Mariners Marinate Taters, Savor The Taste of Victory and Silliness
Yesterday, the Mariners won in convincing fashion against the Yankees. If I could sum up the affair in one word, this would be the word: RAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUL. I realize that the appropriate number of U's is up for debate. What isn't up for debate, however, is the fact that Raul Ibanez continued to flex his Yankee Stadium Muscles yesterday by hitting both a grand slam and a two-run dinger. Thus, RAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUL.
The rest of the Mariners lineup didn't do too shabby, either. Kyle Seager also joined the home run party in the sixth with a three-run shot, and the M's scored a total of 12 runs on 16 hits in this rout of the Yankees. The real turning point of the game was when Brendan Ryan came up in the top of the ninth as the only starter who hadn't gotten a hit. Dave Sims mentioned this fact on the broadcast, and then Ryan promptly reached base on a soft single to third. I don't think I'd ever been happier for Brendan Ryan than I was at that point. This season has been another struggle for him with the bat, so it was great to see him join in on the fun of a real-life Mariners offensive explosion. From Greg Johns:
Every Mariners starter had at least one hit, and the last man on board, shortstop Brendan Ryan, was grinning ear to ear after his infield single in the ninth let him join the hit parade.
"I would have risked being on crutches the rest of my life for that hit," said Ryan, who is struggling at .133 for the season. "This was great, especially here in New York. I don't know what it is -- silliness just seems to happen here. It's just never an easy win, so to explode like that in the first, especially the kind of game Raul had and how everybody feels toward him, just makes it feel that much better.
The offense wasn't the whole story for the Mariners last night. Hisashi Iwakuma had another fine outing the mound, holding the Yankees to just 2 runs in 7 innings. Felix and Iwakuma sure have packed a formidable one-two punch this season. What a far cry from the beginning of last year, when Iwakuma was just sort of floating around the pitching staff, barely being used. So far in 2013, he's been one of the top pitchers in the league, sporting a 1.54 ERA and getting through at least 6 innings in all but one start this season (when he had to be taken out early because his blister was giving him trouble). Here's hoping that Iwakuma keeps up the A++++++++ work as the M's No. 2 this season!
Other important things from this game:
The Yankees were getting blown out, so shortstop Alberto Gonzalez pitched the ninth after the Mariners got a couple more runners on. The game went from wonderful to transcendent. Vernon Wells played second base. The game went from transcendent to absolutely unforgettable.
Brendan Ryan mentioned in his quote above that "silliness just seems to happen [in New York]." During the game, ROOT Sports showed footage of some Mariners bullpen characters + Brandon Maurer hanging out in the MLB Fan Cave. Some appropriately silly screencaps:
The Mariners have won 4 out of their last 5 series. They have a chance to win yet another (and get within 1 game under .500!) with a victory today against the Yankees. Fingers crossed for more silliness!
Also, the Giants played a baseball game, but it was awful, so let's not even go there okay.











