That Was The Week That Was

April 18-24, 2011

• Good Week — The Mariners showcase their ups (Felix Hernandez, Michael Pineda), and downs (Chone Figgins, Erik Bedard, Josh Lueke), but Ichiro pulls out of his usual April doldrums with 14 hits while delivering a .412 batting average. Tuesday, Ichiro had four hits in a game for the 44th time in his career, extending a franchise record.
• Bad Week — The Sounders announce that Steve Zakuani will probably be lost for the season after undergoing an operation on two broken bones in his right leg, an injury suffered Friday in a 1-0 win over Colorado. It’s a tremendous blow for Seattle: Zakuani had two goals and two assists and seemed on the verge of becoming an All-Star.
• Sunday, April 24 — The Mariners drop their second in a row by falling to Oakland 5-2. Seattle has a chance to win it, trailing 3-2 in the eighth with runners in scoring position. But the M’s gag and fail to score, and Brandon League follows in the ninth by gagging himself, coughing up two more runs.
• Saturday, April 23 — The Huskies capture the 100th edition of Washington-Cal boat race on the Montlake Cut, clocking 5:34.95 to the Bears’ 5:37.61. Once again, Washington reinforces the notion that its rowing program is the most successful athletic enterprise in state history.
• Friday, April 22 — Rookie Michael Pineda becomes the first pitcher in franchise history to begin a career with four consecutive quality starts as he and the Mariners whip Oakland 4-0, the team’s second shutout in as many days. Pineda also becomes the first Seattle rookie pitcher to win three games in April since Freddy Garcia in 1999. Impressive stuff.
• Thursday, April 21— The Mariners scrounge around for a paltry four hits, but Felix Hernandez is his usual dominating self, tossing a 1-0 win over the Oakland A’s. It’s the third 1-0 victory of Hernandez’s career and reinforces the notion that no matter how much the Mariners grovel when Hernandez is not pitching, it’s always a treat when he does.
• Wednesday, April 20 — The Mariners return to form by going 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position, leaving five runners stranded and whiffing 11 times in a 3-2 loss to Detroit at Safeco Field. Erik Bedard lasts just five innings, becomes the first Seattle starter to fall to 0-4, and suggests again he may never amount to anything here.
• Tuesday, April 19 — For the first time since Obama became President, the Mariners break out the bats and pound the Detroit Tigers 13-3. Ichiro collects four of Seattle’s 15 hits in support of Doug Fister, who wins for the first time in 2011 — because it’s the first time the M’s have scored for him. Ichiro’s four-hit game is the 44th of his career.
• Monday, April 18 — Washington State junior Klay Thompson announces that he will forego his senior year and declare for the NBA Draft. It’s not much of a surprise that Thompson is headed to the NBA, but it does mean that the Cougars, having also lost DeAngelo Casto, will be horrible in 2011-12.

“That Was The Week That Was (TW3)” is published every Monday as part of Sportspress Northwest’s package of home-page features collectively titled, “The Rotation.”

The Rotation’s 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.