Smoak and Mirrors

By Kshell

The Seattle Mariners are struggling once again in the Jack Zduriencik regime which shouldn't come as a shock since they have lost 196 games the last two seasons.  The Mariners struggles have become so bad that I stopped writing or caring about this team. With the second half of the season approaching this is a critical time for the Mariners young core. Now I'll talk about Dustin Ackley, Kyle Seager and Jesus Montero for a later time. For now I'm going to focus on Texas Rangers former top prospect and current Seattle Mariners first baseman Justin Smoak. Smoak who will be 26 years old in December is having for the third straight year in the major leagues a terrible season. Smoak has actually regressed from last season and his having his worst season of his career so far. With Smoak struggling this really puts the rebuilding into question and more importantly for Jack Z his tenure in Seattle could be ending.

So far Smoak's claim to fame was he was the guy traded to the Mariners from the Rangers for Cliff Lee. Now when the Lee deal broke I was out floating the river so one of my writers broke down the trade at the time with this thoughtful piece . At the time everyone loved the trade and I'll admit so did I since the Mariners were acquiring Smoak who was the 13th rated prospect in the majors. The Mariners just grabbed a top tier prospect from a division rival for a rental player. Instead what ended up happening was Cliff Lee helped the Rangers reach their first every World Series in 2010. Lee in the ALDS series win over the Tampa Bay Rays was 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA having thrown 16 innings with 21 strikeouts. Then in the ALCS win over the New York Yankees Lee won his game three start going eight shutout innings allowing only two hits with 13 strikeouts. Lee would bolt in the off-season but the Rangers were able to pick up two first round draft picks. The Rangers also became a legitimate franchise with that World Series appearance which allowed them to sign all-star third baseman and former Seattle Mariner Adrian Beltre. That trade actually helped the Rangers more than anyone could have imagined at the time while to date has hurt the Mariners.

Justin Smoak was a highly touted prospect for the Rangers. He was the Rangers first round pick(11th overall) in the 2008 draft out of South Carolina. He was the #23 prospect in the minors in 2009 and #13 in 2010. Smoak was seen as the next Mark Teixeira type who was a switch hitter with great defense. In the minor leagues he was rushed through the system as he only had 773 plate appearances which he hit .283/.401/.458 with 24 HR's and 93 RBI's. In triple A though he has only had 477 PA's where he has hit .253/.379/.414 with 13 HR's and 53 RBI's. In the minors he should decent power with a good eye. Still one had to think if he truly was this great prospect why would the Rangers even risk trading him to a division rival for a rental player? At that time that was something that didn't quite pass the smell test. As we are finding out now with Smoak perhaps he wasn't that good to begin with which is why the Rangers rushed him through the system. By rushing him through the system that enhanced his value as he was drafted in 2008 and was on the major league roster in 2010 having played in 70 games for the Rangers. The Rangers in 2011 used that World Series momentum from 2010 and went back to the World Series, while the Seattle Mariners lost 95 games after losing 101 the previous year.

So far in Smoak's major league career in 1,214 PA's he is hitting .220/.302/.370 for a .672 OPS with 39 HR's(HR/27.5 AB's). He has struck out 265 times(21.8%) and walked 127 times(10.4%). He has a negative 0.9 WAR in three seasons and a negative 2.0 WAR defensively(every year has been negative). To say Smoak has been a disaster would be an understatement. Sure those at Mariners Nation may think he is "slumping" but they are also the laughing joke of the Seattle sports scene. Smoak this year is having his worst season to date in 328 PA's he is hitting .203/.265/.332 for an OPS of .597 which is pathetic. He has 11 home runs(HR/27.3 AB's) with 69 strikeouts(20.4%) and 26 walks(7.9%) on the season. He currently has a negative 0.8 WAR which ranks last among all everyday first baseman. He isn't walking at all like he did in the minor leagues and his power is very average. Plus defensively he is bad as every year in the majors he has been a negative WAR defensively. As time is moving forward it is becoming more and more clear Zduriencik isn't a good general manager. It is becoming even more obvious that Smoak isn't the future either. The sooner the Mariners cut their losses on him and ship him while he still has a little bit of value the better.

The Rangers hustled the Mariners like all good teams do to bad teams. They had the Mariners thinking they were giving up a top prospect for a rental which would hurt their franchise and help the Mariners franchise for a decade. Instead just the opposite happened the Rangers used that trade to land Lee which landed them in the World Series. They then used that momentum to go back to the World Series while the Mariners are on pace to go 67-95 which would be the first this franchise has lost 95 plus games three years in a row since their expansion days when they lost 95 plus their first four years of existence from 1977-1980. Zduriencik was supposed to clean up this mess that Bill Bavasi left him instead he has made this mess even worse. Justin Smoak is the poster boy of why this franchise's hope from 2010 to now has disappeared. Smoak was supposed to be that switch hitting power hitting first baseman that was made for Safeco Field. Instead the Rangers are laughing at the Mariners misery as they are going to win their third straight division title. Yes come to find out Justin Smoak was simply a "Smoak and Mirrors" prospect all along.

Sounders end their drought, defeat the Rapids 2-1

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders finally got a win that they desperately needed. Saturday night, a crowd of 39,060 at CenturyLink Field saw first hand, the return of their fan favorite Steve Zakuani who made his first appearance since April 23, 2011 when he suffered a fractured leg and more importantly, the Sounders bringing an end to their nine game winless run. The Sounders got their first win since May 9th as they defeated the Colorado Rapids 2-1 to improve to 8-5-6 (30 points). Keep in mind, the Sounders have been a great second half team these past couple of seasons.

The Sounders had all the possession early on and they nearly made it count in the 8th minute. Eddie Johnson played a brilliant high lofting ball to the left side for Alvaro Fernandez. Flaco brought the ball down off his chest cleanly and he was in a good position to hit it with his left foot, but he decided to cut the ball to his right foot and try to curl his shot to the far corner and it was saved by Matt Pickens after it took a bit of a deflection.

Two minutes later, they had another opportunity. Marvell Wynne gave the ball straight away to Mauro Rosales in his own area. Rosales waiting for an overlap from Eddie Johnson before playing it to him. Johnson was forced into a tight angle and tried to sneak the ball inside the near post, but Pickens again tipped it wide for a corner.

The Sounders continued to dominate this match and they came close again in the 14th minute, but not close enough. After a give and go with Alvaro Fernandez, Marc Burch went long for Eddie Johnson who brought the ball down at the top of the penalty area and tried to put it away with a half volley, but he took about a second too long and fired his shot wide of Pickens's left hand side.

The Rapids didn't have a real opportunity until the 24th minute. Ozzie Alonso gave the ball away in his own area to Conor Casey. Support came from Jamie Smith and Martin Rivero. Casey fed Rivero on the near side for a first timed shot that hit the side of the net.

Colorado didn't have anymore real opportunities in the first to take the lead. The Sounders continued to pour men forward and put all the pressure on the opposition in their half of the field and wear down the back four. In the 35th minute, the Rave Green nearly came up with something out of nothing. Jamie Smith was dispossessed in his own area by Adam Johansson. He was looking for a free kick, but there was definitely not enough contact for it to be a free kick. Alonso poked the ball back to Johansson who had time to look for options. The Swedish international decided to whip in a cross to the far post. Right there was Alvaro Fernandez for a looping header which looked at first like it didn't have a chance, but in the end, it was just a fraction too high.

In the 51st minute, Mauro Rosales whipped in another dangerous ball, this time off a free kick, intended for Alvaro Fernandez but the ball bounced towards goal and Matt Pickens had to be alert and tip the ball wide for another Sounders corner kick. Seconds later, off the corner kick, the Sounders would find the break through. Mauro Rosales's outswinger found a wide open Alvaro Fernandez who's header skipped underneath Matt Pickens and in for his first league goal of the 2012 season and the Sounders took a 1-0 lead.

The Rapids looked to hit back a couple minutes later. Jeff Larentowicz had time and space from about 30 yards away and he decided to give it a go and Bryan Meredith had to do everything he can to punch the ball away. In case anybody didn't even notice on that shot, there was quite a bit of movement on the ball.

In the 64th minute, the Sounders doubled their lead off another set piece. Mauro Rosales took the corner kick again, this time an inswinger from the far side, toward the near post and Matt Pickens was trying to go up and gather the ball but his teammate Drew Moor got in his way so he punched the ball instead, but not out of danger. Andy Rose was looking to head the ball back across for Fernandez, but Jeff Larentowicz got in the way to head the ball, but he headed the ball straight to Patrick Ianni. Ianni poked the ball out wide to Rosales who curled the ball back in toward the far post and right there to head the ball in for his eighth goal of the season was Eddie Johnson who was left wide open and Matt Pickens had no chance of stopping that one.

With just over 10 minutes to go in the match, the Rapids pulled a goal back. After Alex Caskey gave the ball away in his own area, the Rapids re-grouped. Jaime Castrillon fed the ball to Luis Zepata on the near side. Zepata took one touch and it looked like he was gonna try one from distance, but he went for the cross to the far post and found Omar Cummings who made a good run toward the far post and he put the ball away with a half volley to cut the Sounders lead in half. This one was on Patrick Ianni because he didn't pay attention to Cummings when he made that run.

Five minutes later, the Rapids thought they equalised, but the officials didn't think so. The Sounders had difficulties clearing the ball away. The ball fell to Jeff Larentowicz, who dribbled around Alex Caskey and sent in a ball to the far post and it snuck in, but the offside flag went up because the linesman claimed that Omar Cummings got a touch to it. I've been looking at the replay over and over again and it looked to me like Cummings did get a foot on the ball and he was in an offside position when Larentowicz played the ball in.

Seconds later, you could hear the roar from a mile away which meant only one thing, the return of Steve Zakuani. The no. 1 overall draft pick from 2009, Steve Zakuani came on in the 85th minute as he made his long awaited return since April 23 of last year when he suffered a fractured tibia and fibula following a dangerous two footed challenge from Brian Mullan. Having him back is really big for this team as the season progresses. Remember this past offseason, Sigi Schmid didn't expect him to be back until late 2012 if not the 2013 season, but I didn't buy that, I thought he was gonna come back sooner and now he's back. So now what's next for Zak? It's simple, work his way back into the starting 11. He did get a few touches late in the match which is good.

In the final seconds of stoppage time, the Sounders nearly let another one slip away. Tony Cascio played in a low left footed ball to the near post which got away from Omar Cummings. The ball fell to Castrillon, who played the ball back to the top of the area for a first timed shot from Martin Rivero and it just flew over the bar. After going nine games without a win, the last thing the Sounders want is to blow a two goal lead late and have their winless run extended to 10 games, but the Sounders were able to hang on and win 2-1.


Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Alvaro Fernandez 1 (Mauro Rosales 5) 52'

Seattle Sounders FC - Eddie Johnson 8 (Mauro Rosales 6) 64'

Colorado Rapids - Omar Cummings 4 (Luis Zapata 1) 79'


Misconduct summary:

Colorado Rapids - Martin Rivero (caution; foul) 41'

Seattle Sounders FC - Eddie Johnson (caution; excessive celebration) 64'


Lineups:

Colorado Rapids - Matt Pickens; Hunter Freeman, Marvell Wynne, Drew Moor, Luis Zapata; Brian Mullan, Martin Rivero, Jeff Larentowicz, Jamie Castrillon (Tony Cascio 84'), Jamie Smith (Omar Cummings 67'); Conor Casey (Edu 67')

Seattle Sounders FC - Bryan Meredith; Adam Johansson, Jeff Parke, Patrick Ianni, Marc Burch; Alex Caskey, Osvaldo Alonso, Andy Rose, Alvaro Fernandez (Cordell Cato 81'); Mauro Rosales (Steve Zakuani 85'), Eddie Johnson (Fredy Montero 72')

Happy two years to my blog!

By Kshell

I can't believe I've been running my blog for two years now. It has been a wild ride for my blog over those years where in the beginning I had a separate facebook account for a few months which was deleted by facebook. In that short time I was able to have interviewed several Huskies greats when the current Huskies were taking on the Nebraska Cornhuskers and I also had a separate interview with Huskies and Oakland Raiders great Lincoln Kennedy as we talked on the phone for over 40 minutes. I remember how that was such a thrill talking to guys that I grew up watching and just how excited my dad was for me. That was exciting times for my blog's growth as I started my blog in the NBA offseason. That offseason was crazy of course because that is when Lebron James pulled off the decision and just two years later it resulted in an NBA championship for the Miami Heat. Still my blog was having trouble getting page views until November of 2010.

My blog finally hit it big in November and hasn't looked back since! I've had over 3,000 page views every month since March of 2011 and over 5,000 since June of 2011. This past two years has been great to me and my blog. My seattle sports blog group and fan page have been getting great traffic lately. In October of 2011 I began writing for the Northwest Sports Beat which has been a fun experience.

In the first two years I will have wrote more than I will this upcoming year. With my job and coaching in the winter time I'll be working up to 60 hours a week. My blog has been a great ride and it has been a wonderful two years. I just like to quickly thank everyone who has ever written for me, thank everyone who has ever read my work and I look forward to future readers of my blog! This was a great personal weekend for me spending time with my family down in Long Beach, Washington with the team I'm currently coaching plus kids I coached this past year on a different team were there, along with my old high school. I couldn't ask for much more in life and this blog has allowed me to meet several great people along the way. Cheers everyone!

Former Husky and Blazer Brandon Roy signs with T-Wolves

By Kshell

Former Portland Trail Blazers and Washington Huskies great Brandon Roy is coming out of retirement. Roy has signed a two year deal worth over 10 million dollars to play with the Minnesota Timberwolves the team who actually drafted him in 2006.  For Roy he is hoping to make a splash in the NBA once again like he did with the Blazers. Roy who won the rookie of the year in the 2006-07 season, is a former three-time all-star and has been  all-NBA twice in his career. Roy is going to an upstart Timberwolves team who features good young starts such as Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio. Roy if he returns to form or close to it can lead the Timberwolves to the playoffs. Roy who is averaging 19.0 PPG, 4.7 APG, 4.3 RPG and a full steal a game in his career. However, there is a risk as Roy missed all of last season due to retirement. Roy is a model face for the northwest athletes and there will be plenty of people in Seattle and Portland curious to how he does in his new home. Roy has achieved a lot in his basketball career and some are probably pondering why he is even coming back? Roy has plenty left in the tank and if he is healthy has a ton to offer to a franchise. The Timberwolves haven't made the playoffs since 2004 so hopefully Roy can turn it around for them like he did the Washington Huskies and Portland Trail Blazers.

Brandon Roy is a local product from Garfield High School. As a four-star recruit he chose the Washington Huskies over the Arizona Wildcats. He was the first big time recruit the Huskies landed. For the Huskies Roy led them to the NCAA tournament three times. Roy was honorable mention all Pac-10 as a sophomore and junior when he averaged 12 points a game and five rebounds. He was injured his junior year which was a blessing in disguise as he returned for his senior season. During his senior year for the Huskies he was named first team all-american and Pac-10 player of the year as the Huskies advanced to the sweet 16 for the second straight year. Roy averaged 20.2 PPG, 5.6 RPG and 4.1 APG. He also chipped in with 0.8 blocks per game and 1.6 steals per game. He shot 50.8% from the field, 40.2% from three point range and made 81.0% of his free throws. After a successful four year career which made him the greatest player in the Lorenzo Romar era still he was then the face of the Washington Huskies. Roy has his number retired for the Huskies as he is the only Romar player to make an NBA all-star game, the only Husky in the Romar era to be named first team all-american and conference player of the year. All that was special as Roy became the 6th pick overall in the NBA draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves the team he has agreed to play with now.

The Blazers traded the draft rights of Randy Foye to the Timberwolves for the Washington superstar in Roy. Roy rewarded the Blazers by winning Rookie of the Year.  Roy won the rookie of the year when he averaged 16.8 PPG, 4.4 RPG and 4.0 APG. He shot 45.6% from the field while making almost a full three pointer a game. More importantly the Blazers had a "Jail Blazers" image before Roy showed up with the Blazers. Roy made the Blazers winners and during the 2007-08 season his second year in the NBA Roy had made the NBA all-star team as he led the Western Conference in scoring with 18 points on 8-10 shooting in that game. Roy and the Blazers were the new up and coming franchise as Greg Oden was set to make his debut in the 2008-09 season and LaMarcus Aldridge was still developing who was also picked in the same draft with Roy. Roy also was the first Washington Huskies player to win the rookie of the year award. Roy proved the Blazers traded for the steal of the draft as he still is to this date the highest Huskies player picked in the NBA draft in the Romar era. Roy more importantly was poised for a big year for the Blazers in the next two seasons especially during the 2008-09 campaign which most figured the Blazers would use that great season as a launching season for more great things. Come to find out the 2008-09 campaign was the height of Roy's Blazers run with the franchise.

During Roy's third season the Blazers finally returned to the playoffs as Roy made his second straight all-star team and was named second team all NBA that year. During the 2008-09 season Roy averaged 22.6 PPG, 4.7 RPG and 5.1 APG. He shot 48.0% from the field, made a little over a three pointer a game shooting 37.7% while making 82.4% of his free throws. In the playoffs against the Houston Rockets the Blazers lost in six games but it wasn't Roy's fault as he had a terrific series. During that six game loss Roy averaged 26.7 PPG, 4.8 RPG and 2.8 APG. He also shot 45.9% from the field, 87.0% from free throws and 47.1% from three point range. Roy was rewarded with a 7 year 84 million dollar deal after that season.  Roy was enjoying another all-star season in 2009-10 where he was named third team all-NBA until he injured one of his knee's forcing him to miss the final 17 games of the season. Roy then missed the Blazers first three playoff games against the Phoenix Suns. As the Blazers trailed the Suns 2-1 in the series they pressed the panic button deciding to play Roy. Roy provided great inspiration as the Blazers beat the Suns in game four to even the series at two games apiece. The Suns would eliminate the Blazers in six games that year as Roy probably should have sat out that series. After that Roy was never quite the same with the Blazers although he provided a great moment in that Blazers comeback win over the Mavericks in game four of the 2011 NBA playoffs.

In short, Roy is going to a division rival which will feel strange when he returns back to the Rose Garden. I expect the Blazers fans to give him a standing ovation as he gave the Blazers everything even sacrificing his own knees. Roy was a class act for the Blazers and their franchise didn't make the playoffs before him and immediately after he retired they missed the playoffs again. Roy is given a second chance for his career and with sitting out that year possibly he can return to his old form. This is a risky contract for the Timberwolves but if Roy resembles anything that he once was this is a bargain deal. Now for fans of the northwest we can finally see our homegrown superstar once again play in the NBA. It doesn't matter if Roy ever makes an all-star game again I'm just happy that is going to go out on his own terms instead of retiring too soon like we had all feared last year.

Sounders FC monthly rewind: June 2012

By Money Mike


So I've been a couple days late with my work here because I just got re-settled after spending four days in California because my sisters dance team was performing at Disneyland and also I had a lot of studying to do. So for those of you waiting for my EURO 2012 recap, I'll get on it as soon as possible when I get the time. Right now, I'm gonna give you guys a rewind of Seattle's difficult month of June. Of course I'm going to give my positives (this was difficult) and negatives (Parke and Hurtado) about the month and take a look ahead to the month of July and I'm also gonna give my thoughts on the transfer period as the summer transfer window opened up last Wednesday.


Positives:

It was a little difficult finding some positives for this past month because the Sounders still have not won a league match since May 9th and now the team that started 7-1-1 is now 7-5-5. One positive that I'll throw out is that they we're able to keep their win streak in the U.S. Open Cup alive on the road against the top team in the league, the San Jose Earthquakes who have been in great form all season and the Sounders went over there and came away with a 1-0 win on a goal by Cordell Cato to advance to the U.S. Open Cup Semifinal against Chivas USA on July 11th at Starfire. Also from what I've seen, I think Mauro Rosales is starting to produce as he picked up a couple of assists these last three games. One last positive is that we are getting healthy which is a good thing, especially on defense with Adam Johansson who looked pretty good last Saturday unlike his last three matches.


Negatives:

This was ridiculous. Poor marking from our center backs Jeff Parke and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado which may have cost them a place in the starting lineup. What has happened with Hurtado? This is not the same Jhon Kennedy Hurtado we saw in 2009 up to May 2010 before he suffered a torn ACL, great defender, communicating well with his teammates but that was then. Same with Jeff Parke, what the hell happened? Ever since may, Jeff Parke has sucked and watching him against Portland made me sick to my stomach because his set piece defending was awful, leaving David Horst wide open. Parke's contract with the Sounders is up after this season. I don't know about Hurtado's, but I know Parke's in the final year of his contract and the way he's played a long side Hurtado, he doesn't deserve to stick around any longer. At 30 years of age, this guy should be in his prime or at least close to it. When it came to the negatives in June, Parke and Hurtado were obviously a top that list.


Western Conference Standings:

1. San Jose Earthquakes, 11-4-3 (36 pts), GF 36 GA 24 GD 12
2. Real Salt Lake, 10-6-2 (32 pts), GF 28 GA 21 GD 7
3. Seattle Sounders FC, 7-5-5 (26 pts), GF 21 GA 18 GD 3
4. Vancouver Whitecaps, 7-4-5 (26 pts), GF 18 GA 19 GD -1
5. Colorado Rapids, 7-8-1 (22 pts), GF 24 GA 21 GD 3
6. Los Angeles Galaxy, 6-9-2 (20 pts), GF 25 GA 27 GD -2
7. Chivas USA, 5-7-4 (19 pts), GF 11 GA 18 GD -7
8. Portland Timbers, 5-7-4 (19 pts), GF 16 GA 21 GD -5
9. FC Dallas, 3-9-5 (14 pts), GF 16 GA 26 GD -10


Looking ahead to July + A few thoughts on the Summer transfer period:

So as we know, the summer transfer window for Major League Soccer opened last Wednesday and will remain open through July 27th and there's been a lot of talk these last couple weeks about the possibility of 1. FC Kaiserslautern midfielder Christian Tiffert coming to the Emerald City following a disappointing 2011-12 season in which his club was relegated from the German Bundesliga. The last report I found regarding Tiffert was that he has agreed to personal terms with the Sounders and that the club is currently negotiating transfer fee. So it looks like Tiffert is close to joining the Rave Green.

As for the Sounders. The CONCACAF Champions League is a month away. Looking at what we have this month, we have a couple of big road matches. Tomorrow at Real Salt Lake and one on the 15th against the New York Red Bulls. We also have two games this month against the Colorado Rapids and of course the U.S. Open Cup semifinal next Wednesday against Chivas USA.

Upcoming schedule

July 4 @ Real Salt Lake, 7:00pm (KING 5)
July 7 vs Colorado Rapids, 8:00pm (NBC Sports Network)
July 11 vs Chivas USA, 7:00pm (soundersfc.com)*
July 15 @ New York Red Bulls, 1:00pm (ESPN)
July 18 vs Chelsea FC, 6:30pm (TBD)^
July 28 @ Colorado Rapids, 6:00pm (KONG TV)

Note 1: * - U.S. Open Cup match
Note 2: ^ - Friendly match

Sounders come away with only a point after a couple of controversial decisions

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders were 30 second away from their first win since May 9th and clearly this was a match where they clearly deserved all three points. However, a missed call by the linesman as well as a blown call in the final seconds of stoppage time in the second half led to New England scoring two goals and the Sounders came away with only a point after drawing with the New England Revolution 2-2 in Foxborough. The Sounders winless streak has now extended to eight games when it clearly should've come to an end.

The Revs were the dominant side the first quarter of an hour of the match and they had a chance from inside the area in the sixth minute. Chris Tierney curled the ball toward the near post for Blake Brettschneider, but he couldn't get a head to it. The ball fell nicely for Saer Sene, but he skied his shot well over the bar.

Three minutes later, the Revs skied another one. This time it was Clyde Simms with the opportunity as the chased down a loose ball in the box, but he started to stumble as he got the shot away which resulted in the ball sailing over the top.

In the 12th minute, here was the first goal that the assistant referee messed up on. Blake Brettschneider took a shot that was blocked by Patrick Ianni or Marc Burch, but anyway Brettschneider got it back after Burch failed to clear the ball out of danger and squared the ball across to a wide open Saer Sene who tapped the ball into an empty net but this goal shouldn't have counted because he was in an offside position when the ball was played to him. I don't know what the assistant referee was looking at, because Sene was clarly offsides and the linesman kept his flag down so the goal counted and the Sounders for the eighth straight match found themselves trailing 1-0.

In the 23rd minute, the Sounders would pull one back and level this match up. Florian Lechner went for the switch instead of clearing the ball into the Sounders half and Adam Johansson would head the ball back into the danger area. Lechner had another opportunity to clear, but Mauro Rosales poked the ball away and sent a beautiful curling ball into the area for a snap header by Eddie Johnson and there was no way he was gonna miss from there. It was Johnson's sixth goal of the season and his third goal in the last four matches. More importantly, it brought the Sounders back level at a goal a peice.

In the 35th minute, Johnson would add another goal to his stat. Mauro Rosales's cross was intended for Johnson, but that sailed over everyone. However, right there to chase the ball down was Marc Burch. Burch curled the ball back into the area and Matt Reis makes a terrible decision here as he came a few steps off his line to try to secure that cross and the ball sailed over his hands and right to the head of Eddie Johnson for his second goal of the game and his seventh of the season to put the Sounders ahead 2-1.

In the second half, Bryan Meredith had to come on to replace Andrew Weber in goal after Weber suffered a thigh injury late in the first half. This is the second time Meredith came off the bench to start the second half and it was also his ninth appearance of the season. He quickly got in on the act in the 47th minute, making a save on a volley by Lee Nguyen.

In the 88th minute, Meredith had to make another save. Benny Feilhaber snuck the ball through for Fernando Cardenas who looked to slot the ball inside the far post but from the position he was in, there was no way he was gonna convert.

In the final seconds of stoppage time, this goal pisses me off just as much as the first one did because the Revolution shouldn't have been given a chance to go forward in the first place. The Sounders were playing keep away in New Englands half, now Alvaro Fernandez was tripped up by a New England player. I mean Flaco was trying to keep the ball and kill off the remaining seconds and he gets tripped up and the assistant referee spotted it, but he says it was a foul on Fernandez. Are you fucking kidding me? It was a clear foul on the Revs, which would've given the Sounders a chance a kill off the remaining seconds of stoppage time, game over, Sounders win, winless streak over. But they gave New England the free kick and it leads to this. Fernando Cardenas curls the ball into the area for Diego Fagundez who heads the ball past Bryan Meredith and the Sounders get robbed of a victory that they obviously deserved after the officials missed an offside on the first goal and made a bullshit call in the final seconds. The Sounders won this match, it's as simple as that.


Scoring summary:

New England Revolution - Saer Sene 8 (Blake Brettschneider 1) 12'

Seattle Sounders FC - Eddie Johnson 6 (Mauro Rosales 4) 23'

Seattle Sounders FC - Eddie Johnson 7 (Marc Burch 2) 35'

New England Revolution - Diego Fagundez 1 (Fernando Cardenas 2) 94'+


Misconduct summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Andy Rose (caution; foul) 18'

Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso (caution; foul) 50'

Seattle Sounders FC - Leo Gonzalez (caution; foul) 90'


Lineups:

Seattle Sounders FC - Andrew Weber (Bryan Meredith 46'); Adam Johansson, Patrick Ianni, Zach Scott, Marc Burch; Brad Evans (Alvaro Fernandez 56'), Osvaldo Alonso, Andy Rose, Alex Caskey (Leo Gonzalez 80'); Mauro Rosales, Eddie Johnson

New England Revolution - Matt Reis; Florian Lechner (Diego Fagundez 81'), A.J. Soares, Stephen McCarthy, Chris Tierney; Benny Feilhaber, Clyde Simms (Kelyn Rowe 64'), Shalrie Joseph, Lee Nguyen; Blake Brettschneider (Fernando Cardenas 19'), Saer Sene

Felix Hernandez will represent Mariners in All-Star Game

By Kshell

For the third time in the last four seasons Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez will find himself in the Major League Baseball All-Star game this season. The only year which Hernandez missed the all-star game was two years ago his Cy Young season. Hernandez is the only Seattle Mariners player selected to the All-Star team. Hernandez who still remains one of the games best pitchers has had an up and down season this year. However, Hernandez has been pitching terrific lately in his last three starts and was flat out dominant in his last start. Hernandez in his last start pitched a complete game shutout striking out 13 Boston Red Sox as the Mariners defeated the Red Sox 1-0.

For the season Hernandez in 16 starts has a 6-5 record, has thrown 110.2(7 innings a start) with a 3.09 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 114 K's(9.27 K's per 9). Hernandez is having his typical season with the Mariners as he is the workhorse who receives no run support. In 16 starts Hernandez has 10 quality starts on the season. He has also pitched eight innings or more allowing one run or less in six starts(37.5% of his starts) and has pitched seven innings or more allowing one run or less in nine starts(56.3% of his starts). He is holing opponents to a .248 average while allowing only 9 home runs(one home run every 12 1/3 innings pitched). With speculation about Hernandez losing his velocity and hitting his usual bump in the road in May he has rebounded in the last three starts. In his last three starts he has pitched 23 innings(7 2/3 innings a start average), is 2-0 with a 0.78 ERA, 0.87 WHIP struck out 30 batters(11.73 K's per 9). Hernandez is hitting his stride just in time for his third career all-star game as he becomes only the second Mariners pitcher ever to be selected to three all-star games. The man he joins also has a Cy Young for this franchise.

Randy Johnson is the only Seattle Mariners pitcher who has been chosen to more all-star games than Felix Hernandez. Johnson with the Mariners made the all-star team five times(1990, 1993-1995, 1997) including being the starting pitcher for the American League in 1995 and 1997. Just like Hernandez, Johnson is the only other Seattle Mariner who has won a Cy Young award for this franchise. Hernandez is probably the second greatest pitcher in franchise history trailing on "the Big Unit" who in totaly has won five cy youngs in his career. Johnson provided some great moments in the all-star game as well in 1993 he threw the ball over the head of Philadelphia Phillies John Kruk who is now an ESPN analysis. Kruk then stood as far back in the batters box as he could after striking out weakly on three straight pitches. In 1997 facing Larry Walker who had "johnsonitis" and avoided him in the regular season Johnson threw over Walker's head. Walker being the good sport turned around and hit right handed with his helmet on backwards as Johnson then walked him. The man Johnson was eventually traded for Freddy Garcia made two all-star games and was the winning pitcher in the 2001 game in Seattle. Perhaps this year in Kansas City, Hernandez can notch his name in All-Star game history as he pitched a scoreless inning in 2009 while not pitching last year due to pitching on a Sunday.

Overall I'm happy for Hernandez making the all-star team. Sometimes in Seattle due to the poor offense and poor team I feel like people forget just how good Hernandez is. Thankfully AL manager Ron Washington who has faced Hernandez quite a bit with the Texas Rangers recognizes how great of a pitcher Hernandez is and selected him to the all-star team. Hernandez is a guy the Mariners can hopefully someday build around as he is a terrific talent and in this all-star game I can't wait to see him shine once again. The Mariners lone all-star is Hernandez and he'll represent the Mariners well like he has his entire career.