M’s bullpen falters in loss to Rangers
SEATTLE – The last thing Ian Snell needed in a season that tested his mental strength was a final game that did the same thing. But there Snell was in the third inning Friday night at Safeco Field, having given up three runs to a group of Texas Rangers hitters who were digging in for the kill.
Then, like the year Snell has endured, he pulled himself out of it.
He got a double-play grounder to end that threat, then pitched three more scoreless innings that followed just what the Seattle Mariners have asked of their starting pitchers.
Snell pitched deep into the game and gave the hitters a chance to come back, which the Mariners did before the bullpen crumbled in the final two innings of a 7-4 loss.
“Now it’s time to focus on the off-season, going right after the hitter and stop doing stupid little things,” said Snell, who finished 5-2 with a 4.84 earned-run average in 12 starts since the Mariners got him from the Pirates in a July 29 trade. “I want to come back stronger and more mentally prepared.”
Manager Don Wakamatsu said Snell pitched tentatively early, when he walked three in the first three innings.
“But to give him credit, he finished with three scoreless and he came back and battled,” Wakamatsu said.
First baseman Mike Carp went 3 for 3 and drove home two runs with a single in the Mariners’ three-run fourth inning and Jose Lopez hit an RBI single in the fifth for a 4-3 lead. Then it fell apart.
Michael Young hit an RBI single in the eighth off right-hander Mark Lowe to tie the score 4-4 and David Aardsma allowed three hits and three runs after getting the first two outs in the ninth.
Taylor Teagarden’s RBI single broke the tie and, after right-hander Randy Messenger replaced Aardsma, Elvis Andrus lined a double that scored two more runs.
Rangers 7, Mariners 4
| Texas | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
| Borbon cf | 6 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .320 |
| M.Young 3b | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .323 |
| Dav.Murphy lf | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .269 |
| M.Byrd rf | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .284 |
| Kinsler 2b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .252 |
| C.Davis dh | 5 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .237 |
| Gentry pr-dh | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .143 |
| An.Jones 1b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .209 |
| German pr-1b | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .326 |
| Teagarden c | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
Vizquel ss
3
0
0
1
0
0
.266
Andrus ph-ss
1
0
1
2
1
0
.269
Totals
41
7
16
7
4
4
| Seattle | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
| I.Suzuki rf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .350 |
| F.Gutierrez cf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .282 |
| Jo.Lopez 2b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .273 |
| Griffey Jr. dh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .213 |
| Beltre 3b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .268 |
| Carp 1b | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .314 |
| M.Sweeney ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .281 |
| Hannahan 1b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .216 |
| Moore c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .217 |
| M.Saunders lf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .229 |
| Jo.Wilson ss | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .221 |
| Totals | 35 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 10 |
| Texas | 021 | 000 | 013—7 | 16 | 0 |
| Seattle | 000 | 310 | 000—4 | 9 | 0 |
LOB—Texas 12, Seattle 5. 2B—An.Jones (17), Teagarden (13), Andrus (16), F.Gutierrez (23), Beltre (26), Jo.Wilson (7). RBIs—Borbon (20), M.Young (68), C.Davis (58), Teagarden (23), Vizquel (14), Andrus 2 (39), Jo.Lopez (94), Beltre (44), Carp 2 (5). SB—Beltre (13). S—Kinsler. RLSP—Texas 6; Seattle 2. RMU—Kinsler, Vizquel, I.Suzuki. GIDP—An.Jones, Moore. DP—Texas 1; Seattle 1.
| Texas | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
| McCarthy | 4 2/3 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 4.62 |
| Nippert | 2 1/3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3.88 |
| O’Day | 1/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.03 |
| C.Wilson W,5-6 | 2/3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2.88 |
| F.Franc. S,25-29 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3.83 |
| Seattle | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
| Snell | 6 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4.20 |
| Batista H,13 | 2/3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.15 |
| Olson H,4 | 1/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.67 |
| M.Lowe BS,10-13 | 2/3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3.26 |
| J.Vargas | 1/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.91 |
| Aardsma L,3-6 | 2/3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2.56 |
| Messenger | 1/3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 |
IR-S—Nippert 1-0, Olson 1-0, J.Vargas 2-0, Messenger 2-2. WP—Olson. PB—Teagarden. T—3:02. A—27,899 (47,878).