Wednesday, September 03, 2003
CATCHING UP
Well, my internet wasn't working this morning, and I didn't get online last night, so here's my stuff for Tuesday night's game.
I'll start by saying thank goodness for September call-ups. If it was still August, Rhodes giving up the homer to Huff that cost the Mariners two more bullpen innings may have cost the Mariners dearly.
Four errors. Ugh. Somehow in the last few games the Mariners have found a way to win in spite of making their own errors. Those "pitching and defense"-minded people haven't been getting the latter lately. It's relatively true that the Mariners had both of those things for a great portion of the year, but if those two things win you championships, then the Mariners should have 92 wins by now. The team needs some pop. The guy in the lineup who everyone fears.
The guy who everyone feared for quite a while in the Mariner lineup was Ichiro. Well, the only meaningful thing he's done in a while was an RBI triple in the game I'm about to talk about at length. But before I do, here's Ichiro's game log. The first thing I noticed was that all the 2's and 3's under the hit column seemed to disappear (sans Aug 22 at Fenway) after August 15th against Boston at the Safe. So nothing even close to a tear or good streak after August 15, and no multi-hit games for almost two weeks. I'll bitch more about this later.
On to the game. One last thing before moving on, before plate umpire Mike Hirschbeck caught the ball in his ribcage, he was calling consistent low strikes and giving the pitchers the corners. The second plate umpire was a little more hitter-friendly, and I think this defintely favored the Mariner hitters against the Tampa Bay pitchers.
Pitching (Pineiro) first.
In the first, Sanchez' error loaded the bases with one out, which Joel Pineiro managed to pitch out of, whiffing Baldelli and getting Lee to pop out (12 pitches total).
In the second, a Guillen error let the first runner (Toby Hall) on, but he was erased on a Marlon Anderson fielder's choice. Damian Rolls then doubled on a 2-1 pitch to score Anderson from first. Pineiro later made an error of his own to put runners on the corners with 2 down, but he caught Lugo looking (17 pitches -- 29 total).
In the third, Baldelli reached on an infield single on an 0-2 pitch. Other than that, easy inning (10 pitches -- 39 total).
In the 4th, Rolls and Laforest hit back-to-back one-out singles. The threat was erased by a 6-4-3 double play (11 pitches -- 50 total).
In the 5th, Joel got into some trouble. No outs would be recorded until the fifth batter. Lugo walked, Huff singled, Baldelli singled (Lugo scored, Huff to third), Lee was put on, Toby Hall grounded into a weird double play to Olerud (Huff scored on the play), Anderson ran out an infield single, then Rolls flew out after Anderson stole second. Three runs scored in the inning, making it Tampa Bay 4-0 (31 pitches! -- 81 total). Nice deep hole for the Mariners to be in.
In the 6th, easy inning for Joel. Other than that one-out solo blast by Crawford (13 pitches -- 94 total).
In the 7th, Soriano was brought in. Arguably, Pineiro could have been brought out for a couple of batters with his pitch count only at 94, depending on what you thought about his stuff. It's a wash here, though. Soriano does get himself into a hairy two-on-and-one-out situation, but Anderson and Rolls succumb to Raf (17 pitches).
In the 8th, Soriano had thrown 8 pitches (0 balls) for strikes and gotten the first two outs. Lugo then got a 2-0 count, then got a 9-pitch at-bat and drew a walk. Soriano was yanked. In hindsight, stupid move. In the moment, though, I still didn't want Rhodes out there, with a runner on and the tying run at the plate, who happened to be a lefty with good pop. First pitch, Rhodes grooves a slider right over the middle of the damn plate, Huff hits it out AND RIGHT ABOUT THEN I WAS CURSING IN AN UNCONTROLLABLE RAGE AT THE TELEVISION. You know, for all the good Rhodes has done in a Seattle uniform, all I can remember is when he couldn't get key hitters out, in particular those great moments in the 2000 and 2001 ALCS. He would strike out Baldelli to end the inning.
In the 9th, Rhodes allowed a leadoff single and was pulled for Benitez. Why the hell not. I didn't mind this move. You've gotta get something out of this guy. And what they got was a teetering-on-the-brink-of-insanity inning. Twice Terry Shumpert (he's gotta be 58 years old) failed to bunt, putting him down 0-2 in the count, only to be walked to put the winning run on second with nobody out. Anderson then worked a full count before whiffing. Rolls fouled off five pitches before Guillen caught his pop fly in foul ground. Laforest swung on a 2-0 pitch and flew out to Davis. Lou was not happy.
In the 10th, Crawford led off with a single off Hasegawa, and was bunted over by Lugo. Huff was put on (good move) to keep the double play in order. Baldelli flew out on a 3-1 pitch. Javier Valentin worked a full count before flying out.
In the 11th, Hasegawa came out again, now with a 3-run lead. He got the first two out before Rolls doubled. Laforest singled to score Rolls before Crawford flew out to end it.
So for the pitching, Pineiro was okay until the 5th when he lost his mind. An average inning there probably means Joel gets into the 7th or 8th. I think Melvin should have let Soriano lie in the bed that he made after he walked Lugo in the 8th. Rhodes...I didn't like him much after this game. Benitez, shaky as expected, but he got the job done. Hasegawa...just glad they didn't need him Wednesday.
Now for batting (scoring chances).
In the 2nd, Guillen reached second on a 1-out Olerud single. Cameron hit a deep sac fly to move Guillen to third, then Davis bounced out to second.
In the 6th (yes, three innings without a threat off VICTOR ZAMBRANO, your league leader in walks), Winn singled, Edgar walked, and Boone doubled to score Winn. Guillen got an RBI groundout to score Winn. So with a runner on third and one out, Olerud bounced out to the first baseman and Cameron had a 2-0 count before whiffing. Tampa Bay 4-2 at this point.
In the 7th (Tampa Bay 5-2), Davis led off with a homer off new pitcher Travis Harper. Sanchez singled, but the threat was erased when Ichiro hit into a double play (YAY ICHIRO!). Winn singled and that damn 20-year-old (Gaudin) was brought in. He walked Edgar and Boone and was yanked for Mark Malaska. Jamal Strong pinch-ran for Edgar, who was the potential tying run at second. Guillen hit a single to make such a move relevant. Game tied. Olerud was caught looking to end the inning.
In the 8th, Cameron walked and took off from first on a 2-2 pitch with one out and was nailed at second. Sanchez then walked. Ichiro then made his first meaningful contribution in a long time, tripling to score Sanchez and give the Mariners the lead. Winn walked, then Mabry (this bench still sucks, even though he) hit a single to score Ichiro. Boone flew out to end the threat. Seattle 7-5.
In the 9th, Guillen led off with a single and was erased on an Olerud double play. Cameron doubled and was stranded on a Davis flyout. 7-7 tie.
In the 11th, Mabry hit an infield single. Boone doubled to send pinch-runner Chad Meyers to third. Guillen had another clutch hit, a double to the gap in left-center to clear the bases (Seattle 9-7). Olerud sac flew to move Guillen to third. Cam walked. Davis sac flew to score Guillen (Seattle 10-7). Sanchez singled to put runners on the corners with 2 out. Ichiro...flew out.
Basically, the offense warmed up at the right time, and none of the pitching really stood out. Benitez had the best linescore out of all the pitchers, but had by far the shakiest inning, which is his style.
This game was nothing short of exhausting to watch.
I'll start by saying thank goodness for September call-ups. If it was still August, Rhodes giving up the homer to Huff that cost the Mariners two more bullpen innings may have cost the Mariners dearly.
Four errors. Ugh. Somehow in the last few games the Mariners have found a way to win in spite of making their own errors. Those "pitching and defense"-minded people haven't been getting the latter lately. It's relatively true that the Mariners had both of those things for a great portion of the year, but if those two things win you championships, then the Mariners should have 92 wins by now. The team needs some pop. The guy in the lineup who everyone fears.
The guy who everyone feared for quite a while in the Mariner lineup was Ichiro. Well, the only meaningful thing he's done in a while was an RBI triple in the game I'm about to talk about at length. But before I do, here's Ichiro's game log. The first thing I noticed was that all the 2's and 3's under the hit column seemed to disappear (sans Aug 22 at Fenway) after August 15th against Boston at the Safe. So nothing even close to a tear or good streak after August 15, and no multi-hit games for almost two weeks. I'll bitch more about this later.
On to the game. One last thing before moving on, before plate umpire Mike Hirschbeck caught the ball in his ribcage, he was calling consistent low strikes and giving the pitchers the corners. The second plate umpire was a little more hitter-friendly, and I think this defintely favored the Mariner hitters against the Tampa Bay pitchers.
Pitching (Pineiro) first.
In the first, Sanchez' error loaded the bases with one out, which Joel Pineiro managed to pitch out of, whiffing Baldelli and getting Lee to pop out (12 pitches total).
In the second, a Guillen error let the first runner (Toby Hall) on, but he was erased on a Marlon Anderson fielder's choice. Damian Rolls then doubled on a 2-1 pitch to score Anderson from first. Pineiro later made an error of his own to put runners on the corners with 2 down, but he caught Lugo looking (17 pitches -- 29 total).
In the third, Baldelli reached on an infield single on an 0-2 pitch. Other than that, easy inning (10 pitches -- 39 total).
In the 4th, Rolls and Laforest hit back-to-back one-out singles. The threat was erased by a 6-4-3 double play (11 pitches -- 50 total).
In the 5th, Joel got into some trouble. No outs would be recorded until the fifth batter. Lugo walked, Huff singled, Baldelli singled (Lugo scored, Huff to third), Lee was put on, Toby Hall grounded into a weird double play to Olerud (Huff scored on the play), Anderson ran out an infield single, then Rolls flew out after Anderson stole second. Three runs scored in the inning, making it Tampa Bay 4-0 (31 pitches! -- 81 total). Nice deep hole for the Mariners to be in.
In the 6th, easy inning for Joel. Other than that one-out solo blast by Crawford (13 pitches -- 94 total).
In the 7th, Soriano was brought in. Arguably, Pineiro could have been brought out for a couple of batters with his pitch count only at 94, depending on what you thought about his stuff. It's a wash here, though. Soriano does get himself into a hairy two-on-and-one-out situation, but Anderson and Rolls succumb to Raf (17 pitches).
In the 8th, Soriano had thrown 8 pitches (0 balls) for strikes and gotten the first two outs. Lugo then got a 2-0 count, then got a 9-pitch at-bat and drew a walk. Soriano was yanked. In hindsight, stupid move. In the moment, though, I still didn't want Rhodes out there, with a runner on and the tying run at the plate, who happened to be a lefty with good pop. First pitch, Rhodes grooves a slider right over the middle of the damn plate, Huff hits it out AND RIGHT ABOUT THEN I WAS CURSING IN AN UNCONTROLLABLE RAGE AT THE TELEVISION. You know, for all the good Rhodes has done in a Seattle uniform, all I can remember is when he couldn't get key hitters out, in particular those great moments in the 2000 and 2001 ALCS. He would strike out Baldelli to end the inning.
In the 9th, Rhodes allowed a leadoff single and was pulled for Benitez. Why the hell not. I didn't mind this move. You've gotta get something out of this guy. And what they got was a teetering-on-the-brink-of-insanity inning. Twice Terry Shumpert (he's gotta be 58 years old) failed to bunt, putting him down 0-2 in the count, only to be walked to put the winning run on second with nobody out. Anderson then worked a full count before whiffing. Rolls fouled off five pitches before Guillen caught his pop fly in foul ground. Laforest swung on a 2-0 pitch and flew out to Davis. Lou was not happy.
In the 10th, Crawford led off with a single off Hasegawa, and was bunted over by Lugo. Huff was put on (good move) to keep the double play in order. Baldelli flew out on a 3-1 pitch. Javier Valentin worked a full count before flying out.
In the 11th, Hasegawa came out again, now with a 3-run lead. He got the first two out before Rolls doubled. Laforest singled to score Rolls before Crawford flew out to end it.
So for the pitching, Pineiro was okay until the 5th when he lost his mind. An average inning there probably means Joel gets into the 7th or 8th. I think Melvin should have let Soriano lie in the bed that he made after he walked Lugo in the 8th. Rhodes...I didn't like him much after this game. Benitez, shaky as expected, but he got the job done. Hasegawa...just glad they didn't need him Wednesday.
Now for batting (scoring chances).
In the 2nd, Guillen reached second on a 1-out Olerud single. Cameron hit a deep sac fly to move Guillen to third, then Davis bounced out to second.
In the 6th (yes, three innings without a threat off VICTOR ZAMBRANO, your league leader in walks), Winn singled, Edgar walked, and Boone doubled to score Winn. Guillen got an RBI groundout to score Winn. So with a runner on third and one out, Olerud bounced out to the first baseman and Cameron had a 2-0 count before whiffing. Tampa Bay 4-2 at this point.
In the 7th (Tampa Bay 5-2), Davis led off with a homer off new pitcher Travis Harper. Sanchez singled, but the threat was erased when Ichiro hit into a double play (YAY ICHIRO!). Winn singled and that damn 20-year-old (Gaudin) was brought in. He walked Edgar and Boone and was yanked for Mark Malaska. Jamal Strong pinch-ran for Edgar, who was the potential tying run at second. Guillen hit a single to make such a move relevant. Game tied. Olerud was caught looking to end the inning.
In the 8th, Cameron walked and took off from first on a 2-2 pitch with one out and was nailed at second. Sanchez then walked. Ichiro then made his first meaningful contribution in a long time, tripling to score Sanchez and give the Mariners the lead. Winn walked, then Mabry (this bench still sucks, even though he) hit a single to score Ichiro. Boone flew out to end the threat. Seattle 7-5.
In the 9th, Guillen led off with a single and was erased on an Olerud double play. Cameron doubled and was stranded on a Davis flyout. 7-7 tie.
In the 11th, Mabry hit an infield single. Boone doubled to send pinch-runner Chad Meyers to third. Guillen had another clutch hit, a double to the gap in left-center to clear the bases (Seattle 9-7). Olerud sac flew to move Guillen to third. Cam walked. Davis sac flew to score Guillen (Seattle 10-7). Sanchez singled to put runners on the corners with 2 out. Ichiro...flew out.
Basically, the offense warmed up at the right time, and none of the pitching really stood out. Benitez had the best linescore out of all the pitchers, but had by far the shakiest inning, which is his style.
This game was nothing short of exhausting to watch.
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