Check out this week’s MLB Power Rankings……the Playoff races are heating up…who comes in at #1 this week…Click Here
August 4, 2011
Updated MLB Power Rankings
Check out the Latest edition of the MLB Power Rankings ….see who comes in at #1 this week!!…Click Here
July 26, 2011
M’s lose 16th straight…..Ouch…
July 25, 2011
15 Losses in a Row for M’s…up next The Yankees!!??
Mariners (43-58)…. 4th in AL West …..14.5 Games out of first place…Ouch!!
July 22, 2011
Mariners -Red Sox Preview
The Mariners are (43-55) …and have lost 12 in a row…Seattle opens a three-game set Friday night against surging Boston, winner of six straight at Fenway Park
July 20, 2011
The M’s drop one in the 14th
TORONTO (AP)
A pregame pep talk failed to fix the slumping Seattle Mariners.
Rajai Davis stole two bases before scoring on John McDonald’s sacrifice fly in the 14th inning and the Toronto Blue Jays beat Seattle 6-5 Tuesday night, extending the Mariners’ losing streak to 10 games.
It is Seattle’s longest slide since a 12-game skid in 2008.
Greg Halman hit a three-run homer and Brendan Ryan added a solo shot for the Mariners, who held a players-only meeting on the field before batting practice, but couldn’t stop their slide.
”It’s definitely frustrating,” Ryan said. ”We come out of the gates the right way: hungry. Then I don’t know, we just kind of fell asleep a bit there. They were making some plays but I think they were hungrier throughout the game.”
Seattle blew a 5-2 lead, stranded 10 and had two runners thrown out on the bases. Chone Figgins was picked off first in the eighth and Mike Carp was caught stealing after a leadoff double in the 11th.
”We made some mistakes on the basepaths that really hurt us,” manager Eric Wedge said.
Davis hit a one-out single off Jamey Wright (2-3) in the 14th and stole second and third before scoring on McDonald’s fly to center.
”I have my most fun on the bases,” Davis said. ”It’s just exciting being in that position with opportunities to help us win a game.”
Seattle’s players huddled in the outfield after emerging from the clubhouse for pregame drills, urging one another not to give up on the season.
”We’re still playing for something here, we’ve still got 70 games left,” Ryan said when asked about the message of the team meeting. ”Crazier things have happened.”
Activated from the disabled list before the game, right-hander Casey Janssen (3-0) pitched a scoreless inning for the win.
Six relievers combined to work seven scoreless innings as Toronto won for the sixth time in eight games.
Seattle came in hitting just .221, eight points lower than anyone else in baseball and 15 points worse than any other team in the AL. The Mariners had scored only two runs in their previous four games, and just 11 over the course of their nine-game skid, but turned that around against left-hander Brett Cecil.
July 18, 2011
Mariners drop 9th Straight
Rangers 3, Mariners 1
Matt Harrison continued Texas’ nearly perfect pitching, allowing just one run in 7 2/3 innings, Mitch Moreland hit a three-run homer and the Rangers won their 11th straight with a 3-1 win over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday. The Rangers’ win streak is the longest in baseball since Philadelphia’s 11-game streak last September and tied for second-best in team history. And in the process of running the streak to 11, Harrison (8-7) and the Rangers swept the M’s and handed them their 9th straight loss and puts them 11.5 games out of first place.
July 13, 2011
Mariners begin 2nd Half of Season
A.L WEST STANDINGS
Rangers ……51- 41 .554 – (8-2)… W7
Angels…. 50- 42 .543 1.0 (8-2)… W4
Mariners… 43- 48 .473 7.5 (4-6)…. L5
Athletics…. 39- 53 .424 12.0 (3-7)…. L4
MARINERS NEXT 13 GAMES
4 @ Safeco vs. Texas
3 @ Toronto
3 @ Boston
3 @ New York Yankees
July 12, 2011
All-Star Break MVP’s
A.L. MVP
Jose Bautista, third base, Blue Jays.
Adrian Gonzalez, first base, Red Sox.
Miguel Cabrera, first base, Tigers.
Normally MVPs play for contenders and perform under pennant-race pressure. The Blue Jays already are out of contention, but Bautista – the league leader in OPS and home runs – is just too dominant to ignore. He gets extra credit for moving from right field to third base to benefit the team.
N.L. MVP
Jose Reyes, shortstop, Mets
Matt Kemp, center field, Dodgers
Lance Berkman, right field, Cardinals
Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder also is worthy of the top three,
Reyes over Kemp is a close call – both had breathtaking first halves – but the Mets are surprisingly above .500 in large part because of Reyes’ electric performance.
A.L. Cy Young
Jered Weaver, Angels
Justin Verlander, Tigers
Josh Beckett, Red Sox
You know what? It’s not even that close.
Weaver leads the league in ERA by a healthy 0.40 earned runs per nine innings, and he also leads in fielding-independent pitching (FIP), a statistic that measures a pitcher’s effectiveness based on plays that do not involve fielders.
Check this out – Weaver was 6-0 with a 0.99 ERA in his first six starts, 4-0 with a 0.90 ERA in his last five and 1-4 with a 3.29 ERA in between.
NL Cy Young
Jair Jurrjens, Braves
Roy Halladay, Phillies
Cole Hamels, Phillies
As always, a strong case can be made for Halladay, the league leader in FIP and strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Halladay’s ERA, however, is more than a half-run per nine innings higher than Jurrjens’ league-leading 1.87 mark…Don’t overlook Hamels, my preseason choice. His opponents’ OPS is the lowest in the league
A.L. Rookie
Michael Pineda, right-handed pitcher, Mariners
Jeremy Hellickson, right-handed pitcher, Rays
Mark Trumbo, first baseman, Angels
Pineda was sixth in the league in ERA before a rough start against the Angels on Saturday took him from 2.58 to 3.03.
Hellickson is not far behind Pineda in ERA, and Trumbo is tied with Nationals second baseman Danny Espinosa for the major-league lead among rookies with 16 home runs.
N.L. Rookie
Craig Kimbrel, Braves
Freddie Freeman, Braves
Danny Espinosa, Nationals
Kimbrel is the exception, leading the majors with 28 saves (in 33 chances) and setting the rookie record for most saves by the All-Star break.
Freeman, sporting an .806 OPS, could wind up a worthy challenger to his teammate. Espinosa is batting only .242, but he draws walks and hits for power; his OPS is a healthy .792.
A.L. Manager
Joe Maddon, Rays
Manny Acta, Indians
Eric Wedge, Mariners
Could go either way on Maddon and Acta.
Maddon had to piece together an entirely new bullpen and cope with all of the other Rays’ defections, though the team certainly is not without talent.
Acta, like Clint Hurdle with the Pirates, demonstrated strong leadership while transforming the culture of a downtrodden low-revenue franchise.
As for Wedge, the Mariners were .500 before losing their last five games entering the break. Don’t ask how; the M’s pitch like crazy, but their offense stinks.
