Tag: Seattle Mariners

Kenley Jansen blew another save to ruin an epic Braves comeback and Brian Snitker still defended him

It doesn’t make sense.

It was easy to miss amid all the Week 1 NFL action, but the Atlanta Braves and Seattle Mariners played one of the wilder games of the MLB season on Sunday.

With the Braves trailing by four runs and down to their final strike, Atlanta had a five-run, two-out rally to astonishingly take the lead on the Mariners in the ninth. They just needed closer Kenley Jansen to pitch a clean bottom half to leave Seattle with an improbable series win.

Jansen would give Atlanta anything but that.

After getting the first out in the ninth, Jansen gave up a pair of home runs — one to Julio Rodriguez and a walk-off shot to Eugenio Suarez — as the Mariners escaped with an 8-7 win.

Now, the Braves acquired Kenley Jansen in the offseason because they believed that the longtime Dodgers closer had the ability to take Atlanta’s bullpen to the next level. They demoted Will Smith to a set-up role before trading him at the deadline, but as Jansen started to struggle, the acquisition of Raisel Iglesias seemed to signal uncertainty about Jansen.

You just wouldn’t pick up on that notion by hearing what manager Brian Snitker had to say after the game.

When asked about Jansen’s latest blown save, Snitker defended his closer and pointed out that Jansen leads the league in saves. And sure, Jansen does lead the league in saves — he’s also second in blown saves.

But just like pitcher win-loss record, that stat can be deceptive as Jansen has still allowed runs in seven of those saves. The fact is that in Jansen’s past seven appearances, he has an 11.12 ERA with three homers and seven earned runs allowed. He’s blown three saves in that span and appears to be getting worse with each appearance.

In a pennant race with the now-NL East-leading New York Mets, a dependable closer is key. So while Snitker wasn’t going to throw Jansen under the bus to the media, Braves fans were still frustrated with the latest defense of Jansen.

Seahawks and Mariners showing each other some love

Seattle’s two most prominent professional teams are giving each other plenty of acknowledgement online.

Seahawks football is right around the corner with an appointment against the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football, but baseball is the talk of the town in the Emerald City right now. The Seahawks’ neighbors to the south of Lumen Field, the Mariners, are in the midst of one of their best seasons in the last 20 years. Seattle’s professional teams have always had a supportive bond, and right now, that bond is on full display.

It started on when Seahawks tight end Will Dissly ended his press conference with an important announcement. Seattle’s athletes have never been shy about dipping their toes into the political scene, and Dissly took the time for a crucial midterm election update.

In today’s divided political climate, Mitch Haniger might be one of the few who can garner true bipartisan support, especially with his high caliber of play. Since returning from injury, Haniger has resumed his typical production, including hitting a walk-off single to defeat the Cleveland Guardians last weekend.

Of course, what true-to-the-blue Seattle fan could vote against a man wearing such a stylish Seahawks shirt.

Following the Mariners’ sweep of the Detroit Tigers, the team boarded the plane with a theme of football jerseys. Haniger was not alone in his support for the Seahawks. Pitcher Matt Boyd, who grew up in the Seattle area, made his debut for the Mariners and can be seen wearing the retro Steve Largent jersey.

Additionally, fellow Seattle-kid Jake Lamb is behind Haniger wearing another retro Seahawks look.

But of course, the player who will catch the eye of all the 12’s is most assuredly rookie phenom Julio Rodriguez wearing a DK Metcalf jersey.

This did not go unnoticed by the Seahawks star receiver, who shared support for the centerfielder on his Instagram story.

There is little doubt the two biggest stars in the Seattle sports landscape are DK Metcalf and Julio Rodriguez. With both of them signing incredibly lucrative extensions this summer, the 12th Man will have plenty of opportunities to watch both players dominate their respective sports for years to come.

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The Mariners’ Sam Haggerty climbed netting to nearly make an unreal catch and everyone made Spider-Man jokes

An amazing attempt at a catch by Haggerty.

You had to figure this was going to be tried by a Major Leaguer at some point with the protective nets that surround fields these days.

Seattle Mariners utility man Sam Haggerty tracked a foul ball hit toward the third base seats and actually CLIMBED THE NETTING to make the catch. But as he landed on his back, the ball popped loose. Although the umpire ruled it was an out at first, replay overturned it.

But that still was an unreal attempt to climb the netting and grab it, and of course there were so many Spider-Man jokes made after:

Tras pegarle y hacer foul, Eugenio Suarez hizo dominadas con una pelota y todos quedaron asombrados

Claro, intenten pegarle a una pelota de foul en el aire y después hagan dominadas con ella como si fuera soccer al siguiente minuto. ¡Vean qué fácil es! En serio, eso fue lo que hizo Eugenio Suarez de los Seattle Mariners el miércoles en la noche, …

Claro, intenten pegarle a una pelota de foul en el aire y después hagan dominadas con ella como si fuera soccer al siguiente minuto. ¡Vean qué fácil es!

En serio, eso fue lo que hizo Eugenio Suarez de los Seattle Mariners el miércoles en la noche, ¡y fue lo más cool!

Le pegó a una pelota que salió volando por arriba de su cabeza, nunca la perdió de vista, la siguió toda la trayectoria. Después, la “cachó” con la rodilla como si estuviera jugando hacky, la botó y no la dejó caer pegándole con el otro pie y la mandó al aire como si estuviera pateando un penal al dugout.

La multitud y todos se volvieron locos:

¡Whoa!

Traducción: El hermoso juego.

 

Traducción: Eugenio Suarez pudo haber escogido el deporte equivocado. 

 

¡Las reacciones!

Traducción: Eso fue increíble.

 

Traducción: ¡Wow!

 

Traducción: Eugenio Suarez, jugador de soccer profesional.

 

 

Artículo traducido por Ana Lucía Toledo

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Eugenio Suarez casually played soccer with a foul ball right after hitting it and had everyone in awe

What a move!

Oh sure, you try hitting a foul ball straight up in the air and then juggle it like it was a soccer ball in the next second. See how easy it is!

Seriously, though, that’s what the Seattle Mariners’ Eugenio Suarez did on Wednesday night, and it’s super cool.

He hit a ball that went over his head, which he immediately tracked by watching it. Then, he bumped it with his knee like it was a hacky sack, booted it with the cleat on his other foot, and then sent it flying like a penalty kick to the dugout.

The crowd and the booth loved it:

Ichiro Suzuki’s induction into the Mariners’ Hall of Fame was a perfect celebration of the MLB legend

Ichiro deserves ALL the flowers.

Between Japan and the United States, Ichiro Suzuki was a professional baseball player for almost three decades. Widely regarded for his longevity, dependability and for being one of the best pure hitters of all time — Suzuki is a living baseball legend.

Suzuki spent most of his career playing with the Mariners. In his time in the Pacific Northwest, Suzuki became a Seattle sports icon and one of the best all-around superstars in MLB history. After playing his last few games in his native Japan, Suzuki’s storybook career ended roughly three years ago.

On Saturday evening, before a game against the Guardians, the Mariners paid tribute to Suzuki by inducting him into the team’s Hall of Fame. But that wasn’t all they did on “Ichiro Weekend.”

They had a custom-made ball with a special “Ichiro” icon:

They also filmed an awesome video where various other Seattle sports figures talked about Suzuki the player:

And when it came time for Suzuki to stand in front of a podium and say a few appreciative remarks about his new honor — the atmosphere in Seattle was positively electric:

Wow. Listen to the roar of that crowd before Suzuki even has a chance to speak. What’s up, Seattle, indeed!

Some have surmised that Suzuki’s induction into the Mariners Hall of Fame is a likely precursor to a place in Cooperstown. He isn’t eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame until 2025. When talking about the story of baseball, you can’t tell it without Suzuki.

Let’s be candid: Suzuki is a lock.

Seattle’s George Kirby made some wild MLB history with his first 24 pitches against the Nationals

What an incredible way to start a game.

There are a lot of weird Major League Baseball records out there that I either don’t know exist or wouldn’t even think to know exist. Baseball is just a beautiful game where lots of weird things can happen.

This morning I learned about one of those records I had never thought of before and the more I think about it the more I think this accomplishment is one of the coolest I’ve see in a while.

So here’s what happened: Seattle Mariners pitcher George Kirby threw 24 straight strikes in his start Wednesday against the Nationals. That broke a previous record of 21 strikes, which was. done by Joe Musgrove for Pittsburgh in 2018 and Brett Cecil for St. Louis in 2017.

That’s a lot of strikes in a row without throwing a ball!

Check this out:

Kirby gave up five hits and one run during that stretch but only allowed that one run in seven innings of work. The Mariners gave up 2 runs in the bottom of the ninth to lose the game, but whatever, this was some cool history made by Kirby.

Twitter agreed:

We have a new nominee for the worst missed call by a MLB home plate ump

What are we even doing, MLB?

It’s been a rough year for the boys in blue working Major League Baseball games this season. Way too many of MLB’s umps have had embarrassing moments that have led to fans begging commissioner Rob Manfred to finally bring in robot umps and put an end to all of this madness.

If you needed any more convincing that robot umps should be the way then let me show you a pitch from the ninth inning of last night’s Mariners-Angels game that was basically right down the middle but called a ball.

Home plate ump Jeff Nelson just sat there and didn’t move his arm to call a strike. Instead, this was a ball:

Not great!

That was just as bad as this one from June:

Twitter had reactions:

A MLB ump somehow called a walk after only three balls and fans were rightfully livid

What was this ump thinking?

Yoooooo, Major League Baseball. What’s going on with your umps this year? The dudes in blue have struggled a lot this season and hopefully they don’t end up playing a big role in games that matter down the stretch, especially in the playoffs.

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, including a 4-strike strike out, a home plate ump in last night’s Mariners-Angels game steps up and hands you something you never thought you’d witness – a 3-ball walk. I know what you’re thinking right now – how in the world could that happen, especially at the major league level!?

This… this is how it could happen:

First pitch: ball (1-0). Second pitch: strike (1-1). Third pitch: strike (1-2). Fourth pitch: ball (2-2). Ump then changes count to 3-1. Fifth pitch: ball and a walk that confuses only the announcers.

Seriously, how was nobody else on the field or in the dugouts confused by this? How did they all just let it happen, especially in a tie game in the ninth inning!? The Mariners, by the way, went on to score four times after that and won the game 6-2

That was all just soooooo bad.

Twitter agreed.

Yankees’ slump is sending their World Series odds in the wrong direction. Buy now

It’s time to buy low on the Yankees.

The New York Yankees sure don’t look like anybody’s future title-winning team right now. After holding down one of the two best records in the majors for most if not all of the season, they’ve seemingly just forgot how to play.

New York has a 7-11 record since the All-Star break and is just 1-6 in its last seven games, including a five-game losing streak. The Yankees even forgot how to run bases in Tuesday’s loss to the Mariners.

As a result of the skid, their odds to win the World Series have tumbled. They went from +350 at the start of August — second-shortest behind the Dodgers — to +450 ahead of Wednesday’s game. Those Tipico Sportsbook odds now have them a distant third behind the Dodgers (+320) and cross-town rival Mets (+350).

They took a similar slide at other sportsbooks.

However, this little slump isn’t a reason to sell your Yankees stock. Rather, it’s a perfect opportunity to buy their futures at odds longer than we’ve seen since June.

Looking at how they’ve performed, particularly since the start of August, there really isn’t one particular problem area holding them back. They’ve seen good pitching and good offense in spurts, and simply haven’t been able to put the two together at the same time.

They lost Tuesday’s game 1-0, squandering a 13-inning gem by Gerrit Cole and the bullpen. But before you blame the offense, they scored nine runs in each of the previous two games. They won one but lost another because they allowed 12 runs. This isn’t a Marlins situation, where the team simply can’t score. And the pitching as a whole hasn’t been good of late, but most of the same arms are still there from earlier in the season.

The delayed return of starter Luis Severino from the injured list is certainly a concern, especially after New York traded Jordan Montgomery at the deadline. But as long as the Yankees have a healthy rotation going into the postseason, I trust the law of averages to balance things out. With so much talent, they’ll be as competitive as anybody.

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