The M's Bloom

July 13, 2003

So this wonderful event began with Joel Pineiro giving up a harmless 2-out single to Aubrey Huff, and then Ichiro reached on an infield single and then Carlos Guillen walked and then they each moved up a base on a wild pitch from Jason Standridge and then Bret Boone walked and then an out later and John Olerud walked which forced in a run and then Mike Cameron grounded into a fielder's choice and Carlos scored and then Randy Winn walked to reload the bases and Rob Bell relieved Standridge and meanwhile the announcers are going on and on about how Bell had some kind of stupid message or challenge for us and evidently we had one for him as Willie "I'M GOING HARD YARD DEAD RED GRAND SLAM BABY!" Bloomquist WENT YARD for a grand slam and coincidentally his first homerun in the Majors and it's 6-0 Seattle as we head to the second inning.

Willie Bloomquist Is Congratulated

Photo by Mark Harrison

So with 2 outs, Marlon Anderson singled and then Toby Hall homered and it's 6-2 Seattle as we head to the bottom half where with 2 outs, Bret ripped a big nasty double and then Edgar singled which scored him and it's 7-3 as we head to the third inning where Rocco Baldelli reached on an infield single with 1 out, and an out after that and Travis Lee walked, but they don't score and then we waste Mike Cameron's lead off single.

So fourth inning and Damian Rolls led off with a single that was nicely erased by a double play, and then Hall singled but they still fail to score and we waste Ichiro's lead off single, so moving right along to the fifth, Carl Crawford reached on an infield single that was again nicely erased by a double play and then our offense went on a tear once more as with 1 out, John Olerud walked and then Cammie singled and then Randy singled which scored John and Randy ended up on second on a throwing error and then Willie Bloomquist singled which scored Cammie and Randy and then Bloomie ended up out at second and when the dust settled, it was 10-2 Seattle.

So sixth inning and Tampa Bay is down in order, and then Bobby Seay relieved Bell even though I believe we were still content answering his 'message' and Ichiro led off with a big nasty triple and 2 outs later Edgar walked and we fail to score anybody which was hugely surprising and off we go to the seventh where the Devil Rays are down in order again thanks to a SPECTACULAR diving play from Bloomie to rob Toby Hall of a hit by throwing him out from his knees.

Bloomie Robs Hall - Photo by Grant M. Haller

So then Jesus Colome relieved Seay, and Mike Cameron led off with a walk and Randy singled and Bloomie grounded into a fielder's choice and with runners at the corners, Dan Wilson hit a sac fly to score Cammie and then Ichiro walked and then Carlos reached on an infield single and then Luis Ugueto hit for Bret and walked which forced in a run and then Edgar singled which scored another and it's 13-2 Seattle.

So eighth inning and Aaron Taylor came in and retired the side 1-2-3 and then Brandon Backe relieved Colome, and with 1 out, Randy singled but we can't get anything going, so off we go to the ninth where Jeff Nelson came in and STRUCK OUT THE SIDE which was excellent and we take the series which was even more excellent as we haven't done that in awhile.

Bret & Bo Mel Celebrate Their Win

Willie Salutes

All Photos Are Courtesy of the A/P Unless Otherwise Noted