Thursday, September 30, 2004
FRANKLY, RYAN'S WORK IS DONE
Today's day game with Oakland included Ryan Franklin's final start in a brutal 2004 season for the pride of Spiro, Oklahoma. Franklin bailed himself out of a 17-loss season by throwing a three-hitter (and giving up only one earned run) and going seven innings.
Once again, the Ichiro update.
Ichiro went 1-for-5 this afternoon to bring his 2004 hit total to 256.
So to cap it off, in similar format to how I was presenting it before...
For Ichiro to break Sisler's record before the end of the season...
>> if he averaged four at-bats per game the rest of the way (3 games remain), he would need to go 2-for-12 (.167).
>> if he averaged five at-bats per game, he would need to go 2-for-15 (.133).
Spectrolifically...
Mariners on defense/pitching (bad to good)
massacre < terrible inning < some damage < fighting out of jam < decent inning < 1-2-3
Mariners on offense
I hate this team < come on, y'all < ho, hum < minimal damage < some damage < big inning
TOP 1ST -- ho, hum
Mark Redman doesn't let Ichiro lead off the game with a hit (Ichiro grounded out), and also sets down Randy Winn and Edgar Martinez in order.
BOTTOM 1ST -- 1-2-3
Ryan Franklin followed suit, mowing down Mark Kotsay, Mark McLemore, and Eric Chavez.
TOP 2ND -- ho, hum
Raul Ibanez led off with a double. Bret Boone hit a fly to rightfield and Ibanez tried to tag up and go to third. Jermaine Dye gunned down Ibanez on the 9-5 putout. Jolbert Cabrera bunted a fly to the catcher to end the inning.
BOTTOM 2ND -- 1-2-3
Franklin kept the A's off the basepaths, getting Scott Hatteberg, Dye, and Crosby to undergo exercises in futility.
TOP 3RD -- minimal damage
Miguel Olivo doubled with one out and went to third when Willie Bloomquist reached base on a Bobby Crosby muff. Ichiro then knocked one into rightfield, a single marking hit number 256 on the season (SEA 1-0). Then Winn grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to make sure that rally went nowhere.
BOTTOM 3RD -- some damage
Franklin's perfect streak to start the game was stopped thanks to a Bloomquist error (Melhuse hit the ball). There were two outs when the error occurred. Then Kotsay doubled to centerfield, and Melhuse scored (1-1) from first (Winn's arm in centerfield, lest we forget). McLemore whiffed to end the inning.
TOP 4TH -- ho, hum
Ibanez hit a one-out single and Cabrera hit a two-out single, but that was about it.
BOTTOM 4TH -- some damage
Would it be a Ryan Franklin start if there wasn't a home run involved? Dye got his with two out (OAK 2-1), and Crosby drew a walk after him. Nothing else of note happened, though.
TOP 5TH -- minimal damage
To lead off, Olivo intriguingly hit his second double of the game. He scored from third on a two-out game-tying Winn single (2-2). The secodn out in the inning was an Ichiro whiff.
BOTTOM 5TH -- 1-2-3
Six pitches was all Franklin needed to get through Eric Byrnes, Melhuse, and Kotsay.
TOP 6TH -- ho, hum
Boone walked with one out and Jose Lopez singled with two out. Redman was chased for Justin Duchscherer, who walked Olivo to load the bases. Duchscherer was pulled for Ricardo Rincon, who induced a foulout from Jeremy Reed, Bloomquist's pinch-hitter today.
BOTTOM 6TH -- 1-2-3
McLemore, Chavez, and Hatteberg didn't get too far in this inning.
TOP 7TH -- ho, hum
Rincon got a little jealous and threw his own 1-2-3 inning, except it was against the top third of the Mariner lineup. Ichiro flew out in the process.
BOTTOM 7TH -- decent inning
Crosby singled with one out. This gave Franklin two stretches during the game in which he retired eight straight hitters. Franklin got out of this by catching Nate Swisher looking and getting a foulout from Byrnes.
TOP 8TH -- ho, hum
Rincon was pulled after a two-out single by Cabrera. Chad Bradford came in for Rincon and got a quick flyout from Lopez.
BOTTOM 8TH -- fighting out of jam
Franklin didn't come out for an eighth inning of work, as he was replaced by Matt Thornton. Kotsay singled with one out and scooted to second on a wild pitch. However, Chavez was put aboard. Three pitches later, Hatteberg flew out to centerfield.
Franklin's line: 7 innings, 2 runs (1 earned), 3 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts, 99 pitches (66 strikes). Pretty solid outing today; not a lot of walks, and only one homer. Here's to a better year next year for Ryan Franklin, wherever he ends up next year.
TOP 9TH -- ho, hum
Octavio Dotel. He can be fairly fast. Greg Dobbs got a pinch-hit whiff, Reed flew out to centerfield, and Ichiro followed with a whiff of his own.
BOTTOM 9TH -- some damage
On the third pitch of the inning (with one out), Crosby went yard to end the game (OAK 3-2).
Gameball: Miguel Olivo. 2-for-2 with two doubles and a walk. I've been waiting for quite a while for Olivo to have a game like this. Actually, probably more like 2 weeks or so. Anyway, it's nice to see some signs of life out of him.
Goat: Edgar Martinez. 1-for-5 with a strikeout, stranding one. He's saving it for the farewell series.
What more is there to say...hmm...It's time for three against the Rangers; the fans will be appreciated tomorrow via giveaways and free crap rather than by being given a good baseball team. Saturday is Edgar Martinez day, definitely must-see television throughout the region. Sunday is Kids' Appreciation Day, and that's the season. Three games left. O where has the season gone...
Drese. Villone. Tomorrow.
Once again, the Ichiro update.
Ichiro went 1-for-5 this afternoon to bring his 2004 hit total to 256.
So to cap it off, in similar format to how I was presenting it before...
For Ichiro to break Sisler's record before the end of the season...
>> if he averaged four at-bats per game the rest of the way (3 games remain), he would need to go 2-for-12 (.167).
>> if he averaged five at-bats per game, he would need to go 2-for-15 (.133).
Spectrolifically...
Mariners on defense/pitching (bad to good)
massacre < terrible inning < some damage < fighting out of jam < decent inning < 1-2-3
Mariners on offense
I hate this team < come on, y'all < ho, hum < minimal damage < some damage < big inning
TOP 1ST -- ho, hum
Mark Redman doesn't let Ichiro lead off the game with a hit (Ichiro grounded out), and also sets down Randy Winn and Edgar Martinez in order.
BOTTOM 1ST -- 1-2-3
Ryan Franklin followed suit, mowing down Mark Kotsay, Mark McLemore, and Eric Chavez.
TOP 2ND -- ho, hum
Raul Ibanez led off with a double. Bret Boone hit a fly to rightfield and Ibanez tried to tag up and go to third. Jermaine Dye gunned down Ibanez on the 9-5 putout. Jolbert Cabrera bunted a fly to the catcher to end the inning.
BOTTOM 2ND -- 1-2-3
Franklin kept the A's off the basepaths, getting Scott Hatteberg, Dye, and Crosby to undergo exercises in futility.
TOP 3RD -- minimal damage
Miguel Olivo doubled with one out and went to third when Willie Bloomquist reached base on a Bobby Crosby muff. Ichiro then knocked one into rightfield, a single marking hit number 256 on the season (SEA 1-0). Then Winn grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to make sure that rally went nowhere.
BOTTOM 3RD -- some damage
Franklin's perfect streak to start the game was stopped thanks to a Bloomquist error (Melhuse hit the ball). There were two outs when the error occurred. Then Kotsay doubled to centerfield, and Melhuse scored (1-1) from first (Winn's arm in centerfield, lest we forget). McLemore whiffed to end the inning.
TOP 4TH -- ho, hum
Ibanez hit a one-out single and Cabrera hit a two-out single, but that was about it.
BOTTOM 4TH -- some damage
Would it be a Ryan Franklin start if there wasn't a home run involved? Dye got his with two out (OAK 2-1), and Crosby drew a walk after him. Nothing else of note happened, though.
TOP 5TH -- minimal damage
To lead off, Olivo intriguingly hit his second double of the game. He scored from third on a two-out game-tying Winn single (2-2). The secodn out in the inning was an Ichiro whiff.
BOTTOM 5TH -- 1-2-3
Six pitches was all Franklin needed to get through Eric Byrnes, Melhuse, and Kotsay.
TOP 6TH -- ho, hum
Boone walked with one out and Jose Lopez singled with two out. Redman was chased for Justin Duchscherer, who walked Olivo to load the bases. Duchscherer was pulled for Ricardo Rincon, who induced a foulout from Jeremy Reed, Bloomquist's pinch-hitter today.
BOTTOM 6TH -- 1-2-3
McLemore, Chavez, and Hatteberg didn't get too far in this inning.
TOP 7TH -- ho, hum
Rincon got a little jealous and threw his own 1-2-3 inning, except it was against the top third of the Mariner lineup. Ichiro flew out in the process.
BOTTOM 7TH -- decent inning
Crosby singled with one out. This gave Franklin two stretches during the game in which he retired eight straight hitters. Franklin got out of this by catching Nate Swisher looking and getting a foulout from Byrnes.
TOP 8TH -- ho, hum
Rincon was pulled after a two-out single by Cabrera. Chad Bradford came in for Rincon and got a quick flyout from Lopez.
BOTTOM 8TH -- fighting out of jam
Franklin didn't come out for an eighth inning of work, as he was replaced by Matt Thornton. Kotsay singled with one out and scooted to second on a wild pitch. However, Chavez was put aboard. Three pitches later, Hatteberg flew out to centerfield.
Franklin's line: 7 innings, 2 runs (1 earned), 3 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts, 99 pitches (66 strikes). Pretty solid outing today; not a lot of walks, and only one homer. Here's to a better year next year for Ryan Franklin, wherever he ends up next year.
TOP 9TH -- ho, hum
Octavio Dotel. He can be fairly fast. Greg Dobbs got a pinch-hit whiff, Reed flew out to centerfield, and Ichiro followed with a whiff of his own.
BOTTOM 9TH -- some damage
On the third pitch of the inning (with one out), Crosby went yard to end the game (OAK 3-2).
Gameball: Miguel Olivo. 2-for-2 with two doubles and a walk. I've been waiting for quite a while for Olivo to have a game like this. Actually, probably more like 2 weeks or so. Anyway, it's nice to see some signs of life out of him.
Goat: Edgar Martinez. 1-for-5 with a strikeout, stranding one. He's saving it for the farewell series.
What more is there to say...hmm...It's time for three against the Rangers; the fans will be appreciated tomorrow via giveaways and free crap rather than by being given a good baseball team. Saturday is Edgar Martinez day, definitely must-see television throughout the region. Sunday is Kids' Appreciation Day, and that's the season. Three games left. O where has the season gone...
Drese. Villone. Tomorrow.
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