Photo/Kevin P. Casey

Tampa Bay Rays’ Sean Rodriguez, left, is late tagging Seattle Mariners’ Chone Figgins in the second inning during a baseball game in Seattle on Saturday, July 30, 2011.

Joe Maddon watched Michael Pineda pitch in person for the first time on Saturday. It didn’t take long for the Tampa Bay manager to figure out how the rookie made the All-Star team.
The Rays managed just one hit against Pineda, who struck out 10 while leading the Seattle Mariners to a 3-2 victory.
“He is the kind of guy that on any given night you could say he has no-hit stuff,” Maddon said. “The combination of velocity with that breaking ball; he could be very special.”
Pineda (9-7) pitched 6 1-3 innings and was charged with two runs, one earned. Jeff Gray got five outs and Brandon League finished the one-hitter to earn his 24th save, wrping up Seattle’s second victory in the last 20 games.
Tampa Bay wasted another strong start by rookie Alex Cobb, losing for the sixth time in the last nine games.
Ben Zobrist hit a tying RBI single with one out in the sixth for the Rays’ only hit of the game.
Cobb struggled to contain Seattle rookie Dustin Ackley, and it cost him.
Ackley hit a two-run drive in the first inning for his fifth homer of the season. He doubled and scored on Mike Carp’s single in the sixth, giving the Rays a 3-2 lead.
“Ackley has battled me well for two years now, going back to Double-A and in the fall league,” Cobb said. “He must just see me well or something but I’ve always had a little trouble with him.”
The 23-year-old Cobb had a career-high nine strikeouts in 6 1-3 innings, yielding six hits and one walk in his first major league loss.
Seattle won at home for the first time since July 3, although they spent most of the month on the road.
Pineda also set a career high for strikeouts but was forced from the game when he issued consecutive walks to Evan Longoria and Matt Joyce in the seventh. Gray got out of the inning and worked a perfect eighth before turning it over to League.
Of the first nine outs recorded by Pineda, seven were by strikeout. He stunned Robinson Chirinos in the fifth by accidentally throwing an 0-2 pitch over his head and to the backstop, only to freeze Chirinos with a fastball down the middle on the next pitch for his ninth strikeout.
“With the stuff he has, it’s tough to make adjustments on it,” Rays shortstop Sean Rodriguez said. “He’s got great stuff and when he is putting it where he wants it is tough.”
Tampa Bay pushed across an unearned run in the fourth to cut Seattle’s lead to 2-1. Johnny Damon walked, swiped second and advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Josh Bard. He scored on Zobrist’s groundout.
It was a hectic day for the Mariners, who traded starting pitcher Doug Fister and reliever David Pauley to Detroit for outfielder Casper Wells, pitcher Charlie Furbush, infielder Francisco Martinez and a player to be named.
Fister has received the worst run support of any pitcher in the American League this season. He is 3-12 with a 3.33 ERA, but now he’ll get to pitch in a pennant race with the Tigers leading the AL Central.
NOTES: It was the 12th one-hitter in Mariners history. … Zobrist extended his hitting streak to 10 games. … Seattle expects Wells and Furbush to be in uniform in time for Sunday’s series finale. … Saturday was League’s first save since July 4 at Oakland, two days before Seattle’s 17-game losing streak began.

Read More: David Pauley (P – SEA), Casper Wells (RF – DET), Doug Fister (P – SEA), Jacob Turner (P – DET), Charlie Furbush (P – DET), Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners

Doug Fister, whose 3-12 won-lost record belies a very solid season for the Seattle Mariners, has been traded to the Detroit Tigers Saturday, according to CBS Sports’ Danny Knobler:

To rec on Tigers, Turner starts today, then back to minors. They’ll get Fister and Pauley from Sea for Furbush, Wells plus. #tradedeadline

That tweet mentions today’s starter for Detroit, Jacob Turner, who is being called up from Double-A Erie to make his major league debut. The other principals are Doug Fister and David Pauley, headed to the Tigers, and Charlie Furbush and Casper Wells, who will become members of the Mariners; Knobler hints there may be other players headed to Seattle.

The biggest name in the deal is Fister. He has started 10 games for the Mariners since June 1 and posted a solid 3.42 ERA, but is winless in those 10 starts, in which Seattle scored just 17 runs. Fister ranks dead last (64th) among all qualified American League starters in run support at just 2.4 runs per start.

Fister’s numbers should be helped by spacious Comerica Park and the Tigers’ offense, which is fifth in the American League with 480 runs scored going into Saturday’s game.

Mariners 9, Yankees 2

NEW YORK — Dustin Ackley and the rest of the Seattle Mariners had the same thought as they piled up the hits Wednesday: Don’t stop.

By the time they were done, everyone was hpy to talk about the No. 17.

The Mariners snped their 17-game losing streak with a victory over New York, boosted by a season-high 17-hit attack that featured strong performances by Ichiro Suzuki and Ackley.

“It seemed like everything was clicking today,” Ackley said. “It’s a good feeling.”

Felix Hernandez pitched seven innings for his third straight win in the Bronx. Suzuki had four hits and scored two runs. Ackley tripled among his three hits and drove in three runs as the Mariners did something they failed to accomplish during the skid: They turned an opponent’s mistake into a big inning.

Seattle took 21 days worth of frustration out on three relievers, scoring five runs in the seventh inning — highlighted by Mike Carp’s bases-loaded triple — after Robinson Cano flubbed a flip to Derek Jeter at second base for an error.

“These guys haven’t felt good in a long time,” manager Eric Wedge said. “We’ve got a long flight, an off day tomorrow and this is a real big win for us. When you’ve got a monkey on your back that size, it’s damn hard to get it off.”

American League

White Sox 2, Tigers 1 at Chicago: Alejandro De Aza hit a two-run homer in his first at-bat of the season and Chicago beat Detroit.

Blue Jays 3, Orioles 0 at Toronto: Ricky Romero came within two outs of a complete game to win for the first time in five starts and Toronto beat Baltimore.

Red Sox 12, Royals 5 at Boston: David Ortiz hit a grand slam to c a five-run fourth inning carrying Boston over Kansas City.

Twins 7, Rangers 2 at Arlington, Texas: Joe Mauer and Michael Cuddyer homered to back a solid start by Brian Duensing for Minnesota’s victory over AL West-leading Texas.

National League

Astros 4, Cardinals 2 at St. Louis: Rookie Jose Altuve drove in the go-ahead run in the ninth inning with his third hit and Houston snped a five-game losing streak with a victory over St. Louis.

Giants 2, Phillies 1 at Philadelphia: Matt Cain (Houston High) pitched into the eighth inning to outduel Cole Hamels and lead San Francisco to a win over Philadelphia.

Mets 8, Reds 2 at Cincinnati: Lucas Duda took over for Carlos Beltran — off somewhere weighing a trade — and homered to help New York beat Cincinnati.

Braves 2, Pirates 1, (10 innings) at Atlanta: David Ross hit a bases-loaded single in the 10th inning and Atlanta beat Pittsburgh for its second straight victory in extra innings. Pirates pitcher Paul Maholm (Germantown High) allowed one run in seven innings.

Marlins 7, Nationals 5 at Washington: Javier Vazquez pitched seven strong innings as Florida beat Washington for its fourth straight win.

Brewers 2, Cubs 0 at Milwaukee: Prince Fielder hit his 23rd home run in Milwaukee’s victory over Chicago.

Ichiro Suzuki and the Seattle Mariners heaved a sigh of relief after they snped a club-record 17-game losing streak with a 9-2 victory over the New York Yankees.

“It seemed like everything was clicking today,” on Wednesday said Seattle’s Dustin Ackley. “It’s a good feeling.”

It’s not a feeling the Mariners have enjoyed recently, but they were celebrating after a 17-hit barrage that featured strong performances from Ackley and Ichiro — who had four hits and scored two runs.

Ackley’s three hits included a triple and he drove in three runs and Felix Hernandez pitched seven innings for his third straight victory at Yankee Stadium.

Seattle, who hadn’t won in 21 days, scored five runs in a seventh inning highlighted by Mike Carp’s bases-loaded triple.

That came after New York’s Robinson Cano fluffed a flip to Derek Jeter at second base for an error.

The Mariners added two more runs in the ninth inning when Adam Kennedy hit an RBI double that centerfielder Curtis Granderson lost in the sun, then scored on Carp’s single.

The Mariners piled up their most runs since they had nine in a victory over Tampa Bay on June 5.

“These guys haven’t felt good in a long time,” manager Eric Wedge said. “We’ve got a long flight, an off day tomorrow and this is a real big win for us.

“When you’ve got a monkey on your back that size, it’s damn hard to get it off.”

The Mariners had been on the longest losing streak in Major League Baseball since Kansas City lost 19 in 2005. It started with a defeat at Oakland on July 6 and included four-game sweeps against division rivals, the Los Angeles Angels and Texas Rangers.

Along the way, Seattle led in seven of the games, twice in the seventh inning, and the 10th defeat in the streak, to Toronto, came in 14 innings.

Despite the signifcance of the moment for the Mariners, manager Joe Girardi wasn’t concerned that Seattle snped the skid against his Yankees.

“When I look back on what our club has done this year, and when I look back 20 years from now, I probably am not going to remember it,” Girardi said. “They were going to win a game at some point. We didn’t play well, and that’s why we got beat.”

Hernandez gave up five hits, walked four and struck out five to win for the first time since June 24.

“I wanted this game so bad,” he said.

By Jeff Sullivan

– Editor

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Jul 27, 2011 – “Clobber” might be a little generous. True, the Seattle Mariners beat the New York Yankees 9-2, but their third run involved an error, their next three runs scored on a catchable fly ball, and their eighth run scored when Curtis Granderson lost a fly in the sun. The Mariners didn’t exact bust out any whooping sticks.

But what they did was win, and not just win in the Bronx – they won for the first time since July 5, snping a 17-game losing streak.

It was all set up from the beginning. For their Wednesday matinée, the Mariners sent ace Felix Hernandez to the hill opposite the mysterious Phil Hughes. This was, without doubt, a good matchup. But it was still a matchup that pitted the Mariners’ lineup against the Yankees’ lineup, so neither side had a huge advantage.

After trading some zeroes, the Mariners struck in the third when Dustin Ackley scored Ichiro on a triple to the g. The Mariners added another in the fifth when Ackley laced a bases-loaded single to left. Josh Bard was thrown out on the play, but the M’s still handed a 2-0 lead to their ace.

It nearly dispeared in the bottom half, when the Yankees scored and then put a pair in scoring position with two outs for Curtis Granderson, but Felix whiffed Granderson with a heater to end the threat.

Then, after a sixth inning that saw each team strand a runner, the Mariners erupted, so to speak. A run scored on a weak Ackley grounder up the middle that neither Robinson Cano nor Derek Jeter could handle cleanly. Then, with the bases loaded, Adam Kennedy struck out, but Mike Carp lifted a deep fly ball to center that sent Granderson racing back. Granderson peared to have an angle, but the ball bounced off the end of his glove, and Carp made it to third with a three-run triple.

That busted the game open, and six pitches later Carp scored on a ringing double by Franklin Gutierrez. Some more runs were scored, and in the end, it was the Mariners who got to line up and high-five one another, having finished off a 9-2 win.

The Mariners return home to face the Rays on Friday. Now that their historic streak is over, the baseball world may resume not paying them any attention, as usual. The Yankees, meanwhile, will take on the Orioles, and will continue to receive plenty of attention, from now until forever.

Read More: Curtis Granderson (CF – NYY), Felix Hernandez (P – SEA), Phil Hughes (P – NYY), Mike Carp (1B – SEA), Dustin Ackley (2B – SEA), New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners

NEW YORK — Conan O’Brien’s show was blaring on the TVs in the visitors’ clubhouse after another loss, yet there was little laughter. The late night host can take heart, though. There’s only one thing that can lift the Mariners’ mood right now.

Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira each homered and drove in three runs, Freddy Garcia stifled his former team and the New York Yankees handed snakebit Seattle its 16th straight loss with a 10-3 victory Monday night.

“They’re staying together with this thing, it’s just a hell of a thing we’re going through right now,” manager Eric Wedge said. “We just got to keep showing up and doing different things and trying different things to try and get back on track.”

A rain delay of 1 hour, 57 minutes was the only thing that slowed this loss for Seattle. The game was barely under way when Teixeira crushed any pregame hopes Seattle had of jumping out early and snping the streak, hitting a rare homer into the second deck in left field after Curtis Granderson walked in the first. In the third, Jeter hit his first homer since connecting for hit No. 3,000 on July 9. He also tripled in the eighth.

Five Yankees had RBIs in the fourth against Jason Vargas (6-9), an inning in which the Mariners made two errors and were on the wrong side of what peared to be a missed call at first base — one of two calls to go against Seattle.

“You don’t blame things,” said Adam Kennedy, who made one error in the fourth. “But it’s true, when things are going bad that’s what hpens.”

After scoring 29 runs in the past six games and still breaking the franchise’s 1992 record of 14 losses in a row, the Mariners went down meekly against Garcia (9-7). With only the occasional player standing at the railing at the top step of the Seattle dugout until the game was well out of hand in the eighth, the Mariners mustered just three hits through the first six innings.

Garcia got his start with Seattle in 1999, was a two-time All-Star and went to the AL championship series twice in his 5 1/2 seasons in the Pacific Northwest. He hasn’t been an All-Star since but has been a steady addition to the Yankees’ rotation this season.

He gave up eight hits and three runs in a season-high 7 2-3 innings, helping New York improve to 3-1 in a 13-game stretch against teams currently below .500.

“You don’t want to be the guy,” Garcia said about being the one to lose to a team on a losing streak. “You go out there and do the best you can do every time you go out there.”

The Mariners were at .500 on July 5, 2 1/2 games back in the AL West and an early season surprise. But everything has fallen art since. Their skid is the longest in the majors since Kansas City lost 19 in a row in 2005.

Ichiro Suzuki cut the lead to 2-1 with a sacrifice fly in the third after the first two runners reached. The rally was halted when Franklin Gutierrez was thrown out trying to advance on a ball that bounced in the dirt.

The Yankees put it out of reach in the fourth. After Vargas struck out Nick Swisher to start the inning, Russell Martin reached when third baseman Kennedy couldn’t handle his tough grounder down the line. Andruw Jones then was called safe on a toss play to Vargas at first base, but replays peared to show Vargas won the race to the base.

Eduardo Nunez and Brett Gardner followed with RBI singles. Jeter then hit a grounder to second. Dustin Ackley made a poor throw home for another run.

Granderson had one of his two sacrifice flies and Teixeira made it 8-1 with a single.

“It’s one thing when you know you’re kind of all over the place and they get to you, but other than that home run in the first to Teixeira, they just battle you and battle you and don’t give up at-bats and don’t give in,” Vargas said. “I did my best out there to try to limit what was going on but nothing was going right for us.”

Vargas lost his fourth straight start, giving up eight runs — four earned — and seven hits in four innings.

Justin Smoak had an RBI single in the seventh and Brendan Ryan a run-scoring double in the eighth.
 
Notes
Yankees manager Joe Girardi says Alex Rodriguez (knee surgery, July 11) is on target to return mid-August. … RHP Rafael Soriano (May 17, elbow inflammation) pitched a scoreless inning for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. … INF Chone Figgins was not in the Seattle lineup because he was tending to a family emergency. … Mariners RHP Shawn Kelly (elbow surgery Sept. 1) will fly to Triple-A Tacoma to make a rehab pearance Wednesday. … LHP Eric Bedard, out since June 28 with a left knee sprain is set to start for Seattle Friday.
 
– Howie Rumberg/The