Friday, May 21, 2004
BATS IN ONE HAND...
...$*!t in the other.
There's not much else to describe the offensive performance tonight by the Seattle Mariners. Nate Robertson throws seven shutout innings in (wild guess) probably his best outing of the year, and Ugueth Urbina and the Tigers weather the Jack Carroll's Lynnwood Dodge Mariners False Hope Comeback (TM).
Eight singles, ten flyouts for the Mariner offense tonight. Dave Niehaus said on the radio that the Mariners popped out so many times that "you could put them in a popcorn bag" and "have enough for a movie doubleheader" which I'd usually call a "double feature," but Dave Niehaus isn't getting any younger, so I'll give him some leeway. Back to the offense -- wholly putrid in every way.
The 3rd inning set the tone for the Mariners. Ichiro led off with a single, then Nate Robertson uncorked a wild pickoff throw that went down the rightfield line. Ichiro was standing on third with nobody out. I was on the fence; after last night I thought maybe there might have been a chance Ichiro would score in the inning. Randy Winn flew out. Bret Boone lined out to Carlos Guillen. Edgar was caught looking.
That wasn't all of it. In the 7th, Rich Aurilia got aboard on an infield single. Willie Bloomquist flew out on the second pitch (welcome back). Quinton McCracken bounced into a 5-4 fielders' choice. Ichiro singled to move McCracken to second. It was Ichiro's 2001st professional hit [Edit ~11:30p -- not the 2000th as I thought, which was in the 5th], and the "crowd" that was at the Safe tonight was a little riled up, with two on and two out. Randy Winn flew out to rightfield, and the boo birds came out, though in a lot of ways, it wasn't truly a chance as good as in the 3rd. Or the one in the 8th.
Edgar drew a one-out walk in the 8th, then Jolbert Cabrera singled to move Edgar to second. Dan Wilson got aboard when Eric Munson failed to shorthop a grounder, which loaded the bases. Rich Aurilia swung at the first pitch (he did so in another at-bat and also had a three-pitch at-bat) and bounced into a double play. Boo birds reappeared.
David Locke on KJR has brought up a great point (yes, I'm listening to the postgame show). With the bases loaded and one out in the 8th (Mariners down 4-0), Edgar was still on base (no pinch-runner, but not the point here), but Rich Aurilia was still in the game and at the plate in a key situation. You could rail against Bob Melvin here for not bringing in John Olerud or Pat Borders to pinch hit...but he would have had to decide between John Olerud and Pat Borders. Remember the "pep talk" closed-door meeting that Bill Bavasi and Bob Melvin had with John Olerud a couple days ago? Jolbert Cabrera was at first today.
I guess I'll throw in the "chance" in the 9th also. Raul Ibanez drew a one-out walk in the pinch. Ichiro flew out to short (clutch). Randy Winn singled. Bret Boone walked on nine pitches to load the bases. Of course, there were two out, so everyone knew not to expect much. Edgar was caught looking to end the game. No argument from him this time.
Just to add, Steve Sandmeyer predicts some sort of move before the Mariners leave for the road trip, and definitely expects something by Memorial Day. Sandmeyer was also hoping that maybe Ramon Santiago wouldn't have been sent down when Willie Bloomquist was brought back off the DL and maybe some crazy roster move would have been made. David Locke says that if the Mariners hadn't extended Bob Melvin's contract, they definitely would have fired him by now.
Lost in all of this was the outing from Gil Meche. For maybe another week, Gil managed to put the rumors of his losing the rotation spot to rest. Though I'm never ever EVER going to be comfortable with this guy throwing 118 pitches (especially if he's only going to get six innings out of it), striking out 11 batters is no small task. Sure, there were some deep counts. Sure, it seemed like the Tigers may have been getting around on Meche's fastball. Sure, he gave up two home runs (Eric Munson, Carlos Pena). I would have liked to have seen Meche be a little more efficient, but for a pitching-to-stay-in-the-rotation start where he had no margin of error and the game was effectively over as soon as Eric Munson's ball flew over the wall in right, Gil Meche did a pretty good job.
Gameball: Gil Meche. I could have gone with Ichiro here (those really are the only two choices), but Gil came through and trusted his stuff like everyone wanted him to. Eleven strikeouts really jumps out on the stat sheet. Did Microsoft bump up the K's for Kids donations after Randy Johnson left? Needless to say, there's been a lot less strikeouts for Mariner pitchers since then. Anyway, eleven strikeouts reminded me of those days where Randy Johnson would strike out ten guys every time out.
Goat: Edgar Martinez. I really hope this guy comes around, but is there any hope? His five at-bats tonight: flied out, caught looking, grounded out, walked, caught looking. The KJR guys were wondering if Edgar can see the ball at all right now and quite frankly, I'm left asking the same thing. I know if there's anyone that can defy the laws of age, it's Edgar, but man...it's looking bleak, and with a team like this, what's the motivation? If only Edgar would have taken the advice of Sports and B's and had seen the writing on the wall in spring training...
David Locke suggested the Seattle Storm (he's the play-by-play guy) and Major League Lacrosse (Seahawks Stadium) tomorrow as worthwhile alternatives for tomorrow. I suggest the Flyers/Lightning Game 7. It's a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (East final), for goodness' sake.
Johnson. Pineiro. Tomorrow.
There's not much else to describe the offensive performance tonight by the Seattle Mariners. Nate Robertson throws seven shutout innings in (wild guess) probably his best outing of the year, and Ugueth Urbina and the Tigers weather the Jack Carroll's Lynnwood Dodge Mariners False Hope Comeback (TM).
Eight singles, ten flyouts for the Mariner offense tonight. Dave Niehaus said on the radio that the Mariners popped out so many times that "you could put them in a popcorn bag" and "have enough for a movie doubleheader" which I'd usually call a "double feature," but Dave Niehaus isn't getting any younger, so I'll give him some leeway. Back to the offense -- wholly putrid in every way.
The 3rd inning set the tone for the Mariners. Ichiro led off with a single, then Nate Robertson uncorked a wild pickoff throw that went down the rightfield line. Ichiro was standing on third with nobody out. I was on the fence; after last night I thought maybe there might have been a chance Ichiro would score in the inning. Randy Winn flew out. Bret Boone lined out to Carlos Guillen. Edgar was caught looking.
That wasn't all of it. In the 7th, Rich Aurilia got aboard on an infield single. Willie Bloomquist flew out on the second pitch (welcome back). Quinton McCracken bounced into a 5-4 fielders' choice. Ichiro singled to move McCracken to second. It was Ichiro's 2001st professional hit [Edit ~11:30p -- not the 2000th as I thought, which was in the 5th], and the "crowd" that was at the Safe tonight was a little riled up, with two on and two out. Randy Winn flew out to rightfield, and the boo birds came out, though in a lot of ways, it wasn't truly a chance as good as in the 3rd. Or the one in the 8th.
Edgar drew a one-out walk in the 8th, then Jolbert Cabrera singled to move Edgar to second. Dan Wilson got aboard when Eric Munson failed to shorthop a grounder, which loaded the bases. Rich Aurilia swung at the first pitch (he did so in another at-bat and also had a three-pitch at-bat) and bounced into a double play. Boo birds reappeared.
David Locke on KJR has brought up a great point (yes, I'm listening to the postgame show). With the bases loaded and one out in the 8th (Mariners down 4-0), Edgar was still on base (no pinch-runner, but not the point here), but Rich Aurilia was still in the game and at the plate in a key situation. You could rail against Bob Melvin here for not bringing in John Olerud or Pat Borders to pinch hit...but he would have had to decide between John Olerud and Pat Borders. Remember the "pep talk" closed-door meeting that Bill Bavasi and Bob Melvin had with John Olerud a couple days ago? Jolbert Cabrera was at first today.
I guess I'll throw in the "chance" in the 9th also. Raul Ibanez drew a one-out walk in the pinch. Ichiro flew out to short (clutch). Randy Winn singled. Bret Boone walked on nine pitches to load the bases. Of course, there were two out, so everyone knew not to expect much. Edgar was caught looking to end the game. No argument from him this time.
Just to add, Steve Sandmeyer predicts some sort of move before the Mariners leave for the road trip, and definitely expects something by Memorial Day. Sandmeyer was also hoping that maybe Ramon Santiago wouldn't have been sent down when Willie Bloomquist was brought back off the DL and maybe some crazy roster move would have been made. David Locke says that if the Mariners hadn't extended Bob Melvin's contract, they definitely would have fired him by now.
Lost in all of this was the outing from Gil Meche. For maybe another week, Gil managed to put the rumors of his losing the rotation spot to rest. Though I'm never ever EVER going to be comfortable with this guy throwing 118 pitches (especially if he's only going to get six innings out of it), striking out 11 batters is no small task. Sure, there were some deep counts. Sure, it seemed like the Tigers may have been getting around on Meche's fastball. Sure, he gave up two home runs (Eric Munson, Carlos Pena). I would have liked to have seen Meche be a little more efficient, but for a pitching-to-stay-in-the-rotation start where he had no margin of error and the game was effectively over as soon as Eric Munson's ball flew over the wall in right, Gil Meche did a pretty good job.
Gameball: Gil Meche. I could have gone with Ichiro here (those really are the only two choices), but Gil came through and trusted his stuff like everyone wanted him to. Eleven strikeouts really jumps out on the stat sheet. Did Microsoft bump up the K's for Kids donations after Randy Johnson left? Needless to say, there's been a lot less strikeouts for Mariner pitchers since then. Anyway, eleven strikeouts reminded me of those days where Randy Johnson would strike out ten guys every time out.
Goat: Edgar Martinez. I really hope this guy comes around, but is there any hope? His five at-bats tonight: flied out, caught looking, grounded out, walked, caught looking. The KJR guys were wondering if Edgar can see the ball at all right now and quite frankly, I'm left asking the same thing. I know if there's anyone that can defy the laws of age, it's Edgar, but man...it's looking bleak, and with a team like this, what's the motivation? If only Edgar would have taken the advice of Sports and B's and had seen the writing on the wall in spring training...
David Locke suggested the Seattle Storm (he's the play-by-play guy) and Major League Lacrosse (Seahawks Stadium) tomorrow as worthwhile alternatives for tomorrow. I suggest the Flyers/Lightning Game 7. It's a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (East final), for goodness' sake.
Johnson. Pineiro. Tomorrow.
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