The M’s looked great after the top half of the first inning of Monday night’s game against the Cardinals, but in due time they would get beaten down 9-3. A lead-off homer from Ichiro (2), followed by a string of hitting to move Chone Figgins across the diamond helped the Mariners to an early 2-0 lead. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for the Cards to strike and never look back.
To Continue...
St. Louis ended the night with 9 total runs, 5 of which at the expense of the long ball. In fact, Ryan Ludwick alone with 4 RBI last night was enough to outscore the struggling M’s. The fifth inning proved to be their breakout, doubling their run total from 4 to 8 off of a throwing error by Jose Lopez to home plate, followed by a 2-run homer from 3B David Freese.
The biggest concern of Lopez’s error, however, was that it struck Albert Pujols on the side of the head as he approached home. Pujols was apparently okay after being helped off the field as he was able to finish the game.
LHP Luke French ended the night with only 4.0 IP, allowing 4 ER off of 6 H and walking 2. Ian Snell replaced French in long relief and didn’t do any better (2.0 IP, 4 ER, 3H), and is unavailable tonight leaving little options for Ryan Rowland-Smtih after he blows up tonight as well.
The Mariners’ offensive futility continues as they only managed 6 hits over nine innings, and compiling just 3 runs. The only good sign was that three out of the six hits went for extra bases, as Ichiro went yard in the 1st plus a double, on top of another double from Milton Bradley.
As mentioned, LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith (0-5, 6.62) takes the mound for the M’s and tries to earn his first win of the year. Hyphen will be opposite another struggling starter in Jeff Suppan (0-2, 7.84), who is making his first start for the Cardinals this season after being released from Milwaukee last week. First pitch is scheduled for 5:15pm local time.
Reach Jacob Kehle at nextseasonsports@gmail.com
