Seattle Mariners Shut Out For Second Time

Apr 6, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Chris Young (53) pitches during the fifth inning against the Oakland Athletics at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports

The Seattle Mariners lost consecutive games for the first time this season, falling to the Oakland Athletics in their first homestand finale, 3-0 Sunday afternoon.

Chris Young looked good in his first start for the Mariners. He left the game after six scoreless innings. Unfortunately, Scott Kazmir matched him with six scoreless innings of his own, striking out nine Mariners.

Yoenis Cespedes finally broke the tie in the 8th inning with a 2-run homer off Charlie Furbush. Josh Donaldson added a solo shot in the 9th off Lucas Luetge for unnecessary insurance.

The story of the game yet again was the Mariners inability to score runs. They managed only three hits, two of them in the 4th inning which looked to be the most promising inning for runs.

But Corey Hart grounded into a force play at 2nd, leaving Justin Smoak up with runners on the corners and two down. Smoak struck out to end the threat. That was the last time a runner even got into scoring position for the M’s.

There is no time to lick the wounds from this one, the Mariners play tomorrow night in Arlington, opening a four-game series with the Rangers. They will enter the game with a 0.5 game lead over the Rangers for 2nd place in the AL West. The Mariners are now 1.5 games back of Oakland for first. The A’s open a series in Anaheim tomorrow.

Some good news for the Mariners, Adrian Beltre will not be in the lineup, after being placed on the DL to further rest his strained quad. Hector Noesi was added to the 25-man roster for the Rangers in his place. Perhaps he will pitch against the M’s at some point.

BOX SCORE

Batting

Oakland

Batting

HR – J Donaldson (3, 9th inning off L Luetge 0 on, 2 Out), Y Cespedes (2, 8th inning off C Furbush 1 on, 0 Out)

RBI – J Donaldson (8), Y Cespedes 2 (9)

2-out RBI – J Donaldson

Runners left in scoring position, 2 out – C Crisp 1, J Donaldson 2, Y Cespedes 2

Team LOB – 10

Running

SB – C Crisp (3, 2nd base off C Young/M Zunino)

Fielding

E – Y Cespedes (1, field)

Seattle

Batting

Runners left in scoring position, 2 out – J Smoak 1

Team LOB – 4

Pitching

Oakland

Seattle

WP – C Young

Pitches-strikes – S Kazmir 82-61; F Abad 3-2; D Otero 5-3; L Gregerson 11-8; S Doolittle 17-14;

C Young 97-60; Y Medina 18-9; C Furbush 22-14; L Luetge 12-9

Ground balls-fly balls – S Kazmir 5-5; F Abad 0-0; D Otero 1-1; L Gregerson 1-2; S Doolittle 1-0;

C Young 4-11; Y Medina 3-0; C Furbush 1-3; L Luetge 1-1

Batters faced – S Kazmir 20; F Abad 1; D Otero 3; L Gregerson 3; S Doolittle 4; C Young 25; Y Medina 5;

C Furbush 6; L Luetge 4

Game Details

Game Time: 2:44.

Weather: 61 degrees, Clear.

Wind: 2 mph, Out to Right.

Attendance: 22,628.