Saturday, August 07, 2004
TURN ON THE CATWALK
Before I get started here on the game, and how the Mariners scored early and often, and how Ron Villone somehow got into the 7th without breaking 80 pitches, and how Bob Melvin got tossed during the exchange of lineup cards before the game, I have only one question. If anyone out there went to the Goodness show at the Crocodile Cafe tonight, could you tell me how it went? Luckily, I know it's being recorded, so I'll probably just pick that up.
On to business...
Bob Melvin got tossed during the exchange of the lineup cards. I didn't know it was possible to get tossed before the first pitch was thrown, but hey, I've learned two things in two days, I guess. Rene Lachemann took the helm for the day. Ichiro doubled to lead off the game, and Melvin's stupid smallball tactics weren't lost on Lach, or he was yelling them through the tunnel or something. Randy Winn bunted Ichiro to third, and Bret Boone hit hit a double into the gap to drive in Ichiro (SEA 1-0); a double as opposed to a sac fly or popout to the second baseman like I've grown to expect from the Mariners in such situations lately. Better yet, Edgar Martinez followed with a walk and Bucky Jacobsen hit a single to leftcenter to load the bases with one out. The thing about such a situation is that you're always one ground ball away from a double play to end the inning. That's what came off the bat of Jolbert Cabrera. The Mariners had four baserunners in the inning -- three got into scoring position -- and only one of them scored.
Former Cougar/76er/Net/Blue Jay Mark Hendrickson was one of the many no-name pitchers that set down the Mariners last summer during the second-half doldrums. He got out of the jam in the first having only given up the one run, and was to face the bottom third of the Mariner lineup in the 2nd. Jose Lopez singled to leftcenter. Justin Leone legged out an infield single and somehow Lopez ended up on third (I'd like to note here that the game was not televised, and I fell asleep during the radio broadcast. Bad timing, I know). In any event, it didn't matter, because number-nine batter Miguel Olivo hit a three-run bomb to leftcenter (SEA 4-0). What is this thing you call..."power hitting?" Still, the Mariners had the top of the order due up with nobody out. That didn't matter either, as Bret Boone was the only other baserunner in the inning (two-out single).
Fresh off some minimal run support in the form of an Aubrey Huff two-out solo shot off a catwalk element (SEA 4-1), Mark Hendrickson ran into some trouble in the 5th. With one out, Edgar singled and Bucky doubled; both were in scoring position. Jolbert Cabrera whiffed and Jose Lopez bounced out to Rey Sanchez at second.
Hendrickson would run into his last dose of turbulence in the 7th. Winn singled on the first pitch and stole second on a 2-0 pitch to Boone. Boone bounced out to Damian Rolls (he of the .171 batting average) at third. Hendrickson was pulled in favor of Jeremi Gonzalez, who came on to face Edgar. Edgar singled to rightfield, a single that presumably was too shallow or too close to being caught on the fly for Randy Winn to score from second base. With Winn now on third, Bucky drove in the final Mariner run of the game (SEA 5-1) with a sac fly to Rocco Baldelli in centerfield.
Ron Villone would follow suit with his final dose of turbulence in the Tampa Bay half of the 7th. Looking through the play-by-play, it was also his only run-in with a scoring threat in the game. Villone had only thrown 78 pitches heading into the 7th inning. He only threw nine more, however. Five pitches were needed to walk Julio Lugo, and he walked Toby Hall on four pitches -- not exactly the way you want to exit the game. Overall, I'd have to say Villone was pretty efficient except for those last two hitters. I'm fairly satisfied with this Ron Villone start mainly because he got into the 7th, more than what I'm used to seeing out of him. Of course, I'm also aware that the Devil Rays are a crappy hitting team. Straight from the wire article, the Rays are hitting .191 in their last 10 games, and have scored a whopping 29 runs (simple math: 2.9 runs/gm) over that span.
Scott Atchison was summoned to finish the 7th inning with two runners on and nobody out. He got a ground ball from Geoff Blum to force out Hall at second and keep the double play in order, but with Lugo at third. Rey Sanchez hit a sufficiently deep fly ball to left to score Lugo (SEA 5-2) and close the book on Villone (6+ innings, 2 runs, 4 hits, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts, 87 pitches (49 strikes)). Apparently Jolbert Cabrera must have airmailed the throw on the play, allowing Blum to scamper to second. Carl Crawford bounced out to Leone at third to end the inning.
Only one baserunner reached for the rest of the game, and it was Bret Boone on a two-out walk in the 9th. Jeremi Gonzalez ate up the final 2 2/3 innings for the Devil Rays and Scott Atchison and JJ Putz pitched 1-2-3 8th and 9th innings, respectively. I woke up during the corporate postgame show and Bob Melvin was saying that he wanted to see Putz in that situation in the 9th (Putz got the save) because he thought Putz was the one guy out of the youth movement of arms that he thought had closer-type stuff. If you ask me...if he's the closer, he's got to be wearing a number other than 20. Come on, that's not a pitcher's number. It's not as bad as Rob Bell wearing 6 for the Rangers after the Ruben Mateo trade a couple years ago, but I still get uncomfortable, dammit. And by the way, surely Bryan Price has been notified that Rich Aurilia is indeed off the team and that number 35 is readily available to take its rightful place on the back of the Mariner pitching coach's uniform? I've never liked seeing the number 27 pop out of the dugout and head toward the mound. I didn't like it the first time I saw it, and I still don't.
Gameball: Miguel Olivo. He's hung up a couple of 0-fers lately and can't block a ball in the dirt to save his life, but if he can belt a 3-run jack out of the nine-slot every once in a while, I can turn the other cheek toward some of that bad stuff.
Goat: Jolbert Cabrera. None of the pitchers sucked today, and Jolbert was the only guy in the lineup with a zero in the hit column. 0-for-4, one strikeout, one GIDP, four stranded runners.
With a win tomorrow, the Mariners will finish with a face-melting 4-10 record on this 14-game road trip. The Mariners have lost 22 of their last 25 on the road. Naturally, the Mariners win games this year in which Jorge Sosa and Mark Hendrickson pitched, as opposed to winning these games LAST year when it MATTERED.
Moyer. Bell. Tomorrow.
On to business...
Bob Melvin got tossed during the exchange of the lineup cards. I didn't know it was possible to get tossed before the first pitch was thrown, but hey, I've learned two things in two days, I guess. Rene Lachemann took the helm for the day. Ichiro doubled to lead off the game, and Melvin's stupid smallball tactics weren't lost on Lach, or he was yelling them through the tunnel or something. Randy Winn bunted Ichiro to third, and Bret Boone hit hit a double into the gap to drive in Ichiro (SEA 1-0); a double as opposed to a sac fly or popout to the second baseman like I've grown to expect from the Mariners in such situations lately. Better yet, Edgar Martinez followed with a walk and Bucky Jacobsen hit a single to leftcenter to load the bases with one out. The thing about such a situation is that you're always one ground ball away from a double play to end the inning. That's what came off the bat of Jolbert Cabrera. The Mariners had four baserunners in the inning -- three got into scoring position -- and only one of them scored.
Former Cougar/76er/Net/Blue Jay Mark Hendrickson was one of the many no-name pitchers that set down the Mariners last summer during the second-half doldrums. He got out of the jam in the first having only given up the one run, and was to face the bottom third of the Mariner lineup in the 2nd. Jose Lopez singled to leftcenter. Justin Leone legged out an infield single and somehow Lopez ended up on third (I'd like to note here that the game was not televised, and I fell asleep during the radio broadcast. Bad timing, I know). In any event, it didn't matter, because number-nine batter Miguel Olivo hit a three-run bomb to leftcenter (SEA 4-0). What is this thing you call..."power hitting?" Still, the Mariners had the top of the order due up with nobody out. That didn't matter either, as Bret Boone was the only other baserunner in the inning (two-out single).
Fresh off some minimal run support in the form of an Aubrey Huff two-out solo shot off a catwalk element (SEA 4-1), Mark Hendrickson ran into some trouble in the 5th. With one out, Edgar singled and Bucky doubled; both were in scoring position. Jolbert Cabrera whiffed and Jose Lopez bounced out to Rey Sanchez at second.
Hendrickson would run into his last dose of turbulence in the 7th. Winn singled on the first pitch and stole second on a 2-0 pitch to Boone. Boone bounced out to Damian Rolls (he of the .171 batting average) at third. Hendrickson was pulled in favor of Jeremi Gonzalez, who came on to face Edgar. Edgar singled to rightfield, a single that presumably was too shallow or too close to being caught on the fly for Randy Winn to score from second base. With Winn now on third, Bucky drove in the final Mariner run of the game (SEA 5-1) with a sac fly to Rocco Baldelli in centerfield.
Ron Villone would follow suit with his final dose of turbulence in the Tampa Bay half of the 7th. Looking through the play-by-play, it was also his only run-in with a scoring threat in the game. Villone had only thrown 78 pitches heading into the 7th inning. He only threw nine more, however. Five pitches were needed to walk Julio Lugo, and he walked Toby Hall on four pitches -- not exactly the way you want to exit the game. Overall, I'd have to say Villone was pretty efficient except for those last two hitters. I'm fairly satisfied with this Ron Villone start mainly because he got into the 7th, more than what I'm used to seeing out of him. Of course, I'm also aware that the Devil Rays are a crappy hitting team. Straight from the wire article, the Rays are hitting .191 in their last 10 games, and have scored a whopping 29 runs (simple math: 2.9 runs/gm) over that span.
Scott Atchison was summoned to finish the 7th inning with two runners on and nobody out. He got a ground ball from Geoff Blum to force out Hall at second and keep the double play in order, but with Lugo at third. Rey Sanchez hit a sufficiently deep fly ball to left to score Lugo (SEA 5-2) and close the book on Villone (6+ innings, 2 runs, 4 hits, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts, 87 pitches (49 strikes)). Apparently Jolbert Cabrera must have airmailed the throw on the play, allowing Blum to scamper to second. Carl Crawford bounced out to Leone at third to end the inning.
Only one baserunner reached for the rest of the game, and it was Bret Boone on a two-out walk in the 9th. Jeremi Gonzalez ate up the final 2 2/3 innings for the Devil Rays and Scott Atchison and JJ Putz pitched 1-2-3 8th and 9th innings, respectively. I woke up during the corporate postgame show and Bob Melvin was saying that he wanted to see Putz in that situation in the 9th (Putz got the save) because he thought Putz was the one guy out of the youth movement of arms that he thought had closer-type stuff. If you ask me...if he's the closer, he's got to be wearing a number other than 20. Come on, that's not a pitcher's number. It's not as bad as Rob Bell wearing 6 for the Rangers after the Ruben Mateo trade a couple years ago, but I still get uncomfortable, dammit. And by the way, surely Bryan Price has been notified that Rich Aurilia is indeed off the team and that number 35 is readily available to take its rightful place on the back of the Mariner pitching coach's uniform? I've never liked seeing the number 27 pop out of the dugout and head toward the mound. I didn't like it the first time I saw it, and I still don't.
Gameball: Miguel Olivo. He's hung up a couple of 0-fers lately and can't block a ball in the dirt to save his life, but if he can belt a 3-run jack out of the nine-slot every once in a while, I can turn the other cheek toward some of that bad stuff.
Goat: Jolbert Cabrera. None of the pitchers sucked today, and Jolbert was the only guy in the lineup with a zero in the hit column. 0-for-4, one strikeout, one GIDP, four stranded runners.
With a win tomorrow, the Mariners will finish with a face-melting 4-10 record on this 14-game road trip. The Mariners have lost 22 of their last 25 on the road. Naturally, the Mariners win games this year in which Jorge Sosa and Mark Hendrickson pitched, as opposed to winning these games LAST year when it MATTERED.
Moyer. Bell. Tomorrow.
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