Tuesday, May 11, 2004
MIXING IT UP
You know, it's just flabbergasting at times to see the Seattle Mariners come up with new and exciting ways to lose. It's simply incredible.
In his best start of the season, Joel Pineiro got screwed. I'm not sure of myself as to whether he was the pitcher of record after the Mariners scored their four runs in the 8th or not, but either way, he got screwed. Joel ended up with a line of 2 runs, 6 hits, a walk, three strikeouts, and the Torii Hunter bomb on 109 pitches (39 balls, 70 strikes) to lower his ERA to 6.75. His only run-allowing hiccups were letting two get aboard in the first (Corey Koskie drove the run in with the groundout) and the one pitch to Torii Hunter that ended up deep into the stands in left. In the 5th, Joel cut through the top third of the Minnesota lineup after Luis Rivas (who somehow was a homer short of the cycle in this game) hit a leadoff triple. He also had the help of a double play in the 2nd.
So the Mariners got solid starting pitching. The hitters fared pretty well, if you like singles (17). They scored their first two runs with two out. All their runs in the 8th were scored with one out. Everyone in the starting lineup got a hit, and even Jolbert Cabrera got two hits off the bench. The Mariners pounded out 18 hits. That's a lot (a lot of singles too). Only one hit came in the extra innings (Cabrera) though.
Where did it all go to hell?
The Mariners entered the bottom of the 8th with a 6-2 lead. Shigetoshi Hasegawa was summoned in from the bullpen. I figured he hadn't sucked too much lately, and I figured he'd had it turned around to the point where there was no way he could totally blow up again, at least for a while. I was dead wrong. Four pitches, two singles. Five more pitches, a walk. Exit stage left, Shigetoshi Hasegawa. Needless to say, the best way to protect a 6-2 lead is not to load the bases before recording an out. Shig then walked Torii Hunter. Then Mike Myers came on in relief (never something I'd want, especially in this situation...also see other Dave campaign for Guardado at this moment), and I'd figured maybe I'd been hard on him, trying to anticipate something bad happening every time he got called in from the pen. On this night, I was wrong. One pitch, and it connected with Jacque Jones' leg. [Edit Wed ~8:50a -- I originally had Shig not walking in any runs, and Myers beaning Hunter instead; that's me misreading the game log.] At least he didn't hit a homer, I guess. Yes, Mike Myers is worthless. So much for that idea of him pitching three-quarters to the righthanders, huh? Enter JJ Putz, who hadn't been bitten by the bug that's gotten to everyone else in the bullpen. There was only so much he could do, though he did get tagged pretty well. The Lew Ford sac fly made it 6-4, and the Rivas single tied the game. Jose Offerman nearly got the Twins the lead with first and second with one out, but proved to only have warning track power. Yet another brutal night for the Mariner bullpen.
How did the game end?
Suppose you're the third-base coach of a team facing the Mariners...
Q: Do you send a runner home from second on a shallow base hit to centerfield on which Randy Winn is charging forward?
A: Hell yeah. Take those odds and run with them.
End result -- Dan Wilson blocks the plate, but can't come up with the ball. Shannon Stewart flops over him and touches the plate. Game.
Gameball: Rich Aurilia. Joel's the obvious choice, but it's encouraging to see Rich scratch a couple hits for at least one night. He was 2-for-4 with a walk and a sac bunt, raising his average to a grand .230.
Goat: Shigetoshi Hasegawa. I've given Mike Myers his share of goats this year, and he did run away with the crap-per-time ratio. But here, loading the bases with nobody out takes the cake. Shig is now boasting an ERA of 7.04.
If not for the Yankees, every non-Mariner team in the AL West would have won tonight. Still, the Mariners are 12-20 and lie 9.5 games back of the first-place Angels, 8 games back of second-place Texas, and four games back of the third-place A's.
KCYU Fox 41 Yakima carries the Mariner network telecasts here in the Yakima market, which I've bitched about many times when the games run concurrently with NASCAR coverage or NFL coverage (when KSTW is still beamed to Ellensburg and theoretically could show the Mariners in Ellensburg). Running across the screen tonight was a notice basically saying that American Idol would be broadcast in its entirety after the game. Yes, in the Yakima market, the 12-19 (at the time) Seattle Mariners pre-empted American Idol. Ha ha HA!
Garcia. Radke. Tonight.
In his best start of the season, Joel Pineiro got screwed. I'm not sure of myself as to whether he was the pitcher of record after the Mariners scored their four runs in the 8th or not, but either way, he got screwed. Joel ended up with a line of 2 runs, 6 hits, a walk, three strikeouts, and the Torii Hunter bomb on 109 pitches (39 balls, 70 strikes) to lower his ERA to 6.75. His only run-allowing hiccups were letting two get aboard in the first (Corey Koskie drove the run in with the groundout) and the one pitch to Torii Hunter that ended up deep into the stands in left. In the 5th, Joel cut through the top third of the Minnesota lineup after Luis Rivas (who somehow was a homer short of the cycle in this game) hit a leadoff triple. He also had the help of a double play in the 2nd.
So the Mariners got solid starting pitching. The hitters fared pretty well, if you like singles (17). They scored their first two runs with two out. All their runs in the 8th were scored with one out. Everyone in the starting lineup got a hit, and even Jolbert Cabrera got two hits off the bench. The Mariners pounded out 18 hits. That's a lot (a lot of singles too). Only one hit came in the extra innings (Cabrera) though.
Where did it all go to hell?
The Mariners entered the bottom of the 8th with a 6-2 lead. Shigetoshi Hasegawa was summoned in from the bullpen. I figured he hadn't sucked too much lately, and I figured he'd had it turned around to the point where there was no way he could totally blow up again, at least for a while. I was dead wrong. Four pitches, two singles. Five more pitches, a walk. Exit stage left, Shigetoshi Hasegawa. Needless to say, the best way to protect a 6-2 lead is not to load the bases before recording an out. Shig then walked Torii Hunter. Then Mike Myers came on in relief (never something I'd want, especially in this situation...also see other Dave campaign for Guardado at this moment), and I'd figured maybe I'd been hard on him, trying to anticipate something bad happening every time he got called in from the pen. On this night, I was wrong. One pitch, and it connected with Jacque Jones' leg. [Edit Wed ~8:50a -- I originally had Shig not walking in any runs, and Myers beaning Hunter instead; that's me misreading the game log.] At least he didn't hit a homer, I guess. Yes, Mike Myers is worthless. So much for that idea of him pitching three-quarters to the righthanders, huh? Enter JJ Putz, who hadn't been bitten by the bug that's gotten to everyone else in the bullpen. There was only so much he could do, though he did get tagged pretty well. The Lew Ford sac fly made it 6-4, and the Rivas single tied the game. Jose Offerman nearly got the Twins the lead with first and second with one out, but proved to only have warning track power. Yet another brutal night for the Mariner bullpen.
How did the game end?
Suppose you're the third-base coach of a team facing the Mariners...
Q: Do you send a runner home from second on a shallow base hit to centerfield on which Randy Winn is charging forward?
A: Hell yeah. Take those odds and run with them.
End result -- Dan Wilson blocks the plate, but can't come up with the ball. Shannon Stewart flops over him and touches the plate. Game.
Gameball: Rich Aurilia. Joel's the obvious choice, but it's encouraging to see Rich scratch a couple hits for at least one night. He was 2-for-4 with a walk and a sac bunt, raising his average to a grand .230.
Goat: Shigetoshi Hasegawa. I've given Mike Myers his share of goats this year, and he did run away with the crap-per-time ratio. But here, loading the bases with nobody out takes the cake. Shig is now boasting an ERA of 7.04.
If not for the Yankees, every non-Mariner team in the AL West would have won tonight. Still, the Mariners are 12-20 and lie 9.5 games back of the first-place Angels, 8 games back of second-place Texas, and four games back of the third-place A's.
KCYU Fox 41 Yakima carries the Mariner network telecasts here in the Yakima market, which I've bitched about many times when the games run concurrently with NASCAR coverage or NFL coverage (when KSTW is still beamed to Ellensburg and theoretically could show the Mariners in Ellensburg). Running across the screen tonight was a notice basically saying that American Idol would be broadcast in its entirety after the game. Yes, in the Yakima market, the 12-19 (at the time) Seattle Mariners pre-empted American Idol. Ha ha HA!
Garcia. Radke. Tonight.
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