Mariners Trip Saturday The 12th (game)

After the great time I had at the card shop we still had a baseball game that evening. Deciding that we needed to go early so we could both try to upgrade our seats, and get the giveaway for the night. We left the hotel just after two so we would arrive close to three. Once there we made our way around the stadium to the main ticket windows. Luckily we were able to upgrade into the section we had wanted to be in. The downside was we had to be in the row, and not on the aisle as we had hoped.

Getting the new tickets we wanted to go across the street, and do a late lunch at Pyramid Brewery. This is a stop we have done a few times when we thought it would be best to arrive extra early. Once finished we headed back across the street as the lines were building fast. This led to some good news though as because of the insanity going on they opened the gates half an hour earlier than usual. What this did is allowed us to take a picture with the wife for her to put on facebook.

From there I was off to my tour of the stadium once again. This one was much faster than the night before, but included something I've always meant to do but never have until then.

Finally getting back to my seat I hung with the wife for a few until it was game time. The wait was brutal as we were excited about getting to see Iwakuma pitch. In the years we have been going to Mariners games we have never gotten to see a player play on a giveaway for them. We have done bobbleheads, and t-shirts for players but every time they don't play in that game. This ended up being a first for us that we both were excited about.

Just before the game they announced that Fernando Rodney was going to the all-star game as a substitute. It was a cool moment as he came out of the dugout, and did the archer thing he does after getting a save. The crowd went nuts, and gave him a standing ovation during the announcement. Unfortunately I was like everyone else, and enjoying the moment too much to take any pictures. Afterwards it was time for Iwakuma to do his thing.

Before the game we were talking, and wondering how Iwakuma would do after watching Felix's masterpiece the night before. He answered our question by doing better, and going 8 2/3 inning before giving up a two run homer. After the runs Iwakuma was pulled to a standing ovation that was pure insanity.

During the game two things stuck out to me. The first is it was cool to see Cespedes play as he wasn't in the line-up on Friday against Felix.

The other was we got to experience instant replay.

It was on a play at home that personally even with a slow replay I wouldn't have wanted to make. In the end they upheld the play, and called the runner out. While the fans all booed we both agreed that we probably would have made the same call as the umpire made.

As with Friday the Mariners won the game only 6-2 this time.