Photo credit: @Mariners

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Seattle Mariners removed future Hall of Fame player Ichiro Suzuki from the active roster and moved him into a front office job with the club. The 44-year old Ichiro has amassed almost 3,100 hits in his MLB career and well over 4,000 when his hits in the Japanese League are added to the total. It was a very emotional night for Ichiro, the Seattle players and the entire city of Seattle.

Now for the Oakland A’s story of the game: The A’s ace, Sean Manaea, who was named as the American League Pitcher of the Month, had his worst outing of the year as the Mariners won the game 4-1. Manaea was done in by the Mariners’ Dee Gordon, Robinson Cano, and Nelson Cruz. Gordon was channeling his inner Rickey Henderson Thursday night as he finished the night 3-for-4, two stolen bases, and two runs scored. Gordon led off the bottom of the first with an infield single. Gordon promptly stole second and went to third on a sacrifice bunt by shortstop Jean Segura. Second baseman Robinson Cano singled to drive in Gordon.

The Mariners’ believed that history repeats itself as Gordon double down the right-field line. Stephen Piscotty made a valiant effort to get to the ball. He could not get to the ball in time as it landed near the foul line and Gordon, who is very speedy, made it into second base handily. Segura laid down another sacrifice bunt to move Gordon to third. Cano singled to make it 2-0. Manaea now had to deal with Mariners’ slugger Nelson Cruz. Cruz, who has tormented the A’s over the years, sent Manaea’s pitch over the left-centerfield wall to put the Mariners ahead 4-0.

The A’s Stephen Piscotty hit his second homer of the year off reliever Chason Bradford in the top of the fifth to make it 4-1.

The Mariners did not score after the third, and the A’s were done after the fifth. Manaea’s line was six innings pitched, six hits, and four runs. Lou Trivino pitched one inning and gave up a hit. Casilla also went an inning and did not allow a hit. The Mariners’ starter, lefty Wade LeBlanc who was filling in for the injured Erasmo Ramirez, was lifted after four innings of work. LeBlanc allowed just three hits and no runs. Chason Bradford went 2 1/3 innings and picked up his third win of the year. James Pazos, Juan Nicasio, and Edwin Diaz closed out the game for Seattle.

Game Notes and Stats: With the win, the Mariners improved to 18-12 and find themselves just a 1/2 game behind the Los Angeles Angels (19-12) and the Houston Astros (20-13) for first place in the AL West. The A’s are 15-16 and are four games back of the Angels and Astros. The Angels moved into the first-place tie with Houston after sweeping the three-game series with the Baltimore Orioles, and the Astros had their problems with the New York Yankees, who beat the Astros three out of four.

Up Next: The A’s return home Friday night to face the woeful Baltimore Orioles for three games. The Orioles’ record is 8-23, and the team has been floundering. Hopefully, the A’s can make some hay this weekend as they have to face four top teams in the next two weeks. The schedule has them playing the Astros for three at home then they are off to New York, Boston, and Toronto.  Not an easy task.

Daniel Mengden (2-3, 4.68) starts Friday night for the A’s. Mengden was pounded by the Astros last week in Houston, but he is 2-1 in his last three starts. Mengden has never faced the Orioles. Andrew Cashner will take the ball for the Orioles. Cashner is 1-4 with an ERA of 4.76. Cashner is 1-0 lifetime against Oakland, Game time is at 7:05 pm PT.