Wednesday, May 26, 2004
HOSE THEM DOWN
Three straight? Wins? My mind is trained to think that the Mariners' two wins in this series (which they've now won) have more to do with how badly Cleveland sucks rather than with how good Seattle might be.
The Mariners got a winning combination tonight thanks to (solo) homers from Raul Ibanez, Ichiro, and Edgar, a solid start from Jamie Moyer, and the shutdown ability of Eddie Guardado. Folks, if you saw the end of the Mariner game tonight and don't think Eddie Guardado is the best pitcher out of that Mariner bullpen, you should probably take NyQuil until you do.
Offensively it started out in a boring way, as Mariner fans were treated to the first run being scored on an Edgar RBI groundout in the 3rd. Yay. That third inning saw a 2nd-and-3rd-with-nobody-out situation, with Willie Whiff-Whiff (not boom-boom, that's for sure) and Raul Ibanez (I don't care what he's done the past few days, he shall have no nickname that doesn't have the word "sucks" accompanying it somehow) accounting for the non-Edgar outs. In the 5th, Ichiro singled in Randy Winn (on third after a triple) with one out. That made it 2-0, which was when the homers started, with a Jolbert Cabrera 2-run double sandwiched in there.
The Mariners had a 6-0 lead before Jamie Moyer gave up his only run. He retired the first ten batters he faced. In the 4th inning, the Indians had runners on the corners with one out, and since I didn't see the play, I'm going to guess that Victor Martinez hit a fly ball that Ichiro might have trapped or that Jody Gerut for some reason thought he could take second on. Either way, Gerut was forced out at second and Omar Vizquel didn't try coming home from third. Moyer got Casey Blake to fly out after he beaned Travis Hafner (Steve Sandmeyer's preseason rookie of the year pick for 2003). The troubles of the 4th were Jamie's only turbulence until Casey Blake connected for the solo shot in the 7th, but by then it was a miniscule one-run dent in a six-run lead, now five.
Looks like JJ Putz needs some more serum to get that mucho suckage bug venom out of his bloodstream. He succumbed to it tonight. Victor Martinez homered on the first pitch, prompting Kevin Cremin to dig up all the names of everyone named Martinez playing in the big leagues right now (there's seven). I'll have to admit, it is kinda weird looking in the game logs and seeing "Martinez homered" twice and for different teams in the same inning. After Victor went yard, Travis Hafner hit what I can only describe as a "freeeeeeeekin' shot" a few rows into the bleachers just to the left of the arboretum-like display in centerfield. Putz then walked Casey Blake on four pitches and allowed a Lou Merloni (do they still call that guy the Mayor?) single before Bob Melvin pulled him in favor of...Eddie Guardado? Two days in a row? Everyday Eddie? We can question Bob Melvin's rationale as to whether he's actually wanting to use Eddie or if he feels he's pressured into using him (other arms burned), but right now, I guess we can't argue with the results. In the worst-case scenario, Eddie is making Bob Melvin's dumb luck look really good right now. Eddie threw three balls out of 14 pitches, getting behind in the count only once (1-0 to Matt Lawton). He struck out the side...WITH AUTHORITY (Marv)!!!
Hey, eleven more of these, and they'll be back to .500!! Wake me then...the eleventh win would be on the 9th of June, by my calculation (i.e., quick look at calendar).
Gameball: Ichiro. If you go 4-for-5 and your name isn't Raul Ibanez or Willie Bloomquist, I have a hard time not giving you a gameball. Ichiro has reached base in 24 straight games.
Goat: Willie Bloomquist. I missed you, Willie!! 1-for-5 with a hat trick, stranding six. If it weren't for that one hit, it'd be perfect. Port Orchard-area residents have probably littered the streets with Stihl trucker hats in honor of Willie Whiff-Whiff striking out three times.
Short non-sports diversion here, but I would like to share with you a site that has many clips of probably my favorite cartoon ever, the Aqua Teen Hunger Force (currently airing Mon-Thu at midnight on the Cartoon Network). I'll leave you with this clip and this clip (a new birthday song featuring Zakk Wylde and "Geddy Lee").
Meche. Westbrook. Tomorrow.
[Edit ~8:55p -- Earlier clarification in the Moyer paragraph that his only early troubles were in the 4th.]
The Mariners got a winning combination tonight thanks to (solo) homers from Raul Ibanez, Ichiro, and Edgar, a solid start from Jamie Moyer, and the shutdown ability of Eddie Guardado. Folks, if you saw the end of the Mariner game tonight and don't think Eddie Guardado is the best pitcher out of that Mariner bullpen, you should probably take NyQuil until you do.
Offensively it started out in a boring way, as Mariner fans were treated to the first run being scored on an Edgar RBI groundout in the 3rd. Yay. That third inning saw a 2nd-and-3rd-with-nobody-out situation, with Willie Whiff-Whiff (not boom-boom, that's for sure) and Raul Ibanez (I don't care what he's done the past few days, he shall have no nickname that doesn't have the word "sucks" accompanying it somehow) accounting for the non-Edgar outs. In the 5th, Ichiro singled in Randy Winn (on third after a triple) with one out. That made it 2-0, which was when the homers started, with a Jolbert Cabrera 2-run double sandwiched in there.
The Mariners had a 6-0 lead before Jamie Moyer gave up his only run. He retired the first ten batters he faced. In the 4th inning, the Indians had runners on the corners with one out, and since I didn't see the play, I'm going to guess that Victor Martinez hit a fly ball that Ichiro might have trapped or that Jody Gerut for some reason thought he could take second on. Either way, Gerut was forced out at second and Omar Vizquel didn't try coming home from third. Moyer got Casey Blake to fly out after he beaned Travis Hafner (Steve Sandmeyer's preseason rookie of the year pick for 2003). The troubles of the 4th were Jamie's only turbulence until Casey Blake connected for the solo shot in the 7th, but by then it was a miniscule one-run dent in a six-run lead, now five.
Looks like JJ Putz needs some more serum to get that mucho suckage bug venom out of his bloodstream. He succumbed to it tonight. Victor Martinez homered on the first pitch, prompting Kevin Cremin to dig up all the names of everyone named Martinez playing in the big leagues right now (there's seven). I'll have to admit, it is kinda weird looking in the game logs and seeing "Martinez homered" twice and for different teams in the same inning. After Victor went yard, Travis Hafner hit what I can only describe as a "freeeeeeeekin' shot" a few rows into the bleachers just to the left of the arboretum-like display in centerfield. Putz then walked Casey Blake on four pitches and allowed a Lou Merloni (do they still call that guy the Mayor?) single before Bob Melvin pulled him in favor of...Eddie Guardado? Two days in a row? Everyday Eddie? We can question Bob Melvin's rationale as to whether he's actually wanting to use Eddie or if he feels he's pressured into using him (other arms burned), but right now, I guess we can't argue with the results. In the worst-case scenario, Eddie is making Bob Melvin's dumb luck look really good right now. Eddie threw three balls out of 14 pitches, getting behind in the count only once (1-0 to Matt Lawton). He struck out the side...WITH AUTHORITY (Marv)!!!
Hey, eleven more of these, and they'll be back to .500!! Wake me then...the eleventh win would be on the 9th of June, by my calculation (i.e., quick look at calendar).
Gameball: Ichiro. If you go 4-for-5 and your name isn't Raul Ibanez or Willie Bloomquist, I have a hard time not giving you a gameball. Ichiro has reached base in 24 straight games.
Goat: Willie Bloomquist. I missed you, Willie!! 1-for-5 with a hat trick, stranding six. If it weren't for that one hit, it'd be perfect. Port Orchard-area residents have probably littered the streets with Stihl trucker hats in honor of Willie Whiff-Whiff striking out three times.
Short non-sports diversion here, but I would like to share with you a site that has many clips of probably my favorite cartoon ever, the Aqua Teen Hunger Force (currently airing Mon-Thu at midnight on the Cartoon Network). I'll leave you with this clip and this clip (a new birthday song featuring Zakk Wylde and "Geddy Lee").
Meche. Westbrook. Tomorrow.
[Edit ~8:55p -- Earlier clarification in the Moyer paragraph that his only early troubles were in the 4th.]
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