jung

This is probably as good as Cook can pitch...nothing up in the zone...occasionally at the belt line.

Cook at a ridiculous 46 pitches in 5 and 1/3.

I cannot imagine how these pitchers stay alive away from this monster park with dead air. Then again considering their record maybe they actually don't stay alive away from Safeco. This guy Kelley is serving up batting practice.

Geez Youk that almost worked. Guy just hung an ugly curve to Ross.

That was a decent job by Agons there. Instead of just going with the pitch and continuing to play catch with the CF, he tried to jerk the ball to right and pulled it off. To bad Noesi is coming out as he eventually became a mistake machine.

Mariners or no Cook is not leaving pitches out over the plate. Believe me the Mariners are good enough to hit the ball if the pitcher makes mistakes to them...they just won't hit home runs. So give Cook some credit here....he is also pitching a very professional game, mixing in his secondary pitches as the M's come up for their second bats. Another mistake from Noesi...right in Salty's wheelhouse this time.

In the meantime while his opposite number just made three big mistake pitches in one inning, Cook has really not left much of anything out over the heart of the plate and has been working his secondary pitches in as the game progresses....not bad so far.

I did not realize that until they just mentioned it. The roof was closed last night. This place does have the reputation for not only being large but for being ridiculous when the roof is closed. I wonder why it was closed last night. I don't remember the announcers talking about it raining at all last night.

Noisi is just leaving all of these pitches suddenly on the inner half right in their wheelhouses. He was basically pitching them about right up until this inning.

And on que a pull shot from Mr. Ross.

Well there is one of my picks for a guy who could get it out here. Kid has got a lotta' pop off his bat.

Remember at home they have that wall to plunk balls off of and that surely must help their averages. Here all of that stuff is just a long out. I am sure that is why the M's have outfielders that can track the ball down out there in that GD graveyard.

Sox are just playing into their plans this way. Seems like they are purposefully trying to lift the ball and that just ain't gonna work here.

Hard to change your hitting stroke to something different than what it is but this is a very difficult park for the Sox

Whenever I travel coast to coast, the first 12 to 24 hour are not that big a deal....it is that second day that is the jet lag killer for me....maybe same for the Sox.

Way to stick the bat out there Ryan. Maybe that will get him going

Ross might be able to get one out here cause he pulls...that is if they give him something he can pull

Hate this park....WMB clocked that and no dice....long out. This is almost an impossible park for Agons. I suspect he is just going to be hitting fly balls to left center the entire series. He does not run well so even if he gets one down in the gap he is only going to be on second base. The M's know who they are pitching to and where they are. Looks to me like they are just going to keep putting balls on the outer edge to Gonzo and just let him hit the ball to the Center fielder.

WMB has made more errors throwing than catching it but I think his throwing issues are similar to Salty's early defensive issues...trying to hard to rush things....in WMB's case not getting set, getting his feet under him before making the throw over...rookie nerves I think

I wonder if that is WMB's new glove. That is not the glove he wore last night and it is not the glove he had at the start of the season.

It would not surprise me if the other M's pitchers pitched Gonzo he same way Felix did. I don't even think Felix showed Gonzo a pitch on the inner half preferring to just keep putting the ball on the outer edge or off the outer edge and let Gonzo go ahead and hit it into the graveyard in left center.

I think we saw how hard it is to hit anything out of safeco. I think Papi could get it out in the power alleys and maybe WMB if he hits it just right. Salty might be able to but he would have to catch it just right also. You just about have to pull the ball to get it out of Safeco. 388 and 385 in the power alleys....So almost have to hit it 400 just to get it out in the power alleys. Dead center for example is 405 there. That Fenway swing really gets hurt there as it just turns into a long fly ball. Basically it is a park that rewards guys that can hit line drives into those power alleys and then run like hell.

I would bet that dice would not be doing much if the Sox made it to the post season other than possibly coming out of the pen. I do not think you would see him start.

You want to put a post season birth in the hands of Lester, Beckett, Buch and now 3 starts Morales? You want to bet that this team wins the division as is or you are willing to play 162 games to get to a 1 game play in? Morales does not change the need for another good arm.

More importantly, Morales is now pitching better than anybody other than Buch and that is just not enough starting pitching to get anything done. Clearly, BC and Sox management realize they need more starting pitching to truly compete this year. It is going to be really interesting watching the Sox as they roll up to the deadline. Will they really go get at least one more quality arm for this rotation? How much arm will they try to get and what will they give up for it. This year is really a conundrum for them. They truly do look like a team that could be one good arm away from getting through the toughest division in baseball and going all the way. In an odd quirky way, maybe the injuries even end up helping them in that Ells and CC will be fresh and virtually everybody but Pedey, Aviles and Agons will have taken forced absences that should help them get through the dog days of August. Just as the Sox need it to happen, the Yanks starting pitching is being bitten by the injury bug. This might all be falling into place but the Sox are still an arm short from what I can tell.