Ms take series from Rays on Ichiro HR..... - Revolution42's Blog

Revolution42's Blog

Ms take series from Rays on Ichiro HR.....

Posted on April 23, 2009 at 10:10 PM.

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Ichiro Suzuki lined James Shields' second pitch of the game into right field for a home run and ace Felix Hernandez helped his injury riddled team with a seven-inning gem in the Seattle Mariner's 1-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday.
David Aardsma pitched a perfect eighth with two strikeouts. Brandon Morrow walked Pat Burrell with one out in the ninth and sent pinch-runner Gabe Kapler to second with a wild pitch. But Morrow got Ben Zobrist to pop out and Dioner Navarro to fly out for his fifth save in five chances, as the first-place Mariners finished their initial homestand of the season 5-4.
The win was the second 1-0 victory of the season for a surprising Mariners squad that leads the American League with a team ERA of 3.01. Seattle won only one 1-0 contest all last season, while losing 101 games.
Shields (2-2) was nearly as good as Hernandez after allowing Suzuki's 28th career home run leading off a game.
It was the 22nd time a leadoff homer was the deciding run in a game, and it was just the second time it happened for the Mariners. Greg Briley's shot provided the lone run June 19, 1992, against Minnesota.
Shields allowed four hits in 7 1-3 innings, with a walk and four strikeouts. It was the second time in four starts he allowed four hits or fewer, yet the Rays lost for the seventh time in nine games.
With his battered team coming off its ugliest loss of an otherwise surprising first month, Hernandez (3-0) did what aces are supposed to do. He allowed four hits and three walks while striking out seven in his first scoreless outing since June 6 at Boston � 23 starts ago.
The 23-year-old dubbed "King Felix" left to a fitting exit: thankful teammates swarmed him for hugs and high-fives in the dugout.
The Mariners survived with a fourth-stringer starting at first base and just one healthy position player on the bench: Ken Griffey Jr., who got the day off after a night game. That will be customary for the 39-year-old this season.
Back spasms forced Russell Branyan and Mike Sweeney out, and a strained hamstring sidelined Ronny Cedeno, who was hurt Wednesday night while rounding the bases on a home run by Jose Lopez. That forced backup catcher Jamie Burke into his first career start at the position. The 37-year-old booted a grounder by Zobrist in the second to create a first-and-third, one out jam. And when Hernandez twisted his left ankle covering the base, the Mariners seemed to be teetering.
But Hernandez shooed away manager Don Wakamatsu and a trainer from the mound. He then got Navarro to chase a full-count pitch low and away from a strikeout and Akinori Iwamura to fly out to end the threat.
Shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt threw away a two-out grounder in the third to put Carl Crawford at second base, Seattle's ninth error in five games. But Hernandez struck out 2008 AL rookie of the year Evan Longoria.
And after walking two with one out in the fourth, Hernandez got Navarro to fly out and Iwamura to ground out.
That was Tampa Bay's final true threat.
Next up for the Mariners.....the Angels of Ananheim in Anaheim....talk about injury riddled.....Darren Oliver joined the ranks of the DL last night, that makes I believe 7 for the Halos....6 being pitchers...this will be a great opportunity for the Ms to beat up on the Angels and put some distance between themselves....also the rest of the ALW is playing poorly, this is a good time for Seattle to "make a move", unfortunately we are injury stricken as well as I mentioned earlier.....maybe we can hang with some solid pitching and defense and have ourselves surprised by a AAA callup getting hot with the bat.....tomorrow evening most of these questions will be answered.