Winless In Seattle

The Mariners beat the Red Sox yesterday, 2-1 in 11 innings. Diasuke pitched so well. I'd be willing to say its the best he pitched all year. 8 innings of 1 run ball striking out eight. In the third, Mariner catcher Jamie Burke hit a fly ball to left center. Coco Crisp was shading him to right and was no where to be found, but somehow closed in on the ball and dove for the ball. Instead of giving us his daily Web Gem, the ball fell inches to his right and got passed him, allowing Burke to get a double. If Manny hadn't been backing him up, it would have been a triple. Ichiro came up next and got a cheap bloop single that scored Burke from second. Other than that, Diasuke was unhittable.

The lineup just couldn't score. There were plenty of opportunities. Big Papi struck out with the bases loaded and two outs early in the game. The Sox left 11 runners on base. They just didn't capitalize. Therefore, they were swept for the first time all year.

Alas! The lead in the AL is down to 9 games. That's right. Your Toronto Blue Jays are within single digits.

Speaking of the Blue Jays and Red Sox, now seems like a good team to look at both teams former Ace, the Rocket Man. The Yankees web page claims he's now their ace. He lost again yesterday and for the first time in 200 games, didn't strike anyone out. He's now 1-3 (0-3 against teams who aren't the Pirates) with a 5.32 ERA. The Evil Empire is in 3rd place, 3 games under .500, has lost 4 in a row and seven of their last 8. Glorious!