I know you guys are used to a postgame wrap-up, so I’ll do my best to follow suit. How about these three quotes reporters gathered tonight?

Daren Brown: “Getting one in the first inning and I guess that was enough tonight.”
Adam Moore: “Luckily one was enough tonight.”
Michael Saunders: “We got one off of him (Carmona), it’s great that that was enough to win the game.”

That probably tells the story from both sides of the game. Starting pitcher Luke French was phenomenal. He kept hitters off balance and rarely had a ball hit hard off him. He did throw 103 pitches through seven innings so Brown elected to have Brandon League and David Aardsma close it out. Don’t discount some nice defensive plays by Michael Saunders and Moore in the ninth inning to seal the win.

The struggle continued with the bats, however. Here are the run outputs for the last 11 games: 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 2, 0, 3, 3, 3, 0.

To be fair, Cleveland starter Fausto Carmona was solid after a shaky first inning. The eight-inning complete game was his third of the season as he dropped his ERA to 4.05. The Mariners needed to take advantage of the bases loaded, no out situation in the bottom of the first but couldn’t.

Looking at the positives, Seattle won its first game in September and now only has to go 10-17 the rest of the way (if my math is right) to avoid a dreaded 100-loss season. And the pitching and defense the team showed Friday night is an encouraging sign to that aim.

View full post on The Seattle Times: Mariners Blog