Mariners Series Recap (vs. NYY) - May 16th

Written by Jacob F. Garcia

NEW YORK -- When the M's take on the Yankees, there is always a buzz around the Mariners fan base  The excitement of taking on the perennial top dogs puts a whole 'nother factor of competition into play. Let's take a look back at the series that was!

GAME ONE - When one says a game is a nail-biter, it generally involves very few runs scored, strong pitching and rock solid defense. Well, except for the latter, game one was just that.

The first two innings weren't very exciting from an offensive standpoint, as both aces (Felix Hernandez and C.C. Sabathia) were putting up zeroes. 

• 1.68 Combined ERA by Felix Hernandez(5-2, 1.53) and Hisashi Iwakuma (5-1, 1.84) and in 18 starts this season.

It was in the third inning when the Mariners offense broke through on a Kyle Seager double that drove in Michael Saunders. They struck again in the top of the sixth when former Yankee Rau(uuuuuu)l Ibanez hit a 0-1 fastball from Sabathia over the RF fences to give the M's a 3-1 lead.

Credit: Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

It was the Yanks' turn in the bottom of the sixth, when the "scrap heap" began their comeback. After a single by Cano and a fielders choice for Curtis Granderson, Lyle Overbay rocketed a double into right field. Felix kept calm however, and limited the damage to just one run. 

• The Mariners are undefeated in their last 5 series vs. the Angels (won 3 of 4), Orioles (won 2 of 3), Blue Jays (won 2 of 3), Pirates (tied 1-1) and A’s (won 2 of 3).

A minor issue with Felix's back inhibited his ability to pitch anymore in the eyes of Manager Eric Wedge, who pulled Felix after 97 pitches.

He was replaced by the young, hard throwing Yoervis Medina. Medina promptly gave up a single on a 1-2 two-seam fastball to Chris Nelson. After a decent performance (wild pitch and a punch out), he was replaced by Charlie Furbush, who then walked Brett Gardner and gave up a double to Cano, which brought in 2 runs. 4-3, Yankees.

• Ken Griffey, Jr is the all-time active leader in M's grand slams with 12

It was a fairly quick game from that point on, as the dynamic duo of closer-to-be David Robertson and future hall of famer and greatest closer of all time, Mariano Rivera, locked it down. Rivera with a typical 1-2-3 top of the ninth. With the Yankees winning by a final score of 4-3, the M's fell to 18-21. 

FINAL Box -

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
SEA	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	0		3	10	2
NYY	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	0	x		4	7	1

FINAL M's SP Line -

Seattle	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Hernandez, F	6.0	5	1	1	2	8	0	1.53

GAME TWO -

Offense is a lovely thing, readers. It can be the difference between a good team and a great team. The M's were a great team on Wednesday.

It all started in the first when Kendrys Morales singled on a line drive to left field, scoring Dustin Ackley and moving Kyle Seager to second. Michael Morse then singled on a ground ball to right field. Kyle Seager scored, Kendrys Morales moves to 3rd. 

• The Yankees are 16-0 when scoring first this season, the only team this season yet to lose a game when scoring the game’s first run.

Michael Morse advances to second, on a throwing error by Ichiro. It was then on to former pinstriper Raul Ibanez who, with the bases loaded, launched a HR into center field. The second grand salami of the season! 

The Yankees would use some firepower of their own, as Vernon Wells hit his tenth dinger of the season to make it 7-1.

The M's wouldn't score again until...you guessed it, Raul Ibanez strode up to the plate and absolutely crushed a 91 MPH fastball over the left field fences. He picked up Michael Morse from second, and drove his RBI total up to six. One shy of his personal best.

• When the M's are leading after eight innings, they're 18-0.

The Yankees, not to be outdone (badly), responded with a Chris Stewart blast to make it 9-2. 

One player overlooked in this game was starting pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma. His sinker, splitter combo was working more than effectively and it showed. His dominance really showed and he proved he is the legitimate #2 in the M's rotation.

After a Michael Saunders walk and a Dustin Ackley single, Kyle Seager hit his fifth homerun of the season and it was a blast. After that, the rest of the game, once again, went by fairly quick.

The bartender, needing some game action, came in and was lights out. Throwing 10 pitches, seven for strikes and allowing a hit in the ninth. The Mariners won it by a final score of (brace yourselves) 12-2.

FINAL Box -

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
SEA	7	0	0	0	2	3	0	0	0		12	16	0
NYY	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0		2	8	1

FINAL M's SP Line -

Seattle	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Iwakuma(W, 5-1)	7.0	8	2	2	0	4	2	1.84

GAME THREE --
The M's coming into game three were tied for second place with the 2012 AL West champions Oakland Athletics. And they were ready to take over complete control as the A's had a day off.

We begin in the top of the second inning, when Dustin Ackley doubled on a line drive to right field and Kendrys Morales came around to score.

Not to be outdone, the pinstripers would strike back with a run of their own as the newest Yankee, David Adams, drove in a run with a double of his own, scoring Curtis Granderson.

• Mariano Rivera has converted all 16 save chances to start the season

In the top of the fourth, Brendan Ryan singled on a ground ball to SS and drove in Michael Morse, breaking the 1-1 tie.

• The Yankees’ Game 2 win at Cleveland on Monday saw their starting pitcher (LHP Vidal Nuno) earn his first career win, RHP Adam Warren earned his first career save, 2B Corban Joseph recorded his first career hit and C Austin Romine collected his first career RBI 

Another story line that we followed in this game was how well young Hector Noesi would fair in an emergency start vs. the Bronx Bombers.

He did just the opposite of what many (including myself) thought he would. He managed to get through 4.1 innings with only one (unearned) run given up.

• Jesus Montero recorded 5th multi-hit game 5/15 at NYY, first 2-hit game since 4/27

He did, however, leave quite the jam for reliever Oliver Perez. Runners on first and third, one out. But, Perez did what he's been doing exceedingly well, and struck out leadoff man Brett Gardner swinging and got Jayson Nix to pop a 1-2 sinker up to Dustin Ackley, ending the inning.

That wouldn't be it for the M's as Michael Morse would put his stamp on the game as he hit his 10th HR of the season and became the first Mariners' player to reach double digits in dingers.

To say it was a pretty hard situation for Lucas Luetge to come into would be a bit of an understatement, as he came in to replace Medina and face Robinson Cano right out of the bullpen...with runners on second and third with two outs.

• When trailing after eight innings, the Mariners are 0-19

He was close to escaping the jam when Cano hit the first pitch he saw out of the southpaw's hand to SS Brendan Ryan, who, 9 times out of 10 makes the play but, unfortunately that wasn't the situation and Kendrys Morales had to literally dive a foot up the line to keep the game from being tied.

Luetge was removed immediately and replaced by the hard throwing Carter Capps...who did what Lucas couldn't and got a one pitch out to escape with a one run lead.

It was closing time in the Bronx in the bottom of the ninth, as closer Tom Wilhelmsen came in to lock things down. And lock things down he did. After falling behind to catcher Austin Romine (3-1) he battled back to get him to ground out. Brett Gardner reached on a sharply hit ground ball past SS, he then stole second...and then third. Wilhelmsen struck out Jayson Nix and up came, you guessed it..Robinson Cano.

Cano worked himself into a 1-2 count and finally grounded out to shortstop Brendan Ryan who redeemed himself nicely and threw out Cano at first. he game was over and the M's took the win 3-2 and the series.

Oh and with the win, the Mariners stand alone in second place in the AL West.

FINAL Box -

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
SEA	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0		3	7	1
NYY	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	x		2	8	0

FINAL M's SP Line -

Seattle	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Noesi	4.1	3	1	0	1	4	0	2.63

That's about it for this post! I hope you have a great, baseball filled day.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION -- follow me on twitter at @JakeFG or follow the blog at @Mariners360. Thanks for reading.

Saturday Stats - April 27th

Written by Jacob F. Garcia

Something this blogging community doesn't see as much anymore is short posts that just cover random facts that you may not need to know, but are more trivial and get you to thinking, all while having a little bit of fun. That's why I came up with "Saturday Stats". Without any further adieu, I give you...your stats.

Major league stats -

• Justin Smoak has appeared in all 25 games this season (24 GS); leads MLB in games.
• The Mariners bullpen staff leads the Majors with 85 strikeouts (81.0 IP).

• Seager ranks 2nd in the Majors behind Mike Napoli (11).

• In addition to Seager’s current 15-game hitting streak, Dustin Ackley (7 games, .440/11 for 25) and Endy 

• Chavez (6 games, .360/9 for 25) also have active hitting streaks.The M's are tied for 2nd in the American League with 4 shutouts this season (4/1 at OAK, 4/8 vs. HOU, 4/18 vs. DET, 4/25 vs. LAA).

• Andino is 6-for-last-15 (.400) in his last 5 starts.

• When the M's are trailing after the 8th inning, they're 0-13. When leading after the 8th? 8-0. 

• Lefty reliever Oliver Perez has not allowed a run in 9 of his 10 appearances, and he holds a steady 0.90 ERA.

Minor league stats -

• Prospect Stefen Romero (AAA) is having no problem adjusting to higher level pitching, as he is batting .385 with two doubles and one HR.
• After starting the season off extraordinarily well, catching prospect Mike Zunino (AAA) has cooled off considerably and is now hitting a meager .230 with five HR and 26 RBI.
• Pitching prospect and former first round pick, Danny Hultzen (AAA) is living up to his lofty expectations thus far by pitching to the tune of a 2.78 ERA with a 3-1 W/L record.
• Shortstop prospect Anthony Phillips (A+) is leading all minor league affiliates with a batting average of .390 (for more on Phillips see "Far Out At -- Short?")
• Top pitching prospect Taijuan Walker (AA) is also off to a solid start, with a W/L record of 1-1 and an ERA of 1.55 over 29.0 IP
• Tyler Pike (A), who had an outstanding start to his professional career last year, is following up with a solid beginning to this year as well. With an ERA of 2.75, 1-2 W/L record and 22 K over 19.2 IP.

That's about it for this post! I hope you have a great, baseball filled day.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION -- follow me on twitter at @JakeFG or follow the blog at @Mariners360. Thanks for reading.

Who in the World is John Hicks? - April 17th

Written by Jacob F. Garcia

It's not often that a young catcher is well regarded as a defensive catcher with pop, often times a catching prospect will be more advanced in one-skill set and not the other. There's a reason why Mike Zunino was taken where he was.

And while, yes, Zunino is an outstanding young catcher...one guy who seems to have been forgotten about (for the most part) is John Hicks.

While most scouts will mention him after Zunino, most everyone outside of the organization have virtually forgotten him. And he's doing his best to make sure they don't make that mistake again.

Hicks, 23, was taken by the Angels in the 31st round of the 2008 MLB June Amateur Draft from Goochland HS (Goochland, VA) but declined to sign and pursued a college career at the University of Virginia. Then he was drafted in the fourth round by the M's in the 2011 draft.

His first season as a professional player was limited in games (just 38 games) but still impressed the front office brass as he would hit .309 (43 hits) with 2 HR, 26 RBI and an OBP of .331 in single A ball.

Because of those numbers he earned himself a promotion the next year to Advanced Class A High Desert . He actually did more than expected in his first full season. He played 121 games and hit .312 with 32 doubles, 15 homers and 79 RBI with a .351 on-base-percentage and a .472 slugging percentage.

Not only did the team see a nice boost in his numbers after playing a full season, his defense took a jump as well. Not to say he wasn't a solid catcher before, but he did have some room to improve and did so very well, catching 98 of the 121 games he played in.

Hicks' strong and accurate arm contributed to his success as a backstop, as his 53.8% of base runners caught-stealing against him was tops among full-season minor league catchers last season.

Not only does he throw out base runners at an elite rate, he also takes charge of a team and blocks pitches at an excellent pace. His longtime teammate (both at Virginia and in the M's organization) Danny Hultzen had this to say about Hicks: "...He’s really a leader. He takes charge of the entire field, and especially that relationship between the pitcher and the catcher." Hultzen goes on to praise Hicks for his ability to keep a pitcher in line and focused on the game.

It's easy to over-analyze a good season from a prospect or over-grade his tools, meaning that you can't really tell what a guy is able to do until he does it at the highest possible level. And he did just that during spring training with the big league club. Racking up 6 hits in 9 AB with 4 RBI and 7 total bases.

The goal for him this spring was to not only get valuable playing time against more advanced pitchers, but also for him to take in learning experiences with the likes of Jesus Montero and Kelly Shoppach.

And again, he exceeded his responsibilities by sponging up all the information he could take in, thus showing he's willing to learn from guys who have played at the ML level and have gone through the grind of being a catcher.

Looking forward, John Hicks has one of the most promising futures for a Mariners backstop. If his offense follows him to each level he plays (starting this year in AA), he will be even more highly regarded and may very well crack MLB's top-100 prospect list and might even make the M's roster by September of 2014.

If the M's are cautious with Hicks and let him play a majority of the season in AA, he should be able to handle AAA pitching by the end of 2013.

That's about it for this post! I hope you have a great, baseball filled day.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION -- follow me on twitter at @JakeFG or follow the blog at @Mariners360. Thanks for reading.

Mariners Series Recap (vs. Houston) - April 10th

Written by Jacob F. Garcia

SEATTLE -- The home opener in Seattle is always something special. The pomp and circumstance is as close to the playoffs as the M's have gotten in awhile. Let's divulge all the action that we saw during the series with the newly integrated Houston Astros!

GAME ONE --
Joe Saunders, who was on the bump, started the home opener in a much more bearable way than in his M's debut, a nice inning where he got out unscathed. His breaking pitches were sharp and his fastball is hitting its average speed.

• Hisashi Iwakuma has struck out 10 and not walked a batter in his first two starts this season (14.0 IP)

In the bottom of the first, the M's took an early lead after Saunders led off with a single. This was followed by a steal and a Gutierrez bunt which set the stage for Kendrys Morales, who drove the ball up the middle and just barely made it under the glove of former Mariner Ronny Cedeno, making it one-to-nothing.

• Kendrys Morales hit .462 (6x13) in the last series vs. the White Sox after opening the season 1-for-12

Nothing of exponential note took place in the top of the third inning -- except for this:

Source: SB Nation/Jon Shields

Which brought the entire stadium to it's feet with an ensuing standing ovation for Franklin "Death to Flying Things" Gutierrez.

It was then on to the bottom of the third inning when Kendrys Morales strode to the plate once again, and after he took four so-so pitches from Phillip Humber, he drove a ball to deep left field which brought in the speedy Michael Saunders.

Then again in the bottom of the 5th, M's Manager Eric Wedge showed off his more strategical side as he called for a sacrifice bunt from Guti and it worked to perfection, bringing in Dustin Ackley.

The real story was Joe Saunders and his nice bounce back  performance. He went 6 strong and really dominated the poor hitting Astros, not allowing any runs. He threw 91 pitches, 57 for strikes. He really displayed why he had been so dominant in his earlier years with the Halos.

The last few innings were pretty typical, 1-2-3 in most. In the top of the 9th, Tom Wilhelmsen came in to do his thing and lock the game down while getting the W. The first batter, slumping slugger Carlos Pena, grounded out to Justin Smoak. Then came Matt Dominguez who popped out to Brendan Ryan and finally, Jason Castro grounded to Smoak who flipped the ball on to Wilhelmsen, ending the game. With the final score being 3-0.

FINAL box --

HOU	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	7	1
SEA	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	x		3	5	0

FINAL M's SP line --

Seattle	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Saunders, J (W, 1-1)	6.1	6	0	0	1	5	0	3.48

GAME TWO --
To say this game was a trainwreck would be an understatement. To say this game was not only a bad outing by Maurer but most likely going to go down as one of his worse, would be a fair assessment.

• The Mariners are the only team in the Majors that have yet to have an off day

The first inning was most likely the one that broke young Maurer's back -- having given up six runs. His control lacked and his velocity was slightly down toward the end of his outing (which is normal after giving up six runs in one inning).

• 10 batters faced by RHP Stephen Pryor, all of which have been retired (3.1 IP)

I don't think it's fair to say Maurer isn't ready for the big leagues, he just isn't pitching how he was in spring training.

The Astros wouldn't quit at six though, they struck again in three more consecutive innings and then in the sixth. All of their runs came on hard hit doubles or line drive singles.

Then in the second, they flexed their muscles and hit two dingers in the inning which brought in three runs. J.D. Maritinez was an absolute menace to M's pitching as he drove in three and scored twice.

The Mariners struck back though in the seventh. Jason Bay hit his first HR as a Mariner, Raul Ibanez and Michael Morse hit back-to-back solo homers in the eighth.

And they managed a four-run inning in the ninth with Justin Smoak picking up two RBI but alas, the 'Stros claimed their second win of the season while the M's took home a record of 4-5. The final score, a competitive but still ugly, 16-9.

FINAL box --

HOU	6	3	2	2	0	1	0	1	1		16	22	1
SEA	0	0	0	0	2	0	1	2	4		9	10	0

FINAL M's SP line --

Seattle	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Maurer(L, 0-2)	0.2	7	6	6	1	2	0	16.20

GAME THREE --
The final was a game that wasn't exactly what most would call a "solid game". It managed to actually get worse as it progressed, even for two teams that are most likely not going to be in the playoff hunt come September.

In the first, Michael Saunders made an outstanding running catch but sprained his right shoulder after running into the wall on the first play of the game. They had the cart ready for him but he got up under his own power (thankfully).

The crowd looks on in fear

After the injury, with Bay taking over in right, Beavan cruised through the first and it was on to the bottom of the inning, where the M's remained relatively quiet. It wasn't until the second when things heated up...for the Astros.

• The 25 runs scored are the most in a single game in the history of Safeco Field (1,102 games since opening July 15, 1999)

They scored three runs on three hits, one being a shot by Rick Ankiel to CF and a sac-fly by J.D. Martinez. They struck again in the next inning as Pena ripped a single to RF which brought home C Jason Castro. Pena himself then scored after a Martinez double to deep RF. 

• Seattle has made only 3 errors in the first 9 games of the season.

Kelly Shoppach did his part to get the M's on the board in the bottom of the third as he hit his first homerun as a Mariner into the Astros bullpen. The next few innings were relatively quiet until the bottom of the fifth when after Dustin Ackley reached on a HBP, Kelly Shoppach once again stepped up and hit a deep drive to CF and brought in Dustin Ackley all the way from first. After it was reviewed and not ruled a HR, Shoppach remained on second and was stranded by Brendan Ryan and Jason Bay.

Again, no action for a bit until the bottom of the sixth when surging CF Franklin Gutierrez hit his third HR of the year to RF.

• ...Seattle and the A’s were the only teams in the Majors to play each of the first seven days of the season, but the A’s enjoyed an off day Monday

Then in the top of the seventh, the hot hitting Chris Carter launched one into LF, bringing himself and Castro in. Marwin Gonzales found himself getting into the action in the top of the eighth as he hit his second dinger of the year.

One bright spot of the entire game for the M's, was youngster Bobby LaFromboise. He shined in his first career outing, striking out all three batters he faced. It was on to the bottom of the ninth as the M's themselves went down 1-2-3 and lost by the final score of 8-3.

FINAL box --

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
HOU	0	3	2	0	0	0	2	1	0		8	15	0
SEA	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	0		3	6	1

FINAL M's SP line --

Seattle	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Beavan(L, 0-1)	5.2	10	5	5	1	4	1	8.44

That's about it for this post. I hope you have a great, baseball filled day!

JOIN THE CONVERSATION -- follow me on twitter at @JakeFG or follow the blog at @Mariners360. Thanks for reading.

(All stats/facts are courtesy of the Mariners public relations department)

Mariners Acquire RHP SP Aaron Harang - April 11th

Written by Jacob F. Garcia

SEATTLE -- The Mariners have been searching for a SP who can eat up innings and brings a veteran presence to the mound. Harang fills those shoes and then some. He'll most likely replace Blake Beavan in the rotation.

          Source: Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA Today Sports

He's been around the game for awhile (11 yrs) and has done well, holding a life-time record of 105-104. Harang has had some good years, winning 16 games two years in a row. However, in 2008, he led the league in losses. So, he will vary in success but over the last two years, he's been a venerable option.

From 2011 to 2012, he compiled a W/L record of 24-17 with an ERA of 3.62 and a WHIP of a 1.384 over 350.1 innings.

He had a 38.6% groundball rate in 179 2/3 innings for the Dodgers last year. His numbers really show that he's a nice #5 guy. To put him any higher would be a bit too much for him to handle.

Early in his career, he was playing against the M's a lot as a member of the Oakland Athletics. He played there for two years then went on to play in the NL with CIN for eight years, SD for one and LAD for one.

If you're worried about the club having to pay his salary, here's how it's going to go down, according to MLBTR: "Harang earns $7MM this year and has a $2MM buyout after the season, and it appears the Rockies will send money to the Mariners to cover some of that..". So at least the M's won't have to pay his entire salary.

He was acquired for Steve Hensley, a minor league RHP. In 2012, he pitched to the tune of a 4.84 ERA over 70.2 IP. He's not exactly a top prospect and it makes sense to see him go in the trade, as the M's are pitching rich in the prospect department.

Mariners Series Recap (vs. Chicago) - April 7th

Written by Jacob F. Garcia

CHICAGO -- The second series of the season and the last before the home opener was something of a doozy. The first game alone should have been an indicator of what was to come.

GAME ONE --

The game started with a bang when Franklin Gutierrez hit his 2nd HR of the season (both of which have been lead-off homers), and despite the temperature being around two degrees above freezing, offense was in the air as a total of 15 runs were scored on 22 hits.

• The first pitch of the game in Chicago was a brisk 34-degrees. Going back to 1988, this is tied for the coldest game-time temp for the M's.

In the top of the fifth, we saw the offense that both Manager Eric Wedge and General Manager Jack Zduriencik had been eulogizing. It all started with a Jason Bay double to LF. Dustin Ackley reached via a missed catch error by pitcher Jose Quintana. After that, Brendan Ryan hit a bleeder in the 5.5 hole, scoring Bay. After that, the wheels just fell off for Quintana and the ChiSox, as four more runs would come in.

Source: Charles Rex Arbogast/AP

• Coming into the game, the Mariners have not made an error in the first four games, handling 136 total chances flawlessly. The record was lost by Kyle Seager who committed an error in the bottom of the first.

However, the 'Sox answered right back as they would score four runs and tie the game up at five-a-piece. It wasn't easy to watch young Blake Beavan, the Texas native, struggle as much as he did in the inning. He allowed two HR on three hits in the inning.

Most of his trouble could be traced to his inability to execute his pitches properly. He did, nevertheless, admit that it was something of a learning experience with lessons to take from it -- "I just wasn't executing pitches with my offspeed, and my fastball obviously should have been a better weapon for me to use...I didn't utilize it enough when I needed it....I just need to learn from it". 

As the game progressed, everyone could tell where this game was heading: a drama-filled conflict. In the bottom of the 7th, Alex Rios grounded out to Brendan Ryan at SS which brought Alejandro De Aza across the plate, giving Chicago the lead.

• In spite of the frigid weather, the Mariners set single-game highs for hits (12), runs scored (8), doubles (4), triples (1) and extra base hits (6).

The real drama would come in extra frames. The Mariners got it started in the top of the 10th, as the hot hitting Guti hit a soft-single to 3B Jeff Keppinger then deflected to SS Alexi Rameierz. Michael Saunders laid down a perfect sac-bunt which advanced Gutierrez to 2B. Morales then promptly scorched a double into the RF, which brought in Guti. The M's weren't done though as Jesus Montero would single and Robert Andino, who was pinch running for Morales, scored.

It was on to the bottom of the 10th as Tom Wilhelmsen would struggle to locate his pitches and didn't receive much help from the home plate umpire. He faced the heart of the line-up as he had to face Konerko and big Adam Dunn. Jeff Keppinger flew out to give them one out. Wilhelmsen then walked Rios. After a deep, deep fly-out to RF by Dunn, Rios advanced on a defensive indifference and a wild pitch, putting him on third. After a walk and a single by De Aza, the White Sox were down by only one. After putting runners on first and second with an Alexi Ramirez walk, Wilhelmsen finally got the final out via strikeout against Tyler Flowers.

FINAL box --

Mariners	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	0	2		8	12	1
White Sox	0	0	1	4	0	1	0	0	1		7	10	1

Final M's SP line --

Seattle	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Beavan	5.0	6	5	5	0	2	2	9.00

GAME TWO --

The day after an extra innings win is never a pretty sight. That is a fact. But the M's did the best they could.

The first couple of innings were essentially nothing of note, except for Dustin Ackley reaching via an error and Raul Ibanez scoring.

What was of note, was Felix holding the 'Sox score-less through 4.0 IP. It was in the bottom of the 5th when Hector Gimenez drove in Conor Gillaspie by hitting a sac-fly to CF.

• In 2010 won the AL Cy Young Award, garnering 21 of 28 first place votes and joined Randy Johnson (1995) as the only Mariners to win the Cy Young.

The White Sox struck again in the bottom of the sixth as Alex Rios launched his second HR of the season off  of Felix, giving the White Sox a 3-1 lead.

• The White Sox have gone 22-13 vs. the American League West since the start of the 2012 season, including a 14-4 record at U.S. Cellular Field.

And once again in the bottom of the seventh, Alejandro De Aza flew out to Raul Ibanez, which brought in Conor Gillaspie, who reached on a soft single.

• In 2012, Felix was tied for the AL lead with 11 no-decisions, posting a 2.45 ERA (21 ER, 77.0 IP) in those starts.

The Mariners, however, wouldn't go down with out a fight. Michael Saunders crushed a two-run opposite-field homer off Matt Thornton to cut the lead down to 4-3 in the eighth, but the Mariners stranded two runners later that inning and finished the day off 0-for-7 with RISP.

In the top of the ninth, Addison Reed replaced Jesse Crain on the bump and completely shut the M's offense down, his first out came on a ground-out by the struggling Dustin Ackley and the last two coming on the strikeout. The final score: 3-2, giving the White Sox their 2nd win of the season.

FINAL box --

Mariners	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0		3	6	1
White Sox	0	0	0	0	1	2	1	0	x		4	6	1

Final SP line --

Seattle	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Hernandez, F(L, 1-1)	6.1	6	4	4	2	3	1	2.57

GAME THREE --

The finale of the three game series came on a chilly Sunday afternoon. Both teams were looking to take the series from one another.

Game three started with a bang. After Guti struck out, Jason Bay walked followed by a strikeout of Kendrys Morales, which brought up the en fugeo Michael Morse.

He did what has been expected of him, as he crushed his 5th HR of the season, giving the M's an early 2-0 lead.

• 'Kuma had a career record of 107-69 with a 3.25 ERA (557 ER, 1,541.0 IP) in 226 G/225 GS with Kintetsu (2001-04) and Rakuten (2005-2011) in the Japan League.

Hisashi Iwakuma was outstanding for a second straight start. He did struggle a bit in the first, allowing a double to Alexi Ramirez followed by a fly out by Alex Rios. Up next was Adam Dunn, who, as you may or may not know, has big power. And he showed it off as he launched one deep into right-center field stands. 

Following the rough bottom of the first, 'Kuma was absolutely locked in as he had six straight perfect innings.  He received some run support in the top of the sixth, as Kendrys Morales hit his first career HR as a Mariner. 

Source: Paul Beaty/AP

Things, however, would begin to go sour in the bottom half of the 7th, as Alex Rios would go deep with his third HR of the year and tie the game up at 3 all. 

• Every HR Alex Rios has on the year has come against M's pitching.

In the bottom of the ninth, Oliver Perez replaced Iwakuma, who tied his personal record with 8.0 IP in a single game. Perez did his best and kept the ChiSox at bay and sent the game into extra innings, making it the  second game of the series to go to extras. 

In the top of the tenth, Michael Saunders hit a hard line drive down the RF line and ended up with an easy double. But, as it seems to go lately, the M's were unable to bring Saunders home and put the ball in the White Sox court.

After some defensive re-arrangement and a pitching change (Lucas Luetge to Kameron Loe), the inning started pretty routinely, line-out to to left fielder Mike Morse. But then came Dayan "Tank" Viciedo, who hit a deep, deep drive to LF and effectively ended the game on a walk off dinger. This gave the White Sox their second win of the series by the final score of 4-3

FINAL box --

Mariners	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0		3	7	0
White Sox	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1		4	5	1

Final SP line --

Seattle	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Iwakuma	8.0	4	3	3	0	3	2	2.57

That's about it for this post. I hope you have a great, baseball filled day!

JOIN THE CONVERSATION -- follow me on twitter at @JakeFG or follow the blog at @Mariners360. Thanks for reading.
(All stats/facts are courtesy of the Mariners public relations department)