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Mariners Game Recap: M’s Lose Game and Robinson Cano

By Brian Helberg

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2. 62. 4. 102. Final

The Seattle Mariners (34-41) suffered a painful loss on Saturday evening in Anaheim. Not only did the Los Angeles Angels (38-37) even the series with a 4-2 win, but Robinson Cano had to leave the game following being hit in the head in the M’s dugout with an errant throw. Garrett Richards (8-5, 3.54 ERA) shut down the Mariners en route to earning his 8th win of the season. J.A. Happ (3-5, 3.89 ERA) showed well at times, but took the loss for Seattle. Huston Street tiptoed out of danger in the 9th to pick up his 21st save of the season.

J.A. Happ entered tonight’s game losing his last 3 outings and posting an ERA north of 6, and his struggles continued against the Halos on Saturday. The 32-year-old southpaw allowed 4 runs on 5 hits across 7 innings this evening. Happ struck out 6 and walked 2. He surrendered a 1st inning 2-run homer, and that proved very costly. A month ago, Happ looked like prime trade bait, but his stock has plummeted since. He has been a mediocre pitcher for the majority of his career, and his strong start appears to have been a mirage at this point.

Garrett Richards was very effective against the M’s on Saturday, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits across 7.2 innings of work. Richards had great bite to his breaking ball, and tallied 6 punch outs on the night. The 27-year-old right-hander showed no ill-effects from offseason knee surgery, working into the 8th inning.

Seattle’s offense was paced by Mike Zunino today in Anaheim. The Mariners’ backstop went 2 for 4 with a home run, 1 RBI and 2 runs scored. Zunino was an unlikely catalyst, but it appears all the hard work he is putting in with Edgar Martinez is paying off. Brad Miller had his second consecutive multi-hit game, finishing 2 for 4. Martinez seems to be having a positive effect on the M’s young hitters, and I hope Zunino and Miller can keep rising like the mercury in the thermometer this summer.

The Angels only had 6 hits on Saturday, but they managed to scratch across 4 runs. Kole Calhoun got the party started in the home half of the 1st inning. Following a Dan Robertson leadoff single, Calhoun launched a 2-run shot deep to right-center field. Johnny Giavotella came through with an RBI single with the bases loaded in the 7th, and Carlos Perez hit a chopper to shortstop that plated a run to extend the Halos’ lead.

The big story of the game revolved around Robinson Cano and his noggin. The Angels were warming up prior to the start of the 7th inning and an errant Taylor Featherston throw hit Cano square in the forehead. Just when things were starting to turn around, Cano get’s hit in the face with Featherston’s ball. The All Star second baseman had to leave the game with a head contusion, and the bump on his head was visible immediately after the incident. Cano passed all concussion tests, and he hopes to return to the M’s lineup tomorrow afternoon. Seeing as he might have a hard time finding a hat that fits over the golf ball sized bump, I find it extremely unlikely he plays tomorrow.

Thankfully, tonight’s loss did not hurt the Mariners in the American League West standings. The M’s remain in 4th place, 8.0 games back of the first place Houston Astros.

The Seattle Mariners (34-41) will battle the Los Angeles Angels (38-37) tomorrow afternoon in the rubber match of the 3-game weekend series. First pitch is scheduled for 12:35 pm from Angel Stadium in Anaheim. Felix Hernandez (10-4, 3.24 ERA) will toe the rubber in the series finale for Seattle, and Hector Santiago (4-4, 2.68 ERA) will get the ball for the Halos. Root Sports Northwest will carry the game live locally, and MLB.tv subscribers can watch worldwide on connected devices.

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