Rain Delay

M's hold off Rangers, win 10-9

Reminder: Rain Delay is moving here.

You'd think that scoring 6 runs in the first inning would be enough?

Mariners: 10  Rangers: 9 (Box Score)

• There really an extreme lack of pitching in last night's game (on both sides). Gil Meche, after being awarded a 6 spot by the M's offense came out to the mound and promptly walked the bases loaded in his half of the first inning. Enter Rangers OFer Lance Nix who proceeded to launch a Meche 0-2 fastball into the cheap seats. End of the First Inning: 6-4. From the look of things, the M's offense is going to have to produce a huge amount of runs      when ever Gil Meche takes the hill Maybe John Thomson isn't looking so bad now that I think about it.

• So Meche finished like this: 6IP 4H 5R 3BB 4SO. Oh, and he allowed 2 homeruns one being that Grand Tater to Nix. Mateo would come on in relief pitch a less than perfect inning. He to would allow 2 homeruns Nix would take credit for another tater. Fruto would come on in relief of Mateo and toss a scoreless inning.

• Sean Green would come in, blow the save yet pick up the win. 2 innings of work for Green who would allow 2 hits, 2 runs, strike out 2, and walk 2. Boy that's a lot of two's in that line of his.

• Joe Borchard, again starting in Center and playing the whole game would go 0-4. And this is what we've got to look forward to until Reed comes off the DL in 6-8 weeks. There has to be another answer than Borchard in center. There were times last night that Joe just looked over matched, and these were minor leaguers that Texas was throwing at them. I'm almost ready to see Willie Ballgame get the nod for the first 2 months of the season in Center Field.

• Roberto Petagine, this guy needs a roster spot. I'm pretty sure he's out of options so if the Mariners keep him around, they're going to have keep him on the 25 man making a case to stick around with the M's when they break camp.

• Corky Miller is making a play to be Johjima's back up. He came in and corked the game winning hit, and for a fat kid he's got some wheels. Well, he's not fat but as you know most catchers aren't fleet of foot. He's got some hustle and pop on his bat, I'd like to see him stick with the team. Let Rivera get mucho time behind the dish in Tacoma.

• Grover has been advocating aggressive base running. This is something that could run them right out of a lot of games. Yes Lopez got a SB, but Ransom also got caught by at least 2 miles.

Things are really getting down to the nitty gritty now. Camp is due to break here pretty soon. They've got today’s game against the Cubbies, and then it's off to Vegas to play the Dodgers, then to Portland to take on the Padres. Not to mention playing Tacomaas well before opening day. Not a lot of roster spots left, its crunch time now.

Up Next: The Cubbies. King Felix was the scheduled starter for today’s Spring Training tilt, but because of shin splints rookie Thomas Oldham will get the start instead.

M's give up 35 runs in 24 hours

Yet another game wrap I was debating on writing, but since it's slow at work, I might as well do something usefull with my time.

Reminder: Rain Delay is moving here.

Mariners: 4 Halo’s: 15 (Box Score)

• In the span of a mere 24 hours, the Mariners were tagged for 35 runs. That has to be a record somewhere, right? I understand it’s ST and that most of the guys that got work in yesterdays game are either fighting for a bull-pen spot or not to be sent to the abyss.

• Clint Nageotte got the start and only stayed around for 2 innings, which was enough to get the damage going. In 2 innings he allowed 4 hits, 3 runs (All Earned). Clint also recorded 1 SO and 1 BB.

• Oh, it doesn’t stop their folks. Cruceta came in relief and allowed 8 hits, 5 runs in his 2-inning stint. Jeff Harris would fair much better and neither would Scott Atchinson. He’d allow 5 hits, 5 runs (2 earned) in his 1 inning of relief work.

• Big Richie went 2-3 with a home run. Other M’s to get multiple hits were Renee Rivera and  Cabrera.

• Borchard again started in Center Field and went 1-4.

Told you it wasn’t much to write about.

Up Next: The Texas Rangers. Gil Meche gets the nod tonight, the game will be on FSN.

A's pin a 20 spot on M's..

Honestly I wasn't sure if I was actually going to spend the time writing up this game wrap. The fact the A's tagged 20..that's right, 20 runs on the M's was pretty depressing. But I'm a trooper and I'll move forward with this, even as crappy as it was.

Mariners: 8  A's: 20 (Box Score)

• Where do you start really? Well I guess, we could start with Jesse Foppert. He didn't even so much as record an out. As the A's put on 5 runs on 1 hit. I didn't help that Jesse lost total sight of the plate, walking 3 in his 'no' innings of work. Even if Rafael Chaves came out to the mount with the directions to the plate via Map Quest would Foppert been able to find it. I'm pretty sure he just pitched his way back to Tacoma.

• Joe Borchard, seems to be turning heads and turning things up a bit. With Jeremy Reed out for 6-8 weeks, the M's have a gap to fill. Joe seemed to try and make his case yesterday, going 2-4 at the plate, collecting 5 RBI's in the process. Further examination of the box score, shows that Borchard even picked up a stolen base. Pretty good for a guy who has 15 total SB's for his career.

• The M's paraded 7 pitchers to the mound. Julio Mateo, is the only one who didn't give up a run. This was his first appearance of spring. Please, someone give him a cookie.

• Jose Lopez and Ichiro were the only two Mariners to pick up more than one hit.

We can't ignore that Foppert is the story here.

After his last good outing, I was going to give him a bit of a break. Figuring he'd turn it around, he'd have to. Saying that Foppert has been inconsistent this spring is a giant understatement'. More than likely he's punched his ticket for Tacoma, he's lucky they don't send him to Everett. He's going to have to work double time, to get back in the good graces and back to the Major's that's for sure.

When asked what happened, Grover could only mutter:

"He could not find the plate," Hargrove said. "We took him out as early as we could."

Up Next: The LA Angels. Francisco Cruceta gets the start, we should also see: Clint Nageotte, Jeff Harris, Scott Atchison and Emiliano Fruto. Jeff Weaver takes the mound for the Halos.

Just another reminder: Rain Delay is moving here. Though I'm having trouble accessing the server at the moment.(Time: 9:15a pacific). Hopefully this will resolve itself soon.

Edit part Deux: Server is up and running again.

Splitsville Thursday

Two games for the Mariners yesterday, as the 'B' squad took on the Cubs and the 'A' team taking on the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Lets start with the win, which would be the AZ game.

Mariners: 4  D'Backs: 2 (Box Score)

• There's a couple stories for this one. Ichiro returns to the M's after his WBC Title run, and King Felix getting some face time on TV.

• Lets start with, The King. What can be said about Felix that hasn't been said already. He looked masterful in his 5 innings of work. It was a 76 pitch master piece, allowing 4 hits, 1 run and 8 strikeouts in 5 innings. 5 of those SO's were called 3rd strikes. Felix was dialed in last night, the Royal Curve was particularly nasty last night. Not a single D'Back knew what to do with that pitch. Most of them would watch helplessly as hit would hook in for a strike. The Royal Hook wasn't to be out done, as the Changeup he's been working on was equally as nasty. This was a pitch, that he'd throw at any point in the count, and get it over for a strike. Another amazing outing fit for a King.

• Ichiro returned to the M's lineup, high socks and all. In his return to the line up and the lead off spot. (I still say they give him a shot at 3rd in the order.)  He went a modest 3-3 with a RBI for the night. Honestly, it looks like Ichiro is ready to go.

• The Lineup that was on the field to start the game last night, is most likely the starting lineup you'll see come April 3rd against the LA Angels. It was also announced last night, that Grover picked is opening day starter: Jamie Moyer. Not that it's too much of a surprise for anyone. I'm just wondering if Moyer can keep up his undefeated record at home, where last here he was 10-0.

• Jose Lopez looked good going 2-3 with a triple.

• This just in: King Felix is a BEAST!

• Beltre collected an RBI, Lawton went 2-4 and Sexson had a double. Though with the way Ortiz you and I could've collected a hit. I'm so glad he's not a Brave anymore.

With Grover announcing that opening day belongs to Jamie Moyer that means the rotation is pretty much set for the start of the season. It looks like this:

1. Moyer
2. Pineiro
3. Washburn
4. Meche
5. The King

Up Next: The M's welcome the World Champs to Peoria today at Noon. Opening Day starter Jamie Moyer gets the start. We'll also get a look at, J.J. Putz, Eddie Guardado and George Sherrill. Former Mariner Freddy Garcia get the start for the ChiSox.

VS the Cubs under the fold.

M's fall to Royals 4-1

I didn't get to see the game on TV last night, then again I'm about 7 or so hours from the Emerald City, so the only time I'll get to see the M's on TV is on FSN. Unless I pony up for MLB.TV and I'm not sure I want to do that just yet.

Lets get on with the show,

Mariners: 1  Royals: 4 (Box Score)

• Gil Meche got the start going 3.1 innings, getting the loss. 5 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks and a strikeout. A fairly mediocre start for Meche, but that's highly expected isn't it?  Though this was the first time this Spring that he's been scored on.

• Cha Seung Baek didn't look too bad last night, he worked 1.2 innings getting 5 straight outs. If you remember Baek was left off the 40 Man roster and then re-signed with the M's.

• The newest M Joe Borchard, started, went 0-3 with a run scored.

• Vina, Youngbauer and JoMama were the only M's to get hits last night. Ibanez went hitless last night, breaking an 11-game hitting streak.

• Royals pitching looked good. Jeremy Affeldt allowed only 1 run and 1 hit in 6 innings of strong work for KC.

Meche says that some of his problems last night, stemmed from his side feeling "too good".

"I felt great," he said. "I never felt my side at all and that may have worked against me. When I got two strikes, instead of pitching to contact and maybe a quick out, I was throwing some nasty stuff."

As a result, the Royals fouled off a lot of pitches rather than hitting them fair and maybe making outs.

So, Meche, with a 75-pitch limit, knocked himself out of the game?

"Yeah," he said. "Pretty much."

Up Next: It's a Split Squad Thursday! One squad heads up to Mesa to take on the Cubs this afternoon. With Clint Nageotte getting the start. The other game, a night game on TV (FSN) we'll see the King take the mound that game gets started at 6p.

FYI: Just as a reminder Rain Delay will be moving here. I've already started posting over there, I'm still working on getting posts transferred which is turning out to be more of a pain than first realized. So both blogs will up and running for the time being. I'll keep ya posted.

Called in the 8th M's beat D'Backs

Rain in Arizona, who would've guessed? The game had one rain delay, and then was called in the 8th because of the down pour, thank god the M's were ahead when the game was called.

Mariners: 8  D'Backs: 5 (Box Score)

• Adrian Beltre made his first appearance of the spring for the M's, after spending most of the month with the Dominican team in the WBC. He was mashing homers for his home country and has brought that bat back to camp. Beltre jacks a shot out in his first at bat. Not to be out done, Big Richie hit a tater as well and lets not forget Raul Ibanez who also homered.

• Washburn got the start, he wasn't stellar, but he did get the job done.  He got the win, even though he gave up 2 HR's in 5 innings, 6 hits and struck out 2.

• All of the D'Backs runs were via the long ball.

• The Mariner bull-pen tossed shut out ball. JJ Putz got the save. He's yet to give up a run this spring in 4 innings of work.

• Imagine that, no errors for the M's. At first I figured that Cody Ransom didn't play, but after looking at the box score he did. He came in and played 3rd base but didn't get an official at-bat.

• Newly acquired Joe Borchard made his Mariner debut in Right Field coming in as a defensive replacement. He didn't get an at-bat though, he most likely would've had the game not have been called on account of rain.

Up Next: M's take on the Royals today. Meche will get the start, also due to appear for the M's: Emiliano Fruto, Cha Seung Baek, Jake Woods and George Sherrill.

M's loose to A's in Pineiro's return

Would like to make a quick note, congratulations to Ichiro and Team Japan on winning the World Baseball Classic, they jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first and never looked back.

Mariners: 1  Athletics: 7 (Box Score)

• This game would mark the return of Joel Pineiro to the M's from the World Baseball Classic. He looked sharp, he gave up 2 earned runs and 4 hits in 5 innings. He also struck out 2 and walked 2. So not bad for Pineiro who brought his good pitching back with him.

• Speaking of the WBC, Adrian Beltre should return to the M's lineup today. Hopefully he brought his WBC bat with him. He's slimmed up, monkeyed with his stance a bit and looks like he's ready to go. After watching his hot bat in the Classic I'm hoping he brings it back to camp and into the regular season.

• The M's managed only 5 hits. Vina knocks in the lone run.

• For those that don't know, LHP Matt Thorton was traded to the White Sox yesterday for OF Joe Bochard. Welcome Joe, and see ya later Thorton.

Grover was happy with Pineiro's return to the fold.

"I thought he threw the ball well today," said Mariners manager Mike Hargrove. "He had some rough luck that one inning. I think he threw the ball well, and we were ale to get his work in."

Joel did get tagged for a home run yesterday, Joel threw the wrong pitch with a cross up of signs with Catcher Kenji Johima.

"I threw the wrong pitch," he said. "[Johjima] called something else, and I threw the wrong pitch. It was just we had a couple different signs going on. I went up to him and said I messed up, it was my bad, but I threw the wrong pitch."

On The Menu: Today the M's take on the D'Backs. Jarrod Washburn takes his 1.00 ERA and fourth Spring start to the mound against the D'Backs.

Rain can't prevent loss to the Rockies

Even a 25 Minute Rain Delay can't help the M's.

Mariners: 5  Rockies: 8 (Box Score)

• Jesse Foppert was supposed to get the start with Moyer pitching in a Minor League game. Well plans change and Moyer took the hill against the Rockies. Moyer looked a bit shaky from the outset with allot of his stuff up in the strike zone, he allowed 3 runs on 5 hits in his 4 innings on the mound. Then came the rain, 25 minutes worth to be exact.

• When play resumed, we had a new pitcher, the guy that was supposed to get the start: Jesse Foppert. This guy has had consistency problems all spring and it showed here again. He got tagged with the loss, 3 Hits, 5 Runs, 3 walks and a K in 1 inning of work. At this point, either AA or AAA would be the best bet for Jesse.

• Cody Ransom got the start at short, I was pretty impressed with this bat, not so much with the glove. At the plate Ransom was 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles. In the field he was responsible for all 3 Mariner errors.

• All was not a downer as Francisco Cruceta came out of the pen in relief of Foppert. He pitched 3 hit-less innings, striking out 4 and walking 1. Eric O'Flaherty made his debut striking out the side in the 9th inning.

Hardgrove on Fopperts less than spectacular outing:

"(Jesse) has been inconsistent and that's a concern," Seattle manager Mike Hargrove said. "He's had four outings this spring. Half have been good and half bad, and it seems to alternate. We need to address the issue of inconsistency."

Captain Obvious strikes again! This 'issue' is best addressed by some time in the minors. Is it just me, or is Jesse not panning out like some have hoped? Lets hope we don't have another Gil Meche on our hands, hopefully he can fix what needs to be fixed at the minor league level.

Up Next: The Oakland A's. Joel Pinero gets his first start of the spring for the M's after spending most of the month with Puerto Rico and the World Baseball Classic.

Stomped like a narc at a biker ralley

Yesterday wasn't a pretty one for the M's, and likely a game King Felix would like to put behind him.  Though I'd rather have Felix work out the kinks, before the season begins. There's only two weeks until opening day.

Mariners: 3  Giants: 14

• Not a completely strong outing by the King. He pitched 4 innings, allowing 2 runs, 5 hits, 4 K's and 1 walk. This game would also the first time Felix has picked up a bat and stepped in the batters box since, Highshool. Needless to say Jason Schmidt stuck him out, the King would also end up muffing a grounder and collecting the error.

• Felix wasn't the only one having a bad day. Enter: Emiliano Fruto, he didn't get an out, allowed 5 runs on 5 hits, leaving the game with a healthy 22.60 ERA.

• Big Richie gets his second tater of the Spring, taking Jason Schmidt deep.

• Fernando Vina got the start at 2B and hitting Lead Off. Yeah, that surprises me as much as it does you, Vina in the lead off spot reeks of problems. Vina would end up going 0-3 at the top of the order. He'd also collect an error for his problems as well.

Even with the somewhat bad outing Felix said he felt pretty good.

"I feel great. I thought I pitched OK," said the big right-hander, who featured a diving sinker and got six of 12 outs on the ground, along with four strikeouts.

He wasn't happy that in his first plate appearance since High-school, he was thrown nasty sliders.

When Hernandez tried to hit, he admitted he hadn't batted for five years since high school in Venezuela. But Hernandez didn't want to use that as an excuse for flailing at the last two of three consecutive strikes. He held his hands two feet apart to show how far Schmidt's pitches broke, he said disgustedly, "two sliders."

On the Menu Today: It's a TV game today on FSN, a 12n start. Jesse Foppert gets the start against the Colorado Rockies.

Good outing by Meche, still loose 9-7

Mariners: 7  Padres: 9 (Box Score)

This loss snaps a two game 'winning streak'. Spring Training is going to start winding down now, so I have a feeling the level of competition will be ratchet up a few notches. There's still a couple of positions that to be worked out.

• Meche again looked strong, extending the M's starters scoreless inning streak (which is 15 innings btw). He tossed 3 shut out innings, walking 1 and striking out 3. Figures, you watch he's going to perform above what everyone has predicted, why? Because it's a FA year for Meche.

• Jurassic Carl hits his first tater of the spring, and apparently talks to himself.

• Kevin Appier, trying to run to first to cover on a grounder, pulls up lame. He pulled a calf muscle on the play, they're saying that it could be pretty serious.

• Former M Justin Leone, hits a Grandslam off his former team. How could you not see something like that coming?

• Lawton's is en fuego, still. He went 2-3 with 2 RBI's, and just think this hot streak could continue once the season starts, but sitting the first 10 games of the regular season could cool his jets just a bit.

• Fernando Vina, finally got to play. He came in as a late inning defensive replacement. He didn't record an official at-bat.

• M's optioned Outfielder T.J Bohn to AAA Tacoma.

This is supposedly what Jurassic Carl, said when talking to himself.

"I told myself to stop fiddling around," he said. "It's close (to the end of camp). I don't like spring training. But the last week is the most important one. You want to have the swing you want and the thought processes you want."

Fiddling around? I highly doubt that, I'm figuring "Fiddling" is a code word for, well I'm sure you can find another F word to replace "Fiddling". He also wants to teach America's youth how to play the game. Well, that's a post all it's own. I'll have to keep that one for later. I'm sure I could come up with some more witty banter here, but I'll let you fill in the blanks with Carl jokes for the time being.

Meche, like stated above had another improved outing after going down with an injury at the end of February, that held of his first spring start. Now, he's feeling good.

"I'm consistent with the five pitches I throw and doing what I want to do," Meche said.Meche's outing extended the Seattle starter's scoreless-inning streak to 15."It's fun for me right now, but I need to be careful not to overthrow," Meche said.

On The Menu: King Felix takes the mound against the Giants today. Am I the only bugged by the fact, he's starting today and not the TV game tomorrow?