The Mariners offense did not help themselves on Friday night in a prime opportunity to capture first place in the AL West. What began with Cliff Lee’s long-awaited Mariner debut, continued with an epic pitching duel, and ended with a disappointing offensive showing by the M’s, losing 2-0 in twelve innings.
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Lee was superb in his debut, pitching seven innings of scoreless baseball against a strong Texas lineup. In these seven scoreless innings, Cliff Lee allowed only three runs, walked nobody, and struck out a total of eight Texas batters. Through 98 pitches, Lee did not allow a single baserunner into scoring position.
The Mariners were given a great pitching performance and opportunities to score runs throughout the game. However, they were ineffective at the plate and essentially shut down by the Rangers’ Colby Lewis. Lewis was just as impressive as Cliff Lee, throwing nine scoreless innings of three hit ball with ten strikeouts and one walk.
After nine innings of shutout baseball by both pitching staffs, the Mariners had two great opportunities to win the game, but to no avail. The Mariners squandered both opportunities going a helpless 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position in the game. The prime chance for the M’s came in the bottom of the eleventh on a botched suicide-squeeze by Eric Byrnes. This mis-execution resulted in Ichiro being tagged out at home and the Mariner’s threat was wasted. All in all, it was not a pretty performance by the Mariner bats.
The Rangers managed two runs in the top of the twelfth inning, putting runners on second and third with nobody out, thanks to a Tuiasosopo error. Both runners later came into score, followed by a 1-2-3 bottom of the twelfth. Brandon League inherited the loss, dropping his record to 3-2.
The Mariners will get another shot at the Rangers in a day game on Saturday. Pitching probables are Felix Hernandez (2-1, 2.23) for the M’s and Matt Harrison (0-1, 5.48) for the Rangers. Game time is at 12:10 pm; lets hope for a happy Felix Day.
Reach Kyle Fosnes at nextseasonsports@gmail.com
