pitched in a big league game since September 18, and

SEATTLE - Kyle Seager was initially the other guy.When the Seattle Mariners held the No. 2 pick in the 2009 amateur draft, it was clear they were targeting North Carolina outfielder Dustin Ackley. But in the process of scouting Ackley, the Tar Heels third baseman caught the attention of Mariners scouting director Tom McNamara and general manager Jack Zduriencik.Nearly six years later, selecting Seager in the third round might be the best draft pick of Zdurienciks tenure in Seattle.A player can change the destiny of an organization and you never really know where it comes, Zduriencik said Wednesday after Seager signed his $100 million, seven-year contract with the Mariners. You have to have success in other rounds.The Mariners continued their big spending of the past few years by locking up Seager in his prime. At 27, he passed up salary arbitration and pushed back his potential free agency for the security of being under contract with Seattle for the next seven years and perhaps an eighth — the Mariners hold a club option for 2022.Its a major commitment, with most of the money coming on the back end of the deal. Seager will make $4 million in 2015, but from 2018-21 he will earn $74.5 million. By that point, the Mariners believe Seager will be a perennial All-Star and Gold Glove winner.The financial commitment to Seager is on top of the deals signed by Felix Hernandez ($175 million) and Robinson Cano ($240 million) the past two off-season, and a deal with slugger Nelson Cruz expected to be for $57 million.When I took this job I said this was going to be a golden age for the Seattle Mariners. I didnt know it was going to be this much gold, manager Lloyd McClendon joked.Seager is one of the few stars to be developed by the Mariners in the past two decades. Before him, the last position player to be drafted and developed by Seattle and make his first All-Star team with the Mariners was Alex Rodriguez. Bret Boone was drafted by the Mariners and came through Seattles system, but his first All-Star game came with Cincinnati.Seagers rapid rise, and the fact he came through Seattles system, was part of the reason the Mariners made such a strong commitment.We know what we have here. We know we have a good group of guys here. We know were going to be competitive and were going to play well and were going to take it to the next level, Seager said. It was a very easy decision.Seager hit .268 with a career-high 25 homers and 96 RBIs last season, getting selected to his first All-Star game and winning his first Gold Glove after posting the 10th-highest fielding percentage for an American League third baseman since 1948.But the season was far from smooth. In mid-May, while on a road trip in Minnesota, McClendon held a blunt conversation with Seager about his performance.Not too pleasant, was how Seager described it.At the time, Seager had rebounded slightly from a miserable start to the season, but was still batting in the low .200s and had already committed five errors in 39 games.Over the next 118 games, Seager hit .282 and committed just three errors in the field.I really challenged him because I thought he could be better than what he was doing and I thought this guy could be one of the elite players in this league, McClendon said. He hasnt disappointed. Dennis Maruk Jersey . In the days leading up to the draft, TSN.ca and TSN Radio basketball analyst Duane Watson looks at some of the names that will be headlining the event. Tonight, Michigans Nik Stauskas of Mississauga, Ontario. Evgeny Kuznetsov Jersey . The Goldeyes (10-7) lost 4-1 to the Saltdogs (8-9) Sunday afternoon before 5,834 sizzling fans at Shaw Park. The loss drops Winnipegs record to 3-4 during this past weeks seven-game homestand. http://www.officialcapitalsfanstore.com/authentic-t-j-oshie-capitals-jersey/ . The Padres made the moves before Fridays game at Washington. They promoted infielder Jace Peterson from Double-A San Antonio and right-hander Kevin Quackenbush from Triple-A El Paso. Mike Gartner Jersey . "I had a pretty good year," the soft-spoken Granberg told TSN.ca with a grin from the teams annual rookie tournament in London. A fourth-round selection in 2010, Granberg is worth keeping an eye on with NHL training camps rolling around in less than a week. The six-foot-two, 200-pound defender may not possess the wow-inspiring theatrics of fellow prospect Morgan Rielly, but nonetheless has a chance to contribute with the Leafs when all is said and done this season. Custom Washington Capitals Jerseys . The Raptors have been outscored 88-66 in the opening quarter over a three-game span to begin the month of February. Their most recent loss, 109-101 in Sacramento on Wednesday, was eerily similar to Saturdays defeat at the hands of the Trail Blazers.BOSTON - First, a warning: There will be no in-depth statistical analysis here of what happened at Fenway Park on Sunday night. There will be no attempt to affirm, or deny, the existence of the clutch hitter in baseball and whether David Ortiz fits the bill. Instead, there will be the celebration of a moment, or a series of moments, in an epic game of what has the makings of being an epic American League Championship Series. The experience, sitting in the right field auxiliary press box, began before the first pitch. Flat-screen televisions are fastened to the top of the green beams supporting the second deck. Early arrivers sat, necks craned, glued to the last-minute, game-winning touchdown drive Tom Brady was completing down the road in Foxborough. When receiver Kenbrell Thompkins caught the pass to secure a 30-27 win over the New Orleans Saints, a raucous cheer went up, surely a strange scene for the handful of Detroit Tigers who remained on the field at the end of batting practice. Less than an hour later, Game 2 began. Mathematically speaking it wasnt a must-win game for the Red Sox, but Justin Verlander is on deck for the Tigers in Tuesdays Game 3 and to be down a couple and heading to Detroit, well, you get the picture. Having been one-hit by Anibal Sanchez and four Tigers relievers in a 1-0 loss to open the series the night before, Bostons hitters picked up where they left off. Detroits Max Scherzer was every bit the Cy Young Award winner hes likely to be. He struck out two Red Sox in each of the first three innings, racked up another strikeout and a double play in the fourth and another strikeout in the fifth. At that point, Scherzer had yet to allow a hit. In the meantime, the Tigers had scored a run in the second on a Victor Martinez double and Alex Avila RBI single. Then came the sixth, when Detroit batted around, scoring four runs on five hits and chasing Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz from the game. Detroit led 5-0. Scherzer was more than halfway toward a no-hitter. It was happening again, just like the night before, except the deficit was much larger. With no ghosts of Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio and Mantle to draw upon, Boston would later find out that the living, in this case the lone holdover from both the 2004 and 2007 championship teams, would create a special moment. The Red Sox got on the board with one out in the sixth when Shane Victorino singled, ending Scherzers no-hit bid, before Dustin Pedroia doubled him home. In thhe blink of an eye Boston had scored a run and pieced together two hits in a game – new ground for the home side in this young series.dddddddddddd And its worth mentioning, when Victorino singled the crowd roared. But they werent mocking the dry Red Sox offence; they were trying to spurn them on. As Pedroias at-bat played out, a hearty “Lets Go Red Sox” chant filled Fenway. Give the fans an inch and theyll attempt to take the mile, or at the very least remind the local heroes who has their backs. Scherzer worked a clean seventh, the score was still 5-1, and his night was finished. Cue the eighth, which proved to be the return of the Tigers not-so-vaunted bullpen. The four-headed monster of Joaquin Benoit, Drew Smyly, Jose Veras and Al Alburquerque did a fine job in Game 1. Sunday evening, not so much. Veras started the inning getting Stephen Drew on a ground out. But then, Will Middlebrooks doubled. Tigers manager Jim Leyland went into matchup mode, calling for the left-handed Smyly to deal with the left-handed Jacoby Ellsbury. Except, in what was the pivotal at-bat in the inning before the heroics, Smyly walked Bostons centrefielder. Alburquerque was summoned and struck out Shane Victorino but then allowed a single to Pedroia, loading the bases with two outs for Ortiz. Leyland had left-hander Phil Coke, who hadnt pitched in a big league game since September 18, and his closer, the right-hander Benoit, warming in the bullpen. Leyland elected Benoit. Benoits first pitch to Ortiz, a changeup, was sent on a line over the right-centerfield wall and into the Red Soxs bullpen. Ortizs good friend, Tigers right fielder Torii Hunter, launched himself over the short fence in an attempt to make the catch, but to no avail. The game was tied 5-5. The crowd erupted. Many more of them, and much louder, than had bellowed during batting practice when Brady launched his game-winning touchdown pass. Ortiz had authored yet another moment in his sparkling Red Sox career, cemented an inning later when Jarrod Saltalamacchias walk off single scored Jonny Gomes with the winning run. Again, pandemonium. After everything, boil it down and the series is tied at a game apiece with the venue shifting to Comerica Park on Tuesday afternoon. Much has been made of this first-ever playoff matchup between two of baseballs iconic franchises, these Red Sox and Tigers. Buckle up, its just getting started. Looks like the first times a charm. ' ' '