Furbush Flaunts Nasty Stuff In Mariners Win

The Mariners beat the Red Sox today, taking the series win with two victories over the past three days.  Also, I suppose you could say the Mariners won the meetings between them, taking two series out of three.  In the short term, this really doesn’t mean anything.  The Mariners are still in the cellar.  The Mariners are still rebuilding.  But you have to think that this gives some of the younger players some confidence, right?  Taking down one of the best teams in baseball isn’t an easy task, and in fact, it’s something to be proud of.  I would be proud to say I beat the Boston Red Sox, at least.  This might just be another day at work for them.

Mostly everyone in the Mariners lineup contributed tonight, save Miguel Olivo.  Everyone checked in with at least a hit, defense was solid all around, and the Mariners get to enjoy the rest of the day with a smile and a win in their pockets.

I don’t know how important each game is to professional ball-players.  Is it just another day at work?  Do they savor each moment?  It makes me wonder what it would be like to see the world through their eyes.  Things are different when you make at least $400,000 a year, you’re on one of the biggest platforms in the world, and you are influential in our culture and society.  Either way, with money in their pockets, and now a smile to go along with that, all us common folk now have something positive to talk about around the water cooler on Monday.

One of the things that the Mariners need to work on is avoiding intermittent offense.  Five runs in an inning is great!  But, not if you can’t scratch across runs later in the game.  Today, the Mariners scored three runs in the bottom of the third, and then one run in the fifth and one in the sixth.  I like that.  It isn’t much, but it’s better than what they’ve been doing.  It means the offense isn’t falling asleep.  It means that the offense is still battling.  I like that.

I wrote an article before coming to SoDo Mojo about how I love Charlie Furbush’s delivery mechanics.  Upon further inspection, I’m starting to become skeptical.  I see sort of an inverted-w, so, that may be something.  Either way, his line was great.  Going seven innings with six strikeouts, two walks and one earned-run is pretty good.  As long as he can continue to produce around this level, I’ll be happy, and I think his teammates will be happy too.

Watching Tim Wakefield is like watching your friends play a pick-up whiffle-ball game.  It’s so much fun to watch his knuckle-ball.  During the post-game, Kyle Seager said that it was quite an experience, that he’d never faced a knuckle-baller before. He only struck out once, so he didn’t do that bad.

In the top of the fourth, Jack Wilson made an excellent diving catch to rob a base hit.  I told you, he either really loves baseball, or he’s trying his damndest to get out of Seattle.  I hope, for his sake, it’s the latter.  He’s a great defensive asset, and some team in playoff contention could use him.  Although his durability may be in question, his ability to flash the leather is not.

Atop of Lookout Landing at Safeco, Angie Mentik said that she loves to see all the bandwagon Boston fans leave disappointed.  *Joins in laughter*.  Now, onto the Gameday highlights!

• Casper Wells hit his second homerun in as many days.  I think they should send Trayvon Robinson down to get more playing time and experience.  He could turn into an asset later down the road, but Wells is an asset now. 
• Mike Carp extended his hitting streak to 14 games.  If there was anything a young player could do to solidfy his presence on a big league roster, this is exactly what they should be doing.  Although, in this Gameday capture, he struck out.  He laughed.  Mike Blowers and Dave Sims laughed.  I laughed, because everyone else was doing it. 
• Knuckleballs make Gameday look awesome.

The Blue Jays come into town tomorrow.  If Jose Bautista doesn’t hit a homerun, consider it a victory.