Solid pitching and waiting for the A’s to implode—such has been the formula for success for the Mariners in their first two games this season.
The first part of that equation was Jason Vargas’ impeccable performance on the mound Saturday night that kept the M’s in the game. Showing impressive command of his pitches, Vargas nearly rivaled King Felix’s gem Friday night. He mixed his different pitches with success and kept the A’s off balance all night.
In his 6.2 innings of work, Vargas held Oakland to one run on five hits, notably striking out six A’s batters and walking only one.
With the starting rotation littered with question marks past Felix (ie. Bedard’s health) Vargas helped quell doubts by delivering with his solid outing. If he can perform even close to this level with some degree of consistency, a Felix-Vargas duo could prove formidable for opposing offenses.
"He's a pretty tough act to follow," Vargas said of Felix. "But to be behind somebody who is going to go out and compete every time out and give everything he has, you definitely don't want to go out the next day and be the complete opposite. It definitely gives you something to strive toward and feed off of."
The Mariners should hope that Craig Breslow pitches to them more, because for the second straight night the struggling lefty was lit up by M’s batters. After a Brendan Ryan double and Jack Wilson single, Michael Saunders hit a sac fly to score Ryan and put the M’s ahead.
With the score tied at two apiece in the ninth inning, Oakland once again fell apart defensively and handed the game to the M’s on a silver platter. With runners on first and third, Ichiro delivered a chopper to A’s first baseman Daric Barton.
Barton proceeded to throw the ball way off mark in an attempt to throw Jack Wilson out at home, also allowing Miguel Olivo to scoot on to third base. The very next pitch bounced off A’s catcher Kurt Suzuki’s glove to the backstop, allowing Olivo to score.
Later in the inning, a Chone Figgins sac fly to score Ichiro added insult to injury as the Mariners widened the lead to 5-2. Temporary closer Brandon League closed things out for his first save of the season.
But speaking of Ichiro, Saturday night was a milestone night for No. 51 as he shattered the Mariners career hits record previously held by Edgar Martinez.
"I broke his record, when you look at the numbers that's a fact,'' Ichiro said of Martinez. "But he's a hero back in Seattle. He's my hero as well. When you look at his existence, he's a lot bigger than I am—being a great human being as well. So, that's how I look at it."
Ichiro got hit No. 2,248 off of Brian Fuentes in the ninth inning, also giving the M’s the lead at 3-2. Quite fittingly, the ball did not even leave the infield, although luckily for Ichiro the scorekeeper awarded him the base hit.
As with last night, the offense was not spectacular but showed signs of promise. In particular, I was impressed with Justin Smoak, who went 1-for-2 on the night with two walks.
So far, it’s pretty clear that Olivo needs to be the starting catcher as Moore was a dud offensively. Coming in to pinch hit for Moore in the ninth, Olivo helped initiate the three-run-scoring inning.
With this victory, the M’s move to 2-0 and sit atop the AL West. It’s just two games into the season, but when you’re finding ways to win, you feel good.
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