ve ratted on League for the past month insisting he’ll blow multiple saves before David Aardsma comes back from injury, but he proved me wrong… at least for this night.

The bad:

- Chris Ray, who some people felt should have been named the closer instead of Aardsma, almost cost the Mariners the win in the bottom of the 8th. With one out and men on 2nd and 3rd base, he allowed Josh Willingham to hit a single that drove in Coco Crisp. Luckily, Ray got Hideki Matsui and Kurt Suzuki to ground out to end the inning. Hopefully, this performance is not an indicator of what’s to come from Ray…

Game 3: A’s beat Mariners, 7-1

The good:

- Doug Fister pitching 5 ½ innings, only giving up 2 earned runs. This is the kind of performance you can expect from Fister, but you would like to see him go a full 6 innings considering how weak the M’s bullpen is.

- Lighting throw by Ichiro to catch Hideki Matsui trying to tag up from second. Come on Hideki. We all know who the best Japanese man on the field is.

The bad:

- The Mariners were behind 3-1, and still had a chance to come back if Josh Lueke could hold down the fort in the 7th inning. He didn’t. Lueke proceeded to give up 4 runs by giving up a double and a few singles, walking two guys with the bases loaded, and allowing a sac fly.

- An Ichiro and Chone Figgins choke in the 7th inning. Down 3-1, with Ryan Langerhans and Brendan Ryan on 3rd and 2nd, Ichiro hit a weak grounder to the pitcher and Figgins struck out. To make matters worse, this was the last real chance the Mariners had to come back, as Lueke gave up those 4 runs in the latter half of the 7th.

- 6 hits by the Mariners. PLEASE OH PLEASE don’t revert back to 2010!

So overall, not a bad opening series by the M’s. Good to see Felix didn’t lose anything during the offseason, and it’s also encouraging to see Justin Smoak keep his 13-game hitting streak alive (dating back to last season).

Seattle	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Suzuki, I, RF	12	2	5	0	2	0	7	.417
Figgins, 3B	13	2	3	0	0	5	10	.231
Bradley, LF	13	1	3	0	1	2	4	.231
Cust, DH	10	1	2	0	3	3	4	.200
Smoak, 1B	9	1	3	0	4	2	2	.333
Olivo, C	9	2	3	0	1	5	3	.333
Langerhans, CF	9	1	2	1	0	5	5	.222
Ryan, Br, SS	9	2	1	0	3	0	5	.111
Wilson, Ja, 2B	9	1	3	0	0	0	3	.333

Reach Nathan Parsons at nathanparsons98@yahoo.com Read more

SOUNDERS FC: Sounders: 2 Earthquakes: 2

The Sounders earned a draw against San Jose Saturday night. The match featured a slightly different lineup for the Sounders with Fredy Montero missing the match.

Head Coach Sigi Schmid started Mauro Rosales up front with O’brian White. Rosales filled the roll very nicely. He was active and created many chances in the early going for the Sounders, none bigger than in the 17th minute. Rosales split two defenders inside the eighteen and sent a low drive back across the box that found the foot of Brad Evans for the goal.

To Continue...Finally, the Sounders had jumped on top of an opponent early. However, the lead wouldn’t last long. In the 32nd minute, Simon Dawkins hit a low-ball far post that leveled the score. The goal for Dawkins broke a streak of 12 straight goals scored by Wondolowski in regular season games.

Just before half, Zakuani took the ball up the left side and after a couple of nice scissor moves (lollipops as Sounders broadcaster Arlo White called them) he sent a looping ball into the box. The ball found the head of O’brian White who nailed it home.

Again, I found myself saying, finally! The Sounders had found ways to put the ball in the net. They took the 2-1 lead into the half.

Alvaro Fernandez replaced Erik Friberg to start the second half. For San Jose, Khari Stephenson entered the match. He made his presence known just as the half got underway.

In the 52nd minute Stephenson hit a rocket shot from about 35 yards that again tied the score.

Although both teams had solid chances in the remainder of the match, the score remained 2-2. With the draw, the Sounders picked up one point, giving them two points in four matches.

Generally, earning a point on the road is considered a success, but in this case it doesn’t feel that way. It has been the Sounders lack of scoring that has failed them in the early going, but tonight you figured two goals would have been enough to come away with three points. Unfortunately, the Earthquakes capitalized on their opportunities as well.

The Sounders are in desperate need of a win and three points. Their next opportunity will come next Saturday against the Chicago Fire.

Reach Ryan Kinney at rkinney20@gmail.com Read more

SOUNDERS FC: Sounders at Earthquakes match preview

Tomorrow night the Sounders (0-2-1) will take on the San Jose Earthquakes (1-1-0) at 7:30 p.m. Seattle is looking to rebound from a tough start to the season by earning their first win. For San Jose, they are looking to continue the style of play that led them to a 2-0 win over FC Dallas last weekend.

It appears the Sounders will be without forward Fredy Montero for the match as he recovers from wrist surgery.

“..In the surgery they actually found an old break in there, as well as the new one. It was a little more than they had expected, so based on that they're thinking maybe not this weekend,” Head Coach Sigi Schmid said.

To Continue...Another scratch for tomorrow will be forward Mike Fucito who hurt his ankle in training.

So the question is, who will replace Montero if he is not available for tomorrows match?

While I personally believe Sigi will give the nod to Nate Jaqua, the coaching staff is exploring all their options.

“We've got Rosales who can play in that position. We've got Zakuani who can play there. Estrada has done well for us in games recently, so he’s an option,” Schmid said.

While it is likely the Sounders will be without one of their main goal scorers, San Jose is hoping to lean on the hot foot of theirs. After winning the golden boot award last year with 18 goals, Chris Wondolowski is already off to a hot start this season. He scored twice last weekend in the Quakes 2-0 victory. The Seattle defense will definitely have their hands full staying with Wondolowski.

Another important key for the Sounders will be shutting down Bobby Convey. Convey has not scored as of late, but he is fast on the outside and still can be very dangerous. Luckily, it looks like James Riley is fully recovered from the concussion that forced him to miss the match against Houston. He will be a key defender in stopping Convey.

The season is still young and there should be no reason for panic just yet. While the Sounders have not been scoring, they have out-shot their opponents 47-33. It will only be a matter of time before these shots/opportunities are converted into goals, leading to wins.

Lets hope the trend starts this weekend! The match will be broadcast tomorrow night on King 5.

Reach Ryan Kinney at rkinney20@gmail.com Read more