2012 Mariners Season Thread

[Edgartohof]

The 2012 Baseball Season is about to begin (quite early I might add). Unfortunately no TV or radio here on the East Coast but still very excited!!!

The Oakland A's get to "host" the Mariner's for a 2 game Series in Tokyo Japan before heading back home where the rest of the league will then begin the season.

Go Mariner's!!!!!

[Edgartohof]

Ichiro recorded the 1st hit of the 2012 Season, an infield single to the Shortstop off of A's pitcher Brandon McCarthy.

[Edgartohof]

Dustin Ackley hits the 1st HR of the 2012 season. It was a solo shot in the top of the 4th inning, also off Brandon McCarthy. This was also the first run of the season as well!!!

[Edgartohof]

So I know we are only halfway through the first game of the season but how long does Figgins have to continue to stink it up before he is out of here?

[Edgartohof]

And the Mariner's win the 2012 Season Opener!!! They beat the A's 3-1 on the strength of Ichiro, Ackley and Felix.

Ichiro went 4-5 with an 11th inning RBI single, Ackley knocked in the other 2 runs with a 4th inning solo HR and an 11th inning RBI double. Felix while somewhat shakey (lots of Balls and 2 HBP), was still quite effective and threw 8 innings of 1 run ball! He gave up 1 run off of 2 doubles in the 4th inning, otherwise only gave up 3 other hits, 0 walks while striking out 6!

Also let's give props to Brednan Ryan who hit the leadoff double in the 11th and was the go-ahead run that Ackley drove in.

[Joltin' Joe]

So I know we are only halfway through the first game of the season but how long does Figgins have to continue to stink it up before he is out of here?

And continue to hit leadoff thus more opportunities to make more outs

[Edgartohof]

Exactly. I say that if we are going to keep Figgins, move him to the 8 hole, move Ackley to #1 and Ichiro to the #2 hole and everyone else up a spot as well... or better yet, cut our losses now and get rid of him.

[Edgartohof]

More great pitching for the Mariner's in game 2, this time from Vargas.

He has kept the A's scoreless through 6 innings, giving up only 2 hits and 1 walk.

Colon has been pretty much spot on as well, his only real mistake gave us a HR by Smoak to put us up 1-0!

Still more game to go though!

[The Commissioner]

Right about now, I'm not looking too shabby for having drafted both Ichiro and Smoak for my Fantasy team

[Edgartohof]

Yeah, I have Felix and traded for Ichiro... Should be good!

[Blue387]

Why does Baseball Reference not mention Ackley's 2012 home run?

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pl...ckledu01.shtml

[Edgartohof]

BB-ref.com will start doing daily updates starting tomorrow I believe.

[dominik]

I think they should let alex liddi start at 3B. the italian seems to be a really good hitter. can't do any worse than figgins.

[Edgartohof]

The M's won last nights contest against the Oakland A's at their home opener, the final score was 7-3.
.
Vargas pitched well, his only mistake being launched 462 feet on a Cespedes 2-run HR. This was the young Cuban's 2nd HR of the season in 3 games so far. But the Mariner's who put up a 4 spot in the 4th against A's starter McCarthy, did enough damage to give them the lead for the game and continued to add to the lead throughout the game.

Figgins did a lot of damage at the top of the order and both he and Ackley (still batting #2) collected 3 hits apiece. Ichiro went hitless but took a walk and recorded an RBI and a run. Kyle Seager was 2-4 with 2 RBI as well. And the #8 and #9 hitters each also added 2 hits and 2 runs! Every Mariner's player reached base via a walk or hit except Catcher Miguel Olivo who was 0-5 last night with 2 SO, not that it mattered much as the rest of the team did their part.

[Edgartohof]

The final game of theie 2-game series is tonight in Oakland with Veteran Felix Hernandez going against long time veteran Bartolo Colon. Each pitcher was effective in their first appearances, each going 8 innings and only giving up 1 run apiece. Colon recorded a win for his start while Felix was given a No Decision...

As long as Felix can control some of the wildness he showed in his first start (he hit 2 batters), this should be a great game. In the end, as long as Cespedes is kept in the ball park, I think the M's slightly stronger offense should give them the W.

[Blue387]

Felix is awesome.

[The Korean]

How did Montero look as a catcher guys?

[Blue387]

Mariners lose a tough one to the Indians. League blows the save after Felix pitches a 12K gem.

[Edgartohof]

And then we have a perfect game thrown against us....

[Edgartohof]

Again I ask, how long do we keep Figgins? Not only should he be removed from the leadoff spot but from the team as a whole.

G        BA/ OBP/ SLG/ OPS
161	.259/.340/.306/.646
81	.188/.241/.243/.484	
16	.226/.279/.339/.618

He is hitting .235/.307/.289 since coming to the Mariners. That is over 250+ games... We cannot win with that production in the lineup, anywhere, especially not leading off. Trade him, drop him, whatever, just do something. 3 years and he cannot get it right, the time has come to get rid of him.

[Edgartohof]

Did you see that last night everybody? A wonderful performance all around. That is what we should be seeing more often!

A very good performance from Felix (a wierd aberation with on 2 K's on the night though) and a breakout game from the offense, headed up by the fact that one Chone Figgins was not in the leadoff role, not even in the lineup at all (thank goodness).

The offense was sparked by Dustin Ackley who was 3-6 with 1 run and 3 RBI. Ichiro and Montero each had 3 hits apiece as well and 2 hits apiece for Liddi and Saunders. Alex Liddi who started at 3B hit his 2nd HR of the season!

See what happens when Figgins is not there to provide a near automatic out... we win!

[Edgartohof]

In other news, it just came out that one Michael Pineda will be out for the rest of the season due to a torn labrum (I believe).

Considering Montero seems to be heating up with the bat, this trade really could work out in our favor.

I am sorry to hear about Pineda though as I really liked him and have high hopes for him, even not as a Mariner. Hopefully he will come back after surgery and rehab just as strong as before.

[Edgartohof]

After losing 4 in a row, including having a perfect game against them, the Mariner's have now won 3 straight to bring us back to .500 (10-10), tied with Oakland for 2nd in the division. Over the past 3 games, the M's have outscore their opponent (Detroit) 21-9.

Texas (who also happens to have the best record in the league) is on top of the division with a 15-4 record.

[Edgartohof]

The M's win it in extra innings last night thanks to Michael Saunders. Saunders had 2 HR in the game, including a 10th inning Grand Slam!

With Oakland winning as well yesterday, the M's are still tied with them for 2nd in the division (11-10). But hey, at least we are over .500! And only 4.5 games behind Texas.

And my personal favorite is that Pujols and the Angels are last in the division with the 2nd worst record in the AL!

[Edgartohof]

The M's are sliding again... 4 losses in a row.