Mariners give no support to Fister
ANAHEIM, Calif. – There were new guys at both infield corners, but the same old result for a Mariners team that might be out of the American League West race by the end of this weekend after a 5-1 loss to the Los Angeles Angels.
The Mariners put newcomer Kyle Seager at third base as expected Thursday, then made a surprise move in installing Adam Kennedy at first and Justin Smoak at designated hitter. But the hoped-for offensive boost never materialized, and Kennedy popped out to thwart one of his team’s best chances in the loss to the Angels.
Seattle fell 41/2 games behind the division-leading Texas Rangers with three games still to play here at an always-tough Angel Stadium before the All-Star break. Should the Mariners lose any more ground by the Midsummer Classic, all questions of whether they’ll be buyers or sellers before the July 31 trade deadline could be rendered moot.
Seattle has arrived at where it is in the standings because of the outstanding work of its starting pitchers, who had helped the team give up two runs or fewer in six consecutive games. But that went out the window in Thursday’s third inning as the Angels scored three times off Doug Fister (3-10) to take the lead for good.
Bobby Abreu singled to drive in the 1,300th run of his career and tie the score at 1. Vernon Wells then hit a sacrifice fly to give the Angels the lead, and Howie Kendrick doubled to right-center for some insurance.
It was still a 3-1 game in the eighth when the Angels added two more off Chris Ray to pull away.
Angels ace Jered Weaver had little difficulty going nine innings for the victory, improving to 11-4 after entering with a league-best earned run average of 1.92.
The Mariners had their chance early against Weaver, with Brendan Ryan lining a double to left field to give Seattle a 1-0 lead. That put runners at second and third with only one out. But then Kennedy popped out to shallow center, forcing lead runner Ichiro Suzuki to wisely hold at third. Smoak then flied out to left field.
Weaver retired 11 in a row from that point and didn’t get in trouble again until an infield single by Franklin Gutierrez put runners at the corners with two out in the eighth inning of a 3-1 game.
Dustin Ackley had been on first base when Gutierrez’s grounder sent shortstop Maicer Izturis deep in the hole to his right. When Izturis tried to make a near-impossible throw to first, Ackley wisely kept on running and made it all the way to third. But the heads-up play went for naught as Carlos Peguero, after working the count full, fouled off a couple of pitches before striking out.
A telling note about the six consecutive games in which the Mariners allowed two runs or fewer is that they managed just a 4-2 record over that stretch.
As good as the Seattle pitching has been, the M’s offense has managed to be just as extreme at the bad end of the scale.
| Seattle | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
| I.Suzuki rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .271 |
| Ryan ss | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .252 |
| A.Kennedy 1b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .260 |
| Smoak dh | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .238 |
| Ackley 2b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .298 |
| Olivo c | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .219 |
| Seager 3b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 |
| F.Gutierrez cf | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .190 |
| Peguero lf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .190 |
| Totals | 33 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Los Angeles | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
| M.Izturis 3b-2b | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .277 |
| Tor.Hunter rf | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .244 |
| Abreu dh | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .286 |
| V.Wells lf-cf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .213 |
| H.Kendrick 2b-lf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .307 |
| Aybar ss | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .284 |
| Trumbo 1b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .253 |
| Bourjos cf | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .272 |
| Callaspo pr-3b | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .275 |
| Mathis c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .193 |
| Totals | 32 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 |
| Seattle | 001 | 000 | 000—1 | 6 | 0 |
| Los Angeles | 003 | 000 | 02x—5 | 10 | 0 |
LOB—Seattle 6, Los Angeles 8. 2B—Ryan (12), H.Kendrick (20), Aybar (17), Bourjos (15). RBIs—Ryan (25), Abreu (35), V.Wells (32), H.Kendrick (29), Bourjos (17), Mathis (12). SB—F.Gutierrez (4). SF—V.Wells. RLSP—Seattle 3, Los Angeles 4. RMU—Trumbo. GIDP—Abreu. DP—Seattle 1.
| Seattle | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
| Fister L,3-10 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3.09 |
| Ray | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5.55 |
| Los Angeles | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
| Weaver W,11-4 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1.86 |
HBP—Trumbo, H.Kendrick. WP—Weaver. T—2:27. A—41,223 (45,389).