Join the conversation: tweet #EdgarHOF and tell us why you think Edgar Martínez deserves a spot in Cooperstown.

With just 11 days until Christmas, Jack Zduriencik is back in the hunt for a pretty free agent signing to give Mariners fans this year. Here’s the latest from the hot stove circuit:

• Yesterday, the Angels swooped into the Hamilton-fest and signed the coveted, controversial outfielder to a 5-year, $125M contract. According to Greg Johns, the Mariners had aggressively, though unsuccessfully, pursued Hamilton:

“Though Jack Zduriencik suggested last month that Seattle wouldn’t likely be in position to pursue Hamilton at his original seven-year, $175 million target, the Mariners indeed were willing to go after him full bore on a shorter deal.

[...] it is interesting that they were in the hunt to the end, which was not the case last year with Prince Fielder when the Tigers went with more years and dollars than anybody else was willing to stomach.”

• Several less-shiny outfielders remain on the table, including Brennan Boesch, who talked with the Mariners on Wednesday. In 2012, Boesch hit .240/.286/.372 over 132 games with the Tigers. Jon Morosi suggests Charlie Furbush, Oliver Perez, and Lucas Luetge as potential trade chips, as Detroit is thought to have interest in left-handed relievers.
• In their second social media sweepstakes of the holiday season, the Mariners are encouraging fans to use Pinterest to win free team gear. To enter, follow the team’s official account on Pinterest, re-pin four of the given images, and fill out this form to get your name in the running.
• Franklin Gutierrez, Erasmo Ramirez, Oliver Perez, and Carlos Peguero are a few Mariners currently performing in MLB’s various offseason leagues. You can find a complete list of players and their respective statistics here.

After sweeping the Kansas City Royals in four games, the Mariners now welcome the Toronto Blue Jays to town to finish up the longest homestand of the year. While the talk over the next few days around baseball will be understandably dominated by the upcoming trade deadline on Tuesday night, there will still be three games played at Safeco—three games that could either help the Mariners prove that they are improving or bring them back down to earth against a tougher opponent. Jose Bautista is still on the disabled list for Toronto—a lucky break for the Mariners.

Current record: 51-50

Last series: vs. Tigers. On Friday night the Blue Jays cashed in on some timely hitting with eight of their nine starters getting at least one hit. Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera both hit homers off of starter Carlos Villanueva, but the Jays’ offensive attack led to an 8-3 win. Saturday saw more of the same—Toronto knocked ten hits off of Anibal Sanchez, Brayan Villareal and Phil Coke, cruising to a 5-1 victory. They weren’t able to complete the sweep on Sunday, however, as Doug Fister gave up only one run over eight innings.

Last series against Seattle: April 27 – April 29, 2012. Remember that extra innings game where Michael Saunders hit his tenth inning grand slam to give the Mariners a 9-5 victory? Less memorable are probably the 7-0 drubbing at the hands of Brandon Morrow and the series finale in which Steve Delabar and Charlie Furbush gave up five runs over the final two innings. Hopefully the Mariners are able to reproduce the excitement they created in the first game and forget about the following days.

Familiar Faces: The Blue Jays’ roster has a couple of interesting names on it with ties to Seattle, with the most prolific by far being Omar Vizquel. Signed by Seattle as a 17-year-old free agent back in 1984, Vizquel broke into the big leagues with the Mariners on April 3, 1989, six months before I was born. He went on to play for the Mariners for five years, growing up with a young team that included Randy Johnson, Edgar Martinez, Jay Buhner and Ken Griffey, Jr. Omar has won eleven gold gloves at shortstop, but his biggest impact for the Mariners came on April 22, 1993, when he flashed his defensive prowess to secure a no-hitter for Chris Bosio.

Tuesday’s starter, Aaron Laffey, played for the Mariners for part of 2011 and, for a few months, looked like he could become a mainstay in the Mariners bullpen for years to come. Through July 17th and over 34.1 innings, he had only given up seven runs, good for an ERA of 1.83. Ironically, the Mariners then went to Toronto and in 3.1 innings during that series, he gave up three runs, making his ERA jump to 2.39. Between July 19th and August 16th, Laffey made eight appearances for the Mariners and gave up 12 runs over 8.1 innings for an ERA of 12.96. Understandably, the Mariners waived Laffey, who was picked up by the Yankees and then the Royals, the last two opponents the Mariners faced.

There’s also Brandon Morrow, but he’s on the disabled list and I don’t want to talk about Brandon Morrow. Not one bit. » Continue reading “Series Preview: Toronto Blue Jays”

I don’t know how I ended up watching a football game tonight, but it was one of the more entertaining games of the season.

The Seahawks took on the Cowboys, who handed over two touchdowns and a two-point conversion in the first two quarters. By the fourth quarter, Dallas regained a little momentum, putting up a touchdown and two-point conversion of their own, but the Hawks came back to win it 21-8.

Okay, so it doesn’t sound like the most impressive football game, even though I’ll take a Seahawks win any day. But the Mariners defeating the Rangers 21-8 in Arlington? That’s worthy of a highlight reel.

Unlike last night’s 10-3 win, this game wasn’t fueled by errors or productive outs. Instead, it was a hit parade modeled after the Rangers’ recent 34-run series against Toronto. With the exceptions of late-game pinch hitters Mike Carp and Munenori Kawasaki, each Mariner put up at least one hit and one run. Michael Saunders had his second 3-hit night in a row, Kyle Seager went 4-for-6 with a pair of doubles and base hits, and Justin Smoak earned the Mariners’ Player of the Game award with 2 home runs and 6 RBI.

Backed by more run support than he’s received in his entire career, Blake Beavan put up just 2 hits and 2 strikeouts in 6 innings. He held the Rangers scoreless through 5, and backed by a 17-run lead, allowed 6 hits and 5 runs in the 6th.

Wedge’s Closer of the Day was Hisashi Iwakuma, who made his first relief appearance since May 16. After 3 innings, 5 hits, 3 earned runs, and a walk, Iwakuma earned his first save of 2012.

During the game, my Twitter feed exploded with record-setting, -tying, and -breaking facts from MLB and Mariners club history. Here are just a few…

• Tonight marked the second-highest scoring game in Mariners history, preceded by a 22-6 beatdown of the Detroit Tigers in April 1999. The last time Seattle scored more than 20 runs in a single game was 12 years ago, in a 21-9 away game against the Anaheim Angels.
• The Mariners scored as many runs in this game as they did during their entire homestand from May 21 – 27.
• In 8 runs, the Rangers failed to hit a single home run. It was their first homer-less game since a 3-1 win in Seattle last Tuesday.
• From Value Over Replacement Grit: “The Mariners have set a modern-day American League record for the highest “same run” total scored in consecutive innings (home or road), as well as the Major League record for a road team.”
• Via Mariners PR guy Jeff Evans: Kyle Seager made the list of just three MLB player to record consecutive 2-double games. The other members? Joey Votto and Yonder Alonso.
• Also from Evans: “21 runs scored are most in the Majors this season, and most since the Yankees scored 22 [on] 8/25/11 vs. Oakland.”
• Dave Cameron boosted my confidence in the Mariners’ offense (I know, as if the 21 runs hadn’t already) with this tweet: “Five of the nine Mariners who started tonight’s game posted a wOBA of .500 or better.”
• And finally, this fact was uncovered by Needle Ball’s own Steven Mataya: “With today’s game, the Mariners went from 22nd in MLB in runs scored to 10th!”

Tomorrow, Steve Delabar will take a trip to Tacoma. By Friday, when the Mariners open their second road series in Chicago, Triple-A threat Stephen Pryor is scheduled to join the team—and, hopefully, make his major league debut.

Next game: @ White Sox | June 1 | 5:10pm

Final score: Red Sox 5, Mariners 0

Congratulations, Josh Beckett. You’ve now earned the right to take one of your 18 days of freedom and play golf.

As for you, Mariners, golf days will be few and far between. For once, I’m not upset with your RISP numbers: 0-for-3 is nothing to cry over. However, striking out 10 times (9 against Beckett), reaching base 6 times, and failing to score altogether made this a very painful game to watch.

Even with a lineup free of Chone Figgins, Miguel Olivo, and Brendan Ryan, the offense lacked a spark. Ichiro’s two singles and two stolen bases were wasted on Kyle Seager, who closed the door on RISP in the 4th and 6th with a groundout and first-pitch flyout.

Blake Beavan lasted 4.0 innings this afternoon, retiring 7 batters before allowing a solo home run to David Ortiz in the 3rd. In the 4th, he served an RBI double and groundout to Mike Aviles and Ryan Sweeney, forming the base for Boston’s insurmountable lead. This was his second shortest start of the season, and his shortest appearance since a 3-inning no-decision against the Tigers last Monday.

Tomorrow, Seattle faces Cleveland in another 2-game series before taking on Colorado for the weekend. I won’t waste time outlining solutions to winning the rest of this road trip—you know what you have to do, Mariners. Just win.

Next game: @ Indians | May 16 | 4:05pm

It’s not a throw to home plate, but the final score of every Mariners-Yankees game this weekend. Thankfully, today that 6 belonged to the Mariners, keeping a sweep away and giving Kevin Millwood his first win of 2012.

Since his last start against Detroit, Millwood posted his strongest numbers of the season, going 7.0 innings with just 4 hits, 1 earned run, 4 walks, and 6 strikeouts in 25 batters. After four scoreless frames, Millwood donated a run to the Yankees with a bases-loaded walk to Russell Martin. This time, it was the Yankees’ turn to go 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position, while the Mariners pulled out a 3-for-9 effort—the most RISP scored since May 8.

Casper Wells did much of the heavy lifting in today’s lineup, providing 4 of the 6 runs on a 2-RBI homer and 2-RBI single. In the 9th, he not only drove in the last two runs, but made the final three outs of the game, including a perfect throw to Alex Liddi to nab a triple from Nick Swisher.

As both a sidenote and an interesting fact about the Mariners: Justin Smoak kicked the offense into gear this morning, going yard against Andy Pettitte and driving in Jesus Montero for the Mariners’ first two runs of the game. Combined with Wells’ long shot, Seattle has now put up five home runs in the last three games.

Whether it was the pink-dipped bats, the supportive Seattle mothers sitting in the stands, or the sheer presence of Casper Wells, the Mariners appear to be getting back on their feet after going 0-for-2 at the start of this roadtrip. Tomorrow, they hop over to Fenway Park for a 2-game series against the Red Sox, where, hopefully, they will continue a streak of both home runs and wins.

Next game: @ Red Sox | May 14 | 4:10pm

Tonight, the Mariners take on Drew Smyly and the rest of the Tigers in their last game of the homestand. Tomorrow, they’ll have an off-day before traveling to New York for a 10-game road trip. Here’s the latest from the Seattle blogosphere:

Identifying The Least Intimidating Batter In Baseball — I’ll give you one guess.

Painting the Black — R.J. Anderson gives a pitch-by-pitch analysis of Jesus Montero’s first appearance against Tampa Bay’s Matt Moore.

Game 32, Tigers at Mariners — I know it looks like a game thread, but Dave Cameron has a bit of reassurance to dish out when it comes to the Mariners’ 5th starter, Kevin Millwood.

Figgins Benched, Ackley Assumes His Rightful Position At Leadoff — Just hours after I wrote this about Chone Figgins, Wedge made the decision to officially deem him a utility player. The relief was short-lived, though; only one start later, Brendan Ryan was moved up to No. 2.

Four Great Reasons To Watch Mariners Baseball — If you read anything this week, read this. We can always use more reminders of the upside of Mariners baseball.

What have you read this week? Share it with us in the comments!

Final score: Tigers 6, Mariners 4

I’m not sure what to say here.

On most nights, I start scripting a recap as the game is in its final innings. Tonight, I decided to wait it out until the last pitch, because of the potential for a shift in narrative when the bases started to load in the 9th. First Mike Carp drew a walk, then Michael Saunders. Prince Fielder dropped an easy double play ball, keeping Chone Figgins on third. Ichiro walked. Jesus Montero arrived with the bases set for another RBI double, waited out six long pitches, then lifted a fly ball to right fielder Don Kelly, who tumbled into the stands to make the catch.

However, the loss can’t be credited simply to a failed rally in the 9th. Kevin Millwood made the shakiest start of his season so far, spreading 98 pitches over 5.0 IP and allowing 8 hits, 5 earned runs, and 5 walks to 27 batters. For all I’ve read in Millwood’s defense—how perfectly adequate he is, how necessary while the Big Three take their sweet time in Jackson—those rationalizations evaporated with Austin Jackson’s leadoff double and a 3-hit, 2-walk 1st inning.

It was not the Mariners’ finest hour. Still, it wasn’t their worst.

They snapped a 3-game winning streak, but remain 4-1 on the year against Detroit. Justin Smoak picked up his first hit since Sunday, a pop up to left field that narrowly avoided foul territory. Shawn Kelley served a slider to Fielder for a home run, but struck out 4 of 7 batters faced in 2.0 IP. Kyle Seager went 2-for-3 with a double and 2-RBI single. Even Brendan Ryan had a productive night, taking one walk and driving in Saunders for the M’s fourth run of the game.

Against Justin Verlander (AL MVP, Cy Young Award winner, and pitcher extraordinaire), the Mariners managed a decent 7 hits and 3 earned runs. What was not so decent was the amount of runners left sitting on base, with 23 stranded overall and 11 in scoring position.

Instead of harping on the rest of this game, here are a couple “keys to success” as we look ahead to tomorrow’s series finale:

Take more walks than you allow the other team. Hey, I didn’t say these would be brilliant insights; just necessary ones. Hector Noesi walked 3 batters in his last start, while the Mariners took 4 walks, leading them to a 5-2 win over the Twins. Although taking walks does not directly translate to winning games, it’s not a bad place to start.

RISP: Move them around the bases. Listen up, Mariners: I don’t care if you draw walks, hit bloop singles, or advance on errors. You don’t have to put up another 13-homer streak. Just get the runs in early and often, so that when I look at the acronym RISP, it will not make me want to scream at you.

Next game: vs. Tigers | May 9 | 7:10pm

Final score: Mariners 3, Tigers 2

To say I was nervous for the Mariners at the start of this series would be a bit of an understatement. To say that I was concerned for them going into the 9th inning would be a severe understatement.

Miguel Cabrera, Most Successful Tiger In Seattle, ended the 3rd inning by plunking Blake Beavan on the back with a line drive. After Kyle Seager turned the double play, Beavan left the game with a right elbow contusion—according to Geoff Baker, the ball nicked his elbow as he turned to avoid it.

With a benched starter after three innings, a good portion of the ‘pen showed up to carry the Mariners: Hisashi Iwakuma in the 4th, Shawn Kelley in the 7th, Charlie Furbush in the 7th, and Steve Delabar in the 9th. Of the four, Iwakuma made his most impressive appearance for the Mariners so far this season, striking out 5 of 12 batters and allowing just 3 hits and 1 earned run in 3 IP.

With former teammate Doug Fister on the mound, what little offense the Mariners managed to muster up this weekend evaporated. Even ugly RISP numbers sunk to a respectable 0-for-2, as they seemed incapable of even reaching base.

Fortunately, Detroit closer Octavio Dotel took pity on the struggling team. In the 9th, he served back-to-back walks to Brendan Ryan and Ichiro, awarding them RISP status with a wild pitch to Jesus Montero. Another wild pitch, a double lashed to center field, another run scored, and with no outs, the Mariners had a tie ballgame.

The cherry on top? After a game where the Mariners forgot how to swing a baseball bat, after losing Blake Beavan and trusting the bullpen to pick up the pieces, after facing Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder… John Jaso lifted a sacrifice fly to score Munenori Kawasaki and win the ballgame in a one-inning comeback.

To say that I am anxious about the state of the Mariners following this game would be anything but an understatement.

Next game: vs. Tigers | May 8 | 7:10pm

After a satisfying series win against Minnesota, the Mariners return to playing more formidable AL opponents, beginning with the visiting Detroit Tigers. Let’s see what’s new since Seattle’s last duel with Prince Fielder and his compadres.

Current record: 14-13

Last game: vs. White Sox. The Tigers took the series with yesterday’s 3-2 win, going 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position, but belting out three home runs by Austin Jackson, Prince Fielder, and Andy Dirks. Over the last ten games, the Tigers have maintained a 4-6 record with one series loss, one split, and one win.

Last series against Seattle: April 24 – 26, 2012. This was Seattle’s first three-game sweep of the season, culminating in a 9-1 win backed by a 4-hit outing from Felix Hernandez. It remains the only series in which the Tigers have been swept this year, both at home and on the road.

Since 2008, the Mariners have maintained a 21-19 record against the Tigers, with a 12-10 split at Comerica Park and 9-9 split at Safeco Field. The last time Detroit played at Safeco was in April 2011, when they took 2 of 3 games, losing Game #2 to a 7-strikeout performance by former Mariner Doug Fister.

Toughest player: Miguel Cabrera. According to today’s game notes, Cabrera is the most successful Tiger to face the Mariners, with 50 hits, 6 home runs, and 23 RBIs in 40 games and 146 AB.

Of course, this isn’t to say you shouldn’t be looking out for the rest of the lineup: Prince Fielder, Alex Avila, and Jhonny Peralta collected 9 home runs in 6 games, 3 of which were delivered against the White Sox this weekend.

Weakest link: Ryan Raburn. Not much has changed from the last series preview—Raburn is still batting just .143/.203/.179 in 22 games and 75 PA. He went 1-for-13 in the past five games, picking up a double on Saturday and his first extra base hit since April 24.

Expected result: I’m nowhere near optimistic enough to predict another sweep, especially given that the only pitcher who will be making a repeat performance (for both teams) is Jason Vargas. Tonight, the Mariners may have a slight advantage as they face Doug Fister, who will be making his first appearance against the Mariners since he was traded to Detroit last July. It will also be Fister’s first start since April 7, when he exited with an injured rib cage after just 3.2 IP.

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For up-to-date news on the Tigers, check out Motown Lowdown.

After last night’s gorgeous one-hitter by King Felix (and, to a lesser extent, Steve Delabar), the Mariners clinched the series with a 5-2 win over the Twins this afternoon.

Hector Noesi pitched his longest start since April 14, going 7.0 innings for 4 hits, 1 earned run, 3 walks, and 5 strikeouts in 27 batters faced. His replacements, Lucas Luetge and Tom Wilhelmsen, allowed Ryan Doumit his second home run of the day, but shut down the other seven batters with relative ease, putting up a walk and 3 strikeouts in 2 IP.

As daunting as Doumit looked at the plate, his were the only runs the Twins managed against the Seattle. Brendan Ryan, whom Wedge is experimenting with in the No. 2 spot (something I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to), went 1-for-4 with a base hit and a sacrifice fly. The hero of the day, however, was Mike Carp, coming through with a solo shot off RHP Nick Blackburn’s curveball.

As a whole, the team took zero walks from Blackburn and Minnesota’s ‘pen, but went 3-for-6 with runners in scoring position—a much lower and more satisfactory number than those we saw from Seattle on the road last week.

With the first series win since April 26 under their belts, the Mariners look to the Tigers for a repeat of their last matchup: three straight wins. On Monday, Blake Beavan will go head-to-head with RHP Doug Fister. Tuesday features Kevin Millwood vs. RHP Justin Verlander, and Wednesday, Jason Vargas takes the mound against LHP Drew Smyly. Can the Mariners pull out another sweep against Detroit, or will Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera finally do some damage in Seattle?

Next game: vs. Tigers | May 7 | 7:10pm