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Geoff Baker covers the Mariners for The Seattle Times. He provides daily coverage of the team throughout spring training, and during the season.

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September 24, 2008 11:09 PM

Replay day, and 100 losses

Posted by Larry Stone

You knew it was going to happen, but it's still going to jump out when you look at the standings in the paper tomorrow -- 58-100.

Fifty-eight and one hundred.

The Mariners hadn't lost 100 games since 1983, when they had the excuse of being a seventh-year expansion team. No excuses this year -- this team was a monument of under-achievement. Perhaps the biggest flop in baseball history, when expectations and payroll are taken into account.

On the bright side -- they kept their one-game "lead" over the Nationals, who don't know the meaning of the word quit. The Nats got shellacked by Florida and show no signs of going down without a fight.

The Mariners got Felix Hernandez his 200 innings (200 1/3, to be exact). Riggleman admitted that he probably would have taken him out in the sixth under normal circumstances, but since it was his final start, and he needed two outs to get to 200, he left him in there even though the Angels were tattooing him.

Here's what Felix said about reaching 200: "It's good. That's all."

As for the instant replay, which upheld the call of a foul ball by third-base umpire Chuck Meriwether on Vlad Guerrero's drive in the left-field corner in the fifth, here's what crew chief Tim Welke told pool reporter Dave Andriesen of the P-I:

"Chuck was confident that it hit just to the left, but when it hit, the ball ricocheted to the right. And in this ballpark, the foul pole is sitting a couple feet behind the fence. That's why it's a little more difficult. Mike Scioscia asked if he could request (a review) and we said no. But if there's a concern among the four of us, let's look at it, let's make sure that we got it right.

"Once we got to the second replay -- the first replay was a little inconclusive -- then we got a second replay that was down the line, and it showed the ball hit just a little to the left on the line and then kicked, which made it a foul ball.

"It's a great tool, and that's what it's for. It worked tonight, and proved that we were correct. But if for some reson we had made a mistake, we would have been able to correct it."

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