With King Felix starting on the hill for the Mariners against the Toronto Blue Jays tonight at Safeco Field, there was reason to think that the M’s might just get their first home win of the season. But by the sixth inning, the home team was down 7-0 and Hernandez was out of the game with an “L” looming.
They’d been getting guys on base all night, but were unable to score until Milton Bradley hit a solo home run in the 7th. In the 8th, the Blue Jay’s bullpen imploded, walking in three runs in a row and the M’s scored 5, bringing the score to 7-6 Toronto going into the 9th. After three straight outs for the Blue Jays in the 9th, Michael Saunders led off the bottom of the 9th with a stand up double. He was moved over to 3rd on an excellent sacrifice bunt by Mariners shortstop Brendan Ryan. Ichiro was walked intentionally and then stole 2nd when Toronto fell asleep in the field. Pinch hitter Adam Kennedy got a big chance, stepping to the plate with 1 out and the winning run on 2nd – but couldn’t get the job done, grounding out to short.
Up comes Luis Rodriquez, who earlier in the game had replaced an injured Chone Figgins at third base. Rodriquez turns in THE BEST at bat of the season for the Seattle Mariners, having fouled off numerous pitches with two strikes before lining the game winner in right center field, scoring the tying and winning runs. Great job Luis!
Tip for tomorrow: Tomorrow against the Blue Jays, go see Michael Pineda pitch his first game at Safeco Field. This guy is going to be amazing! He’s huge too – I saw him standing next to Felix on opening day and he made Felix look small.