Seattle Eliminates Phillies in Seven Games

Nelson Cruz hit four home runs as #1 seed Seattle defeated #8 seed Philadelphia in seven games.  A recap of the series:

Game 1:  Philadelphia 4 Seattle 1

Corey Kluber outduels Justin Verlander through 7 innings.  Andrew McCutchen goes deep in the second inning to give the Phillies the lead.  They add a run in the 7^th to chase Verlander then add 2 for breathing room in the 9^th. 

Game 2:  Philadelphia 5 Seattle 2

Jonathan Villar runs around the bases in the first inning against Lester to start the scoring.  They add 2 more in the 3^rdwith more stellar base running.  The Mariners put 2 across in the 6^th against Johnny Cueto to cut the lead to one.  Lester lets the leading runner get on in the 8^th so he gives the ball to Carl Edwards Jr.  Asdrubal Cabrera launches one for 2 more runs to close the scoring and giving the Phillies a 2 game edge head to Philly. 

Game 3:  Seattle 11 Philadelphia 1

Jordan Zimmerman allows 4 runs in 5 innings and Luis Cessas doesn’t fare much better allowing 5 runs in 3 innings as Felix Hernandez coasts for 7 innings and the Mariners get their first victory of the series.

Game 4:   Seattle 7 Philadelphia 4

Phillies get 2 in the first to grab the lead.  Down 3-1 in the 6^th, the Mariners put 3 across to take the lead against Kluber but Verlander can’t hold it as the Phillies get 1 in the bottom half to tie the game. Nelson Cruz launches his second HR of the game off Kluber in the 7^th as the Mariners collect 5 HR in the victory.

Game 5: Seattle 2 Philadelphia 1

As usual, Philadelphia scores first.  In the 4^th inning, Lorenzo Cain and Kevin Keirmaier hit consecutive doubles for the run.  Nelson Cruz launches a 2 run HR in the 6^th and 4 Mariner relievers preserve the victory.    The visiting team has won all 5 games so far as the teams head to the Pacific Northwest. 

Game 6:  Philadelphia 3 Seattle 1

Adam Conley and Matt Moore get their only starts of the series and are put on short leashes.  Conley allows 1 run in 4 innings and Moore allows 1 run in 5 innings.  Whit Merrified’s HR off Edwards Jr n the 6^th breaks the 1-1 tie.  They get another run the following inning to keep the visiting win streak going.

Game 7:  Philadelphia 1 Seattle 4

Corey Kluber v.s Justin Verlander round 3. 

Mark Reynolds hits a HR in the 2^nd inning to give Philadelphia another early lead.  The Mariners strike back in the 6^thinning to tie it.  Kluber starts to get in trouble in the 8^th and Steve Cishek relieves him.  With 2 runners on, Whit Merrifield throws the ball away for an error as the Mariners plate 2 and get another one for a 4-1 lead.  Ryan Buchter stays in the game after getting the last out in the 8^th and pitches an uneventful 9^th to seal the victory for the home team.

The 8^th seeded Phillies nearly pulled off the upset but Nelson Cruz was too much to handle.  The hero of the game 6, Whit Merrifield was the goat in game 7.