HeraldNet: M's-Orioles: Wednesday's postgame thoughts



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Mariners Blog

April 23, 2008

M's-Orioles: Wednesday's postgame thoughts

Posted at 12:01 am by By Kirby Arnold

The Mariners won't know until Thursday, but it appears they dodged one potentially major problem with the leg injury to pitcher Carlos Silva.

Silva came out of tonight's 3-2 loss to the Orioles in the seventh inning because of tightness in his right thigh. Both he and the team say it's not major, and Silva was emphatic when he said he'll be OK.

"I will make my next start," he said.

If he's so sure, then why didn' t Silva continue pitching? They didn't want him to let one bit of discomfort lead to a more serious injury -- either to the leg or his arm. The last thing the Mariners need is another Erik Bedard (on the DL until Saturday, they hope, because of a bad hip) or Miguel Batista (sore back through spring training after he pitched in pain and didn't tell anyone in his first exhibition outing).

Except for one game-changing pitch, the M's bullpen picked up Silva well. Problem was, Ryan Rowland-Smith couldn't sneak a first-pitch fastball past Nick Markakis in the eighth, and he hit it into the right field seats for a home run that broke a 2-2 tie.

Of greater concern out of this game was another poor night by the M's hitters, and especially the failure to produce a big inning when they had Orioles starter Daniel Cabrera in serious trouble in the fourth inning. The Mariners loaded the bases with nobody out but scored only one run when Jose Vidro grounded out (pushing home a run), Richie Sexson hit a soft liner to third and Kenji Johjima grounded out.

Cabrera, who has great stuff but tends to walk the world (he led the league last year), didn't walk a hitter in his eight innings. Former Mariner George Sherrill pitched the ninth and, despite Raul Ibanez's leadoff single, put the M's away with ease by getting Adrian Beltre on a fly, Vidro on a strikeout and Sexson on a foul popup. Sherrill has seven saves this season, four against the Mariners.

The M's not only can push aside the sour memory of this one in the series finale Thursday, they also will learn if their injury report is as good as they think it will be. They'll know more about Silva, but also Bedard, who will throw his final bullpen this afternoon before his scheduled return from the DL on Saturday, when he'll start against the A's.

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