Mariners Wrangle with Teams from Texas

Week 8 Recap

Date Away Team Score Home Team Score Result
5/19
5/20 Mariners 6 Rangers 2 W
5/21 Mariners 3 Rangers 4 L
5/22 Astros 1 Mariners 3 W
5/23 Astros 1 Mariners 6 W
5/24 Astros 9 Mariners 4 L
5/25 Astros 4 Mariners 1 L

Well, howdy there pardner. The Mariners had some BIG games against some BIG teams from Texas this week. But we ended up spinning our wheels like a lassoed bull and ended up right where we started.

Ok, that’s enough of that. The Mariners split both of their series this week. A promising start to the series against the Astros turned sour as Brandon Maurer threw a stinker on Saturday and we ran into Dallas Keuchel, a surprising top-10 pitcher in the AL. Robinson Cano continued his hot streak and actually hit that elusive second home run.

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Mariners Stumble Against Rays, Twins

Week 7 Recap

Date Away Team Score Home Team Score Result
5/12 Rays 5 Mariners 12 W
5/13 Rays 2 Mariners 1 L
5/14 Rays 0 Mariners 2 L
5/15
5/16 Mariners 4 Twins 5 L
5/17 Mariners 3 Twins 4 L
5/18 Mariners 6 Twins 2 W

Well, we’re now more than a quarter of the way through the season and the Mariners sit just a game under .500. A rough week against the Rays and the Twins pushed the Mariners back in the win column but we’re still on the cusp of greatness.

  • After a twelve run offensive outburst on Monday, the Mariners didn’t score for 21 straight innings before scoring a single run in the fifth inning on Thursday. Woof.

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Mariners Play Well, Stay Above .500

Week 6 Recap

Date Away Team Score Home Team Score Result
5/5 Mariners 4 Athletics 2 W
5/6 Mariners 8 Athletics 3 W
5/7 Mariners 6 Athletics 4 W/10
5/7 Mariners 0 Athletics 2 L
5/8 Royals 0 Mariners 1 W
5/9 Royals 6 Mariners 1 L
5/10 Royals 1 Mariners 3 W
5/11 Royals 9 Mariners 7 L

Now that was a successful week. The Mariners were able to take 3 of 4 from the Athletics and split 4 games with the Royals this past week. In the second game of the doubleheader on Wednesday, we were actually playing for the division lead. There were some stinkers mixed in over the weekend–the Mariners were shut out over seven innings against former Mariner Jason Vargas on Friday and our defense committed five (!) errors in a loss on Sunday. But overall, the team played really well with excellent performances in Oakland and a 1-0 shutout on Thursday.

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Mariners Finish April Strong, Approaching Tough Stretch

Week 5 Recap

Date Away Team Score Home Team Score Result
4/28
4/29 Mariners 6 Yankees 3 W
4/30 Mariners Yankees PPD
5/1 Mariners 4 Yankees 2 W
5/2 Mariners 4 Astros 5 L/11
5/3 Mariners 9 Astros 8 W
5/4 Mariners 8 Astros 7 W

Well that was a fun week. The Mariners scored 31 runs in 5 games on the road but the bullpen made three of those games more exciting than they should have been. It seems like that’s becoming a regular occurrence. “Sweeping (one of the games was rained out)” the Yankees in New York was pretty great and we won the series in Houston. Now, if only we could score that many runs at home.

  • The Mariners enter play this week with a better record than the Red Sox, the Rays, and the Indians–all preseason contenders. We’re tied for the seventh best record in the AL–right in the middle of the pack–and are just a single game back in the wild card race. This season is far from over, but its nice to see us make some positive steps especially after that eight game losing streak.

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Mariners Snap Losing Streak, Drama Reigns

Week 4 Recap

Date Away Team Score Home Team Score Result
4/21 Astros 7 Mariners 2 L
4/22 Astros 5 Mariners 2 L
4/23 Astros 3 Mariners 5 W
4/24 OFF
4/25 Rangers 5 Mariners 6 W
4/26 Rangers 6 Mariners 3 L
4/27 Rangers 5 Mariners 6 W

The Mariners entered this week on a six game losing streak and extended it to eight before snapping it with a win on Wednesday. The wins this week were filled with drama with three late inning wins and a few bullpen meltdowns. Kyle Seager won AL Player of the Week for his heroics and he certainly deserved it. This week would have looked much different (1-5 vs 3-3) if Seager hadn’t taken it upon himself to right this sinking ship.

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Mariners Can’t Catch Fish, Lose Six Straight

Week 3 Recap

Date Away Team Score Home Team Score Result
4/14 Mariners 7 Rangers 1 W
4/15 Mariners 0 Rangers 5 L
4/16 Mariners 2 Rangers 3 L
4/17 Mariners 6 Rangers 8 L
4/18 Mariners 4 Marlins 8 L
4/19 Mariners 0 Marlins 7 L
4/20 Mariners 2 Marlins 3 L

All puns aside, the Mariners had a terrible week. Being swept by the Marlins is never a good sign but throw in a few bullpen meltdowns and it felt down right hopeless. Tony Blengino wrote an excellent piece on FanGraphs about the Mariners and game strategy during this series.

It’s way too early to overreact to a six-game losing streak. With all of the boom or bust players on this roster, we knew this team would be up and down. Let’s just hope they’re up sooner rather than later.

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Mariners Begin Season with Hot Start

Week 1 & 2 Recap

Date Away Team Score Home Team Score Result
3/31 Mariners 10 Angels 3 W
4/1 Mariners 8 Angels 3 W
4/2 Mariners 8 Angels 2 W
4/3 Mariners 2 Athletics 3 L/12
4/4 Mariners Athletics PPD
4/5 Mariners 3 Athletics 1 W
4/6 Mariners 3 Athletics 6 L
4/7 OFF
4/8 Angels 3 Mariners 5 W
4/9 Angels 2 Mariners 0 L
4/10 OFF
4/11 Athletics 4 Mariners 6 W
4/12 Athletics 3 Mariners 1 L
4/13 Athletics 3 Mariners 0 L

Welcome back to another season of Seattle Mariners baseball. I’ll be covering the team week by week again and in the coming weeks you’ll be seeing some new features to this recurring series. For now, enjoy this recap of the first two weeks of play.

  • That series sweep against the Angels to begin the year felt really good. A number of experts picked the Angels to have resurgent year, Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton couldn’t this bad the thinking went. Well a thorough dismantling by the Mariners doesn’t prove much–its only three games after all–but it sure was fun.
  • I’ll be glad when the Mariners are playing any of the other 27 teams in the majors. We started the year with five games against the Angels and six games against the Athletics. While we were able to build a small lead against three of the AL West teams, it’ll be nice to see another opponent.

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