April 4-10, 2011
- Good Week — The Sounders win a meaningful match for the first time since October, 2010, by defeating the Chicago Fire 2-1 at Qwest Field after O’Brian White and Steve Zakuani notch goals and Kasey Keller makes critical second-half saves. Sounders hardly play like an elite team, but maybe we’ve written them off too soon.
- Bad Week — The Mariners go an entire week without winning a game, fashioning a seven-game losing streak, and look overwhelmed almost every outing. Look at these RISP numbers: Monday, 3-for-13; Tuesday, 2-for-7; Wednesday, 2-for-6; Friday, 1-for-8; Saturday, 1-for-11; Sunday, 0-for-1; Total — 9-for-46, .196. Yikes. And on top of that, second baseman Jack Wilson gets blackballed by Eric Wedge for the “unspeakable” atrocity of taking himself out of a game.
- Sunday, April 10 — The Mariners extend their losing streak to seven with a 6-4 loss to the Cleveland Indians at Safeco Field as former Mariner rejects Asdrubal Cabrera and Jack Hannahan bash home runs off Erik Bedard, who allows six earned runs in 4.0 innings. Rather than being slightly better, this team might be a little worse than the 2010 club, which lost 101 times.
- Saturday, April 9 — The Mariners receive a quality start from Doug Fister, but strand runners in scoring position in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings en route to their sixth consecutive defeat. Only good news: Chone Figgins busts an 0-for-26, why-am-I-still-playing slide by going 2-for-4.
- Friday, April 8 — After getting swept by Texas, the certain division winner, the Mariners open their 2011 home season with lots of hoopla: Felix Hernandez receives his 2010 Cy Young Award, Ichiro and Franklin Gutierrez (in spirit) collect their 2010 Gold Gloves, and the M’s deliver a nice tribute to former broadcaster Dave Niehaus. The Mariners then endure a 12-3 spanking by Cleveland, making it, scoreboard-wise, the worst opener in franchise history.
- Thursday, April 7— On the eve of their home opener, the Mariners lose catcher Adam Moore to a right knee injury that will require surgery and probably sideline him for two to three months. Meanwhile, down in Tacoma, the Rainiers open their season against the Sacramento River Cats and muster just three hits and fan 11 times in a 6-2 loss. Anybody thinking there is help there can forget it.
- Wednesday, April 6 — Several weeks ago, Forbes ranked Seattle as the “most miserable” sports city in America. Now, TUSL ranks Seattle No. 22 on its list of “Ultimate Sports Cities.” Top 5: Los Angeles, Boston, New York, Chicago and Dallas. Among West Coast cities, Seattle ranks ahead of only San Diego (23), Denver (25) and Portland (29). I guess we suck no matter who’s doing the ranking.
- Tuesday, April 5— The story of the day is Michael Pineda’s Major League debut, at Texas. He loses, but pitches well enough to win, in large part because the Mariners go 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position and leave seven stranded. After five games, the truth may beginning to emerge: Seattle is hitting .217 (10×46) with runners in scoring position.
- Monday, April 4 — The Rangers knock around Erik Bedard for two home runs and a two-run triple in beating the Mariners 6-4, but Bedard otherwise pitches well, especially considering it’s first time on the mound since July 25, 2009. If he can stay healthy (no guarantee), Bedard could become one of the club’s best 2011 stories.
“That Was The Week That Was (TW3)” is published every Monday as part of Sportspress Northwests package of home-page features collectively titled, The Rotation.
The Rotations weekly schedule:
- Monday: That Was The Week That Was (TW3) A snarky, day-by-day review of the week just ended.
- Tuesday: Wayback Machine — Sports historian David Eskenazi’s deep dive into local sports history, replete with photo eye candy.
- Wednesday: Nobody Asks But Us — We ask, and answer, fun and quirky questions nobody else is asking.
- Thursday: Water Cooler Cool — Art Thiel takes on the weekend for the benefit of the more casual fan.
- Friday: Top 5 List — The alpha and omega of Northwest sports, at least as far as we’re concerned.