Wednesday, August 04, 2004
CHOKIN' ON CRAB CAKES
The Mariners got off to somewhat of a hopping start in the first (nontelevised) game of the doubleheader in Baltimore. Ichiro tripled on the first pitch of the game, and Randy Winn walked. Bret Boone followed with a clutch double play that scored Ichiro (SEA 1-0). Edgar Martinez then walked and went to second on a wild Sidney Ponson pitch. Raul Ibanez doubled to score Edgar. How long would the 2-0 Mariner lead last?
At one point tonight, I realized that maybe Travis Blackley (though it wouldn't have been his day to pitch) could have easily did what Ron Villone did this morning. Villone had a 1-2-3 inning in the 2nd against the Orioles' 8-9-1 hitters. Other than that, he was pretty much crap. Though somehow his ERA stands only at 3.57 after today's shelling, I knew Villone was bound for one of these kinds of starts. The Mariner broadcast crew likes to use the phrase "effectively wild" to describe Villone, but that can only get you so far, and the aftereffect is what happened Tuesday (unless you believe crew transplant Bill Krueger, who thought Villone was getting squeezed. If he was getting squeezed, he sure didn't adapt to the strike zone quickly enough). How did Villone's horrific innings go? In the 1st, David Newhan doubled and scored on Melvin Mora's single (SEA 2-1). Miguel Tejada walked. Even when Villone caught Javy Lopez looking, the runners took off on the full count and ended up in scoring position. Rafael Palmeiro's two-run single gave the Orioles a 3-2 lead.
Hey, guess what? The Mariner half of the 3rd inning also introduced us to an old familiar friend, the double play ball that moves one runner across the plate. Three infield/bunt singles were followed by Edgar's double play to tie the game at 3-3. Raul Ibanez then singled to score Randy Winn and give the Mariners the lead (SEA 4-3). There's nothing like having the bases loaded and nobody out, and then having two out, one run across, and one runner at third left afterward. You can't even sac fly him in, for goodness' sake, though in this case Raul made that moot.
The meat of the lineup came to the plate in the 3rd again for the Orioles. Villone walked Mora and allowed a dinker single into center to Tejada. Villone took Javy Lopez to another full count, but this time Lopez mashed one over the fence to put Baltimore in the lead again (BAL 6-4). Villone walked Palmeiro before exhibiting some semblance of damage control, getting Jerry Hairston Jr. and Luis Lopez to fly out.
The Mariners' response to the Javy Lopez 3-run dinger in the third: two-out small ball. The Mariner 4th saw consecutive singles by Jose Lopez, Ichiro, and Randy Winn (BAL 6-5). Fight fire with...a squirtgun?
With the score 6-5 Baltimore, Villone never got the third out in the 4th, and was yanked after allowing his second walk in the inning (Mora). Clint Nageotte came in for Villone ith runners on first and second with two out. Too bad Miguel Tejada was up. He hit a double to score Brian Roberts and further dent Villone's ERA (BAL 7-5).
In the 5th, Nageotte managed to walk the bases loaded (not consecutively; two walks, bunt, groundout, walk). Clint had a 1-2-3 6th inning against the likes of Mora, Tejada, and Javy Lopez.
The Mariners were down 7-5 with Sir Sidney Ponson still on the mound heading into the 7th. Bret Boone led off with a dinker into leftcenter. Edgar fought back from 0-2 to take Ponson yard to leftcenter on a 1-2 pitch; just a little reminder from the Edgar to remind us that he's still got something left in the tank. Now if he'd tell us what he REALLY thinks about those Edgar bears... With the score now tied at 7-7, Ibanez singled and chased Ponson. Jason Grimsley (right up there with Ted Lilly in my book...can't stand him) then managed to whiff Jolbert Cabrera, Miguel Olivo, and Justin Leone consecutively. Abhorrent.
Nageotte left the game tied with two outs in the 7th and Hairston on first, who got aboard with an infield single. Lefty specialist Mike Myers was brought in to face Larry Bigbie, maybe to get a double play ball or something. Myers got the double play ball, except without the "play" and "ball." Bigbie's double scored Hairston to give the Orioles the lead once again (BAL 8-7).
The Mariners had a golden opportunity to tie the game in the 8th against BJ Ryan. Ichiro and Winn were on second and first with one out and the meat of the order coming to the plate. Boone popped out to Tejada. Edgar walked. Since I learned on Baseball Tonight that BJ Ryan is filthy to all lefties not named Ichiro, Raul Ibanez whiffed on three pitches.
Scott Atchison took the hill for the Mariners in the 8th with one out. He walked Mora, then got a fielders' choice out of Tejada. Javy Lopez singled to set the stage for Rafael Palmeiro's RBI single to give the Orioles insurance (BAL 9-7) and also tie him with Babe Ruth at 36th on the all-time hit list.
One tie, four lead changes. The Mariners had the lead twice in this game.
Gameball: Ichiro. 5-for-5, and he managed to sneak a triple in there. Dude's crazy. If he hit like this in April, how much better do you think this team would be? Okay, probably not much.
Goat: Ron Villone. Though Jamie Moyer has dominating career stats against Baltimore and was to start in the back half of the doubleheader, a line of 3 2/3 innings, 7 runs, 5 hits, 5 walks, and 5 strikeouts on 104 pitches (58 strikes) doesn't exactly help the bullpen. Not with five games left until the next off day, and with four of them against the Devil Rays and Lou Piniella, who is undoubtedly licking his chops and waiting to laugh the Mariners right out of the Trop.
(next recap coming...)
At one point tonight, I realized that maybe Travis Blackley (though it wouldn't have been his day to pitch) could have easily did what Ron Villone did this morning. Villone had a 1-2-3 inning in the 2nd against the Orioles' 8-9-1 hitters. Other than that, he was pretty much crap. Though somehow his ERA stands only at 3.57 after today's shelling, I knew Villone was bound for one of these kinds of starts. The Mariner broadcast crew likes to use the phrase "effectively wild" to describe Villone, but that can only get you so far, and the aftereffect is what happened Tuesday (unless you believe crew transplant Bill Krueger, who thought Villone was getting squeezed. If he was getting squeezed, he sure didn't adapt to the strike zone quickly enough). How did Villone's horrific innings go? In the 1st, David Newhan doubled and scored on Melvin Mora's single (SEA 2-1). Miguel Tejada walked. Even when Villone caught Javy Lopez looking, the runners took off on the full count and ended up in scoring position. Rafael Palmeiro's two-run single gave the Orioles a 3-2 lead.
Hey, guess what? The Mariner half of the 3rd inning also introduced us to an old familiar friend, the double play ball that moves one runner across the plate. Three infield/bunt singles were followed by Edgar's double play to tie the game at 3-3. Raul Ibanez then singled to score Randy Winn and give the Mariners the lead (SEA 4-3). There's nothing like having the bases loaded and nobody out, and then having two out, one run across, and one runner at third left afterward. You can't even sac fly him in, for goodness' sake, though in this case Raul made that moot.
The meat of the lineup came to the plate in the 3rd again for the Orioles. Villone walked Mora and allowed a dinker single into center to Tejada. Villone took Javy Lopez to another full count, but this time Lopez mashed one over the fence to put Baltimore in the lead again (BAL 6-4). Villone walked Palmeiro before exhibiting some semblance of damage control, getting Jerry Hairston Jr. and Luis Lopez to fly out.
The Mariners' response to the Javy Lopez 3-run dinger in the third: two-out small ball. The Mariner 4th saw consecutive singles by Jose Lopez, Ichiro, and Randy Winn (BAL 6-5). Fight fire with...a squirtgun?
With the score 6-5 Baltimore, Villone never got the third out in the 4th, and was yanked after allowing his second walk in the inning (Mora). Clint Nageotte came in for Villone ith runners on first and second with two out. Too bad Miguel Tejada was up. He hit a double to score Brian Roberts and further dent Villone's ERA (BAL 7-5).
In the 5th, Nageotte managed to walk the bases loaded (not consecutively; two walks, bunt, groundout, walk). Clint had a 1-2-3 6th inning against the likes of Mora, Tejada, and Javy Lopez.
The Mariners were down 7-5 with Sir Sidney Ponson still on the mound heading into the 7th. Bret Boone led off with a dinker into leftcenter. Edgar fought back from 0-2 to take Ponson yard to leftcenter on a 1-2 pitch; just a little reminder from the Edgar to remind us that he's still got something left in the tank. Now if he'd tell us what he REALLY thinks about those Edgar bears... With the score now tied at 7-7, Ibanez singled and chased Ponson. Jason Grimsley (right up there with Ted Lilly in my book...can't stand him) then managed to whiff Jolbert Cabrera, Miguel Olivo, and Justin Leone consecutively. Abhorrent.
Nageotte left the game tied with two outs in the 7th and Hairston on first, who got aboard with an infield single. Lefty specialist Mike Myers was brought in to face Larry Bigbie, maybe to get a double play ball or something. Myers got the double play ball, except without the "play" and "ball." Bigbie's double scored Hairston to give the Orioles the lead once again (BAL 8-7).
The Mariners had a golden opportunity to tie the game in the 8th against BJ Ryan. Ichiro and Winn were on second and first with one out and the meat of the order coming to the plate. Boone popped out to Tejada. Edgar walked. Since I learned on Baseball Tonight that BJ Ryan is filthy to all lefties not named Ichiro, Raul Ibanez whiffed on three pitches.
Scott Atchison took the hill for the Mariners in the 8th with one out. He walked Mora, then got a fielders' choice out of Tejada. Javy Lopez singled to set the stage for Rafael Palmeiro's RBI single to give the Orioles insurance (BAL 9-7) and also tie him with Babe Ruth at 36th on the all-time hit list.
One tie, four lead changes. The Mariners had the lead twice in this game.
Gameball: Ichiro. 5-for-5, and he managed to sneak a triple in there. Dude's crazy. If he hit like this in April, how much better do you think this team would be? Okay, probably not much.
Goat: Ron Villone. Though Jamie Moyer has dominating career stats against Baltimore and was to start in the back half of the doubleheader, a line of 3 2/3 innings, 7 runs, 5 hits, 5 walks, and 5 strikeouts on 104 pitches (58 strikes) doesn't exactly help the bullpen. Not with five games left until the next off day, and with four of them against the Devil Rays and Lou Piniella, who is undoubtedly licking his chops and waiting to laugh the Mariners right out of the Trop.
(next recap coming...)
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