Robert's Sport Report -7/3

In the game of baseball it is very difficult to show dominance over a certain player, and even harder over an entire team. However, one of the clearest ways to show dominance is by throwing a no hitter. And, the last time these two teams faced, that is exactly what starting pitcher for the Mariners, Hisashi Iwakuma, did to the Baltimore Orioles. As Iwakuma and the rest of the Seattle Mariners attempt to follow up this performance with another win, the visiting Baltimore Orioles and their starting pitcher, Ubaldo Jimenez, were on the flip side trying to redeem their 0 hit performance.

Although the chance of repeating a no hitter was ended by the second batter in the 1st inning, with a Soo Hyun Kim double, the Orioles had a fairly quiet first couple of innings. The Mariners were the first to strike in the 3rd inning, and they struck big: starting with a walk to Chris Iannetta, and followed by back-to-back singles by Ketel Marte and Leonys Martin. It was then Seth Smith's turn up to the plate. Seth Smith, who has been on a recent hot streak, did not slow that streak in his at-bat in the 3rd inning. With the bases loaded, Smith hit a rocket to right center, landing in the bleachers for a grand slam! The 4 run lead was short lived, though. In the top of 4th, Mark Trumbo hit a solo home run.  This was followed by a string of 2 singles and a double, to score 2 more runs, bringing the game to 4-3 Mariners. J.J. Hardy was credited with the 2 RBI's, hitting in Jonathan Schoop and Pedro Alvarez. Starting the bottom of the 4th inning, Franklin Gutierrez drew a walk, followed by a single from Ianetta, and was driven in by Marte to give the Mariners a 5-3 lead. Still, in the bottom of the 4th with runners on 1st and 3rd and Seth Smith back up to the plate, a very rare occurrence in
the professional baseball league took place: a Balk by Orioles' pitcher Miranda. Unfortunately for him, this was his Major league debut. In the top of the 7th the Orioles scrapped together a run with a few singles, bringing the score to 6-4. And although the Orioles closed the run gap to only 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th, the Orioles seemingly ended all hopes by putting together 3 more runs -starting with a single by Robinson Cano, followed by back-to-back-to-back doubles by Cruz, Seager, and Adam Lind. The bottom of the 7th was the end of the action, since in the following innings between the two teams there was only one runner on, which was a walk to the Orioles.

Although the domination of another no hitter did not occur, another exciting show of power and dominance did occur. That was the completion of a Seattle Mariner 4-game sweep over the Baltimore Orioles, with this 4th and final game in the series ending in a 9-4 Mariners victory.