M's vs. Red Sox Series

Today we saw the Mariners knock off the Red Sox 5-4 in a game that featured Manny Ramirez going yard for his 400th career home run. Miguel Olivo was the star for the M's, collecting three hits including his first home run of the season. Lookout Landing has a nice write-up about Olivo talking with Red Sox 1B Kevin Millar before the game to get some tips on his batting stance. They also have some cool screen shots of the stance Olivo was using in the 0 for 27 slump he entered today with compared with the stance he was using when he hit his home run.

We also attended yesterday's game which the Sox won 6-3 after a 7th inning grand slam by Trot Nixon. Nixon's home run was impressive, but the most amazing feat of the day was accomplished during batting practice when David Ortiz launched a ball over the Hit It Here Cafe into the right field upper deck. According to Mariners' announcer Dave Neihaus, Ortiz is only the second person he's seen accomplish this feat at Safeco Field, the other being fellow Red Sock and David Ortiz look-alike Mo Vaughn.

Counting Friday's game, the M's took two out of the three game series with the BoSox, moving them past the A's and out of last place in the American League West. They played much better ball this series, so I'm cautiously optimistic that they may be ready to turn the corner a bit and start winning some games.