Washburn Tosses Gem to Beat Orioles

With the way the recent series in Boston went for the Mariners, they really needed a good starting pitching performance tonight to give the bullpen a break. Well, Jarrod Washburn was certainly up to the task.

The only hit Jarrod allowed all night came on a fourth inning bloop off the bat of Nick Markakis. After that single, he went on to retire the next 16 hitters he faced to complete the one hit shutout. It was the first one hitter of his Major League career, and his ninth complete game.

The Mariners scored five, coming on Russell Branyan‘s 21st bomb of the year, a solo shot, an Ichiro RBI single, a Chris Woodward two run double, and a Ryan Langerhans sacrifice fly. As it turned out, though, the only run they really needed was the first one.

Now there’s a lot of debate over whether or not the Mariners can still contend in 2009 if they trade either Jarrod Washburn or Erik Bedard. I think it’s possible, but of course in the end it’s going to be up to the front office to decide. If they do decide that they want to deal Washburn, though, tonight’s game will have significantly boosted his trade value.

Tomorrow the Mariners will send Erik Bedard to the mound to make his first start since heading to the DL in early June. He’ll be on a pitch count of 75-85, which should be good for five or six innings.

Other news and game notes:

Ichiro’s hit streak is now at: five games.

Franklin Gutierrez continued his hot hitting tonight, racking up three hits including a double.

The Angels beat the Rangers tonight, so we’ll gain a game on Texas but keep pace with the Angels.

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