Mariners @ Twins - Game 2 April 7, 2009 Twins 6 Mariners 5

It would be easy to sit here and talk about the negatives of last nights game and talk about how the Mariners are horrible and how they won't win 75 games this year and so on. But I am not going to because I don't think last nights game was horrible and I still believe this team is better than a lot of people are giving them credit for. So let's talk about the positives first...
- Endy Chavez was 3 for 5 with 2 RBI's, 2 runs scored and a stolen base. Nice to see Endy doing well in the lead of spot in place Ichiro

- Franklin Gutierrez was 2 for 5 with a RBI

- Adrian Beltre was 1 for 3 with 2 RBI's

- Wladimir Balentien was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored

- Branyan got his first hit as a Mariner and that should build his confidence. His defense at 1st has been great also.

-Yuni's amazing diving superman catch reminded me how good he can really be when he has his head on straight.

Again the Mariners did a lot of little things right in this game. Moved runners over and brought guys home who were in scoring position. They NEED to keep this up through out the season.
- Erik Bedard was very good last night. You can say all you want about him going only 5 innings but remember he is still coming off off season surgery and will need some time to build his endurance back up. Plus most starters start off the year on somewhat of a pitch count. Erik was dominant last night in those 5 innings. 8 strikeouts seems to be expected from him on any given night. He did get into a little trouble in the 5th when it was clear he was tiring a little but anyone with eyes in their heads knows he should have been out of that inning having given up only 1 earned run. But of course the ump was lame and forgot what a strike looked like. Overall I was happy with his performance and am excited about how dominant him and Felix can be back to back nights.

- Corcoran and Aardsma were both outstanding out of the bullpen last night giving me a little more confidence in our middle inning guys going forward.

- The Mariners SHOULD have won this game. They played a great game and until the 9th inning they were getting GREAT pitching.

Which brings me to the negative and yes that is singular because there was only ONE!!

BRANDON MORROW!!!!! Now in Brandon's defense he barely got any work in during spring training. In my opinion he should have been sent to the minors for a week to just get some work in and build his arm and make sure he had his control down. I am not even mad he blew the save, I am mad at how he blew it. He got the first two out like it was nothing and then it all fell apart on him. He couldn't find the zone to save his life, everything was outside. Not his best moment for sure. I wondered why Wak left him in there to walk 3 batters but I also tried to understand his reasoning behind doing so. He gave Morrow his vote of confidence and I guess sometimes you have to believe in your player and let them try to play through whatever it is. I for sure didn't expect to see him walk 3 straight to load the bases. And Batista I don't blame him at all. He shouldn't have to come in the 9th on the road bases loaded. Best case scenario if for Morrow to get another opportunity asap and if he can't deliver you take him out of that role for the time being.

Morrow aside I am happy with the M's in these first two games. They have played smart baseball and our pitching all around has been outstanding. They haven't lost the series yet. Today is a new day.