Mariner System Report (Games of 6/15)

SEATTLE (MAJ: 35-29; 3rd AL West): The Mariners lost 5-1 at Houston. Ichiro had a pair of hits and is now hitting .342 on the season. Felix Hernandez (WI ’03) allowed four runs on twelve hits over six innings and took the loss.

TACOMA (AAA: 28-41; 4th Pacific Coast League Pacific Northern Division): The Rainiers beat Tucson 9-7 in twelve innings. The Sidewinders went up 7-2 with five runs in the top of the eleventh. Tacoma tied the game with five in the bottom of the eleventh. Wladimir Balentien (WI ’04) homered in the bottom of the twelfth for the win. The game-ending blast by Balentien was his fifth hit of the night. Adam Jones (WI ’04) hit his sixteenth homer of the season in the bottom of the eleventh to tie the game 7-7. All that is cool, but my favorite part of the game story is bolded and italicized below:

Both managers were tossed from the game. Tucson’s Bill Plummer for arguing balls and strikes, and Tacoma’s Daren Brown for arguing whether Plummer’s replacement, John Youngblood, touched a runner while coaching third base. The usually even-keeled Brown even tossed his hat nearly 30 feet in disgust.

WEST TENNESSEE (AA: 30-38; 3rd Southern League North Division): The Diamond Jaxx beat Tennessee 4-2. Luis Valbuena (WI ’06) had a pair of hits and an RBI for West Tennessee. Robert Rohrbaugh (WI ’05) pitched six shutout innings and gave up nine hits with three strikeouts for the win. David Asher (WI ’06) got the save by getting the final two outs.

HIGH DESERT (High-A: 29-39; 5th California League South Division): The Mavericks lost 5-2 to Rancho Cucamonga. Chris Tillman (WI ’07) gave up five runs (four earned) on eight hits over six innings and took the loss. The Mavericks trailed 5-0 heading into the bottom of the ninth. They scored two runs, but a potential game-winning grand slam fell just short.

Mariner system schedule 6/16:
Seattle (Cha Seung Baek 3-2) at Houston Astros (Woody Williams 2-9) 6:05pm CDT
Tucson (D.J. Carrasco 2-5) at Tacoma (Justin Lehr 6-1) 9:05pm CDT
West Tennessee (Joe Woerman 2-3) at Tennessee (Donnie Veal 3-4) 6:15pm CDT
Rancho Cucamonga (Robert Mosebach 6-4) at High Desert (Aaron Jensen 2-1) 9:05pm CDT
Everett – Northwest League season starts June 19
AZL Mariners – Arizona League season starts June 22