Seattle Mariners Refuse To Lose, Comeback In Fenway

Felix Hernandez is on the mound…….that means an easy win right? WRONG!!!! Felix faced off against the Boston Red Sox looking for his 9th career win against them. But it didn’t turn out the way Felix wanted it to go. First off, the offense was no help to Felix. Second, Felix had a tough time locating some of his pitches (thanks to the home plate umpire), whoops did I actually just say that? Oh well freedom of speech.

Felix for some reason threw a ton of pitches after just five innings. He was up to 86 pitches after the 5th. Felix though through the first four innings was doing quiet well after a rough first.

He struck out his 200th batter of the season, in Xander Bogaerts. Bogaerts though gave Mariner fans a scare when he hit a long foul ball that was reviewed but remained foul. Felix then struck out Bogaerts to complete striking out the side and ending the bottom of the 2nd.

The Mariners had their best early chance to score runs in both the top of the 3rd and 5th. In the top of the 3rd with two outs, Kendrys Morales hit what looked like a base hit that bounced into Mookie Bett‘s glove and Dustin Ackley scored. Upon review though, the ball clearly didn’t hit the ground and the run did not count. The M’s couldn’t break through.

Then with two outs in the 5th, the Mariners were able to load the bases up for Austin Jackson. Jackson failed to come through in the clutch and the M’s walked away with another goose egg on the scoreboard.

Aug 22, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Seattle Mariners left fielder Dustin Ackley (13) reacts with second baseman Robinson Cano (22) after defeating the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

So, it was looking like a typical Felix start without run support. Felix showed a lot of signs through the game that he did not have control with some of his pitches. In the bottom of the 5th he lost control of one of his changeups and hit Bogaerts in the ear flap of his helmet. Bogaerts would stay in the game but would then be pinched hit for in the bottom of the 6th by Brock Holt.

Disaster struck though in the bottom of the sixth. After intentionally walking David Ortiz, Yoenis Cespedes fought off a number of pitches and then Felix threw a 2-2 pitch into Cespedes’s comfort zone and Yoenis destroyed it for a 3-run home run. Boston went up 3-0.

Felix couldn’t get the third out of the inning and with a season high 116 pitches, manager Lloyd McClendon went to his bullpen. Brandon Maurer was brought in to stop the bleeding and did just that by striking out Holt to end the inning.

The Mariners continued to lay down offensively through most of the game. Then in the top of the ninth, Red Sox manager John Farrell brought in his All Star closer Koji Uehara to finish things off.

Uehara looked like he was going to finish off the M’s, after Logan Morrison got a one out single Uehara got Mike Zunino to strike out and the M’s were down to their final out.

But the Mariners dug deep into their past and decided to be like the 1995 Refuse To Lose “No Quit” Mariners. Endy Chavez fought Uehara for 10 pitches until finally Koji walked Chavez, then Brad Miller was pinched hit for by Chris Denorfia, who got a two-out single. So here the Mariners were, two outs, Austin Jackson up, and A-Jax was 0-for-3 before the at bat.

Jackson down to his last strike, hit a sharp line drive down the left field line that brought in two runs and the M’s were alive and one run away from tying the game up.

Ackley then popped up on the second pitch he saw, and it looked like the M’s were done. But Holt was unable to get to it and two runs came across. The Mariners had done the unthinkable, they came back to take the lead. Robinson Cano added one extra run thanks to Ackley not stopping and running like he stole something to make it 5-3.

Fernando Rodney was brought in to shut the door on this amazing comeback. After getting the first two batters out he walked Betts but got Christian Valdez to fly out to Chavez to end the comeback and shot that arrow for the 37th time this year!!

With tonight’s win and the Detroit Tigers losing embarrassingly to the Minnesota Twins 20-6, the Mariners move back into the 2nd place spot in the Wild Card by a 0.5 game. With the Los Angeles Angels losing to the Oakland A’s, the M’s also gained some ground in the AL West standings. They moved back to 7 games back in the West, behind the Angels.

Mariner fans need to be aware of something. Tonight we witnessed possibly the biggest win by this team in 10 years and for the rest of the season its “No Quit” “Refuse To Lose” baseball for the Mariners. The 1995 season is back for a second time, screw the Wild Card we want the West! Its Refuse To Lose Part 2 and with basically only a full month left in the season, things are going to get real dicey and exciting.

And I’m also going to say this……..I’m loving it! I’m also looking forward to lighting my “playoff berth” cigar. Tomorrow the Mariners send the possible Comeback Player of the Year winner Chris Young (12-6, 3.07 ERA) against Brandon Workman (1-7, 4.26 ERA).

Until then……..GO Mariners!!!!

BOX SCORE

Seattle

AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG

Jackson, A, CF 4 1 1 2 1 2 5 .265

Ackley, LF 4 1 1 2 1 1 1 .252

Cano, 2B 5 0 2 1 0 0 2 .330

Morales,K, DH 5 0 0 0 0 3 3 .224

Seager, 3B 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 .273

Morrison, 1B 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 .239

Zunino, C 4 0 0 0 0 4 0 .207

Chavez, En, RF 1 1 1 0 3 0 0 .278

Miller, B, SS 1 0 0 0 2 0 1 .198

a-Denofia, PH 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .245

Taylor, C SS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .338

Totals 32 5 7 5 7 11 16 .246

a-Singled for Miller, B in the 9th

Boston

AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG

Nava, 1B-RF 4 1 1 0 0 1 0 .260

Pedroia, 2B 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .281

Ortiz, D, DH 2 1 2 0 2 0 0 .266

Cespedes, LF 4 1 1 3 0 2 4 .252

Craig, RF 3 0 0 0 1 2 2 .233

Johnson, K 1B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .211

Middlebrooks, 3B 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 .187

Bogaerts, SS 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .223

a-Holt, PH-SS 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 .290

Betts, CF 3 0 0 0 1 1 1 .228

Vazquez, C 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 .231

Totals 31 3 5 3 4 9 12 .243

a-Struck out for Bogaerts in the 6th

BATTING

2B: Cano (29, Breslow), Jackson (29, Uehara), Ortiz, D (25, Hernandez), Nava (14, Hernandez).

HR: Cespedes (21, 6th inning off Hernadez F, 2 on, 1 out).

TB: Cano 3; Chavez, En; Ackley; Jackson, A 2; Denorfia; Morrison; Ortiz, D 3; Pedroia; Cespedes4; Nava 2.

RBI: Jackson, A 2 (40), Ackley 2 (50), Cano (70), Cespedes 3 (83).

2-out RBI: Jackson, A 2; Ackley 2; Cano.

Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Jackson, A 3; Seager; Morales, K; Craig.

GIDP: Miller, B, Cano, Cespedes.

Team RISP: SEA: 3-for-9 BOS: 1-for-5.

Team LOB: SEA-8 BOS-6.

FIELDING: E: Bogaerts (18, throw)

DP: SEA- (Seager-Cano-Morrison) BOS: 2 (Pedroia-Bogaerts-Nava, Pedroia-Holt-Nava)

BASERUNNING

SB: Morrison (4, 2nd base off Uehara/Vazquez)

PITCHING

Seattle IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA

Hernandez, F 5.2 5 3 3 2 7 1 2.07

Maurer 1.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 5.02

Leone (W, 6-2) 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.60

Rodney (SV, 37) 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2.24

Totals 9 5 3 3 3 10 1 2.93

Boston IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA

Kelly, J 5.0 1 0 0 3 5 0 4.26

Breslow 1.2 1 0 0 2 2 0 4.91

Badenhop, (H,9) 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.59

Layne (H,4) 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.00

Uehara (BS, 3) 0.2 5 5 5 1 1 0 2.28

(L, 5-4)

Mujica 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4.18

Totals 9.0 7 5 5 7 11 0 3.92

Balk: Breslow.

IBB: Ortiz, D (by Hernandez, F).

HBP: Seager (by Kelly, J), Bogaerts (by Hernandez, F).

Pitches-strikes: Hernandez, F 116-78, Maurer 23-13, Leone 15-8, Rodney 14-8, Kelly, J 88-54, Breslow 34-20, Badenhop 5-3, Layne 11-5, Uehara 38-25, Mujica 4-3.

Groudouts-flyouts: Hernandez, F 7-1, Maurer 1-2, Leone 1-0, Rodney 1-2, Kelly, J 5-2, Breslow 2-1, Badenhop 0-0, Layne 1-0, Uehara 0-0, Mujica 0-0

Batters faced: Hernandez, F 24, Maurer 4, Leone 4, Rodney 4, Kelly, J 19, Breslow 8, Bradenhop 1, Layne 3, Uehara 8, Mujica 1.

Inherited runners-scored: Maurer 1-0, Badenhop 2-0, Mujica 1-0.

Umpires: HP: Larry Vanover. 1B: Angel Hernandez. 2B: Vic Carapazza. 3B: Pat Hoberg.

Weather: 70 degrees, cloudy.

Wind: 11 mph, In from RF.

T: 3:41.

Att: 36,433.

Venue: Fenway Park.

August 22, 2014

Compiled by MLB Advanced Media

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