Mariners sunk by Pirates

[BronxBomberz]

In their first appearance at Safeco Field, the Pirates made themselves at home. The Mariners, on the other hand, continued their recent tailspin. Aided by solid hitting, pitching and fielding, the Pirates beat the Mariners, 5-3, Tuesday night in front of 24,520 fans. Not only did the Bucs send Seattle to its sixth straight loss, but they recorded their first win over the Mariners.
With the way things started, the game's outcome hardly seemed surprising.
With one out in the first inning, first baseman Richie Sexson was unable to handle Nate McLouth's bouncer down the line, committing his first error since Sept. 26, 2006. McLouth eventually scored the first of two runs in the inning, and although pitcher Miguel Batista recovered, the Seattle bats didn't wake up until the game was well in hand.
Conversely, Pirates pitcher Tom Gorzelanny consistently worked through Seattle's lineup, allowing two runs on eight hits in seven innings. He often stifled batters with a combination of his offspeed pitches and fastballs.
"[Gorzelanny] seemed to kind of pitch backwards, and throw strikes with his offspeed pitches, and he kind of kept everybody off balance," Ben Broussard said. "He won the battle tonight."
Batista, who took the loss for the Mariners, left the game after 5 1/3 innings, allowing four runs -- two earned -- on six hits while striking out seven.
Seattle's sixth straight loss certainly had the club feeling defeated. Manager Mike Hargrove didn't address the media following the loss, and most of the players struggled to find explanations about how to right the ship.
Some seem to think the answer lies in their heads.
"We have to have a short-term memory and turn around tomorrow and come out, compete and not really let this weigh us down," Broussard said. "We've got a good team."
Others seemed at a loss for words.
"We've lost six in a row," said left fielder Raul Ibanez. "Is there positive stuff? Yeah, I'm sure there is, but it's hard to notice right now because we're not winning. So we just have to get it done tomorrow."
Seattle had its chances to climb back into the game, but not until Gorzelanny exited the field.
Sexson hit his team-leading 11th home run of the season in the eighth inning, and the Mariners put two runners on with two outs later in the inning, but Broussard grounded out to first, ending the threat.

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"I'm trying to go in there, have a good at-bat and square it up, and I didn't square it up tonight," said Broussard, who was pinch-hitting for Yuniesky Betancourt. "I just have to keep working hard, and hopefully the next time I get a chance like that, I'll come through."
The Mariners seemed to draw some early momentum in the ninth, too, only to see it snuffed out.
After Ichiro Suzuki drew a leadoff walk, the Pirates' Damaso Marte and Shawn Chacon combined to retire the next three Mariners in order, with Chacon striking out Ibanez to end the game.
The six-game losing streak ties Seattle's longest of the season. After losing six straight from April 17-22, the Mariners responded then by winning seven of their next eight games, shifting the momentum from panic to cruise.
Lost in the shuffle was Ichiro's hit streak, which he extended to 14 games, and his 20th stolen base of the season, marking the seventh straight season he's stolen 20 or more bases.
Also mired in the loss was J.J. Putz's brilliant performance in the ninth. Putz struck out the side for the first time since May 13.
Lost with those performances was the game -- and the memory of the five consecutive wins the Mariners earned just over one week ago when starting their 10-game road trip.
They're counting on another one of those really soon.
"We're losing," Ibanez said. "There's no reason -- this team has done it already -- that we can't win six in a row or 10 in a row. That's what we have to look to do."



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[Porter]

Then the Mariners go out and Jeff ****ing Weaver throws a 4 hitter and Felix realized how good he was again. How ironic.