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.