{"id":17088,"date":"2014-06-26T16:14:12","date_gmt":"2014-06-26T08:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=17088"},"modified":"2014-06-26T15:17:50","modified_gmt":"2014-06-26T07:17:50","slug":"hisashi-iwakuma-struggles-as-seattle-cant-complete-sweep-of-boston-falling-5-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/06\/26\/hisashi-iwakuma-struggles-as-seattle-cant-complete-sweep-of-boston-falling-5-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Hisashi Iwakuma struggles as Seattle can\u2019t complete sweep of Boston falling 5-4"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hisashi<\/a>
Hisashi Iwakuma. Photo by LiAnna Davis \/ Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SEATTLE\u2014From Lloyd McClendon\u2019s viewpoint, it\u2019s because Seattle\u2019s Hisashi Iwakuma has pitched with such consistency that his last two performances seem so shocking.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem is he\u2019s been so good it hasn\u2019t happened before,\u201d McClendon said after Iwakuma lasted just four innings in Seattle\u2019s 5-4 loss to Boston on Wednesday night. \u201cIt seems like something weird but it happens to everybody. He\u2019ll be ready for his next start.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iwakuma was knocked around again and has given up 10 earned runs in just nine innings in his last two outings. This time it was Boston slugger David Ortiz doing the damage with a two-run homer in the first\u2014No. 449 for his career\u2014and a line drive RBI single in the third.<\/p>\n

Iwakuma (5-4) has been bothered by a sore neck. He gave up eight hits and five earned runs to Boston and could not record an out in the fifth before getting pulled. But he would not attribute his poor performances to the neck discomfort.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do feel it but it is not effecting my pitching at all,\u201d Iwakuma said through an interpreter. \u201cI\u2019m responsible for my last two starts and I need to reflect on what I\u2019ve done wrong and prepare for the next one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seattle saw its five-game winning streak snapped, but was nearly able to keep it going despite Iwakuma\u2019s struggles. Kyle Seager and Mike Zunino both homered in the second inning, Brad Miller added a solo shot in the eighth and Seattle had the tying run at second base in the ninth but couldn\u2019t come up with one more hit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve done a good job winning games late but this was one we just didn\u2019t come through with,\u201d Seattle\u2019s Dustin Ackley said.<\/p>\n

Seager continued his tear at home with his 12th home run of the season\u201411th at Safeco Field\u2014leading off the second against Boston starter Clay Buchholz. Logan Morrison followed with a single and Zunino lined his 11th homer to give Seattle a 3-2 lead. But that was about all the Mariners could do against Buchholz.<\/p>\n

Endy Chavez and James Jones led off the sixth with singles, but Buchholz (3-4) got a shallow fly ball from Robinson Cano and Seager grounded into an inning-ending double play.<\/p>\n

Miller homered on the first pitch of the eighth inning from Buchholz, cutting the deficit to 5-4. After Jonny Gomes made a diving catch of Stefen Romero\u2019s liner, Buchholz was pulled.<\/p>\n

Andrew Miller entered and struck out pinch-hitters Willie Bloomquist and Cole Gillespie to end the eighth. Koji Uehara pitched the ninth for his 16th save despite allowing two runners and Boston was able to avoid being swept.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey made me work hard,\u201d Buchholz said. \u201cI knew they were swinging. That\u2019s about the most aggressive team that I\u2019ve pitched to in my career. For the number of pitches that I threw that was a grinding, stressful outing knowing I can\u2019t make a mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mariners were able to stay close late because of five shutout innings from relievers Tom Wilhelmsen and Brandon Maurer. They allowed just three hits and struck out seven.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey threw the ball tremendous. I don\u2019t want those guys overshadowed tonight,\u201d McClendon said.<\/p>\n

Ortiz plunked a two-run shot off the windows of the cafe in right field at Safeco Field for a 2-0 lead, his 18th of the season. He drove in another run in the third on a line drive that barely cleared the glove of Romero in right field.<\/p>\n

Ortiz\u2019s big hits backed Buchholz\u2019s return to the Boston rotation. After getting knocked around in the second, Buchholz avoided problems. He retired 11 of 12 during one stretch and threw just 76 pitches in 7 1-3 innings.<\/p>\n

Buchholz won for the first time since May 2. He had been on the disabled list since May 27 with a hyperextended left knee and after two rehab starts in the minors was brought back to the Red Sox\u2019s rotation.<\/p>\n

NOTES: Ortiz is tied for 36th on the all-time home run list with Jeff Bagwell and Vladimir Guerrero. … Boston RHP Brandon Workman will start Friday\u2019s opener in New York against the Yankees. … Maurer was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma earlier Wednesday to work out of the bullpen. He was a starter earlier in the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SEATTLE\u2014From Lloyd McClendon\u2019s viewpoint, it\u2019s because Seattle\u2019s Hisashi Iwakuma has pitched with such consistency that his last two performances seem …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":17089,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","mauthors-tim-booth","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}