Wednesday, May 11, 2005
GAME 33: YANKEES 7, MARINERS 4
Yankees 7, Mariners 4
In 25 words or less: The Mariners started out in decent shape until Aaron Sele realized he was Aaron Sele (or even Bad Gil Meche). Got Wang?
This one featured Aaron Sele against Chien-Ming Wang of Taiwan. I hope Rick Rizzs eliminates this game from his memory soon so that he doesn't have to keep reminding everyone that it's pronounced WAHNG, as in the same vowel sound as the word "wrong." They must have an intern that's making lewd jokes or something, and ol' Rick must be sick of it. "Stop cursing! Be professional. I'M RICK RIZZS, BITCH!!" Man, I would SO pay Rick Rizzs to say that. See, that's why we need a local sketch comedy like Almost Live! to still be on the air so that there would be an opportunity for Rizzs to step out of the box.
TOP 1ST
Grade: B
An early lead? It happened. Ichiro hit a 2-0 pitch just inside the bag and down the rightfield line, and he legged a triple out of it. That's a way to lead off a game. Randy Winn bounced out to short on the next pitch, and the Yankees were playing back to concede the run. Why wouldn't they? They knew they were facing Aaron Sele, so no rush.
»»MARINERS 1, YANKEES 0
Adrian Beltre bounced out to short. Richie Sexson worked a walk from a 1-2 count. Raul Ibañez hit a 3-1 pitch to the track in centerfield. Wang threw 19 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: B
Sele had an okay first inning. Derek Jeter bounced out to Sexson on the first pitch. Tony Womack hit a pitch down the leftfield line, but it caromed off the wall right to Winn, who was able to get to it and hold Womack to a single. Gary Sheffield had a 2-0 count, and later bounced to Beltre at third for a 5-4 fielder's choice. Hideki Matsui took Jeremy Reed to the track in centerfield to end the inning. Sele threw 10 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Grade: B+
Adding to the lead? What team is this? Bret Boone continued his endless pursuit for career RBI number 1000 by tapping to the mound on the first pitch. Jeremy Reed had a 3-0 count and walked on the fifth pitch, which was outside. Miguel Olivo had a 2-0 count, and Reed nabbed second on a 2-2 count when catcher John Flaherty's throw was a bit wide. Olivo broke his bat on a full-count slow roller to Jeter, who barely got Olivo at first. Reed went to third on that play, and scored easily when Wilson Valdez smacked his second pitch over Jeter's head and into leftfield.
»»MARINERS 2, YANKEES 0
Ichiro hacked at the first pitch and looked like he might have had a base hit, but Jeter dove to his glove side to spear the ball, and flipped to second for the force out. Wang threw 17 pitches.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: D+
Give it all back! Sele had Alex Rodriguez 0-2 and walked him on a curve low and away, which is always a great start to an inning. Tino Martinez bounced a ball off the track in leftfield and into the stands, good for a double. Bernie Williams hit a 3-1 pitch to Ichiro in rightfield, but it wasn't deep enough to score Alex from third. John Flaherty, who came into the game with a 6-for-14 mark against Sele, hit like he knew it, ripping a single into centerfield to cut the Mariners' lead in half. Tino advanced to third on the play.
»»MARINERS 2, YANKEES 1
Robinson Cano then flew out deep to Reed, and the lead went "poof."
»»YANKEES 2, MARINERS 2
Derek Jeter had a 3-0 count, and smoked the 3-1 pitch through the hole on the right side, and Bryan Price came out to the mound. Womack saved everyone some grief, swinging at the first pitch and popping it along the leftfield foul line, where Winn leaped to snag the ball from a fan in the seats. Sele threw 29 pitches.
TOP 3RD
Grade: C
Not much happening for the Mariner bats. Winn grounded out to Cano at second. Beltre checked his swing, or so I thought, but the umpire didn't see it that way, and Beltre took a seat. Sexson made something out of what started as a crappy at-bat, working a walk from an 0-2 count. Ibañez grounded out to second to end the inning. Wang threw 19 pitches.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: F
I was just reminded of the one Calvin and Hobbes strip where Calvin imagined putting a penny on a railroad track and having the train derail and go airborne (of course, it was just an awesome visual embellishment by Bill Watterson and Calvin was actually playing with his toys). That's what happened to the Mariners in this inning, anyway. He threw strike one to Sheffield and then threw four straight balls, giving him a free pass. Then two very nice defensive plays followed. Matsui crushed a ball into the gap in rightcenter that should have been a double, but Ichiro caught it on the run. What some people may not realize until they think about it is that a lot of other outfielders would have to dive with full extension to get to these balls that Ichiro gets to on the run. Or they don't get to them at all. Anyway, the next play saw Jeremy Reed robbing Rodriguez of a hit with a diving catch in rightcenter. Sheffield stole second on the first pitch to Martinez, who then mashed a pitch out to rightfield. Stop me if you've heard this before. I think at this point I was hoping that Sele wouldn't make it out of the inning. Call it the evil in me.
»»YANKEES 4, MARINERS 2
Williams got a base hit to rightfield on the first pitch. Flaherty smoked a ball toward the gap in leftcenter, but Reed wouldn't make a crazy play this time, as he dove and missed. Williams scored from first. Don't think about that for too long. Flaherty's numbers against Sele got even crazier, as he was now batting 8-for-16 lifetime against the ex-Cougar.
»»YANKEES 5, MARINERS 2
Cano then ripped a pitch down the leftfield line, and Flaherty crossed the plate.
»»YANKEES 6, MARINERS 2
Aaron Sele was done. Julio Mateo came in, though I thought this would have been a good time for a Matt Thornton appearance. Jeter had an 0-2 count and later grounded a ball to Beltre, who had bobbled the ball at first, and afterward tried to get Cano hung up between second and third. He threw to Boone, or rather, he threw very wide of Boone and into rightfield. Jeter found himself on second after that, and Cano found himself back in the dugout because he'd scored.
»»YANKEES 7, MARINERS 2
Womack grounded out to Boone to mercifully end the inning (11 pitches by Mateo). In a way, it's too bad it didn't end the game too. Though it wouldn't apply, you know how some youth leagues have a ten-run mercy rule? It's games like this Mariners/Yankees tilt where I wish there was some wicked derived math quotient wherein the threshold of in-game mercy would be decided. If you have Aaron Sele down five runs against the Yankees in the Bronx, then the game would stop.
Sele's line: 2 2/3 innings, 7 runs (6 earned), 8 hits, 2 walks, 0 strikeouts, 64 pitches (35 strikes)
TOP 4TH
Grade: C-
Wang would settle into a groove thanks to his newfound lead. Boone got down 0-2 and later popped out to Jeter near the leftfield line. Reed grounded out to second. Olivo had a 3-0 count, but flew out to Cano on the rightfield grass on the fifth pitch to end the inning. Wang threw 11 pitches.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: B-
Mateo had little trouble. Sheffield flew out high to Beltre along the leftfield foul line. Matsui hit a high fly to Boone on the rightfield grass. Rodriguez walked on four pitches, which definitely wasn't good. Martinez tapped a ball along the first-base line, and Mateo fielded it, throwing to first to end the inning. Mateo threw 14 pitches.
TOP 5TH
Grade: C-
You could almost swear that Wang was exacting revenge on us all for Jeremy's Wang Chung reference in the Pump post for this game. Valdez hit a hard grounder to Tino. Ichiro bounced a 2-0 pitch to Cano. Winn whiffed on a pitch outside, though the catcher had to throw to first to complete the putout. Wang threw 12 pitches and was at 78 through five.
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: B
Mateo was starting to find a bit of a groove. Williams bounced a ball off Mateo's glove that Boone came up with, a 1-4-3 putout. Flaherty got down 0-2 and later flew out to Winn on a running catch in the gap. Cano hit one into the same gap as well, and it appeared one of Reed or Winn was close enough to having it, but it dropped and rolled to the wall, and Cano stood on second with a double. Jeter hit the first pitch short of the track in right. Mateo threw 14 pitches.
TOP 6TH
Grade: C
Wang would pick up his defense. Beltre lined the first pitch barely foul down the rightfield line. Later, he bounced a ball to third. Rodriguez charged, but the ball went off the heel of his glove, then off his knee for an error. Sexson took Sheffield to the track in rightfield. Ibañez took Matsui just short of the track in leftcenter. Boone hit a grounder to Jeter's left, and he made a backhand flip to second, but it wasn't in time to get Sexson. Reed foul-tipped a 2-2 pitch low and away into the catcher's glove to end the inning. Wang threw 14 pitches and was at 92 through six.
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: B-
Mateo rounded out his appearance without much trouble. Womack got down 0-2 and later grounded right to Sexson. Sheffield smoked the second pitch he saw through the hole on the left side for a single. Matsui flew out in foul ground to Beltre on the first pitch. Rodriguez hit a ball behind the bag at second, Valdez threw, and the throw looked to be in time, but Sexson plum dropped it (error). Martinez got down 0-2 and later grounded out to Boone, who went way to his right and then came across his body to nail Martinez at first. Of course, he probably could have went the easy route and forced out Rodriguez at second. Oh well.
Mateo's line: 3 1/3 innings, 0 runs, 3 hits, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 54 pitches (36 strikes)
TOP 7TH
Grade: C-
Wang was dealing at this point, though he was throwing against the Mariners. Olivo grounded out to third on the first pitch. Valdez grounded the 3-1 pitch out to second, and Ichiro flew out to left on the first pitch. It was an easy 1-2-3 inning for Wang on seven pitches, and he had thrown 99 through seven.
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: A
JJ Putz came in for Mateo. Williams flew out to left. Flaherty looped a weak pop fly to Beltre because he was facing someone that wasn't named Sele. Cano hit the 0-2 pitch to Sexson, who made a diving stab and tossed to a covering Putz. A short outing for Putz, but he never got behind in the count.
Putz' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 7 pitches (6 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Grade: B
The Mariners would attempt to save some face. Winn grounded out to second. Beltre ripped a pitch into centerfield for a single.
That spelled the end of Wang's outing as Tom Gordon was brought into the game. Sexson grounded to third, and Rodriguez started the 5-4 fielder's choice. Ibañez had the hitters' counts and eventually walked. Boone finally did something, mashing one off the wall in the gap in rightcenter, scoring Sexson and Ibañez, good for career RBIs #1000 and #1001.
»»YANKEES 7, MARINERS 4
Of course, it had to end quickly, and Reed tapped the first pitch to the mound to end the inning.
Wang's line: 7 1/3 innings, 3 runs, 4 hits, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts, 108 pitches (62 strikes)
Gordon's line: 2/3 innings, 1 run, 1 hit, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 14 pitches (8 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: B+
Shigetoshi Hasegawa came in for Putz. Jeter looked at three strikes and sat down. Womack singled to centerfield. Sheffield flew out to Reed, and Matsui watched an 0-2 strike go by.
Hasegawa's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 11 pitches (9 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Grade: C
Mariano Rivera came in to close it out. Dave Hansen came on to pinch hit for Olivo, and he whiffed. Greg Dobbs came on to hit for Valdez. He singled to rightfield on the 11th pitch. Ichiro then flew out, and Winn tapped the first pitch he saw back to the mound. Ballgame.
Rivera's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 20 pitches (13 strikes)
---
Gameball: Julio Mateo.
Yeah, he's becoming a gameball favorite of mine. I don't just automatically go to the long relief guy every time there's a loss like this, but it does kinda help that Mateo's sitting here with an ERA of 0.48. When he finished his outing in this game, I was sitting there wondering if they should yank Sele from the rotation and put Mateo in there, but that'd be bad. That'd be too much of a twist, and there's Jorge Campillo or Felix Hernandez and any number of guys in the minors that have been groomed as starters. Plus, that'd just tear the bullpen to shreds.
Goat: Aaron Sele.
Who else could it be? He blew the lead in the second inning, and put it well out of reach in the third. He was absolutely awful. The sick thing was that I knew the downward spiral wasn't going to stop after Tino hit the homer. He still had three more runs to give up. As Beltre threw the ball into rightfield and the seventh run scored, I was sitting there hoping it was Sele's run (Mateo was in at that point), and it was, but it wasn't earned. Fiddlesticks. I get evil sometimes.
One look at the boxscore tells you that the Mariners had only one hitter with a multi-hit game, and it was Bret Boone, oddly enough. He made a five-run game a three-run game and finally got the 1000th career RBI, as well as the 1001st. That's pretty much the only cause for any sort of celebration after this one, unless you were hoping Aaron Sele would implode once he gave up the first couple runs (you were later made very happy).
A later look at the boxscore, or maybe even the same look, would show that in addition to Mateo's 0.48 ERA, the bullpen guys that came in are also in crazy territory. Putz is sitting at 0.87, and Hasegawa is at 1.20. If the bullpen's good, then most of the time they're not blowing leads, though there haven't been that many leads to blow in the last couple weeks. If you ask me, the starting pitching is as much to blame as the lack of hitting. When the level of progress can be measured in the fact that the Mariners got two solid/decent starts in a row from Ryan Franklin and Gil Meche on Sunday and Monday, it's not good. Aaron Sele put the lustre back in the rotation by throwing this pile into the mix. Jamie Moyer's been horrible the last two times he's taken the mound. Joel Piñeiro was brutal as well. Meche had the eight-inning, five run start before Monday's outing. Ryan Franklin got roughed up in a 5-0 loss against the Angels in Seattle before throwing his okay start on Sunday. As much as it's fun to curse the hitting, and blame the failure on them, isn't it somewhat disconcerting to see the winds taken out of the sails early and knowing you're down a couple runs right away? If the hitters are pressing as it is, the fact that they're behind so much, and behind early can't help things.
That's not to say there weren't some hitting stars for the Mariners in this game. Randy Winn managed a nice 0-for-5 day, with a strikeout and a stranded runner to boot. Richie Sexson was 0-for-2 and stranded a couple, yet drew a couple of walks. Raul Ibañez was 0-for-3 with a walk, and he stranded three. Jeremy Reed was an 0-for-3 with a walk and strikeout, and he stranded a quarter-dozen as well. Then there was the requisite Miguel Olivo sighting (0-for-3, stranding one). I'd put Wilson Valdez here, but he actually got a hit. Put all these guys together (the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 7th, and 8th hitters in the lineup), and you get 0-for-16 with 10 stranded runners.
Shift the focus to the bottom two-thirds of the lineup (that'd include Boone, who had a decent game at the plate, and exclude the pinch-hitting Dobbs), and you get a combined 3-for-18 with a strikeout and three RBIs (two for Boone, one for Valdez). This also brings forth an interesting question: how long can you consider yourself an honest-to-goodness Major League Baseball team if your starting catcher is hitting .133? Just thought I'd ask. I know they had Miguel Olivo go throw ball-blocking hell in spring training, but did anybody teach him how to hit again? I hope they didn't just put him alone in a batting cage with Dan Wilson or something, because that wouldn't have helped anybody. They'd probably just talk about going to Detroit and seeing the newer, slimmer, mind-bending Ivan Rodriguez (who by the way, if you haven't seen yet, you won't think it's him with an over-the-field camera. You'll need his mug).
Nine of ten! Yeah! Good to know that's what the "1-9" figure means under the "L10" column in the standings when I look in the paper. Yes, it's a great stretch for the Mariners. Seven straight losses, a win, and two more losses. Look at it this way: two of the last three games were competitive, and you could actually say the Mariners had a chance to win. This game I just talked about here, well, it was competitive for about two and a half innings before reality set in. If you dig that deep of a hole, you can't expect this offense (in the state they're in right now) to come back and win that ballgame. You just can't.
Moyer. Pavano. Today.
In 25 words or less: The Mariners started out in decent shape until Aaron Sele realized he was Aaron Sele (or even Bad Gil Meche). Got Wang?
This one featured Aaron Sele against Chien-Ming Wang of Taiwan. I hope Rick Rizzs eliminates this game from his memory soon so that he doesn't have to keep reminding everyone that it's pronounced WAHNG, as in the same vowel sound as the word "wrong." They must have an intern that's making lewd jokes or something, and ol' Rick must be sick of it. "Stop cursing! Be professional. I'M RICK RIZZS, BITCH!!" Man, I would SO pay Rick Rizzs to say that. See, that's why we need a local sketch comedy like Almost Live! to still be on the air so that there would be an opportunity for Rizzs to step out of the box.
TOP 1ST
Grade: B
An early lead? It happened. Ichiro hit a 2-0 pitch just inside the bag and down the rightfield line, and he legged a triple out of it. That's a way to lead off a game. Randy Winn bounced out to short on the next pitch, and the Yankees were playing back to concede the run. Why wouldn't they? They knew they were facing Aaron Sele, so no rush.
»»MARINERS 1, YANKEES 0
Adrian Beltre bounced out to short. Richie Sexson worked a walk from a 1-2 count. Raul Ibañez hit a 3-1 pitch to the track in centerfield. Wang threw 19 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: B
Sele had an okay first inning. Derek Jeter bounced out to Sexson on the first pitch. Tony Womack hit a pitch down the leftfield line, but it caromed off the wall right to Winn, who was able to get to it and hold Womack to a single. Gary Sheffield had a 2-0 count, and later bounced to Beltre at third for a 5-4 fielder's choice. Hideki Matsui took Jeremy Reed to the track in centerfield to end the inning. Sele threw 10 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Grade: B+
Adding to the lead? What team is this? Bret Boone continued his endless pursuit for career RBI number 1000 by tapping to the mound on the first pitch. Jeremy Reed had a 3-0 count and walked on the fifth pitch, which was outside. Miguel Olivo had a 2-0 count, and Reed nabbed second on a 2-2 count when catcher John Flaherty's throw was a bit wide. Olivo broke his bat on a full-count slow roller to Jeter, who barely got Olivo at first. Reed went to third on that play, and scored easily when Wilson Valdez smacked his second pitch over Jeter's head and into leftfield.
»»MARINERS 2, YANKEES 0
Ichiro hacked at the first pitch and looked like he might have had a base hit, but Jeter dove to his glove side to spear the ball, and flipped to second for the force out. Wang threw 17 pitches.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: D+
Give it all back! Sele had Alex Rodriguez 0-2 and walked him on a curve low and away, which is always a great start to an inning. Tino Martinez bounced a ball off the track in leftfield and into the stands, good for a double. Bernie Williams hit a 3-1 pitch to Ichiro in rightfield, but it wasn't deep enough to score Alex from third. John Flaherty, who came into the game with a 6-for-14 mark against Sele, hit like he knew it, ripping a single into centerfield to cut the Mariners' lead in half. Tino advanced to third on the play.
»»MARINERS 2, YANKEES 1
Robinson Cano then flew out deep to Reed, and the lead went "poof."
»»YANKEES 2, MARINERS 2
Derek Jeter had a 3-0 count, and smoked the 3-1 pitch through the hole on the right side, and Bryan Price came out to the mound. Womack saved everyone some grief, swinging at the first pitch and popping it along the leftfield foul line, where Winn leaped to snag the ball from a fan in the seats. Sele threw 29 pitches.
TOP 3RD
Grade: C
Not much happening for the Mariner bats. Winn grounded out to Cano at second. Beltre checked his swing, or so I thought, but the umpire didn't see it that way, and Beltre took a seat. Sexson made something out of what started as a crappy at-bat, working a walk from an 0-2 count. Ibañez grounded out to second to end the inning. Wang threw 19 pitches.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: F
I was just reminded of the one Calvin and Hobbes strip where Calvin imagined putting a penny on a railroad track and having the train derail and go airborne (of course, it was just an awesome visual embellishment by Bill Watterson and Calvin was actually playing with his toys). That's what happened to the Mariners in this inning, anyway. He threw strike one to Sheffield and then threw four straight balls, giving him a free pass. Then two very nice defensive plays followed. Matsui crushed a ball into the gap in rightcenter that should have been a double, but Ichiro caught it on the run. What some people may not realize until they think about it is that a lot of other outfielders would have to dive with full extension to get to these balls that Ichiro gets to on the run. Or they don't get to them at all. Anyway, the next play saw Jeremy Reed robbing Rodriguez of a hit with a diving catch in rightcenter. Sheffield stole second on the first pitch to Martinez, who then mashed a pitch out to rightfield. Stop me if you've heard this before. I think at this point I was hoping that Sele wouldn't make it out of the inning. Call it the evil in me.
»»YANKEES 4, MARINERS 2
Williams got a base hit to rightfield on the first pitch. Flaherty smoked a ball toward the gap in leftcenter, but Reed wouldn't make a crazy play this time, as he dove and missed. Williams scored from first. Don't think about that for too long. Flaherty's numbers against Sele got even crazier, as he was now batting 8-for-16 lifetime against the ex-Cougar.
»»YANKEES 5, MARINERS 2
Cano then ripped a pitch down the leftfield line, and Flaherty crossed the plate.
»»YANKEES 6, MARINERS 2
Aaron Sele was done. Julio Mateo came in, though I thought this would have been a good time for a Matt Thornton appearance. Jeter had an 0-2 count and later grounded a ball to Beltre, who had bobbled the ball at first, and afterward tried to get Cano hung up between second and third. He threw to Boone, or rather, he threw very wide of Boone and into rightfield. Jeter found himself on second after that, and Cano found himself back in the dugout because he'd scored.
»»YANKEES 7, MARINERS 2
Womack grounded out to Boone to mercifully end the inning (11 pitches by Mateo). In a way, it's too bad it didn't end the game too. Though it wouldn't apply, you know how some youth leagues have a ten-run mercy rule? It's games like this Mariners/Yankees tilt where I wish there was some wicked derived math quotient wherein the threshold of in-game mercy would be decided. If you have Aaron Sele down five runs against the Yankees in the Bronx, then the game would stop.
Sele's line: 2 2/3 innings, 7 runs (6 earned), 8 hits, 2 walks, 0 strikeouts, 64 pitches (35 strikes)
TOP 4TH
Grade: C-
Wang would settle into a groove thanks to his newfound lead. Boone got down 0-2 and later popped out to Jeter near the leftfield line. Reed grounded out to second. Olivo had a 3-0 count, but flew out to Cano on the rightfield grass on the fifth pitch to end the inning. Wang threw 11 pitches.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: B-
Mateo had little trouble. Sheffield flew out high to Beltre along the leftfield foul line. Matsui hit a high fly to Boone on the rightfield grass. Rodriguez walked on four pitches, which definitely wasn't good. Martinez tapped a ball along the first-base line, and Mateo fielded it, throwing to first to end the inning. Mateo threw 14 pitches.
TOP 5TH
Grade: C-
You could almost swear that Wang was exacting revenge on us all for Jeremy's Wang Chung reference in the Pump post for this game. Valdez hit a hard grounder to Tino. Ichiro bounced a 2-0 pitch to Cano. Winn whiffed on a pitch outside, though the catcher had to throw to first to complete the putout. Wang threw 12 pitches and was at 78 through five.
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: B
Mateo was starting to find a bit of a groove. Williams bounced a ball off Mateo's glove that Boone came up with, a 1-4-3 putout. Flaherty got down 0-2 and later flew out to Winn on a running catch in the gap. Cano hit one into the same gap as well, and it appeared one of Reed or Winn was close enough to having it, but it dropped and rolled to the wall, and Cano stood on second with a double. Jeter hit the first pitch short of the track in right. Mateo threw 14 pitches.
TOP 6TH
Grade: C
Wang would pick up his defense. Beltre lined the first pitch barely foul down the rightfield line. Later, he bounced a ball to third. Rodriguez charged, but the ball went off the heel of his glove, then off his knee for an error. Sexson took Sheffield to the track in rightfield. Ibañez took Matsui just short of the track in leftcenter. Boone hit a grounder to Jeter's left, and he made a backhand flip to second, but it wasn't in time to get Sexson. Reed foul-tipped a 2-2 pitch low and away into the catcher's glove to end the inning. Wang threw 14 pitches and was at 92 through six.
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: B-
Mateo rounded out his appearance without much trouble. Womack got down 0-2 and later grounded right to Sexson. Sheffield smoked the second pitch he saw through the hole on the left side for a single. Matsui flew out in foul ground to Beltre on the first pitch. Rodriguez hit a ball behind the bag at second, Valdez threw, and the throw looked to be in time, but Sexson plum dropped it (error). Martinez got down 0-2 and later grounded out to Boone, who went way to his right and then came across his body to nail Martinez at first. Of course, he probably could have went the easy route and forced out Rodriguez at second. Oh well.
Mateo's line: 3 1/3 innings, 0 runs, 3 hits, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 54 pitches (36 strikes)
TOP 7TH
Grade: C-
Wang was dealing at this point, though he was throwing against the Mariners. Olivo grounded out to third on the first pitch. Valdez grounded the 3-1 pitch out to second, and Ichiro flew out to left on the first pitch. It was an easy 1-2-3 inning for Wang on seven pitches, and he had thrown 99 through seven.
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: A
JJ Putz came in for Mateo. Williams flew out to left. Flaherty looped a weak pop fly to Beltre because he was facing someone that wasn't named Sele. Cano hit the 0-2 pitch to Sexson, who made a diving stab and tossed to a covering Putz. A short outing for Putz, but he never got behind in the count.
Putz' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 7 pitches (6 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Grade: B
The Mariners would attempt to save some face. Winn grounded out to second. Beltre ripped a pitch into centerfield for a single.
That spelled the end of Wang's outing as Tom Gordon was brought into the game. Sexson grounded to third, and Rodriguez started the 5-4 fielder's choice. Ibañez had the hitters' counts and eventually walked. Boone finally did something, mashing one off the wall in the gap in rightcenter, scoring Sexson and Ibañez, good for career RBIs #1000 and #1001.
»»YANKEES 7, MARINERS 4
Of course, it had to end quickly, and Reed tapped the first pitch to the mound to end the inning.
Wang's line: 7 1/3 innings, 3 runs, 4 hits, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts, 108 pitches (62 strikes)
Gordon's line: 2/3 innings, 1 run, 1 hit, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 14 pitches (8 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: B+
Shigetoshi Hasegawa came in for Putz. Jeter looked at three strikes and sat down. Womack singled to centerfield. Sheffield flew out to Reed, and Matsui watched an 0-2 strike go by.
Hasegawa's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 11 pitches (9 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Grade: C
Mariano Rivera came in to close it out. Dave Hansen came on to pinch hit for Olivo, and he whiffed. Greg Dobbs came on to hit for Valdez. He singled to rightfield on the 11th pitch. Ichiro then flew out, and Winn tapped the first pitch he saw back to the mound. Ballgame.
Rivera's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 20 pitches (13 strikes)
---
Gameball: Julio Mateo.
Yeah, he's becoming a gameball favorite of mine. I don't just automatically go to the long relief guy every time there's a loss like this, but it does kinda help that Mateo's sitting here with an ERA of 0.48. When he finished his outing in this game, I was sitting there wondering if they should yank Sele from the rotation and put Mateo in there, but that'd be bad. That'd be too much of a twist, and there's Jorge Campillo or Felix Hernandez and any number of guys in the minors that have been groomed as starters. Plus, that'd just tear the bullpen to shreds.
Goat: Aaron Sele.
Who else could it be? He blew the lead in the second inning, and put it well out of reach in the third. He was absolutely awful. The sick thing was that I knew the downward spiral wasn't going to stop after Tino hit the homer. He still had three more runs to give up. As Beltre threw the ball into rightfield and the seventh run scored, I was sitting there hoping it was Sele's run (Mateo was in at that point), and it was, but it wasn't earned. Fiddlesticks. I get evil sometimes.
One look at the boxscore tells you that the Mariners had only one hitter with a multi-hit game, and it was Bret Boone, oddly enough. He made a five-run game a three-run game and finally got the 1000th career RBI, as well as the 1001st. That's pretty much the only cause for any sort of celebration after this one, unless you were hoping Aaron Sele would implode once he gave up the first couple runs (you were later made very happy).
A later look at the boxscore, or maybe even the same look, would show that in addition to Mateo's 0.48 ERA, the bullpen guys that came in are also in crazy territory. Putz is sitting at 0.87, and Hasegawa is at 1.20. If the bullpen's good, then most of the time they're not blowing leads, though there haven't been that many leads to blow in the last couple weeks. If you ask me, the starting pitching is as much to blame as the lack of hitting. When the level of progress can be measured in the fact that the Mariners got two solid/decent starts in a row from Ryan Franklin and Gil Meche on Sunday and Monday, it's not good. Aaron Sele put the lustre back in the rotation by throwing this pile into the mix. Jamie Moyer's been horrible the last two times he's taken the mound. Joel Piñeiro was brutal as well. Meche had the eight-inning, five run start before Monday's outing. Ryan Franklin got roughed up in a 5-0 loss against the Angels in Seattle before throwing his okay start on Sunday. As much as it's fun to curse the hitting, and blame the failure on them, isn't it somewhat disconcerting to see the winds taken out of the sails early and knowing you're down a couple runs right away? If the hitters are pressing as it is, the fact that they're behind so much, and behind early can't help things.
That's not to say there weren't some hitting stars for the Mariners in this game. Randy Winn managed a nice 0-for-5 day, with a strikeout and a stranded runner to boot. Richie Sexson was 0-for-2 and stranded a couple, yet drew a couple of walks. Raul Ibañez was 0-for-3 with a walk, and he stranded three. Jeremy Reed was an 0-for-3 with a walk and strikeout, and he stranded a quarter-dozen as well. Then there was the requisite Miguel Olivo sighting (0-for-3, stranding one). I'd put Wilson Valdez here, but he actually got a hit. Put all these guys together (the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 7th, and 8th hitters in the lineup), and you get 0-for-16 with 10 stranded runners.
Shift the focus to the bottom two-thirds of the lineup (that'd include Boone, who had a decent game at the plate, and exclude the pinch-hitting Dobbs), and you get a combined 3-for-18 with a strikeout and three RBIs (two for Boone, one for Valdez). This also brings forth an interesting question: how long can you consider yourself an honest-to-goodness Major League Baseball team if your starting catcher is hitting .133? Just thought I'd ask. I know they had Miguel Olivo go throw ball-blocking hell in spring training, but did anybody teach him how to hit again? I hope they didn't just put him alone in a batting cage with Dan Wilson or something, because that wouldn't have helped anybody. They'd probably just talk about going to Detroit and seeing the newer, slimmer, mind-bending Ivan Rodriguez (who by the way, if you haven't seen yet, you won't think it's him with an over-the-field camera. You'll need his mug).
Nine of ten! Yeah! Good to know that's what the "1-9" figure means under the "L10" column in the standings when I look in the paper. Yes, it's a great stretch for the Mariners. Seven straight losses, a win, and two more losses. Look at it this way: two of the last three games were competitive, and you could actually say the Mariners had a chance to win. This game I just talked about here, well, it was competitive for about two and a half innings before reality set in. If you dig that deep of a hole, you can't expect this offense (in the state they're in right now) to come back and win that ballgame. You just can't.
Moyer. Pavano. Today.
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