Game Summary 22: MARINERS 6, ROYALS 5

The M's got off to a great start keeping the game tied at 1-1, until they struck for 3 runs in the fifth. Figgins and Ichiro led the charge, Figgins going 2 for 4, with a walk, 2 RBIs, and his first triple of the season while Ichiro went 3 for 5, with a double and RBI. Yeah, that's right! The catalysts started catalysting. Only Gutierrez and Rob Johns went without hits, but Rob Johnson did pop the sac fly that managed to score Milton Bradley that regain the lead in the 8th after the Royals tied it up in the 6th with a 4 run inning.

Pitching wise Rowland-Smith was sailing until the 6th. A bloop single by Jason Kendall dropped into right to score a few, and then Maier tripled to bring in a few more. However, the bullpen(League, Lowe, Aardsma) tied it up by going 3 & 1/3 innings only giving up 1 hit and striking out a batter a piece. League now has 3 wins, Lowe has 4 holds, and Aardsma has 8 saves.

This is the Mariner's baseball that Wak set out to accomplish. Figgy and Ichi getting on base and scoring, the starter getting relatively deep into the game, and then League, Lowe and Aardsma shutting them out.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

Ichiro 3 hits brought him up to a total of 30 giving him 1 more than Gutierrez for the team lead, good for 3rd in the American League. He's on a good pace for yet another 200 hit season.

Get excited folks, Cliff Lee starts for the first time tonight!

Game 21 Summary: MARINERS 3, ROYALS 2

This one looked hopeless yet again as the Royals led with 2 runs going into the 8th. Sure Ian Snell pitched well and the Bullpen backed him up, but the hits were few and scattered.

Until the 8th inning, when Ichiro and Figgins managed to get on base. Then Gutierrez singled in the 1st run to blow the Kansas City shutout. He was followed by Lopez, who doubled off the Kansas reliever's glove to bring in the tying run. And then with the bases loaded, Milton Bradley drew a dramatic walk to bring in the lead run.

After that it was Mariner's Bullpen Light's Out Baseball. Mark Lowe pitched a perfect 8th to grab his 3rd hold. Then, David Aarsdma, who's last outing ended in his first blown save, bounced back to pickup #7. Great that the team was able to end their losing streak on the road.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

This goes to the Big Bad Bradley. He went 2 for 3 to raise that tiny batting average and then, did what he's great at: he used his patience at the plate to draw a mere walk to win. Under pressure, many guys would strike out, but Milton settled for the walk and brought it home.

Game 20 Summary: ROYALS 3, MARINERS 1

So, the King came into Kansas City and despite pitching yet another great game, the Mariners dropped their 4th in a row. Again offense was the issue as the Mariners were only able to get 6 hits this time out. In the 9th, the Mariners started to threaten, and Mike Sweeney came in to hit for Jack Wilson, managing to drive in the only run. Ichiro had a couple of hits as well, but nothing else came.

Felix went 7 innings, striking out 7, walking 3, and only giving up 2 earned runs, the other score coming on a throwing error made by Felix. The problem of course is that merely pitching well doesn't bring the W when the opposing team just shuts your offense out.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

The King may have lost, but he racked up his 18th consecutive quality start and continues to do well even when faced with no offense.

Finally, We get our #2!

Cliff Lee pitched for the Tacoma Rainiers in a rehab start and threw 6 shutout innings, walking none, scattering three hits, striking out 4, and allowing no runs. With his suspension lifted and the rehab start a success, Cliff Lee's first start of the year will happen at Safeco this Friday against Texas.

No official to word as to who will be bumped from the starting rotation.

Game 19 Summary: WHITE SOX 3, MARINERS 2

Once again, following a quality start from Doug Fister, Jason Vargas turned in another quality start of his own. However, it was a home run off the bullpen that took the final of the 3 game series in favor of the White Sox and resulted in the first sweep of the M's this season. Thus, the M's road record falls to 2 and 9, and puts the M's in third place in the AL West, half a game behind the Angels and half a game ahead of Texas in a very tight division.

Franklin Gutierrez homered for the second straight game, while Kotchman doubled and tripled. However, when the M's loaded the bases in the 9th, Ken Griffey Jr. struck out to end the game.

Milton Bradley and Jack Wilson were out of the lineup once again. Wakamatsu hopes both will be able to return tomorrow for the start of the series in Kansas City.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

Jason Vargas. When Cliff Lee returns it will be interesting to see if Vargas gets moved from the rotation when he's outpitched both Ian Snell and Ryan Rowland-Smith.

Game 18 Summary: WHITE SOX 5, MARINERS 4

Once again Doug Fister took the mound and took a game into the 8th inning and only gave up 2 runs. However, once again, the White Sox took the game from the M's in the 9th with a walk off 2-run homer off the bat of Alex Rios. It was the first blown save by David Aardsma after the M's closer managed to finish the first 6 games he was brought into.

Offensively, the Mariners managed only 4 hits, but one came in the form of Franklin Guttierrez's first home run. Also, Casey Kotchman picked up his 5th double and Jose Lopez, his second, but it just wouldn't be enough.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

Fister has had quality starts in all 4 games that he's pitched and making a strong case to stay in the rotation once Lee and Bedard come back.

Game 17 Summary: WHITE SOX 7, MARINERS 6

It started sloppy, with Ryan Rowland-Smith giving up several home runs, and the defense giving up several errors. One play brought Jack Wilson out of the game and will leave him on the sidelines for at least the rest of the Chicago series.

It looked bleak, going into the 7th inning with the M's down 5-2. Miraculously, the M's managed to load the bases and with 2 outs, Jose Lopez knocked his first career grand slam into the seats of former M's closer, JJ Putz.

Unfortunately, Chicago rallied back, tying it in the bottom of the 7th, and then winning it with a walk home run hit by Andruw Jones of Mark Lowe. While the offense did show up, the usually reliable pitching and defense did not carry their own this game. However, tomorrow is another day and another chance for Doug Fister to shine against former M's ace, Freddy Garcia

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

Jose Lopez doubled his rbis for the year with one swing and has started to make noise at the plate. Hopefully, its a start of another productive year with a bat for Lopez.

Game 16 Summary: MARINERS 4, ORIOLES 1

After a slow start on the road, the M's wrapped up a triumphant first homestand with yet another pitching gem from the King, Felix Hernandez. Hernandez went 9 innings without giving up any earned runs, striking out 6, scattering 9 hits, and not walking any batters. It was Hernandez's 18th consecutive quality start and the 4th game in a row this season where his start ended up as a Mariner win.

Early on in the game, Kevin Millwood was throwing strikes and getting out of innings quickly, but he lost control of the game in the 4th, when Jack Wilson doubled to deep right center to bring in 3 runs. The Mariners only managed 6 hits in the entire game, but with Hernandez on the mound, 4 runs tends to be more than enough to bring home the W.

Thus, the Mariners swept the Orioles in 3 games, and have won the last three 3 series after losing the first two to start the season. The are half a game back in the AL West as the head to Chicago where Ryan Rowland-Smith will take on Gavin Floyd to start a 3 game series. Let's hope the momentum keeps up as Cliff Lee should be back with us shortly.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

The King is the obvious choice as he hasn't had a bad start in nearly 20 outings. He leads the league in innings piched, tied for second in strikeouts, and is making his way towards another contending year for Cy Young.

Team Update

Well, despite have a slow offensive start and a wounded #2 starter, fine starting pitcher, great defense, and awakening lumber have kept the M's away from the cellar. In fact, the M's have now won the last 3 series in a row, with the potential to sweep Baltimore tonight, and have gone 6-2 in their first homestead after going 2-5 during their first road trip. Here's how the AL WEST looks:

Team W L .PCT GB
Oakland Athletics 9 6 .600 -
SEATTLE MARINERS 8 7 .533 1
Los Angeles Angels 8 7 .533 1
Texas Rangers 5 8 .385 3

Of course, quite a few Mariners in the top 10 ten of league leading categories:

Offense:

Chone Figgins: Walks: 12 (5th), Stolen Bases: 4 (T-6th)

Franklin Gutierrez: Hits: 24 (1st), Triples: 1 (T-6th), Batting Average: .421 (2nd), On Base Percentage: .460 (5th)

Casey kotchman: RBIS: 12 (T-4th)

Ichiro Suzuki: Runs: 10 (T-9th) Hits: 20 (T-4th), Triples: 1 (T-6th), Stolen Bases: 4 (T-6th)

Pitching, next edition!

Game 15 Summary: MARINERS 3, ORIOLES 1

It was announced today that Cliff Lee's suspension of 5 games has been lifted, so after making a rehab start for the Rainiers this Sunday, he may be back on the big league mound either April 30th or May 2nd, depending on how the M's fit him into the rotation. Great News eh? Unless your name is Jason Vargas.

After Fister threw a stellar start on Monday, Vargas turned in his own 7 inning masterpiece with 5 strike outs while only giving up 1 run, 3 hits, and a couple of walks. Not bad for a fill-in number 5 starter. It's definitely kept the team competitive while awaiting their biggest free agent signing of the off season, but it makes the decision of who to send down, or move to the pen, when Cliff Lee is ready to go. Fister and Vargas are the most likely candidates, though Fister has been pitched the best in the starting rotation and Vargas has a leg up on Snell.

Ichiro and Junior had a couple hits a piece while Guti, Wilson and Bradley brought the runs. Bradley was replaced after the 2nd inning by Eric Byrnes due to tightness in his left calf. He's being dealing with the pain a few games now and hopefully it isn't serious, as Bradley has started to come alive at the plate.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

Vargas. Oh how sweet it is to have pitching depth!

Game 14 Summary: MARINERS 8, ORIOLES 2

Doug Fister? Yea, that's right. Doug Fister took a no hitter into the 7th inning while only walking 1, giving up 3 hits and a run to extend his streak of impressive starts. While Cliff Lee and Erik Bedard wait in the wings to take rotation spots later in the season, Fister is making a strong case for himself not to be removed from the rotation once they return.

The Mariner offense didn't take the day off either, turning in a 7 run 3rd inning that was topped off with a Casey kotchman solo shot to deep rightfield. Jack Wilson has his most productive night of the season going 3 for 4 with a run and 2 doubles, while only Figgins and Johnson were the only Mariner starters with out hits.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

Fister, no question. I like the way this guy is working out in the absence of the bigger name pitchers and while I don't want to jinx it, I hope that we're witnessing the beginning of a breakout season for him.

Game 13 Summary: TIGERS 4, MARINERS 2

And then, the streak ended. In the 3rd inning, Miguel Cabrera popped a 3 run homer off starter Ian Snell, and it would prove to be all that Detroit needed to avoid being swept by the M's in the series. While Casey kotchman brought in the runs with an rbi single in the 2nd and a solo homer in the 5th, it just wasn't enough.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

Casey kotchman is slowly replacing the offensive void that Russell Branyan left behind in free agency. He leads the team with 2 homers and 9 rbis, and while everyone is impressed with his defensive capabilities, his continued offensive progression could be the surprise of the season.

Game 12 Summary: MARINERS 4, TIGERS 2

Following Felix's great performance, Ryan Rowland-Smith turned in a great outing of his own. Rowland-Smith held the Tiger 2 runs over 6 innings, and though the win ended up going to Brandon League, (His 2nd in relief), Rowland-Smith did what was necessary to extend the Mariner's longest winning streak this year to 4, and add another Series win for the season.

The offense was not as productive as the previous night, but there was still a good amount of aggressiveness. Ichiro went 3 for 3, scoring 2 runs, stealing 3rd base, and coming up a home run shy of hitting for the cycle. Figgins also picked up his 4th stolen base of the season while Milton Bradley swiped his 1st. Gutierrez had a couple of hits and rbis while Casey kotchman doubled in the go ahead run in the 7th.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

This was easily Ichiro's greatest offensive night thus far, and had he been able to park one instead of walking in his last at bat, it would have been the first cycle since Adrian Beltre reached the feat on September 1st, 2008.

Game 11 Summary: MARINERS 11, TIGERS 3

Long live the king! The Mariners opened their first of three series against Detroit with another quality start from ace Felix Hernandez. Unlike the previous two starts though, Hernandez was not denied his first win of the season as he went 6 and 2/3 innings with 9 strike outs and only 2 walks, 4 hits, and 2 earned runs.

Though Felix pitched well, this was a balanced attack with the Mariners turning in 6 run 5th inning. Gutierrez led the offense with 3 hits and 3 rbis, while Ichiro, Lopez and Junior turned in multi hit games as well. Out of the starting lineup, only Figgins and Jack Wilson came up hitless, but Figgins did walk 3 times. All in all, a great way to start this 3 game series.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

Of course, this was Felix's night. Good showing by the offense, Hernandez kept a usually potent Detroit offense in check.

Ten Games and Here's an Update

Of course, the biggest piece of news surrounds Mariners pitcher Cliff Lee and the timetable of his return. Lee has progressed at a good pace with his throws and hopes to throw a simulated game next week. He also had a two hour conference call with the league stating his case in order to appeal his suspension for throwing at Chris Snyder during spring training. While no one is sure on a specific return date, especially since the suspension hasn't been decided, it's sounding like early May may be the time to expect him pitching for the M's.

Of course, the current AL WEST STANDINGS:

TEAM W L PCT GB
Oakland A's 7 4 .636 -
Texas Rangers 5 4 .556 1
SEATTLE MARINERS 4 6 .400 2.5
Los Angeles Angels 3 7 .300 3.5

Mariners League Leaders:


Offense:

Milton Bradley: Home Runs: 2 (T-10th)

Chone Figgins: Stolen Bases: 2 (T-9th)

Franklin Gutierrez: Hits: 15 (2nd), Stolen Bases: 2 (T-9th), Batting Average: .385 (7th)


Pitching:


David Aardsma: Saves: 4 (2nd)

Doug Fister: ERA: 1.50 (7th), WHIP: 1.00 (T-10th), Opponent's Batting Average: .200 (10th)

Felix Hernandez: Innings Pitched: 13.2 (8th)

Game 10 Summary: MARINERS 4, ATHLETICS 2

And we now officially have the first series win of the season, to put the Mariners at a decent 4-6 before the first break in action.

Jason Vargas, also known as theat guy holding down Cliff Lee's spot in the rotation, turned in quality start by pitching through 6 innings and only giving up 2 runs on a Jake Fox homer. He was followed by Brandon League, who picked up his first hold, and David Aardsma, who recorded his fourth save.

Also coming together was the offense that the Mariners hoped for. Milton Bradley drove in Ichiro and Figgins on a single to tie, and then it was Gutierrez and Lopez singling in runs in the 6th to put the Mariners ahead with a small but big enough lead to finish the game.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

David Aardsma record save #4 and his been perfect in all of his save opportunities thus far, which have also finished each Mariner win this season. For him to be able to keep up this pace will be critical as the Mariners will more than likely have many small leads that will need the kind of finesse and protection that Aardsma has afforded.

Game 9 Summary: MARINERS 3, ATHLETICS 0

For a while it seemed as if the M's were going to have to rely on Felix end losing streak after losing streak, but it was Doug Fister that proved to be a dominant ace on the mound. He threw 8 shutout innings giving up only 3 hits with no walks and 4 strikeouts. Aardsma closed out the 9th to pick up his third save.

Another bright spot, was then Milton Bradley's bat, which knocked a 3 run homer to put the M's on the board in the 8th inning and secure the win for Fister. After going 1 for 22, it was nice to see Bradley get some hits and produce in the capacity the M's are hoping to see more of as the season progresses. Unfortunately, Guti went hitless which ended his hitting streak at 8 games to open the season.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

Fister pitched the greatest game he's ever pitched at the major league level. Through his first 2 starts, he has only allowed 2 earned runs over 14 innings which makes his 1.50 ERA 7th best in the American League. Plus, it gives us hope that once Lee and Bedard are back, there may be strength in the back of the rotation.

Game Summary 8: ATHLETICS 4, MARINERS 0

After a brutal 2-5 road trip to open the season, the Mariners were ready to play their first home games at Safeco. They were welcomed by a sold out crowd and some classic baseball tunes played by Death Cab For Cutie. The true kodak moment of the game was when Randy Johnson, the greatest Mariner pitcher of all time, threw out the first pitch to old long time battery mate, Dan Wilson. After winging a crisp strike over the plate, dead center, Wilson joined Johnson on the mound with other former team mates of Johnson; Edgar Martinez, Jay Buhner, and ken Griffey Jr.

Unfortunately, the game itself did not render any classic Mariner moments that will soon be remember. Gutierrez lengthened his hitting streak to 8 games by smacking his 3rd double, Lopez singled, and nobody else got a single hit in the Mariner's lineup.

Ryan Rowland-Smith started the game by throwing a no hitter threw the 5th inning, but then manage to walk 3 batters in a row in a streak of wildness that lasted the rest of his outing. Milton Bradley had a fielding that cost a run and the Mariners watched this first one at home get away.

Game 7 Summary: RANGERS 9, MARINERS 2

A little behind on this, but here we go...

After taking the first game from the Rangers, Scott Feldman dominated the Mariners for 7 innings while only giving up one earned run. The Mariners scattered 9 hits and Guti raised his average to .444 and Figgins had a few hits, but other than that, a stagnant offense did little to remain in contention with the Rangers slugfest.

Ian Snell was knocked out of the game after giving up 5 runs through innings, and then each following reliever (Colome, Texeira, and League) gave up at least on earned run in the innings that followed.

Another disappointment was Adam Moore committing two catcher interference errors behind the plate in back to back at bats to David Murphy by hitting the bat with his glove when trying to catch pitches. Moore is young and in the long scheme of things these errors won't matter, but it's a rarity to commit this kind of error even once a game.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

Gutierrez is really showing up at the plate. Unfortunately, the rest of the team has yet to catch on. At this point, Gutierrez has a hit in each of the first 7 games.

Game 6 Summary: MARINERS 4, RANGERS 3

Once again the king came to town, and a losing streak was snapped. Felix Hernandez set a new team record by throwing his 15th straight quality start while pitching 7 innings, striking out 5 with 3 earned runs and 1 walk. Mark Lowe picked up the win by pitching the 8th, leaving Felix with another no decision. Aardsma pitched his second perfect 9th inning of the season and picked up his second save.

For most of the game, the offense was stagnant and rather nerve wracking to watch. The Mariners had 12 total hits for the night, but until the 9th inning, only 1 scored. Then Ichiro singled in a run, followed Junior singling in the tying run as a pinch hitter, and then Franklin Gutierrez singling in the go ahead that would be enough. Only Ichiro and Guti had multiple hits, as Franklin has now hit in all 6 games played this year so far.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

This would be a tie between Hernandez and Gutierrez. Hernandez, once again the losing streak stopper, has shown that he only intends to continue where he left off last season. Gutierrez went 3-5 with the game winning hit, but the biggest story of the game was him robbing Elvis Andrus of a game tying homer in the bottom of the 9th.

Game 5 Summary: RANGERS 6, MARINERS 2

So, the first game in Arlington saw another game with an anemic M's offense and pitching that couldn't hold it together. After spending the last few years in Japan, Colby Lewis first official game in the majors saw him hold the M's to 1 run in 7 innings. Meanwhile, Jason Vargas gave up a run per inning (5 in 5), and Ichiro was the only Mariner to have more than 1 hit.

The only big topic of discussion for the M's was Milton Bradley flipping of fans in the outfield. Probably frustrated with the 4 game losing streak, his lack of hits, and douchebags cheering for former teams of his.

Game 4 Summary: ATHLETICS 6, MARINERS 2

It's official: The Mariners have 3 game losing streak. Once again the bats failed to make a difference as Brett Anderson and the A's relievers were able to scatter 7 hits over 9 innings and not allow any Mariners' runs until the 9th, when the A's were sitting on a 6-0 lead. Doug Fister only lasted 4 innings and gave up 2 runs, 6 hits and 3 walks. He was followed by Jesus Colome and Kaneoka Texeira, who each gave up a couple runs a piece.

Gutierrez got his second double of the season and scored one of the two runs. Figgins had a couple of hits as well. Matt Tuiasosopo got his first regular season start, at First, and he went 2 for 4 with an rbi. Otherwise, it was a relatively quiet not.

Well, it's onto Texas tonight, with Jason Vargas making his debut of the season.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

Give this to Tuiasosopo, who had a productive day and strengthened his case as a capable reserve and occassional starer.


AL WEST Standings W L .Pct GB
Oakland Athletics 3 1 .750 -
Texas Rangers 1 2 .333 1.5
Los Angeles Angels 1 3 .250 2
SEATTLE MARINERS 1 3 .250 2

Mariners League Leaders:

Offense:

Milton Bradley: Walks: 4 (T-3rd)

Chone Figgins: Stolen Bases: 2 (T-1st)

Franklin Gutierrez: Runs: 3 (T-9th), Hits: 6 (T-5th), Doubles: 2 (T-3rd), Stolen Bases: 1 (T-8th) Batting Average: .429 (9th), On base Percentage: .500 (T-8th)

Casey Kotchman: Rbis: 4 (9th)

Jose Lopez: Stolen Bases: 1 (T-8th)

Ichiro Suzuki: Walks: 3 (T-9th), Stolen Bases: 1 (T-8th)

Pitching:

N/A

Game 3 Summary: ATHLETICS 6, MARINERS 5

It's interesting when the bats show some life and yet, its just a little short of a win. Milton Bradley got his first hit and homer as Mariner, Franklin Gutierrez stole a base and got a few hits to raise his average to a team leading .455, Jose Lopez went 3-4 with a stolen base himself, and Ichiro managed to get a hit to start this season with a 3 game hitting streak. The only problem is that the bullpen lost a lead with Brandon League giving up the tying run and Mark Lowe giving up a game winning rbi double to Kurt Suzuki in the bottom of the 9th.

If the issue is overuse of the bullpen, Jack Z and Wakamatsu are attempting to remedy this by bring Jesus Colome for the minors and designating Ryan Langerhans for assignment. While it would be helpful to have an extra bat off the bench, I never really saw the point in carrying 5 outfielders, especially when 4 of them have played 100+ game seasons. If its hard enough to get Byrnes regular atbats, why keep Langerhans in the mix?

So, folks, todays game will be the final of 4 against the A's and hopefully we can pull this off in order to tie the series. I have faith in the offense finding its stride and in the bullpen getting it together. Also, it's early.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

I like that in addition to getting 3 hits, Lopez is actually running on the basepaths. Gutierrez, Ichiro, and Figgins also have stolen bases thus far, but it excites me that people like Jose Lopez and Milton Bradley may also be used in the running game. Plus, Lopez went without making any errors at 3rd.

Game 2 Summary: ATHLETICS 2, MARINERS 1

Well M's fans, the M's lost the first of what may once again be a lot of 1-run games. Unfortunately, the bats never came alive for the M's due to a dominant outing from Dallas Braden. Braden struck out 10 through 7 innings while giving up only 4 hits and walking 1. Of course, when the A's manage to get a quality start out of their starter, they have a bullpen that can be hard to break through. The only offensive bright spot was Franklin Gutierrez, who went 2 for 3 with a double, a walk, and scored on a wild pitch from Braden.

Now, on the pitching side of things, there was something more to write home about. Ian Snell managed to fit right in where Jarrod Washburn was a year ago, as Snell went 6 innings while only allowing 3 hits, a couple walks, and 1 run. After a very unremarkable spring, Snell really stepped it up and can hopefully keep his momentum, because the lineup we have now will not always be as silent as it was last night. Mark Lowe and Shawn Kelley each pitched a scoreless inning, and ultimately, Kaneoka Texeira took the loss when he gave up a game winning single to Mark Ellis. One thing to remember is that in a battle of bullpens, most of the others we face this year are not as dominant as the A's.

Fielding wise, Jose Lopez picked up his first error at third. Sadly, it won't be his last, but hopefully it doesn't start a pattern. There was brilliant catch by Eric Byrnes in left field that ended with his trademark of smashing into the wall while managing to keep the ball.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: For the M's, it was easily Ian Snell's night. When your starter only gives up 1 run, its up to the offense to pickup the slack and 1 more run before extra innings would have been enough. I'm hoping that Snell continues to work on what he did last night because it will be sweet if he can pitch this well, especially while Lee is unavailable.

Game 1 Summary: MARINERS 5, ATHLETICS 3

Without further ado, the 2010 season started off with a rather paradoxical offensive attack from the M's. At the plate, the Mariners waited out the good pitches, walked 8 times, and managed to get A's starter Ben Sheets out of the game before the 6th inning by forcing him to throw 94 pitches that early. On the basepaths though, Figgins was running, Ichiro was running, and even Bradley ran. Though, the running escapades were not all successful, (Bradley and Ichiro were each caught stealing once), they caused so much anixtey for Oakland, that Figgins stole second twice only to get all the way to third on a throwing error from A's catcher Kurt Suzuki and catching error from shortstop Cliff Pennington. Whith the score tied in the ninth, Figgins beat a throw to first in order to setup Casey Kotchman for a game winning 2 run single. Another neat offensive note: The Mariner's first homer was clocked by Rob Johnson in the 3rd. He only hit 2 all of last season.

Pitching wise, the night was as magical. King Felix almost made it 7 full innings, but was yanked 1 out short of that mark when he walked 2 batters consecutively, his 5th & 6th walks of the night. He did strike out 4 and pitch scoreless ball through the first 5 innings. Also, some of the control issues can be contributed to it being his first outing of the year and the fact that the umpire Tschida wasn't calling strikes any lower than 2 inches above the batters' knees. This led to a combined 15 walks betweeen both clubs. Luckily, Brandon League threw a scoreless 8th inning to pickup the win and Aardsma put the worries of his disastrous spring training behind by throwing a perfect 9th with 2 ks for his first save of the year.

Fielding wise, the duo of Figgins and Wilson completed a double play, Figgins managed to set up another one when the A's' Daric Barton laid down in the basepath, and Lopez showed flashes of Beltre when he tagged first band rocketed one over to Kotchman for another, and then when he went to Figgins at second. Wilson did give up a rather costly error, but the M's came away a lot better than the A's, who committed a total of 4.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: I'm gonna go with Casey Kotchman. A lot of analysts have been throwing up their arms asking, "who will bring in the runs?" Kotchman answered this by driving in 4 runs. While he may not have clubbed them out of the park, Kotchman has the patience at the plate to draw hitter's pitches out of the pitchers. Of course, Chone Figgins comes in a close second as he managed to score 2 runs without getting a single hit and make amazing defensive plays.