At first the game looked like it was going to be a typical Yankee victory against the Mariners—just like the other three Yankee vs. Mariners games this week. The Yankees scored a run with Nick Swisher (his 2oth in 2009), and Derek Jeter made three hits, including an RBI double in the third inning that broke the record for most hits by a shortstop in MLB history (2,674th for the season, beating the former shortstop champion, Luis Aparicio).
Fifth Inning Switch
By the fifth inning, the Yanks were only up by one, and then Franklin Gutierrez tied the game 3-3. From there Seattle continued to score, ending the game with seven earned runs and three walks.
Yankees Pitching Trouble
The Yanks re-arranged their line-up for this game, the final in a four-game series against the Mariners. Fastball thrower Joba Chamberlain was made the Yankees’ starting pitcher, in stark contrast to the Mariners’ choice of Doug Fister, a rookie just up the minor leagues this month. This would turn out to be a disappointing day for Chamberlain, and a first ML win for Fister.
Unsteady Reliever
Alfredo Aceves relieved Job Chamberlain, but could not keep control of the ball. In the seventh inning he threw a wopper, hitting Josh Wilson in the back and forcing a run for Ken Griffey, Jr. Chad Gaudin replaced Aceves, but he was unable to stop Seattle Mariners’ 2009 star Ichiro Suzuki from scoring a two-run single, nor just he divert an eight inning hone run from Kenji Johjima.
Doug Fister’s First Major League Win
Fister has spent the last year touring the minor leagues, and was signed to the Seattle Mariners August 8th of this year. In this game, Fister sent ten Yankees to the bench in a row, putting his name, and his fastball change, on the major league map for the first time. Chris Jakubauskas did a much better job relieving for Seattle than Aceves did for the Yanks, benching player after player in the second half of the game.
Yankees vs. Mariners 2009 Season
This game was a proud win for the Mariners, and will be a great major league beginning for Doug Fister. That aside, the New York Yankees just beat the Mariners in three games in a row, and they are currently leading the American League with 74 2009 season wins, compared to Seattle’s 61 wins. Looking toward October it appears this game was a fluke, and that the loss happened mainly on account of some unusually poor pitching by Champerlain and Aceves, combined with some unusually good pitching on the part of Fister and Jakubauskas.
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