Felix Rusty in Return, M’s Drop Series Opener
The Headline: Felix Hernandez returned to the mound, but rustiness and a lack of runs ruins the party for the Seattle Mariners.
Seattle Mariners 4, San Diego Padres 5
When: 10:10 ET, Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Where: Safeco Field, Seattle
Temperature: 61
Umpires: Home — Jerry Meals, 1B — Gary Darling, 2B — Paul Emmel, 3B — Scott Barry
Attendance: 13,048
Love ‘em
1. King Felix Returns…
After tweaking his back in his last start (June 1st), Felix Hernandez was skipped in the rotation and pushed back to tonight.
With the way the season has gone, Seattle’s lucky Felix only missed one start. They would definitely be hurting if their ace hit the shelf with a prolonged injury.
It was nice to see Hernandez take the mound once again tonight.
2. Saunders Keeps Rolling
Michael Saunders has been enjoying an explosive June in which he’s hitting .389 with 2 home runs. However, his month started with six away games, and you never know how a hot hitter will transition back to Safeco Field.
Saunders had a nice night, collecting his first multi-hit game at Safeco for the month in four contests. The center fielder went 3-4 tonight with 1 home run and a stolen base.
3. Bullpen Locks it Down
With three innings to cover in tonight’s game, the bullpen came to the call of duty. Shawn Kelley, Stephen Pryor and Charlie Furbush pitched a collective 3 innings with 4 strikeouts, 1 walk and 1 hit.
After a rocky start to the season, it looks like the ‘pen is finally finding its footing. The next step has got to be getting Brandon League back into the closer role.
Hate ‘em
1. …King Felix Returns
There’s two sides to every coin. On one hand, the Mariners had Felix Hernandez returning to the mound; on the other, it was evident that Hernandez is still working through something.
At least Michael Saunders had a nice night. (Photo NWSB Facebook Page)
Seattle’s ace has been horrid in late May and June, posting a 6.19 ERA across his last five starts. Despite the long break, it’s evident he’s still struggling, as he went just 6 innings tonight giving up 5 runs on 9 hits and 3 walks.
2. Stephen Pryor
Remember how I said Seattle’s pitchers need to stay healthy, and how the bullpen needs to keep rolling.
Well, about that…
Stephen Pryor, AKA the Mariners latest bullpen callup, AKA the closer of the future, entered the game tonight with a 1.60 ERA. It was just his sixth appearance of the season.
After getting the first out of the ninth, Pryor attempted to cover first on an infield hit by Everth Cabrera. He appeared to be running awkwardly and was taken out of the game.
Right now guesses are he suffered some kind of groin injury. Could we see the return of Steve Delabar? (ooops new tweets just moments ago suggest NOT)
Alex Liddi and Blake Beavan going to AAA in moves TBA tomorrow. Mike Carp and Stephen Pryor to DL. Erasmo Ramirez likely to start Thursday
— Geoff Baker (@gbakermariners) June 13, 2012
Ramirez will likely be called up from AAA tomorrow. Franklin Gutierrez could be joining him as well since M’s need OF defense.
— Geoff Baker (@gbakermariners) June 13, 2012
3. Slumbering Offense
With Hernandez struggling it was up to the offense to win this one. Things didn’t go so well, with the Mariners collecting just 1 run and 8 hits through the first eight innings. Things looked pretty bleak.
Then, the team roared to live in the ninth. Saunders homered to kick things off. Four batters and one wild pitch later and the Mariners were just 1 run down with a man on and Jesus Montero at the plate.
On his second pitch Montero hit a ground out.
It stunk that Seattle made the ninth so exciting, but couldn’t finish the comeback. It always stunk that they needed eight innings to actually show some fire from the lineup.
Let’s hope things can only go up from here.
Here’s the BOXSCORE | and Our Editor “Q” has his RECAP
NoteBook
San Diego, which improved to 2-2 on its current nine-game road trip, is now 7-21 away from home this season.
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