All hail the Mighty Bloomquist!

Yesterday, I wrote:

if today’s game is going to be a close, well-pitched, low-scoring, one-run affair with the Mariners kept to four runs or less, their odds of winning are pretty much nil.

Well, almost all of that turned out to be true.  Except that the Mariners were able to top the four-run mark, and thus rode a brilliant pitching performance from Felix Hernandez into a 5-4 victory over the Fish, thus ending the four game losing streak.  Felix also put a stop to the M’s eight-game losing streak at Safeco, as the Mariners picked up their first home victory for the month of June (!!) as Felix won his fourth consecutive start.

Without a doubt, Felix’s dominating pitching performance set the tone for last night’s game.  He had everything working for him- fastball, breaking pitches, off-speed, which resulted in a number of ridiculous swings by the Marlins, who came into the game with one of the best offenses in the National League, ranking fourth in runs scored and first in home runs.  Felix’s final line included nine strikeouts over seven innings, and his nine-pitch and out performance in the fourth inning (something that Randy Johnson never did for the Mariners) only cements Felix’s burgeoning legend.  Coupled with 1.2 innings of scoreless hitless relief- with four of the five outs coming on behalf of Ks tossed by Sean Green, Arthur Rhodes, and Brandon Morrow who was dealing some serious high heat in the ninth inning- the M’s wrapped up their third consecutive one-run win.

Despite the fine pitching, further credit needs to be given to the efforts of Willie Bloomquist, the much-maligned utility fielder who was getting a rare start in center field now that Ichiro has been moved back to his natural right field position.  Sure, Bloomquist may have played Luis Gonzalez’s seventh inning double off the base of the wall, allowing Gonzalez to take third and score the Marlins’ fourth run on an eventual sacrifice fly.  On the other hand, Willie picked up two hits in four at-bats, continuing a streak in which he has collected five hits in his last eleven at-bats.  Willie also probably saved the game with a heads-up play on Jeremy Hermida’s bases-loaded single in the sixth inning, charging hard and getting the ball back into the infield to prevent Alfredo Amezaga from scoring from second.  If the Marlins pick up that extra run, we’re looking at a possible 5-5 tie heading into extra innings, wiith a very good chance of the M’s coming out on the wrong side of yet another one-run loss, and Felix having nothing to show for his performance.

Instead, Willie saved the game and preserved the win.  Yay Willie!  Let’s give it up for the Bloomer!

In other news, Yuniesky Betancourt got down a sacrifice bunt, which led to the manufacture of a run.  Yay Yuni!

The team is playing for a series win tonight, as top Marlins pitching prospect Ryan Tucker faces off against R. A. Dickey.  Both pitchers got knocked around pretty bad in their last starts, with Tucker giving up five runs in seven innings against the Rays in a 7-3 loss, while Dickey allowed seven runs in less than two innings in last Friday’s debacle against the Nationals.  Which ever pitcher has recovered from shock the fastest stands the best chance of winning.  And as Dickey’s soft tossed knuckle balls doesn’t take much to rebound from, why couldn’t he pull this win out?  I’m calling for the M’s to actually win the series, coming out on top tonight by a 6-5 score.