Sunday, September 05, 2004
LOW FIVE
White Sox starting pitcher Felix Diaz hadn't won a game since June 26. Jamie Moyer hadn't won a game since June 18. Diaz had an ERA of 9.09 coming into the game. Advantage Moyer, right?
Wrong. The White Sox young'un had a decent start and Moyer found the long ball irresistible. White Sox win, 6-2.
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
Ichiro desn't lead the game off with a single. Edgar Martinez singled with two out in an otherwise boring inning for the Mariner offense.
BOTTOM 1ST -- fighting out of jam
Moyer got into a jam with two out. Carlos Lee doubled off the base of the wall in leftfield, and Paul Konerko walked on four pitches. A Juan Uribe popout to Bret Boone ended the inning.
TOP 2ND -- ho, hum
Boone led off with a single, Bucky Jacobsen whiffed, Jolbert Cabrera bounced out to Konerko, and Wilson whiffed on a changeup low and away.
BOTTOM 2ND -- some damage
Jamie Burke watched six pitches (three balls, two strikes, then ball four) and walked to lead off the inning. Joe Borchard mashed a belt-high pitch (I'd call it a fastball, but I'm not even sure with Moyer) deadcenter over the wall (CHW 2-0). Moyer got through the next three hitters, though nearly walking Aaron Rowand after being ahead 0-2.
TOP 3RD -- ho, hum
Diaz gets Ramon Santiago, Ichiro, and Randy Winn out 1-2-3.
BOTTOM 3RD -- some damage
Moyer got Roberto Alomar to whiff, but worse things were to come. Moyer fell behind 3-0 on Carlos Lee and eventually walked him. Then he threw a thigh-high pitch to Konerko that he mashed to the back of the bullpen in leftfield (CHW 4-0). Moyer got through the next two hitters to end the inning.
TOP 4TH -- ho, hum
Edgar singled to lead off after being down 0-2, but Ibanez hit into a double play. Boone was up 3-0 in his count, and bounced out to third.
BOTTOM 4TH -- 1-2-3
It was an easy nine-pitch inning for Moyer, slicing through Borchard, Joe Crede, and Willie Harris.
TOP 5TH -- ho, hum
It was 1-2-3 for the Mariner trio of Bucky (nice play on the grounder from shallow centerfield by Harris), Jolbert Cabrera, and Dan Wilson (diving catch by Rowand).
BOTTOM 5TH -- 1-2-3
Moyer found something of a groove, getting through Rowand, Timo Perez (Alomar came out of the game), and Lee.
TOP 6TH -- minimal damage
The Mariners managed a run with two out. Winn singled and Edgar doubled into the gap in leftcenter to score him (CHW 4-1), spoiling Diaz's shutout bid.
BOTTOM 6TH -- some damage
Three cheers for the Mariner defense. Konerko hit a grounder to Santiago at short. Santiago's throw sailed over Bucky at first.
"[Santiago] can pick it up and throw it." -- Bill Bavasi
Uribe singled off of Moyer's glove on the first pitch, and Konerko moved to third. Jamie Burke hit a fly ball to leftfield, and Winn tried to throw home (CHW 5-1). Luckily, the throw was cut off. Uribe was quite a ways off of first, but Bucky took the cutoff throw and no one was covering. Moyer tried to pick off Uribe, but Bucky muffed the play. Moyer would get the final two hitters though.
TOP 7TH -- ho, hum
Jon Adkins came in for Diaz, who threw six decent innings. Bucky hit a one-out single, but nothing else really happened.
BOTTOM 7TH -- 1-2-3
Moyer has possibly his easiest inning of the day, also his last. His line: 7 innings, 5 runs (4 earned), 4 hits, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts, 105 pitches (64 strikes). Normally you figure a pitcher would do all right having given up only four hits, but in Moyer's case, two of them were two-run homers. Moyer has given up more homers this year (39) than Konerko has hit by himself (35).
TOP 8TH -- come on, y'all
Santiago and Ichiro led off the inning with singles. That was followed by two groundouts (Winn, Edgar) and a whiff (Ibanez, off new pitcher Damaso Marte).
BOTTOM 8TH -- some damage
Scott Atchison came in to pitch for the Mariners. Lee led off with a single. Atchison got Konerko to whiff, but then Uribe doubled off the base of the wall in centerfield (Uribe raised his arms as if it were a home run coming out of the box). Lee scored on the play (CHW 6-1). Atchison caught Burke looking and Borchard hacking to end the inning.
TOP 9TH -- minimal damage
Former Mariner farmhand Damaso Marte stayed in the game to close for the White Sox. He caught Boone looking and got Bucky hacking. Cabrear chimed in, smashing a knee-high fastball ten rows deep into the seats in leftfield (CHW 6-2). Wilson flew out to end the game.
My take? The Mariners just badly wanted the Optimist to come back. Then they lost five straight just to even things out and not get anybody's hopes up or anything like that. Ichiro was 1-for-4 today.
Gameball: Edgar Martinez. 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI in his final game in Chicago.
Goat: Raul Ibanez. 0-for-4, striking out once and stranding five.
Sabathia. Meche. Tomorrow.
Wrong. The White Sox young'un had a decent start and Moyer found the long ball irresistible. White Sox win, 6-2.
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
Ichiro desn't lead the game off with a single. Edgar Martinez singled with two out in an otherwise boring inning for the Mariner offense.
BOTTOM 1ST -- fighting out of jam
Moyer got into a jam with two out. Carlos Lee doubled off the base of the wall in leftfield, and Paul Konerko walked on four pitches. A Juan Uribe popout to Bret Boone ended the inning.
TOP 2ND -- ho, hum
Boone led off with a single, Bucky Jacobsen whiffed, Jolbert Cabrera bounced out to Konerko, and Wilson whiffed on a changeup low and away.
BOTTOM 2ND -- some damage
Jamie Burke watched six pitches (three balls, two strikes, then ball four) and walked to lead off the inning. Joe Borchard mashed a belt-high pitch (I'd call it a fastball, but I'm not even sure with Moyer) deadcenter over the wall (CHW 2-0). Moyer got through the next three hitters, though nearly walking Aaron Rowand after being ahead 0-2.
TOP 3RD -- ho, hum
Diaz gets Ramon Santiago, Ichiro, and Randy Winn out 1-2-3.
BOTTOM 3RD -- some damage
Moyer got Roberto Alomar to whiff, but worse things were to come. Moyer fell behind 3-0 on Carlos Lee and eventually walked him. Then he threw a thigh-high pitch to Konerko that he mashed to the back of the bullpen in leftfield (CHW 4-0). Moyer got through the next two hitters to end the inning.
TOP 4TH -- ho, hum
Edgar singled to lead off after being down 0-2, but Ibanez hit into a double play. Boone was up 3-0 in his count, and bounced out to third.
BOTTOM 4TH -- 1-2-3
It was an easy nine-pitch inning for Moyer, slicing through Borchard, Joe Crede, and Willie Harris.
TOP 5TH -- ho, hum
It was 1-2-3 for the Mariner trio of Bucky (nice play on the grounder from shallow centerfield by Harris), Jolbert Cabrera, and Dan Wilson (diving catch by Rowand).
BOTTOM 5TH -- 1-2-3
Moyer found something of a groove, getting through Rowand, Timo Perez (Alomar came out of the game), and Lee.
TOP 6TH -- minimal damage
The Mariners managed a run with two out. Winn singled and Edgar doubled into the gap in leftcenter to score him (CHW 4-1), spoiling Diaz's shutout bid.
BOTTOM 6TH -- some damage
Three cheers for the Mariner defense. Konerko hit a grounder to Santiago at short. Santiago's throw sailed over Bucky at first.
"[Santiago] can pick it up and throw it." -- Bill Bavasi
Uribe singled off of Moyer's glove on the first pitch, and Konerko moved to third. Jamie Burke hit a fly ball to leftfield, and Winn tried to throw home (CHW 5-1). Luckily, the throw was cut off. Uribe was quite a ways off of first, but Bucky took the cutoff throw and no one was covering. Moyer tried to pick off Uribe, but Bucky muffed the play. Moyer would get the final two hitters though.
TOP 7TH -- ho, hum
Jon Adkins came in for Diaz, who threw six decent innings. Bucky hit a one-out single, but nothing else really happened.
BOTTOM 7TH -- 1-2-3
Moyer has possibly his easiest inning of the day, also his last. His line: 7 innings, 5 runs (4 earned), 4 hits, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts, 105 pitches (64 strikes). Normally you figure a pitcher would do all right having given up only four hits, but in Moyer's case, two of them were two-run homers. Moyer has given up more homers this year (39) than Konerko has hit by himself (35).
TOP 8TH -- come on, y'all
Santiago and Ichiro led off the inning with singles. That was followed by two groundouts (Winn, Edgar) and a whiff (Ibanez, off new pitcher Damaso Marte).
BOTTOM 8TH -- some damage
Scott Atchison came in to pitch for the Mariners. Lee led off with a single. Atchison got Konerko to whiff, but then Uribe doubled off the base of the wall in centerfield (Uribe raised his arms as if it were a home run coming out of the box). Lee scored on the play (CHW 6-1). Atchison caught Burke looking and Borchard hacking to end the inning.
TOP 9TH -- minimal damage
Former Mariner farmhand Damaso Marte stayed in the game to close for the White Sox. He caught Boone looking and got Bucky hacking. Cabrear chimed in, smashing a knee-high fastball ten rows deep into the seats in leftfield (CHW 6-2). Wilson flew out to end the game.
My take? The Mariners just badly wanted the Optimist to come back. Then they lost five straight just to even things out and not get anybody's hopes up or anything like that. Ichiro was 1-for-4 today.
Gameball: Edgar Martinez. 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI in his final game in Chicago.
Goat: Raul Ibanez. 0-for-4, striking out once and stranding five.
Sabathia. Meche. Tomorrow.
/ Click for main page
