Thursday, May 17, 2001 (W: SEA 5-CWS 1 31-9)

M's win again: completing the three-game sweep with a 5-1 over Chicago. That's eight straight, if you're counting.

Ichiro was the sparkplug once again, extending his hitting streak to 22 games (and my MLB.com Beat the Streak entry to 23 games), with a single in the first. He then stole 2nd and 3rd and scored on an Edgar single. He now has 13 SB's this season, tied for first in the majors with Chuck Knoblauch of the Yankees. The M's as a team are 35-41 in stolen bases, for a .854 success rate, best in the majors.

The M's never looked back as Boone hit a 3-run HR (his 8th of the season) in the third and Freddy pitched 7.2 innings, giving up only 6 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run to up his record to 4-0. Jeff Nelson got the final 4 outs for his 3rd save of the season. (Still no clue here what's up with Kaz.)

Anybody else read Larry Stone's column today? Calling Gillick a "productive tinkerer," he says the M's are actively pursuing another bat for their lineup, such as:

Mark Quinn
Greg Vaughn
Phil Nevin
Jose Cruz
Ivan Rodriguez

I'd love to get one of those guys and lock them up for a few more years. However, the article also points out that if Buhner returns and hits like we know he can, we may not go after anybody else.

And, yes...Minnesota won again. Isn't it nice to sit here and fret over whether your team can hold onto the best record in the majors? That's the luxury we have in the weak AL West (Anaheim, 12 games back in 2nd place, is 2 games below .500 at 19-21). October baseball, here we come!