Seattle Mariners clinch series opener over Oakland Athletics, 1-0 – MLB Update
The Seattle Mariners’ hitter Adam Kennedy gave a homer and starter Felix Hernandez had a remarkable day with eight strikeouts. The Mariners beat their league's rival, the Oakland Athletics by 1-0, at the Safeco Field on Thursday April 21.
The Mariners’ Manager, Eric Wedge, was pleased of his brilliance and expressed his pleasure by saying, "He was special tonight. He had command of the ballgame all night long. His stuff is as good as anyone in the game is. We took him as long as we could
take him. He really dug in and dug deep for us."
The 25-year-old pitcher allowed just four score-less hits and three walks in seven and 2/3 tremendous innings to clinch the seventh win for the club in the Major League Baseball season. The right-hand ball thrower was so impressive that he consumed just
four singles, two to Cliff Pennington and one each to Josh Willingham and David DeJesus.
The two Mariners’ relievers, Jamey Wright and Brandon League, give Hernandez an ideal support. Both relievers threw their perfect pitches for their saves. When Jamey took over in eighth, Pennington was on second and DeJesus was on first. Jamey did not allow
Conor Jackson an easy hit and forced him grounded out.
The club relieved Jamey in ninth for another save. It was not an easy outing, though. Ryan Sweeney made a ground out single on his first pitch. The Mariners made strong comeback and forced Kurt Suzuki pop out to first and Mark Ellis to catcher.
The game was score-less until the fourth inning, when Kennedy managed to swing his bat for a successful home-run to the right field off the Athletics’ starter, Brandon McCarthy. It was a true blow for Brandon, as he was going impressively in his three earlier
innings. After receiving a homer, McCarthy still kept his momentum and made six strikeouts. He pitched all eight inning for his club, allowed one earned run, one homer and one walk to finish the game with 2.10 earned run average (ERA).
Kennedy seemed to have his spot fixed in the club in place of Justin Smoak, who is out due to demise leave. In the fourth inning, Kennedy hammered a grand slam for the second straight night and had a splendid night in the field. In the seventh inning, Kennedy
might have made another run if shortstop Brendan Ryan could have not threw him out on the first base.
Kennedy is aware of his position as he mentioned to reporters, "It's certainly an at-bat I'd like to have back," McCarthy said. "I got behind him and then had to come into his wheelhouse with that pitch. Going against Felix, you know you have to do your
best to avoid at-bats like that."
Despite receiving this loss, the Athletics’ pitcher has the best 2.52 ERA in last seven games. Overall, the club dominates the Major Leagues with 2.52 ERA.
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