Thursday, August 05, 2004
FRESH-SQUEEZED
Now THAT's a starting pitching performance. Bobby Madritsch was dealing tonight in his first Major League start and made only one bad pitch en route to a no-decision. The Lakota lefty had a consistent low- to mid-90s fastball all night, and the hanging change (I thought it was a change, I think Bill Krueger thought slider) to Tino Martinez was the only blemish on this otherwise outstanding performance.
The three at-bats that Tino Martinez had stuck out to me. Tino first got up in the 2nd with two down and a runner on first, and Madritsch threw a change on a 2-2 count and had him absolutely fooled; Tino was way out in front, and just sort of waved at the pitch. Madritsch had Tino (leading off the inning) 0-2 in the 5th (probably on fastballs or sliders, wish I could remember) and tried to sneak the change by Tino again. He probably could have snuck it by if he didn't hang it so much. Tino's homer into the rightfield stands tied the game at 1-1. Tino came to the plate again in the 7th with one out and Aubrey Huff on second with the game still tied at 1-1. Madritsch fell behind and I thought, "oh no, Bobby's scared of him." Boy was I wrong. Madritsch had the cojones to throw the change again to Tino on a 3-1 pitch, i.e., behind in the count and even after the hanging change got driven in the last at-bat. I thought it was almost as high as the pitch that went for a homer, but this time Tino topped the ball to Scott Spiezio at first.
Madritsch had 1-2-3 innings in the 1st and 4th, and faced the minimum three batters in the 6th (double play involved). In a fact involving Mariner pitching tonight (Madritsch/Putz/Atchison), Tampa Bay never sent more than four batters to the plate in any of the 11 innings in this game. Back to Madritsch, the only scoring opportunities the Devil Rays had were in the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings.
In the 6th, Madritsch was unfortunate enough to have Carl Crawford hit a single in a tie game. Of course, this led to a ton of throws over to first base. Julio Lugo tried to bunt on the first pitch, and a pitch-out was called on the second pitch. I can't remember if the bunt was taken off or not, but Madritsch was able to catch Lugo looking. Even more key, however, was getting Rocco Baldelli to hit a ball on the ground to Gold Glover Bret Boone. 4-6-3. Clutch.
In the 7th, Huff was the guy with the leadoff single. Jose Cruz Jr. bounced out to Madritsch (can't remember if this was the line shot that Madritsch fielded tonight) and Huff went to second. I described Tino's at-bat in the above paragraph, but that was clutch too considering Madritsch's newness to the Majors and the fact that Tino had homered the last time up. Madritsch then got Toby Hall to whiff.
In the 8th, BJ Upton hit a one-out double. Madritsch got a groundout from Carl Crawford before getting Julio Lugo to fly out to Randy Winn.
Well done, Bobby Madritsch. His line: 8 innings, 1 run, 5 hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts, 105 pitches (72 strikes). His ERA has dwindled down to a nice 2.12.
Madritsch was by far the top story of this game. Screw the extra-inning win, screw Ichiro going 3-for-6 (his second half is absolutely retarded), screw Scott Atchison's first Major League win. Bobby Madritsch, this was your night, and it's a good thing you used your game check to fly in some family to see the game (but not the girlfriend...we'll assume she had to work). As a complete aside, Bobby Madritsch's father looks like Larry Brown.
But yeah, there were other things going on in this game. The Mariners had to score some runs. Needless to say, they didn't fetch Madritsch the well-deserved win, but they did stop their losing streak. At first, however, they would have to confront the man who shut them out 1-0 last September (Ryan Franklin got royally screwed that day): Jorge Sosa.
Jorge Sosa was throwing nothing but gas in terms of sliders and fastballs early on, and there wasn't much the Mariners could do about it. After two fairly nondescript innings, the bottom of the lineup did some things in the 3rd. Justin Leone drew a walk and Jose Lopez hit a single. First and second, nobody out, top of the order coming to the plate. Flyout to left (Ichiro), flyout to center (Randy Winn), lineout to Tino (Bret Boone). The inning had started out with so much promise, too. Shame. In the 4th, Bucky Jacobsen continued his maturation process as a hitter, smashing a double to centerfield with one out. Second base was a good vantage point to witness the forthcoming Scott Spiezio groundout to short and the Miguel Olivo whiff.
The Mariners did have the first lead of the game, however, and Leone and Lopez started it off once again. Leone led off with a single, and Lopez hit a grounder that should have been a double play. Instead, the ball ate up BJ Upton at short. Ichiro singled two pitches later to score Leone. Winn, Boone, and Raul Ibanez followed with old-fashioned plays involving outs that don't involve runners scoring, i.e., fielder's choice, whiff, groundout to first.
The Mariners came to the plate in the 7th having just seen Madritsch get a key inning-ending double play. Jose Lopez drew a one-out walk. Ichiro singled again, and though the play-by-play just says "Suzuki singled to right, Lopez out at third," I know it was a weird play, and that Lopez was out by a mile at third. He's younger than me, people.
Jesus Colome didn't give the Mariners much of anything to hit in the 8th, and he struck out the side in the 9th (surprise, 7-8-9 hitters, all whiffs). In the 10th, they used little ball (yuck) and the top of the order to get Ichiro and Winn on second and third with one out (Boone's bunt). Ibanez was walked and Colome was pulled for Danys Baez. Baez blew his fastball by Bucky Jacobsen and got Scott Spiezio to pop out.
But the Mariners would get Baez to unravel. Interestingly enough, it all started off with Miguel Olivo, whose batting average has gotten the gasface lately. He walked, was bunted to second (Leone), and was held up at third because Lopez absolutely smoked that single to leftfield (it was too hard). Ichiro then hit a grounder to Geoff Blum at third base. Blum then realized his surname was a little too close to that of Willie Bloomquist, and proceeded to undergo a similar fate as Mark McLemore's unworthy successor did the night before. The boot by Blum let Olivo in to score the go-ahead run (SEA 2-1), and left runners on first and second, still with nobody out. Winn singled on the first pitch to score Lopez. Ichiro was nailed trying to take third. Bret Boone dinked one into rightfield to score Randy Winn and finally give that heckler guy in the stands some reason to shut up (the only one of the night; SEA 4-1). Raul performed a role he's been clinging to of late: ending rallies. He did so this time with a popout to Blum, who caught it cleanly this time.
In Mariner bullpen news, JJ Putz pitched a 1-2-3 9th, and Scott Atchison held the lead through the 10th and 11th. Atchison had a 1-2-3 10th, and gave up a Carl Crawford (23rd birthday) solo shot to rightfield with one out in the 11th. However, there weren't two or three guys on base when he gave up the home run. Considering the Mariners' usual fate this season, I'd have to say that we as fans may need to learn to appreciate things like "dammit, Atchison gave up a home run...but at least there weren't a bunch of runners on base." On the other hand, at least the Mariners had a three-run lead and not a one-run lead at the time of the blast.
Gameball: Bobby Madritsch. Absolute no-brainer here. Look no further than the first half of this post where I pretty much heaped praise on him, and posted his line. You know, watching his motion, it always scared me because of whatever he's doing with his arms during the leg kick before he rares back with his throwing arm. I thought he was doing some herk-jerk with his throwing arm, but I looked a little closer, and it's just some hitch with the glove hand. No worries. Thought there might be some hellacious arm surgery in the near future if it was his throwing arm doing that.
Goat: Raul Ibanez. 0-for-5 with a walk and a strikeout, stranding three. Again, this is what you're getting out of your cleanup hitter. Miguel Olivo went 0-for-5 also, but at least with all the passed balls and shakiness behind the plate, he managed to score the go-ahead run with his walk in the 11th and got that whole rally started. And Raul ended it. Hmm...
No four-game sweep for Lou. Bobby Madritsch had a lot to do with that. Unfortunately for Lou, so did Geoff Blum. I wonder if Don Zimmer bullrushed Geoff Blum in the locker room after the game...
Franklin. Brazelton. Tomorrow.
[Edit ~10:05p -- Just small edits here and there so that some of the crap I said makes sense. Seriously, I'll post, publish it thinking it's okay, read it, and then say "f#($, that makes no sense!!" Hence, changes. Hopefully not too many people read the post within ten minutes of me posting it. If you did, and were confused, hopefully I cleaned up the confusing parts for you.]
The three at-bats that Tino Martinez had stuck out to me. Tino first got up in the 2nd with two down and a runner on first, and Madritsch threw a change on a 2-2 count and had him absolutely fooled; Tino was way out in front, and just sort of waved at the pitch. Madritsch had Tino (leading off the inning) 0-2 in the 5th (probably on fastballs or sliders, wish I could remember) and tried to sneak the change by Tino again. He probably could have snuck it by if he didn't hang it so much. Tino's homer into the rightfield stands tied the game at 1-1. Tino came to the plate again in the 7th with one out and Aubrey Huff on second with the game still tied at 1-1. Madritsch fell behind and I thought, "oh no, Bobby's scared of him." Boy was I wrong. Madritsch had the cojones to throw the change again to Tino on a 3-1 pitch, i.e., behind in the count and even after the hanging change got driven in the last at-bat. I thought it was almost as high as the pitch that went for a homer, but this time Tino topped the ball to Scott Spiezio at first.
Madritsch had 1-2-3 innings in the 1st and 4th, and faced the minimum three batters in the 6th (double play involved). In a fact involving Mariner pitching tonight (Madritsch/Putz/Atchison), Tampa Bay never sent more than four batters to the plate in any of the 11 innings in this game. Back to Madritsch, the only scoring opportunities the Devil Rays had were in the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings.
In the 6th, Madritsch was unfortunate enough to have Carl Crawford hit a single in a tie game. Of course, this led to a ton of throws over to first base. Julio Lugo tried to bunt on the first pitch, and a pitch-out was called on the second pitch. I can't remember if the bunt was taken off or not, but Madritsch was able to catch Lugo looking. Even more key, however, was getting Rocco Baldelli to hit a ball on the ground to Gold Glover Bret Boone. 4-6-3. Clutch.
In the 7th, Huff was the guy with the leadoff single. Jose Cruz Jr. bounced out to Madritsch (can't remember if this was the line shot that Madritsch fielded tonight) and Huff went to second. I described Tino's at-bat in the above paragraph, but that was clutch too considering Madritsch's newness to the Majors and the fact that Tino had homered the last time up. Madritsch then got Toby Hall to whiff.
In the 8th, BJ Upton hit a one-out double. Madritsch got a groundout from Carl Crawford before getting Julio Lugo to fly out to Randy Winn.
Well done, Bobby Madritsch. His line: 8 innings, 1 run, 5 hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts, 105 pitches (72 strikes). His ERA has dwindled down to a nice 2.12.
Madritsch was by far the top story of this game. Screw the extra-inning win, screw Ichiro going 3-for-6 (his second half is absolutely retarded), screw Scott Atchison's first Major League win. Bobby Madritsch, this was your night, and it's a good thing you used your game check to fly in some family to see the game (but not the girlfriend...we'll assume she had to work). As a complete aside, Bobby Madritsch's father looks like Larry Brown.
But yeah, there were other things going on in this game. The Mariners had to score some runs. Needless to say, they didn't fetch Madritsch the well-deserved win, but they did stop their losing streak. At first, however, they would have to confront the man who shut them out 1-0 last September (Ryan Franklin got royally screwed that day): Jorge Sosa.
Jorge Sosa was throwing nothing but gas in terms of sliders and fastballs early on, and there wasn't much the Mariners could do about it. After two fairly nondescript innings, the bottom of the lineup did some things in the 3rd. Justin Leone drew a walk and Jose Lopez hit a single. First and second, nobody out, top of the order coming to the plate. Flyout to left (Ichiro), flyout to center (Randy Winn), lineout to Tino (Bret Boone). The inning had started out with so much promise, too. Shame. In the 4th, Bucky Jacobsen continued his maturation process as a hitter, smashing a double to centerfield with one out. Second base was a good vantage point to witness the forthcoming Scott Spiezio groundout to short and the Miguel Olivo whiff.
The Mariners did have the first lead of the game, however, and Leone and Lopez started it off once again. Leone led off with a single, and Lopez hit a grounder that should have been a double play. Instead, the ball ate up BJ Upton at short. Ichiro singled two pitches later to score Leone. Winn, Boone, and Raul Ibanez followed with old-fashioned plays involving outs that don't involve runners scoring, i.e., fielder's choice, whiff, groundout to first.
The Mariners came to the plate in the 7th having just seen Madritsch get a key inning-ending double play. Jose Lopez drew a one-out walk. Ichiro singled again, and though the play-by-play just says "Suzuki singled to right, Lopez out at third," I know it was a weird play, and that Lopez was out by a mile at third. He's younger than me, people.
Jesus Colome didn't give the Mariners much of anything to hit in the 8th, and he struck out the side in the 9th (surprise, 7-8-9 hitters, all whiffs). In the 10th, they used little ball (yuck) and the top of the order to get Ichiro and Winn on second and third with one out (Boone's bunt). Ibanez was walked and Colome was pulled for Danys Baez. Baez blew his fastball by Bucky Jacobsen and got Scott Spiezio to pop out.
But the Mariners would get Baez to unravel. Interestingly enough, it all started off with Miguel Olivo, whose batting average has gotten the gasface lately. He walked, was bunted to second (Leone), and was held up at third because Lopez absolutely smoked that single to leftfield (it was too hard). Ichiro then hit a grounder to Geoff Blum at third base. Blum then realized his surname was a little too close to that of Willie Bloomquist, and proceeded to undergo a similar fate as Mark McLemore's unworthy successor did the night before. The boot by Blum let Olivo in to score the go-ahead run (SEA 2-1), and left runners on first and second, still with nobody out. Winn singled on the first pitch to score Lopez. Ichiro was nailed trying to take third. Bret Boone dinked one into rightfield to score Randy Winn and finally give that heckler guy in the stands some reason to shut up (the only one of the night; SEA 4-1). Raul performed a role he's been clinging to of late: ending rallies. He did so this time with a popout to Blum, who caught it cleanly this time.
In Mariner bullpen news, JJ Putz pitched a 1-2-3 9th, and Scott Atchison held the lead through the 10th and 11th. Atchison had a 1-2-3 10th, and gave up a Carl Crawford (23rd birthday) solo shot to rightfield with one out in the 11th. However, there weren't two or three guys on base when he gave up the home run. Considering the Mariners' usual fate this season, I'd have to say that we as fans may need to learn to appreciate things like "dammit, Atchison gave up a home run...but at least there weren't a bunch of runners on base." On the other hand, at least the Mariners had a three-run lead and not a one-run lead at the time of the blast.
Gameball: Bobby Madritsch. Absolute no-brainer here. Look no further than the first half of this post where I pretty much heaped praise on him, and posted his line. You know, watching his motion, it always scared me because of whatever he's doing with his arms during the leg kick before he rares back with his throwing arm. I thought he was doing some herk-jerk with his throwing arm, but I looked a little closer, and it's just some hitch with the glove hand. No worries. Thought there might be some hellacious arm surgery in the near future if it was his throwing arm doing that.
Goat: Raul Ibanez. 0-for-5 with a walk and a strikeout, stranding three. Again, this is what you're getting out of your cleanup hitter. Miguel Olivo went 0-for-5 also, but at least with all the passed balls and shakiness behind the plate, he managed to score the go-ahead run with his walk in the 11th and got that whole rally started. And Raul ended it. Hmm...
No four-game sweep for Lou. Bobby Madritsch had a lot to do with that. Unfortunately for Lou, so did Geoff Blum. I wonder if Don Zimmer bullrushed Geoff Blum in the locker room after the game...
Franklin. Brazelton. Tomorrow.
[Edit ~10:05p -- Just small edits here and there so that some of the crap I said makes sense. Seriously, I'll post, publish it thinking it's okay, read it, and then say "f#($, that makes no sense!!" Hence, changes. Hopefully not too many people read the post within ten minutes of me posting it. If you did, and were confused, hopefully I cleaned up the confusing parts for you.]
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