Mariners Notes:
This was a big game for the Mariners who were rebounding off an 0 and 2 weekend. They were facing the formidable Astros who dominated the Mariners in a pre-season scrimmage, and who had just beaten the upstart Mets the day before. It didn’t look promising as the Ms went down with barely a whimper in the 1st. Then when the Astros came up, they got a quick run off of the Ms starter, Aaron L., when the lead-off batter got on, on an IF miscue. Then two walks and an IF single later, the bases were juiced. But Aaron hung in there and induced a come-backer for the 1-2-3 DP, with a great gun by Luke, and a better stretch by Christian at 1B.

Karsten got it started with a base hit in the 2nd, but was picked off by a nifty move. The usual Mariners small-ball didn’t seem to be working, and luckily, we were aided by three walks and a hit by Aaron that forced in a run to tie the game. Trey and Xhjyl did their part by pushing the count to the limit in their at-bats. After another walk that gave us a 2 to 1 lead, the Astros changed pitchers, which left it up to Luke, who’s been upset at himself for his lack of hitting perfection this season. Luke promptly hit a 2-1 pitch into RC to drive in 2 to get the monkey off his back. Greg then finished off the hit parade with a double to make it 5 to 1 Mariners. The Astros showed they weren’t going anywhere as the led off with a deep double to LC. Thus, it was a fair trade that Alex at SS and Karsten at 3B both made consecutive put-outs that allowed the runner to score, especially as Aaron wrapped it up by striking out the remaining batter.

It stayed close as the Astros shut-down the Ms in the 3rd. The Astros then threatened early with a lead-off smash, which was neutralized by another laser strike by Luke for the 2-6 put-out. After a walk and some steals, Aaron then got the Astros clean-up batter to ground out to 1B, which allowed the runner to score, which was fortunate as it was the only Astros run, bringing it to 5 to 3.

Greg played the role of a lead-off batter in the 4th by drawing a walk and stealing his way to 3B. Alex then broke out of his mini-slump by ripping one up the middle for a ribbie. Karsten hustled his way to 1B on a dropped third K, which then set the stage for a Christian three-run inside-the-parker that took every ounce of lungs and speed in his lanky frame to make it around. Aaron got a hit to start it up again, and Trey almost delivered as he sliced a liner to 3B, who made a great grab to knock it down, then recovering to fire it to beat out Trey by a step. The Astros continued like clock-work as they notched a run in their half to remind the Ms they were within striking distance. With the score 9 to 4, Luke pulled the hat trick on laser strikes from catcher as he nailed a runner trying to steal 3B. After a nifty defensive grab by Sam at 2B and another K from Aaron, the Ms put up some insurance runs with 4 back to back hits by Greg, Alex, Karsten and Christian. In the bottom of the 5th, the Mariners finally failed to contain the Astros clean-up batter as he hit a deep triple. However, a good relay by Greg to Alex made it close at 3B. Aaron then finished up his 5 innings of solid work with the help of Luke, who made his fourth laser strike to 3B so early, that it led to a 2-3-6-5-4-6 run-down to end it. The Ms were shut out in the 6th, but Thomas W. had a shot with a wicked hop that was snared by the SS that showed his offensive promise once he decides to show up earlier for warm-ups than 5 minutes before game-time.

Now, it was up to Luke to relieve Aaron. Once again, the weight of Luke’s own world rested on his shoulder as he didn’t pitch a no-hitter in his last outing. But with 11 pitches, Luke took some of the weight off as he struck out the side. Greg, Alex, Christian and Aaron finished off an impressive hitting day with three more insurance runs. And then it was Luke who only needed 7 more pitches to wrap up a good day for the Mariners.

Hats off to Jesse W. and Will M. who came out to cheer on their teammates. Although it’s still at least two weeks away before we get them back, the extra playing time for the 10 healthy Mariners has allowed them to step up and realize how well they can play without two of their key players. The next key will now be whether or not enough of these 10 players will be around so we don’t have to play with eight ever again as Trey and Greg still have blisters and cramps from last Sunday.