Results tagged “ichiro”

With Wednesday’s announcement that Ken Griffey Jr. would rejoin the Mariners for one more year, we’re not only seeing the return of a Mariner icon, but the revival of the best Seattle bromance since Bill Gates and Paul Allen.

The M's win 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth on Ichiro's two-out walk-off single -- Ich's 148th hit of the season, which puts him exactly at the pace of his record-setting 262-hit season in 2004. Washburn allowed just 1 run in 7 IP in what may have been his last start as a Mariner, but didn't get the win due to a bullpen collapse. M's 52-48, 7.5 GB. Box score. Next game Weds. vs. TOR, 1:40 p.m.; Rowland-Smith vs. Halladay.

Now this is just getting ridiculous. The M's get blown out for the fourth consecutive game, this time with King Felix on the mound. Hernandez had his worst outing of the year, allowing 7 runs and 11 hits in 5.2 IP. A makeshift lineup -- with Branyan and Lopez both out with bad backs -- didn't record an extra base hit. Ichiro had 3 hits, raising his average to .363. M's 51-48, 7.5 GB. Box score. Next game Tues vs. TOR, 7:10 p.m.; Washburn vs. Rzepczynski.

What team can get thoroughly outclassed, yet consider their game a success? The Sounders, if they draw 65,000 fans to Qwest Field -- most of them in Sounders green -- for a game against international powerhouse Chelsea FC.

"Listen, we f***ed up. We lost Ichiro."

No doubting it: The Seattle Mariners are legitimate pennant contenders. The Seattle Mariners are legitimate pennant contenders. THE SEATTLE MARINERS ARE LEGITIMATE PENNANT CONTENDERS!!! Sorry, we like writing that so much we had to do it thrice.

A much-needed win at Yankee Stadium gives the M's a .500 record on their road trip from hell, which now proceeds to Boston. After Jason Vargas left because he was suffering from flu, the bullpen (Batista, Lowe, Aardsma) threw five scoreless innings. Ichiro continued his mastery of C.C. Sabathia with two hits, including a 2-RBI double. M's 40-38, 3.5 GB. Box score. Next game Fri @ BOS, 4:05 p.m.; King Felix vs. Wakefield.

The M's finished the homestand with their highest-scoring game in two months. Ichiro started it off with a leadoff homer, Rob Johnson had a three-run double, and the M's chased Padres starter Wade LeBlanc by the 2nd. Jarrod Washburn pitched six strong innings to get his fourth win of the year. M's 37-35, 2 GB. Box score. Next game Friday @ L.A. Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.; Vargas vs. Kershaw.

Our M's have climbed back to the .500 mark. Thanks--both for the season and for the game, go to the two-man wrecking crew of Ichiro and Branyan. Ich had two more hits to raise his average to .360, and Branyan had three ribbies including a 450-foot solo homer, the sixth-longest in Camden Yards history. Another nice job by the 'pen, as Aardsma gets his 11th save. M's 30-30, 4.5 GB. Box score. Next game Friday @ COL, 6:10 p.m.; Washburn vs. Jimenez.

A truly horrific performance by the Mariner "offense," which is succeeding only in offending its fans. Got this text midway through the game: "HIT THE BALL!" Orioles starter Bergesen, who started the season with a loss to the Durham Bulls, shut the M's out for eight innings. The only bright spots: Ichiro, predictably, who had two hits, and Brandon Morrow, who threw 2.1 scoreless in relief. Box score. Next game Weds. @ BAL, King Felix vs. Jeremy Guthrie.

Playing as the "Marineros" on "Salute to Latin American Baseball Day," the M's had their own "Salute to Elderly Ballplayers." Ichiro drove in the first run and scored the other on a Griffey opposite-field double. Jarrod Washburn allowed just one run in six innings, but Chris Jakubauskas poached the win in relief, his fourth (Wash only has three wins). Box score. Next game Sun. vs. MIN, 1:10 p.m.; Bedard vs. Kevin Slowey.

Well, you got your money's worth if you went to today's game, and out of one half-inning alone. The top of the tenth included a web gem for the ages in Franklin Gutierrez' home-run robbing catch, a botched suicide squeeze, and a Wladimir Balentien error that looked like, according to Seattlest David "a guy trying to catch a fly ball on the first day of 11th grade gym class." That error allowed the winning run to score. Also, Ichiro struck out to end the game, also ending his franchise-record hitting streak at 27. Box score. Next game Saturday vs. MIN, 1:10 p.m.; Wash vs. Nick Blackburn.

Blah, blah, M's win, but what we really care about is...Griffey homered! A one-handed line drive that barely cleared the right-field wall, in a game that was pretty much over, but we will take it! The four-bagger was one of three extra-base hits for Junior, his most in a game since June '06. Erik Bedard pitched into the seventh, then turned the game over to Sean White, who escaped an icky jam. R. Branyan, in his first game as the #2 hitter, was 2-4 with 2 R and 2 RBI. And, last but not least, Ichiro extended his hitting streak to 26 with an infield hit in the first, breaking his own franchise record. Box score. Next game Wednesday vs. BAL, 7:10 p.m.; Vargas vs. Brad Bergesen.

Two Mariners are virtually tied in fan voting for the third starting outfield spot on the American League All-Star team. Ichiro, who's on a 25-game hitting streak (a hit tonight would break his own franchise record), has 481,263 votes. Ken Griffey Jr. has 452,849. Both men have won All-Star Game MVP awards. You can vote online or at the park. Voting ends July 2, the game is July 14.

An early deficit left the M's odds stacked, but Ichiro's two homers brought them back. New closer Aardsma recorded the save, as the M's rise from their losing streak grave. Box score. Next game Saturday vs. Boston, 7:10 p.m.; Garrett Olson vs. Josh Beckett.

Both Detroit runs score on a comically inaccurate throw by Ichiro; the Mariners' offense can't do anything against Tigers' fireballer Edwin Jackson. Next game: Tomorrow, 1:10 p.m. vs. Detroit, Carlos Silva vs. Rick Porcello.

Chris Jakubauskas, making his first MLB start at age 30 (as his parents looked on in matching personalized jerseys), was the hard-luck loser, after reliever Roy Corcoran fell flat in a five-run Angels sixth. Angels starter Joe Saunders, featuring a fantastic change-up, allowed only three singles over seven innings--one to Ichiro, which gave him the all-time record for hits by a Japanese player. Next game: Tomorrow vs. Detroit at 7:10pm, King Felix vs. Justin Verlander.

Ken Griffey, Jr.,'s 400th homer as a Mariner gave the M's the lead, and Ichiro's grand salami broke it open. (Welcome back, Ich!) The homer was Ichiro's 3,085th hit between the Japanese and U.S. leagues, tying him for the most by a Japanese player. Jarrod Washburn gets the win, the 100th of his career--all these milestones!--with a six-inning, two-run performance. The only bad news: Kenji Johjima left the game with hamstring tightness in the fourth. Next game: Tomorrow vs. Angels at 7:10 p.m., Chris Jakubauskas (replacing the injured Ryan Rowland-Smith) vs. Joe Saunders.

Should you choose to believe the baseball reportage of the Seattle Times' Geoff Baker--and you don't really have a choice, since he's the only Seattle reporter covering the team full-time--you'll accept that "team chemistry" is a critical facet of baseball success.

Erik Bedard and Adrian Beltre will probably be traded by July 31. Hopefully, Jarrod Washburn will go as well. They don’t even have to trade him; they can just leave him behind the counter at a Panda Express, or pretend to throw a tennis ball and drive off when he tries to find it.

The Seattle Sounders will announce the signing of Swedish winger Freddie Ljungberg later today at Qwest Field. The 31-year-old is reportedly signing a deal which will pay him $2.5 million a year for two years. Ljungberg will become the Sounders "Designated Player" which by MLS rules, allows each team an exemption from the league's salary cap.

We knew that the Boys of SoDo had lost their mojo this summer. But we didn't realize how bad things really were at Safeco, especially concerning everyone's favorite nihonjin.

As the MLB trade deadline passed this afternoon, Seattlest was warmed by the cozy, reassuring feeling we get this time of year when the Mariners steadfastly refuse to buckle under pressure (logic?) and break up our boys of summer via trade. Doing nothing trade-wise has become a summertime tradition here dating back to the "Stand Pat" era of Pat Gillick right on through to today. (Sorry, Arthur Rhodes for a case of Vanilla Ice CDs doesn't count.) It's as 'Seattle' as SeaFair and Ivar's. But we predicted all of this weeks ago. PS: Apparently Junior never loved us after all, opting to be traded to the playoff contending WhiteSox rather than returning 'home'.

Our Mariners begin the second half of the 2008 season hoping to avoid the history books. No team in history has lost 100 games in a season while fielding a team with a payroll over $100 million. (For that kind of cash, we could buy TWO hoops teams.)

ART FORUM: Art critic Rachel Kushner has written a novel, Telex From Cuba. It starts out like a painting, which only makes sense, considering. You can read the first chapter, or just head to Elliott Bay tonight and let her read it to you.

HAVE SOME FAITH: George Michael wrote songs that informed the sexuality of millions of young girls around the world—songs that went on to become gay anthems, long before he came out. The 25Live Tour promises to be the hottest, funnest, gayest, screamy-est concert Key Arena has seen all year. Wave to this Seattlest who will be sitting in the second row.