Wednesday, May 04, 2005
GAME 27: ANGELS 5, MARINERS 2
Angels 5, Mariners 2
In 25 words or less: Gil Meche's regular biggish inning was the first. The bats remained in slumber.
This one featured John Lackey going up against Gil Meche.
TOP 1ST
Grade: D+
Meche had that inning again, though by sheer number of runs it isn't one of the biggest. He went to 3-1 on the first batter he faced, Darin Erstad. Erstad singled hard under the glove of Wilson Valdez at short on the full count. Chone Figgins got behind 0-2. With the count 1-2 Meche tried to pick Erstad off of first but threw it past Richie Sexson at first, and it went into foul territory (error) and Erstad scampered to second. Figgins fouled off his next pitch and then mashed a single to leftcenter, scoring Erstad. That was quick.
»» ANGELS 1, MARINERS 0
Vladimir Guerrero helped out a bit, swinging at the first pitch and making rain behind the plate, where Miguel Olivo caught the ball in foul territory. Figgins stole second on the first pitch to Garret Anderson. Olivo got crossed up on the second pitch, also a strike, and the ball went off his glove and to the backstop as Figgins went to third (2 pitches, 180 feet). The Mariners drew the infield in, and Anderson hit the next pitch to the right side, and Figgins went home, beating the throw by Bret Boone by sliding past the Olivo tag.
»» ANGELS 2, MARINERS 0
Steve Finley grounded out to Beltre, who had to make a long throw to third. Orlando Cabrera stung the first pitch into centerfield, and Garret Anderson tried to score (there were two out, after all, so he got out of the gate a little faster). Jeremy Reed threw home from centerfield, and the throw was on time. Olivo never actually caught the ball, trying to make the tag before he caught the ball. He held the ball against his chest with his glove at one point, but ball was never in glove, hence, no tag and no out.
»» ANGELS 3, MARINERS 0
Dallas McPherson hit a high fly to Randy Winn in leftfield to mercifully end the inning. Meche threw 24 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: C-
Lackey had no trouble. Ichiro fouled off an 0-2 pitch before foul-tipping an inside fastball into Jose Molina's glove for strike three. Jeremy Reed flew out to Finley in rightcenter. Adrian Beltre grounded the first pitch to second. Lackey threw eight pitches.
TOP 2ND
Grade: B
Meche would do better. Jose Molina tried to bunt his way aboard along the third-base line. Beltre made a nice play, barehanded the ball and gunning Molina out at first. Adam Kennedy hit an 0-2 curve off his shoetops into centerfield for a single. Erstad hit a weak pop right to Beltre. Kennedy stole second on the 1-1 pitch to Figgins. After the 1-2 count went full, he fouled off a pitch and whiffed on a low pitch for strike three. Meche threw 16 pitches.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: B
The offense was sudden, but not prolonged. Richie Sexson tagged a pitch to centerfield, over the Nikon advertisement and into the group of beerfans beyond the fence, good for 429 feet, but only one run.
»» ANGELS 3, MARINERS 1
Bret Boone fouled off an 0-2 pitch before fouling another one behind the plate to the first-base side, where Molina caught it. Remember, Boone's seeing the ball as well as he's ever seen in his life. Raul Ibanez hit a hard grounder to first. Randy Winn smashed a ball off Lackey's glove and into centerfield for a single. Miguel Olivo fouled off an 0-2 pitch, turned on a 1-2 breaking ball and pulled it foul, then whiffed on a 2-2 breaking ball low and outside, out of the zone. Lackey threw 22 pitches.
TOP 3RD
Grade: A
Predictably, Meche would find a bit of a groove. Guerrero flew out to left, Anderson grounded a 1-2 pitch to short, and Finley flew out to Ichiro on the first pitch. Meche threw only six pitches in the 1-2-3 inning.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: C
The offense continued to not do much. Wilson Valdez got down 0-2 and fanned two pitches later. Ichiro bounced out to Kennedy at second. Reed scratched out an infield single, but there were two out, and Beltre flew out to rightfield to end the inning. Lackey threw 18 pitches.
TOP 4TH
Grade: A
Meche was in a semi-groove. Cabrera got down 0-2 and tapped one back to the mound two pitches later. McPherson lined out to Beltre, though Beltre had to handle the ball like a hot potato for a few seconds before finally getting control of it. Molina flew out to Reed to end the inning. Meche threw nine pitches in the 1-2-3 inning.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: C-
Lackey then threw a 1-2-3 inning. Sexson flew out to centerfield. Boone whiffed on a 1-2 pitch (remember, he's seeing the ball well). Ibanez rolled the first pitch to the shortstop. Lackey threw eight pitches.
TOP 5TH
Grade: B
Meche lumbered along. He fell behind 2-0 on Kennedy, but got a groundout to first two pitches after. Erstad lined a ball to Winn. Meche fell behind 2-0 to Figgins, who made him pay, singling to rightfield. Meche got ahead 0-2 on Guerrero, eventually mowing him down (whiff) on a 2-2 pitch. Meche threw 14 pitches.
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: D+
The bottom of the lineup did things, but was left stranded. Winn got down 0-2 and ended up grounding out to second. Olivo got down 0-2 and whiffed on the 1-2 pitch, but it was a wild one, getting away from the catcher and enabling Olivo to get on base. Valdez then raked a 2-0 pitch to centerfield to make things interesting. Ichiro then whiffed on a 2-2 pitch. Reed worked a 1-2 count for a walk to load the bases. Beltre fouled off a 1-2 pitch before becoming Hurricane Beltre to end the inning. Lackey threw 30 pitches and was at 86 through five.
TOP 6TH
Grade: B-
Meche appeared to be done scuffling for the night. He fell behind 2-0 to Anderson, but got a foul pop to Beltre. He got ahead 0-2 on Finley, who grounded out to Valdez. Cabrera doubled to left on the first pitch, but Meche got McPherson to foul-tip a 1-2 pitch into Olivo's glove. Meche threw 11 pitches and was at 80 through six.
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: C
Lackey got back on track. Sexson gave the ball a good ride, sending it deep to rightfield before Guerrero came down with it. Boone sharply singled an 0-2 pitch into centerfield (maybe he did see the ball well). Ibanez got the hitters' counts before flying out to center. Winn flew out to rightfield on the first pitch to end the inning. Lackey threw 11 pitches and was at 97 through six.
TOP 7TH
Grade: A-
It's too bad Meche couldn't groove for an entire game. Molina swung and missed his 0-2 pitch. Kennedy flew out to Winn. Meche fell behind 2-0 on Erstad, but got the whiff on a full count. Meche threw 12 pitches and had 92 through seven.
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: C-
The Mariners managed to chase Lackey, but the results were the same. Olivo worked his 1-2 count full before hacking and missing on a pitch low and away. Valdez fouled off three pitches before he missed the fourth. Ichiro doubled into the gap in leftcenter, though there were two out.
Scot Shields came in for Lackey and needed only three pitches to catch Reed looking at a letter-high strike.
Lackey's line: 6 2/3 innings, 1 run, 6 hits, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts, 107 pitches (75 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Grade: C
Meche regressed again and gave the death knell to the Mariners' hopes for victory in the game, and sadly it was all with two out. Figgins grounded out to Valdez and Guerrero popped one to Boone. Meche got behind 2-0 on Anderson, who later singled to center, then Finley filled the old-guys-hitting-homers quota for the second night in a row, sending one out to rightfield.
»» ANGELS 5, MARINERS 1
Cabrera ended the carnage quickly, flying out to Ichiro.
Meche's line: 8 innings, 5 runs, 8 hits, 0 walks, 5 strikeouts, 105 pitches (73 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: C-
The meat of the order continued to do nothing. Beltre grounded out to third, Sexson grounded out to second, and Boone saw the ball well as he swung through a 2-2 pitch. Shields threw 15 pitches.
TOP 9TH
Grade: A
Matt Thornton came in for Meche. Strangely, he struck out everyone swinging. McPherson went away on an 0-2 pitch, Molina on 1-2, and Kennedy on 1-2 as well. I'll be damned.
Thornton's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts, 13 pitches (11 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Grade: B-
Offense? Ibanez bounced out to second on 0-2. Winn singled to left. Greg Dobbs hit for Olivo, or more like whiffed on a 1-2 pitch for him. Shin-Soo Choo hit for Valdez. Winn scurried to second (indifference) on the first pitch to Choo. Choo parachuted a single down the leftfield line to score Winn for his first Major League RBI. Way to go, Hooch. Can I call him Hooch?
»» ANGELS 5, MARINERS 2
Ichiro whiffed on a 1-2 pitch. Ballgame.
Shields' line: 2 1/3 innings, 1 run, 2 hits, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts, 34 pitches (28 strikes)
---
Gameball: Matt Thornton.
If he doesn't get a gameball after striking out the side swinging, he'll never get one. The only real obvious choice for the gameball was Randy Winn with the only multi-hit game, going 2-for-4. Richie Sexson had the cannon shot, going 1-for-4.
Goat: Adrian Beltre.
0-for-4 with a strikeout, stranding four, though with a couple decent defensive plays. He's scuffling at the plate, no doubt about it, and his average has plummeted to .229. I thought about Gil Meche for the goat, and that usually crosses my mind when a Mariner pitcher spots the opposing team a few runs before the offense can ever get to the plate. I quickly thought again, however, since the game was 3-1 for just over five innings. Sure, Meche slipped up in his final inning, but the bats had a lot of time to wake up, and once again, they never did. Miguel Olivo was also a strong consideration for the goat, going 0-for-3 with the hat trick (strikeouts).
Ugh, this offense is purely offensive right now. I'm guessing when Beltre and Sexson start raking, the rest of the lineup will follow suit. Right now, we have Beltre hitting .229 with two homers. I saw Brad Adam talk on FSNNW late at night, saying he had talked with Steve Finley, a Dodger teammate of Adrian's last year. Though we haven't seen it yet, Finley says that Beltre apparently is supposed to "smear" the outside pitch to rightcenter and rightfield. As an odd note to the other top-dollar big bopper, Richie Sexson's line of .233 with seven homers and 20 RBIs strikes me as a bit Mike Cameron-esque, and though I don't have the strikeout numbers in front of me, I'll venture to guess they probably follow suit.
Do you think we'll have a chance to see Gil Meche somehow eliminate the big inning from his outings? Maybe when he's in the bullpen before the game, they can have him throw a sim game and be all crappy so that he gets it all out of his system before he takes the mound for real. If it came to it, and if they paid me handsomely, I would gladly stand in the box on both sides of the plate to replicate a Meche pregame sim game where he throws the ball all over the place and hopefully doesn't nail me in the face with a 94mph fastball. For five innings, he held the game at 3-1, waiting for the bats to hopefully wake out of their hibernation, which they never did.
Congratulations to Shin-Soo Choo on his first Major League RBI. Really, we should be congratulating him every time he gets to the plate for an at-bat with the way Mike Hargrove uses the bench. All in all, I hope Hooch (really, can I call him that?) is enjoying the state-of-the-art in-stadium batting facilities they have in the bowels of the Safe. Sure, you can play every day in Tacoma, but that doesn't mean you can take hacks in the cage all the live-long day. I hope he's enjoying his stay in the majors. Side note: it's easy to tell the difference between the written Korean language and other Asian languages like Chinese and Japanese. The Koreans use more circles and ovals in their characters than do the Chinese and Japanese.
Does anyone find a crowd of 29917 a little disappointing for Edgar statue night? Granted, they didn't put it on a weekend, and the fact that the Sonics were in a playoff game across town might have had an impact on the walk-up crowd. Of course, I just looked at the schedule, and the paid attendance did exceed the allotment of Edgar statues (25k), so they'll have to find something else for Gil Meche and Joel Pineiro to package with The Balk.
Well, it's four straight. You know, I know this isn't 2004, and I hate myself for thinking this, but the one thing I hated hearing last year at the start was "it'll turn." They thought they had too many veteran hitters to suck for a prolonged stretch, and they ended up being totally wrong. Beltre and Sexson are scuffling, yes, but Bret Boone (.255) and Raul Ibanez (.263) don't have the league adjustment excuse behind which to hide. Still, Sexson was out with that horrendous flu for a few games and still has managed the 7 dingers and 20 ribs even with the crappy average. Ibanez and Boone have...well, they've definitely been in the lineup.
But hey, it's a transitional year, Mariner fans. Just enjoy competitive baseball again. Well, maybe not for the past four or five days, but trust me, it'll be competitive again this year.
Byrd. Sele. Today.
In 25 words or less: Gil Meche's regular biggish inning was the first. The bats remained in slumber.
This one featured John Lackey going up against Gil Meche.
TOP 1ST
Grade: D+
Meche had that inning again, though by sheer number of runs it isn't one of the biggest. He went to 3-1 on the first batter he faced, Darin Erstad. Erstad singled hard under the glove of Wilson Valdez at short on the full count. Chone Figgins got behind 0-2. With the count 1-2 Meche tried to pick Erstad off of first but threw it past Richie Sexson at first, and it went into foul territory (error) and Erstad scampered to second. Figgins fouled off his next pitch and then mashed a single to leftcenter, scoring Erstad. That was quick.
»» ANGELS 1, MARINERS 0
Vladimir Guerrero helped out a bit, swinging at the first pitch and making rain behind the plate, where Miguel Olivo caught the ball in foul territory. Figgins stole second on the first pitch to Garret Anderson. Olivo got crossed up on the second pitch, also a strike, and the ball went off his glove and to the backstop as Figgins went to third (2 pitches, 180 feet). The Mariners drew the infield in, and Anderson hit the next pitch to the right side, and Figgins went home, beating the throw by Bret Boone by sliding past the Olivo tag.
»» ANGELS 2, MARINERS 0
Steve Finley grounded out to Beltre, who had to make a long throw to third. Orlando Cabrera stung the first pitch into centerfield, and Garret Anderson tried to score (there were two out, after all, so he got out of the gate a little faster). Jeremy Reed threw home from centerfield, and the throw was on time. Olivo never actually caught the ball, trying to make the tag before he caught the ball. He held the ball against his chest with his glove at one point, but ball was never in glove, hence, no tag and no out.
»» ANGELS 3, MARINERS 0
Dallas McPherson hit a high fly to Randy Winn in leftfield to mercifully end the inning. Meche threw 24 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: C-
Lackey had no trouble. Ichiro fouled off an 0-2 pitch before foul-tipping an inside fastball into Jose Molina's glove for strike three. Jeremy Reed flew out to Finley in rightcenter. Adrian Beltre grounded the first pitch to second. Lackey threw eight pitches.
TOP 2ND
Grade: B
Meche would do better. Jose Molina tried to bunt his way aboard along the third-base line. Beltre made a nice play, barehanded the ball and gunning Molina out at first. Adam Kennedy hit an 0-2 curve off his shoetops into centerfield for a single. Erstad hit a weak pop right to Beltre. Kennedy stole second on the 1-1 pitch to Figgins. After the 1-2 count went full, he fouled off a pitch and whiffed on a low pitch for strike three. Meche threw 16 pitches.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: B
The offense was sudden, but not prolonged. Richie Sexson tagged a pitch to centerfield, over the Nikon advertisement and into the group of beerfans beyond the fence, good for 429 feet, but only one run.
»» ANGELS 3, MARINERS 1
Bret Boone fouled off an 0-2 pitch before fouling another one behind the plate to the first-base side, where Molina caught it. Remember, Boone's seeing the ball as well as he's ever seen in his life. Raul Ibanez hit a hard grounder to first. Randy Winn smashed a ball off Lackey's glove and into centerfield for a single. Miguel Olivo fouled off an 0-2 pitch, turned on a 1-2 breaking ball and pulled it foul, then whiffed on a 2-2 breaking ball low and outside, out of the zone. Lackey threw 22 pitches.
TOP 3RD
Grade: A
Predictably, Meche would find a bit of a groove. Guerrero flew out to left, Anderson grounded a 1-2 pitch to short, and Finley flew out to Ichiro on the first pitch. Meche threw only six pitches in the 1-2-3 inning.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: C
The offense continued to not do much. Wilson Valdez got down 0-2 and fanned two pitches later. Ichiro bounced out to Kennedy at second. Reed scratched out an infield single, but there were two out, and Beltre flew out to rightfield to end the inning. Lackey threw 18 pitches.
TOP 4TH
Grade: A
Meche was in a semi-groove. Cabrera got down 0-2 and tapped one back to the mound two pitches later. McPherson lined out to Beltre, though Beltre had to handle the ball like a hot potato for a few seconds before finally getting control of it. Molina flew out to Reed to end the inning. Meche threw nine pitches in the 1-2-3 inning.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: C-
Lackey then threw a 1-2-3 inning. Sexson flew out to centerfield. Boone whiffed on a 1-2 pitch (remember, he's seeing the ball well). Ibanez rolled the first pitch to the shortstop. Lackey threw eight pitches.
TOP 5TH
Grade: B
Meche lumbered along. He fell behind 2-0 on Kennedy, but got a groundout to first two pitches after. Erstad lined a ball to Winn. Meche fell behind 2-0 to Figgins, who made him pay, singling to rightfield. Meche got ahead 0-2 on Guerrero, eventually mowing him down (whiff) on a 2-2 pitch. Meche threw 14 pitches.
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: D+
The bottom of the lineup did things, but was left stranded. Winn got down 0-2 and ended up grounding out to second. Olivo got down 0-2 and whiffed on the 1-2 pitch, but it was a wild one, getting away from the catcher and enabling Olivo to get on base. Valdez then raked a 2-0 pitch to centerfield to make things interesting. Ichiro then whiffed on a 2-2 pitch. Reed worked a 1-2 count for a walk to load the bases. Beltre fouled off a 1-2 pitch before becoming Hurricane Beltre to end the inning. Lackey threw 30 pitches and was at 86 through five.
TOP 6TH
Grade: B-
Meche appeared to be done scuffling for the night. He fell behind 2-0 to Anderson, but got a foul pop to Beltre. He got ahead 0-2 on Finley, who grounded out to Valdez. Cabrera doubled to left on the first pitch, but Meche got McPherson to foul-tip a 1-2 pitch into Olivo's glove. Meche threw 11 pitches and was at 80 through six.
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: C
Lackey got back on track. Sexson gave the ball a good ride, sending it deep to rightfield before Guerrero came down with it. Boone sharply singled an 0-2 pitch into centerfield (maybe he did see the ball well). Ibanez got the hitters' counts before flying out to center. Winn flew out to rightfield on the first pitch to end the inning. Lackey threw 11 pitches and was at 97 through six.
TOP 7TH
Grade: A-
It's too bad Meche couldn't groove for an entire game. Molina swung and missed his 0-2 pitch. Kennedy flew out to Winn. Meche fell behind 2-0 on Erstad, but got the whiff on a full count. Meche threw 12 pitches and had 92 through seven.
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: C-
The Mariners managed to chase Lackey, but the results were the same. Olivo worked his 1-2 count full before hacking and missing on a pitch low and away. Valdez fouled off three pitches before he missed the fourth. Ichiro doubled into the gap in leftcenter, though there were two out.
Scot Shields came in for Lackey and needed only three pitches to catch Reed looking at a letter-high strike.
Lackey's line: 6 2/3 innings, 1 run, 6 hits, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts, 107 pitches (75 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Grade: C
Meche regressed again and gave the death knell to the Mariners' hopes for victory in the game, and sadly it was all with two out. Figgins grounded out to Valdez and Guerrero popped one to Boone. Meche got behind 2-0 on Anderson, who later singled to center, then Finley filled the old-guys-hitting-homers quota for the second night in a row, sending one out to rightfield.
»» ANGELS 5, MARINERS 1
Cabrera ended the carnage quickly, flying out to Ichiro.
Meche's line: 8 innings, 5 runs, 8 hits, 0 walks, 5 strikeouts, 105 pitches (73 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: C-
The meat of the order continued to do nothing. Beltre grounded out to third, Sexson grounded out to second, and Boone saw the ball well as he swung through a 2-2 pitch. Shields threw 15 pitches.
TOP 9TH
Grade: A
Matt Thornton came in for Meche. Strangely, he struck out everyone swinging. McPherson went away on an 0-2 pitch, Molina on 1-2, and Kennedy on 1-2 as well. I'll be damned.
Thornton's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts, 13 pitches (11 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Grade: B-
Offense? Ibanez bounced out to second on 0-2. Winn singled to left. Greg Dobbs hit for Olivo, or more like whiffed on a 1-2 pitch for him. Shin-Soo Choo hit for Valdez. Winn scurried to second (indifference) on the first pitch to Choo. Choo parachuted a single down the leftfield line to score Winn for his first Major League RBI. Way to go, Hooch. Can I call him Hooch?
»» ANGELS 5, MARINERS 2
Ichiro whiffed on a 1-2 pitch. Ballgame.
Shields' line: 2 1/3 innings, 1 run, 2 hits, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts, 34 pitches (28 strikes)
---
Gameball: Matt Thornton.
If he doesn't get a gameball after striking out the side swinging, he'll never get one. The only real obvious choice for the gameball was Randy Winn with the only multi-hit game, going 2-for-4. Richie Sexson had the cannon shot, going 1-for-4.
Goat: Adrian Beltre.
0-for-4 with a strikeout, stranding four, though with a couple decent defensive plays. He's scuffling at the plate, no doubt about it, and his average has plummeted to .229. I thought about Gil Meche for the goat, and that usually crosses my mind when a Mariner pitcher spots the opposing team a few runs before the offense can ever get to the plate. I quickly thought again, however, since the game was 3-1 for just over five innings. Sure, Meche slipped up in his final inning, but the bats had a lot of time to wake up, and once again, they never did. Miguel Olivo was also a strong consideration for the goat, going 0-for-3 with the hat trick (strikeouts).
Ugh, this offense is purely offensive right now. I'm guessing when Beltre and Sexson start raking, the rest of the lineup will follow suit. Right now, we have Beltre hitting .229 with two homers. I saw Brad Adam talk on FSNNW late at night, saying he had talked with Steve Finley, a Dodger teammate of Adrian's last year. Though we haven't seen it yet, Finley says that Beltre apparently is supposed to "smear" the outside pitch to rightcenter and rightfield. As an odd note to the other top-dollar big bopper, Richie Sexson's line of .233 with seven homers and 20 RBIs strikes me as a bit Mike Cameron-esque, and though I don't have the strikeout numbers in front of me, I'll venture to guess they probably follow suit.
Do you think we'll have a chance to see Gil Meche somehow eliminate the big inning from his outings? Maybe when he's in the bullpen before the game, they can have him throw a sim game and be all crappy so that he gets it all out of his system before he takes the mound for real. If it came to it, and if they paid me handsomely, I would gladly stand in the box on both sides of the plate to replicate a Meche pregame sim game where he throws the ball all over the place and hopefully doesn't nail me in the face with a 94mph fastball. For five innings, he held the game at 3-1, waiting for the bats to hopefully wake out of their hibernation, which they never did.
Congratulations to Shin-Soo Choo on his first Major League RBI. Really, we should be congratulating him every time he gets to the plate for an at-bat with the way Mike Hargrove uses the bench. All in all, I hope Hooch (really, can I call him that?) is enjoying the state-of-the-art in-stadium batting facilities they have in the bowels of the Safe. Sure, you can play every day in Tacoma, but that doesn't mean you can take hacks in the cage all the live-long day. I hope he's enjoying his stay in the majors. Side note: it's easy to tell the difference between the written Korean language and other Asian languages like Chinese and Japanese. The Koreans use more circles and ovals in their characters than do the Chinese and Japanese.
Does anyone find a crowd of 29917 a little disappointing for Edgar statue night? Granted, they didn't put it on a weekend, and the fact that the Sonics were in a playoff game across town might have had an impact on the walk-up crowd. Of course, I just looked at the schedule, and the paid attendance did exceed the allotment of Edgar statues (25k), so they'll have to find something else for Gil Meche and Joel Pineiro to package with The Balk.
Well, it's four straight. You know, I know this isn't 2004, and I hate myself for thinking this, but the one thing I hated hearing last year at the start was "it'll turn." They thought they had too many veteran hitters to suck for a prolonged stretch, and they ended up being totally wrong. Beltre and Sexson are scuffling, yes, but Bret Boone (.255) and Raul Ibanez (.263) don't have the league adjustment excuse behind which to hide. Still, Sexson was out with that horrendous flu for a few games and still has managed the 7 dingers and 20 ribs even with the crappy average. Ibanez and Boone have...well, they've definitely been in the lineup.
But hey, it's a transitional year, Mariner fans. Just enjoy competitive baseball again. Well, maybe not for the past four or five days, but trust me, it'll be competitive again this year.
Byrd. Sele. Today.
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