New blood shows promise in M’s loss
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The first three pitches from newly promoted Mariners fireballer Dan Cortes were mere warm-up acts clocked no higher than 97 mph.
But they were enough to retire his first major league batter faced, the always-tough Ben Zobrist of the Tampa Bay Rays. Cortes then uncorked a 98-mph fastball on Kelly Shoppach before dropping in some mid-80s sliders for his first strikeout and an eventual nine-pitch, perfect seventh inning.
Safe to say, the debut appearance by Cortes in this 5-3 loss to the Rays on Friday night was one of the few bright spots for a Mariners squad outclassed by a team gunning for American League East supremacy. Seattle saw starter Jason Vargas knocked from the game before it was five innings old and again couldn’t generate much offense against an opposing starter who hadn’t won since early August.
A crowd of 17,840 at Tropicana Field saw the home team pretty much put things away in the fifth inning, scoring three times off Vargas to take a 5-2 lead. One of those runs came on a perfect squeeze bunt toward first base by Zobrist that wound up going for an infield hit.
Another run scored when catcher Adam Moore, who had a pair of run-scoring singles in the game to account for most of Seattle’s offense, couldn’t squeeze a Ryan Rowland-Smith fastball and had it roll to the backstop.
The Mariners average only 3.2 runs per game and allowed Rays starter Jeff Neimann to get through 5 2/3 innings of three-run ball for his first win since Aug. 3. Neimann went on the disabled list with a shoulder strain right after that August win and had been 0-4 with a 14.43 earned-run average since his return.
Cortes had yet to see action since being called up Saturday by the Mariners after his Tacoma Rainiers won the Pacific Coast League title.
Cortes has been clocked at 102 mph by his Triple-A squad, while one stadium scoreboard had him at 103 mph.
Nothing like that on this night. But then again, the name of the game for relievers is to get outs and Cortes certainly did that.
Anthony Varvaro also made his major league debut, in the eighth inning. But the presence of Cortes is seen as more significant to the team’s 2011 future, where he’s expected to contend for a spot near the back of the bullpen.
Cortes gives the Mariners added late-inning depth and enables them to contemplate a trade of closer David Aardsma, who could earn between $4 million and $5 million next season. The Mariners will need payroll flexibility this winter and dealing Aardsma would enable them to save his salary and possibly acquire some valued pieces as well.
Rays 5, Mariners 3
| Seattle | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
| I.Suzuki rf | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .316 |
| Figgins 2b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .258 |
| Jo.Lopez dh | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .237 |
| F.Gutierrez cf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .248 |
| Smoak 1b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .196 |
| A.Moore c | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .186 |
| M.Saunders lf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .202 |
| Tuiasosopo 3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .175 |
| Jo.Wilson ss | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .236 |
| Mangini ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .200 |
| Totals | 35 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| Tampa Bay | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
| B.Upton cf | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .237 |
| Bartlett ss | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .254 |
| Crawford lf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .306 |
| W.Aybar dh | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .238 |
| Zobrist 2b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .248 |
| Shoppach c | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .199 |
| C.Pena 1b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .200 |
| S.Rodriguez 3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .254 |
| Jennings rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .158 |
| Joyce ph-rf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .232 |
| Totals | 31 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 7 |
| Seattle | 000 | 201 | 000—3 | 9 | 0 |
| Tampa Bay | 011 | 030 | 00x—5 | 8 | 0 |
LOB—Seattle 7, Tampa Bay 9. 2B—I.Suzuki (29), Jo.Lopez (28), B.Upton (36), Bartlett (25), Zobrist (26), Shoppach (8). RBIs—F.Gutierrez (59), A.Moore 2 (14), W.Aybar 2 (43), Zobrist (73), Shoppach (17). SB—Figgins (41), F.Gutierrez (23), B.Upton (41), S.Rodriguez (12). SF—W.Aybar. RLISP—Seattle 4; Tampa Bay 6. GIDP—F.Gutierrez. DP—Tampa Bay 1.
| Seattle | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
| J.Vargas L, 9-12 | 41/3 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 3.91 |
| Rowland-Smith | 12/3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6.90 |
| Cortes | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
| Varvaro | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.00 |
| Tampa Bay | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
| Niemann W, 11-7 | 52/3 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4.49 |
| Choate H, 18 | 1/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.46 |
| Balfour H, 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.36 |
| Benoit H, 25 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1.41 |
| R.Soriano S, 44-47 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1.79 |
IR-S—Rowland-Smith 2-1, Choate 1-0. PB—A.Moore. T—2:52. A—17,840 (36,973).