Bullpen Carries Mariners To Series Sweep

In a series that just about featured everything you could think of, the Seattle Mariners completed their first ever series sweep of the Boston Red Sox in Fenway with an 8-6 win this afternoon.

The M’s wasted little time scoring in this game, Austin Jackson led off the game with an infield single back to the pitcher. Dustin Ackley, who finished the game going 3-5 with an RBI, followed the Jackson single with a double, high off the green monster.

With the contact play on, Robinson Cano grounded back to the pitcher and Jackson was caught in a rundown that allowed Ackley to advance to third before Austin was tagged out for the first out of the inning.

Kendrys Morales got the Mariners on the board with a single to right center field, Ackley scored and Cano advanced to third. Kyle Seager followed Morales with a single down the third baseline that caromed of the wall, Cano scored and Morales was thrown out trying to advance from first to third on the single.

With Seager in scoring position, Logan Morrison continued his hot hitting lacing a line drive base hit to right field scoring Seager from second.

From the get go, it looked like as if Hisashi Iwakuma didn’t have a feel for any of his pitches. While he got Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz out, his pitches were left up, and they were getting hit, and hit hard.

With Brock Holt leading off the inning with a single, Yoenis Cespedis had an RBI single to left field scoring Holt from second. Then something completely un-Iwakuma happened, he hit Mike Napoli and Allen Craig in consecutive at bats to load the bases for Will Middlebrooks.

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Middlebrooks came into the game hitting below .200 but dont tell him that, he got a 2 run single to right field to tie the game at 3 all, he finished the game going 2-5 with 3 RBIs.

David Ortiz led off the bottom of the 3rd inning with a 9 pitch walk. Robinson Cano called time and started walking towards the dugout and he was replaced by Brad Miller at second.

Yoenis Cespedas continued his hot hitting since joining the Red Sox with a hard double high off the green monster, the Red Sox had runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs and Mike Napoli up at the plate.

With the infield playing back, Napoli hit a grounder up the middle that found Miller in the hole, the run scored while Napoli was thrown out at first, the Red Sox took the lead 4-3. Allen Craig had an infield single to a drawn in infield which led to Will Middlebrooks hitting a double down the left field line and thus ending Iwakuma’s night.

Hisashi Iwakuma finished going 2 1/3 inning giving up 6 hits, 5 runs, 1 walk, 1 strikeout and 2 HBPs. Clearly one of Iwakuma’s worst starts of the season if not his career.

Dominic Leone came into the game and did what this bullpen has been known to do throughout the season, shut the opposing team down. He stranded Craig at third and going into the top of the 4th inning the Mariners found themselves down 5-3.

The Mariners would score one in the 4th thanks to a sacrifice fly from Chris Denorfia. Kyle Seager led off the inning with a walk and advanced to third on a ground rule double from Logan Morrison.

The top of the 5th inning saw the Mariners take the lead and hold it for the win. Austin Jackson led off the inning with a single to right field. Dustin Ackley followed the single with a RBI triple to deep center field. Brad Miller, who replaced Cano earlier in the game hit a sacrifice fly to bring the score to 6-5.

The top of the 8th and top of the 9th had the Mariners score one run in each inning. In the 8th Morales led off with a bloop single to shallow left field. He advanced to 2nd on a passed ball and was pinch ran for by Endy Chavez. Chavez advanced to third on another passed ball and Seager smoked a fast ball the other way for an RBI single.

In the 9th, Dustin Ackley scored on an RBI double high off the wall from Brad Miller. The bottom of the 9th was heart wrenching to say the least with the M’s up 8-6.

Fernando Rodney came in and struck out the first hitter he faced after falling behind in the count 3-0. Mookie Betts hit a single to right field to bring the tying run to the plate. The pinch hitter, Daniel Nava was struck out in 5 pitches and here is when things get interesting.

With 2 outs, Rodney walked Brock Holt and completely forgot about the runners on 1st and 2nd letting them steal, so the tying runs were now in scoring position. Dustin Pedroia walked bringing Kelly Johnson to the plate. Falling behind 2-0, Rodney came back and struck out Kelly Johnson to end the game.

The bullpen went 6 2/3 innings today giving up 1 run from Charlie Furbush, 7 hits, 3 walks and 9 strike outs. Again this bullpen continues to show why they are the best in baseball.

Cano Update:

From Ryan Divish, beat writer for the Seattle Times, Robinson Cano had flu like symptoms that kept Logan Morrison out of the lineup in yesterdays game.

1-Ran for Morales, K in the 8th.

a-Struck out for Vazquez in the 9th.
1-Ran for Ortiz, D in the 6th.

BATTING
2B: Ackley (26, Webster), Morrison (12, Webster), Miller, B (10, Mujica).
3B: Ackley (3, Webster).
TB: Ackley 6; Jackson, A 2; Taylor, C; Morales, K 2; Seager 2; Morrison 3; Miller, B 2.
RBI: Morales, K (31), Seager 2 (80), Morrison (27), Denorfia (19), Ackley (54), Miller, B 2 (30).
2-out RBI: Morrison; Miller, B.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Taylor, C; Zunino; Chavez, En.
SF: Denorfia; Miller, B.
GIDP: Ackley.
Team RISP: 4-for-10.
Team LOB: 5.BASERUNNING
SB: Taylor, C (2, 2nd base off Hembree/Vazquez).
CS: Zunino (3, 2nd base by Hembree/Vazquez), Taylor, C (2, 3rd base by Hembree/Vazquez).
PO: Zunino (1st base by Vazquez).FIELDING
PB: Zunino (6).
DP: (Farquhar-Morrison).

BATTING
2B: Cespedes (30, Iwakuma), Middlebrooks (7, Iwakuma), Craig (19, Farquhar), Johnson, K (10, Furbush).
TB: Ortiz, D; Craig 3; Middlebrooks 3; Cespedes 4; Betts 2; Holt 2; Johnson, K 2.
RBI: Cespedes (85), Middlebrooks 3 (14), Napoli (47), Johnson, K (23).
2-out RBI: Cespedes; Middlebrooks 2.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Betts; Holt 2; Napoli; Craig; Johnson, K 2.
Team RISP: 6-for-19.
Team LOB: 15.BASERUNNING
SB: Betts (3, 3rd base off Rodney/Zunino), Holt (8, 2nd base off Rodney/Zunino).FIELDING
PB: Vazquez 2 (3).
DP: (Pedroia-Holt-Napoli).
Pickoffs: Vazquez (Zunino at 1st base).

Hembree pitched to 1 batter in the 7th.WP: Wilhelmsen.
HBP: Napoli (by Iwakuma), Craig (by Iwakuma).
Pitches-strikes: Iwakuma 67-48, Leone 42-24, Beimel 9-7, Farquhar 22-15, Furbush 11-10, Wilhelmsen 13-7, Rodney 34-18, Webster 79-50, Breslow 2-2, Hembree 25-10, Layne 24-14, Tazawa 6-4, Mujica 16-11.
Groundouts-flyouts: Iwakuma 4-0, Leone 3-1, Beimel 2-0, Farquhar 0-0, Furbush 0-0, Wilhelmsen 0-1, Rodney 0-0, Webster 3-3, Breslow 0-2, Hembree 1-0, Layne 2-1, Tazawa 2-0, Mujica 1-1.
Batters faced: Iwakuma 16, Leone 11, Beimel 3, Farquhar 6, Furbush 3, Wilhelmsen 3, Rodney 6, Webster 22, Breslow 2, Hembree 4, Layne 5, Tazawa 2, Mujica 5.
Inherited runners-scored: Leone 2-0, Farquhar 1-0, Wilhelmsen 1-0, Breslow 1-0, Layne 1-0, Tazawa 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Vic Carapazza. 1B: Pat Hoberg. 2B: Larry Vanover. 3B: Angel Hernandez.
Weather: 80 degrees, sunny.
Wind: 10 mph, R to L.
T: 4:07.
Att: 37,022.
Venue: Fenway Park.
August 24, 2014
Compiled by MLB Advanced Media