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.
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- 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
