The Mariner Monitor

I felt a little under the weather over the weekend so I decided to take a mental break, recharge my batteries and come back to hit the ground running. While I was gone the Mariners played .500 baseball, going 2-2 in my absence. Hmmmmm. Maybe I should take more breaks.

Regardless, after missing out on a few games I feel right at home again following a 7-5 loss to the Tigers Sunday afternoon. Surprisingly, Miguel Bautista was serviceable for the second straight game and he didn’t pick up the loss. Not surprisingly was that J.J. Putz did earn a loss. Well, not surprising for him this season.

The normally reliable Putz had gotten off to a terrible start this season. Then, it seemed as though he turned a corner in the month of May, going 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA and four saves (out of six tries). But even while he was chipping away at his ERA, he still had control issues. In 13 innings of work he had nine walks. Add the four walks in three innings from April and Putz had a total of 14 walks to just 19 strikeouts.

Back to Sunday afternoon, where Putz came in to hold a 3-3 tie. After stirking out the first batter he faced, he walked Brandon Inge and then became unhinged, giving up four hits to the next five batters. Four runs later, Putz is chaced and all of us feel like we’re back to square one with the closer.

At the plate the Mariners put up a fight. Raul Ibanez went 3-for-5 with three RBI and a ninth-inning home run off Tiger closer Todd Jones. Jose Vidro (1-for-4) and Adrian Beltra (2-for-5) drove in Seattle’s two other runs.