Monday, May 16, 2005
GAME 37: MARINERS 5, RED SOX 4
Mariners 5, Red Sox 4
In 25 words or less: Sure, Manny hit his 400th bomb, but I'm a Mariner fan, so I like the win, the big 2nd inning, and Miguel Olivo.
NOTE: Jeremy has archived the Pump photos in the post directly below this one, if you've got the whole week's worth of posts on your page. If not, consult the sidebar under Specialty Posts »» Baseball.
This one featured Tim Wakefield, he of the knuckleball, against Gil Meche. Bill Krueger held down the color commentary on FSNNW for the entire game, which was fun. Like Kevin Calabro on the Sonic broadcasts, Krueger did refer to the super-slow-motion camera as "X-mo," a phrase which I just think reeks of coolness. The Wakefield knuckleball looked awesome in X-mo. Of course, anyone who saw the Dave Chappelle slo-mo sketch last season knows the other benefits of having slow-motion or X-mo.
Wiki Gonzalez pull a hamstring on Saturday night, and was placed on the 15-day disabled list. Rene Rivera was called up from AA ball to take his spot on the roster.
TOP 1ST
Grade: A-
Meche got a fairly good inning. Johnny Damon nubbed an 0-2 pitch in front of the plate, and Meche gobbled it up and threw to first in time. Edgar Renteria took a 1-2 pitch barely outside (maybe it was me adjusting from Saturday's strike zone), and later grounded out to short. David Ortiz hit the ball hard to leftfield for a single. Manny Ramirez took an 0-2 pitch barely off the plate, but would hit a shallow fly to Jeremy Reed in centerfield to end the inning. Meche threw 15 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: C
This one was a bit disappointing though unlucky. Ichiro lined the second pitch into centerfield for a single and stole second on the 1-1 pitch to Randy Winn. Winn flew out to centerfield, but it was deep enough and Damon has a terrible arm, so Ichiro tagged up and went to third. Adrian Beltre, who had taken third on a fly ball to Damon earlier in the series, got behind 0-2 and laced his 2-2 pitch, but right into Renteria's glove. Richie Sexson hit a very high fly ball to Mark Bellhorn in shallow rightfield to end the inning. Wakefield threw 15 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Grade: B-
Meche had a decent inning. Trot Nixon got ahead 2-0, eventually ripping one past a diving Sexson and down the rightfield line. Ichiro lurks out there, however, and Nixon was held to a single. Kevin Millar popped a ball foul, and Ichiro made the catch near the first row of seats along the rightfield line. Bill Mueller grounded the first pitch to Beltre, who went to second for the lead runner, but Mueller beat out the throw to first. Doug Mirabelli drew a four-pitch walk, and steam rose from my head. Mark Bellhorn got behind 0-2, and was helpless when Meche painted the outside corner with a 2-2 fastball. Meche threw 19 pitches.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: A
Scoring in bunches can be nice. Raul Ibañez tapped back to the mound. Bret Boone dumped a single into rightcenter. Jeremy Reed stung a ball through the right side, for a single, and Boone had to traipse out of the way of the ball on its way through the infield. Miguel Olivo, mired in an 0-for-27 slump at this point, chopped the 1-2 pitch behind the mound and toward the left side. Mueller charged and missed with the barehand attempt. The Boston infield threw the ball around a bit, and Boone managed to come around to score on a bad throw by Bellhorn. After many changes of the scoring decision, the official scorer eventually settled on giving Olivo the hit with the RBI, as well as an error on Bellhorn for a wild throw home.
»» MARINERS 1, RED SOX 0
Willie Bloomquist chimed in, hitting the first pitch off the wall in rightfield. Nixon and Bellhorn were a bit slow with the relay, and I thought they could have had Bloomquist at second if they really wanted to get him. They didn't, though, and that went in the books as a double that plated Reed and put Olivo on third.
»» MARINERS 2, RED SOX 0
Ichiro grounded into the hole on the right side, and the Red Sox played for the out as Bellhorn threw to first. Bloomquist went to third on the play.
»» MARINERS 3, RED SOX 0
Winn kept the hit parade going, doubling into the gap in rightcenter to score Bloomquist.
»» MARINERS 4, RED SOX 0
It had to end somewhere, and Beltre hit a high flyout to leftfield to end the inning. Wakefield threw 22 pitches.
TOP 3RD
Grade: B-
Meche discovered he can't keep certain hitters down in the Boston lineup. Damon bounced out to short. Renteria tagged a pitch toward third, but Beltre took it on the short hop and threw him out. Ortiz drilled the first pitch into the rightfield seats, a laser of a solo shot.
»» MARINERS 4, RED SOX 1
Ramirez worked a 1-2 count full, then grounded out to Boone to end the inning. Meche threw 11 pitches.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: C
The offense didn't do as well as the inning before, that's for sure. Sexson took Damon just short of the track in leftcenter on the first pitch. Ibañez got the hitters' counts and took a 3-1 pitch high for a free pass. Boone popped one foul, and Millar caught in near the seats and the camera well. Reed had a 2-0 count, but later flew out to a running Ramirez in the gap in leftcenter. Wakefield threw 13 pitches.
TOP 4TH
Grade: B
Meche had an inning. Nixon tapped one back to the mound. Millar got behind 0-2 and eventually lined out to Boone. Mueller walked on four pitches. Mirabelli got the backlash, taking a nasty 0-2 curve over the outside corner to end the inning. Meche threw 15 pitches.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: B-
Huh? Olivo got a 3-1 fastball (the sure sign that Wakefield's scuffling) and tagged it into the visitors' bullpen.
»» MARINERS 5, RED SOX 1
Bloomquist got behind 0-2 and put the 1-2 pitch through the hole on the left side for a single. Ichiro hit a hard grounder to second, though he easily beat out the double play (4-6 fielder's choice). Winn doubled down the rightfield line, and though it looked like the relay from Nixon to the infield was going fairly quickly, third-base coach Jeff Newman went Larry Bowa on us all and sent Ichiro from third. The throw had Ichiro beat by a mile, and he knew it. So, he slid, stopped a few feet short of the plate, and then played a little airborne Twister. He was called out, though replays show it was pretty close -- it was a photo-finish between Ichiro's hand touching the plate and Mirabelli tagging Ichiro's right ankle. Close call, but it went Boston's way. Beltre then swatted an 0-2 pitch to the track in rightcenter, where Damon came down with it. Wakefield threw 15 pitches.
TOP 5TH
Grade: D+
Meche had four decent-to-good innings, so you figured he was due for the requisite bad inning. This might qualify. Bellhorn shot a single up the middle to lead off. Damon checkswung on 3-1 and nubbed one to short, but Bloomquist couldn't come up with it after charging, though the play would have been pretty tough. Meche bore down and got Renteria whiffing at an 0-2 pitch over the outside corner. The at-bat with Ortiz was a cliffhanger. Meche hung a 1-2 curve which was fouled off. A 2-2 fastball was barely inside. Ortiz connected with the full-count pitch, taking it to Reed on the track in front of the 405-foot marker in centerfield. Needless to say, it was deep enough to move Bellhorn to third. Meche had fought hard against two hitters, but couldn't come up roses a third time, as Ramirez covered a decent pitch, taking Meche yard about seven rows back to rightfield for career homer number 400. This made the score a little too interesting.
»» MARINERS 5, RED SOX 4
Nixon got a first pitch up in the zone, and doubled into the gap in rightcenter. Millar flew out to Ichiro on a 3-1 pitch to mercifully end the inning. Meche threw 31 pitches and had 91 through five.
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: C
Not much offense. Sexson whiffed on a 1-2 pitch outside. Ibañez dropped a single in front of Ramirez on an 0-2 pitch. Ibañez moved to second on an 0-1 dirtball to Boone, who whiffed on a 1-2 pitch outside. Reed got down 0-2 and whiffed at a high 2-2 pitch later that got away from Mirabelli, though the easy 2-3 putout was recorded. Wakefield threw 16 pitches.
TOP 6TH
Grade: B+
Meche got through his final inning unscathed. He got ahead 0-2 on Mueller, eventually getting a flyout to Reed in shallow leftcenter. Mirabelli fouled off a 3-1 pitch before taking a fastball up and over the outside corner for strike three. Bellhorn took a full-count pitch high and outside for a walk. Damon tapped the 2-0 pitch to Sexson, who backhanded it and made a backhand flip with the other hand back to Meche to end the inning.
Meche's line: 6 innings, 4 runs, 7 hits, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts, 110 pitches (65 strikes)
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: C
There were some small threats, but no runs scored. Olivo came back to earth a bit, whiffing on an 0-2 dirtball (2-3 putout). Bloomquist got ahead 3-0 and took the five-pitch walk. Ichiro hit a grounder to the hole on the right side, but it was an easy 4-6 fielder's choice. Ichiro stole second on an 0-2 fastball. Winn managed to crank out a walk. Beltre grounded his 0-2 pitch to short for an easy 6-4 fielder's choice to end the inning. Wakefield threw 20 pitches.
TOP 7TH
Grade: B-
Shigetoshi Hasegawa came in for Meche. Renteria rolled out to Boone. Ortiz took a 1-2 fastball up and in, but over the plate for strike three. Ramirez stuck a single past a diving Bloomquist. Nixon got a 2-0 pitch up, and hit it into the corner in rightfield for a double. Ramirez held at third because he's not too fast, and Ichiro's in rightfield. Millar hit a high fly ball that took Reed to the track in leftcenter. It nearly left the yard. Yikes.
Hasegawa's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 19 pitches (11 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: C
We haven't seen three pitches and three outs like this since Mariano Rivera did his thing against the Mariners in the 2001 ALCS. Sexson poked a single to leftfield. Ibañez smoked his ball to Millar, who made a nice stop and threw from his knees to second, then got back up to receive the throw coming from second -- a 3-6-3 double play. Boone hit a slow roller to Millar, who in a tricky play with Wakefield, underhanded to him in time. X-mo replays of the play shown in the next half-inning showed a slight funny step and possible ankle turn from Boone as he stepped on the bag.
Wakefield's line: 7 innings, 5 runs, 11 hits, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts, 104 pitches (66 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Grade: A
JJ Putz came in for Hasegawa and had a perfect inning, as opposed to the night before. He got ahead 0-2 on every hitter. Mueller flew out high to Reed on a full count. Mirabelli chopped the 1-2 pitch moundward, and Putz reached up to snare it. Bellhorn whiffed on a 1-2 pitch outside to end the inning.
Putz' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 14 pitches (9 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: C
Alan Embree came in for Wakefield. Most of the offense was done for the day. Reed got behind 0-2 and ended up waving at a 1-2 pitch outside. Olivo ripped an 0-2 pitch down the leftfield line and into the corner for a double. Bloomquist got behind 0-2 and ended up grounding out to third. Ichiro was intentionally walked before Winn took the first pitch to the track in leftfield, where Ramirez caught it.
Embree's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, 18 pitches (11 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Grade: B
Eddie Guardado came in to shut the door. Step one for a Cardiac Ninth is to allow the first hitter to get aboard. Damon grounded a 1-1 pitch through the left side for a single. It got better though. Renteria popped a 1-2 pitch foul to Sexson, though Olivo nearly had a low-speed collision with him in pursuit of the ball. Ortiz hit a grounder to Beltre, who made an off-balance throw to Sexson, who reached low to pick it. Nice play on both ends as Damon went to second on the play. Ramirez hit a low liner to Ichiro. Ballgame.
Guardado's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 15 pitches (9 strikes)
---
Gameball: Miguel Olivo.
Obvious, sure. There's no telling when he'll get another one though, so I'll take care of it now. Bill Krueger remarked on more than one occasion that facing a knuckleballer like Tim Wakefield is exactly the thing that could put you in a slump, but it appears that Miguel Olivo used Wakefield for the exact opposite outcome. He went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a solo shot, helping anchor the bottom third of the lineup as some other hitters were slightly befuddled at the butterfly pitches. The thunderous bat of Miguel Olivo on this day was 3-for-4 with a double, a homer, 2 runs scored, 2 RBIs, an obligatory strikeout, and no stranded runners.
Goat: Adrian Beltre.
I hate to bust him because he had his eight-game hitting streak snapped, but stranding four runners with an 0-for-5 day does look pretty icky in the boxscore, and there's no real other clear-cut favorite for the goat. To his credit, he did hit two balls very well -- he nearly had the nine-game hitting streak, but Edgar Renteria was in just the right place for the laser of a line drive, and Beltre took Johnny Damon to the warning track in leftcenter to end the 4th.
Was it a coincidence that Mike Blowers was at the game? They put the camera on him at one point in the game, and they read off his stats against Tim Wakefield. I believe they said he was 7-for-14 with a few homers. He did drive in seven runs against him in one game, and oh, what a memory that was. Olivo raking a solo shot is less devastating compared to what Blowers was doing, but in both cases, Wakefield had resorted to throwing the fastball. Instead of going to the fastball, since it obviously doesn't work, he should just drop down.
The bats weren't as good as they were in the Friday game (14 runs won't happen every day), but the one fairly big inning was nice to see. It started out pretty innocently, and who would have thought that some infield roller from Olivo would be the hit that broke the scoreless tie? Runs were driven in by four straight batters. That's good times right there. It wasn't exactly a snowball effect, but that rally had some staying power. It also had Randy Winn's double as a two-out hit with a runner in scoring position. In related news, Randy Winn is a grossly underrated hitter, and even more so this year because he hasn't started out hitting .235 or anything like that. He's hitting .304? Yeah, I'll take that.
About Gil Meche, the first four innings were very good. Innings like the fifth come along once every outing for Meche whether we like it or not. The problem for the Mariners now is that no starting pitcher has recorded an out in the seventh inning since (coincidentally) Meche did on the 9th in the Bronx (Jeff Nelson blew the 3-3 tie in that Randy Johnson game). The positive thing is that this start by Meche and the Franklin start on Saturday are steps up in terms of effectiveness and the team having a chance to win. Still, though, they're not getting deep into the games. To update the May starting rotation badness Excel spreadsheet, here's the average line of the Mariner starting pitcher this month: 5.21 innings, 4.46 runs (4.31 earned), 7.2 hits, 2.4 walks, 2.8 strikeouts, 91.8 pitches (55.3 strikes). With this start, Meche also managed knock a couple points off of the rotation's ERA, taking it from 7.59 to 7.45. Way to go, Gil! His May ERA in three starts is now 5.23.
The multi-hit Mariners in this game were Randy Winn (2-for-4, 2 doubles, one RBI, one walk), Miguel Olivo (above), and yes, Willie Bloomquist. We're definitely not the biggest Willie fans, but it's rare that he gets a multi-hit game. When there's that much proof that he's definitively helping my team and not making errors, I've simply got no gripe for that particular game. If Bloomquist has a multi-hit game, it's at least worth mentioning. There's a chance that he might have bought another day or two of playing time out at short since he knocked a couple hits, and since no one at the shortstop position this year has shown the ability to hit consistently. So, the situation is ready-made: if Bloomquist starts the next couple days, it's because he showed some offensive prowess in this game. If not, it's because starting pitchers not named Tim Wakefield are 99.9% of the time not knuckleball pitchers. Not a lot of Steve Sparks sightings anymore.
Your Seattle Mariners are 3-10 in the month of May, but more nicely, they've found their way out of the cellar since Oakland lost. Oakland has also lost Rich Harden to the 15-day disabled list, so there's a chance the Mariners might have a slight advantage in holding down that third-place spot. Oakland has lost eight straight ballgames, one-upping the Mariners' seven-game streak from the final day of April and into this month.
However, there isn't a much worse way to go about solidifying your third-place division slot than sending Aaron Sele to the hill against the Yankees. At least the game's not in the Bronx. Use the big part of the ballpark and keep the ball low to Tino, please. Thank you.
Wang. Sele. Tonight.
In 25 words or less: Sure, Manny hit his 400th bomb, but I'm a Mariner fan, so I like the win, the big 2nd inning, and Miguel Olivo.
NOTE: Jeremy has archived the Pump photos in the post directly below this one, if you've got the whole week's worth of posts on your page. If not, consult the sidebar under Specialty Posts »» Baseball.
This one featured Tim Wakefield, he of the knuckleball, against Gil Meche. Bill Krueger held down the color commentary on FSNNW for the entire game, which was fun. Like Kevin Calabro on the Sonic broadcasts, Krueger did refer to the super-slow-motion camera as "X-mo," a phrase which I just think reeks of coolness. The Wakefield knuckleball looked awesome in X-mo. Of course, anyone who saw the Dave Chappelle slo-mo sketch last season knows the other benefits of having slow-motion or X-mo.
Wiki Gonzalez pull a hamstring on Saturday night, and was placed on the 15-day disabled list. Rene Rivera was called up from AA ball to take his spot on the roster.
TOP 1ST
Grade: A-
Meche got a fairly good inning. Johnny Damon nubbed an 0-2 pitch in front of the plate, and Meche gobbled it up and threw to first in time. Edgar Renteria took a 1-2 pitch barely outside (maybe it was me adjusting from Saturday's strike zone), and later grounded out to short. David Ortiz hit the ball hard to leftfield for a single. Manny Ramirez took an 0-2 pitch barely off the plate, but would hit a shallow fly to Jeremy Reed in centerfield to end the inning. Meche threw 15 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: C
This one was a bit disappointing though unlucky. Ichiro lined the second pitch into centerfield for a single and stole second on the 1-1 pitch to Randy Winn. Winn flew out to centerfield, but it was deep enough and Damon has a terrible arm, so Ichiro tagged up and went to third. Adrian Beltre, who had taken third on a fly ball to Damon earlier in the series, got behind 0-2 and laced his 2-2 pitch, but right into Renteria's glove. Richie Sexson hit a very high fly ball to Mark Bellhorn in shallow rightfield to end the inning. Wakefield threw 15 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Grade: B-
Meche had a decent inning. Trot Nixon got ahead 2-0, eventually ripping one past a diving Sexson and down the rightfield line. Ichiro lurks out there, however, and Nixon was held to a single. Kevin Millar popped a ball foul, and Ichiro made the catch near the first row of seats along the rightfield line. Bill Mueller grounded the first pitch to Beltre, who went to second for the lead runner, but Mueller beat out the throw to first. Doug Mirabelli drew a four-pitch walk, and steam rose from my head. Mark Bellhorn got behind 0-2, and was helpless when Meche painted the outside corner with a 2-2 fastball. Meche threw 19 pitches.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: A
Scoring in bunches can be nice. Raul Ibañez tapped back to the mound. Bret Boone dumped a single into rightcenter. Jeremy Reed stung a ball through the right side, for a single, and Boone had to traipse out of the way of the ball on its way through the infield. Miguel Olivo, mired in an 0-for-27 slump at this point, chopped the 1-2 pitch behind the mound and toward the left side. Mueller charged and missed with the barehand attempt. The Boston infield threw the ball around a bit, and Boone managed to come around to score on a bad throw by Bellhorn. After many changes of the scoring decision, the official scorer eventually settled on giving Olivo the hit with the RBI, as well as an error on Bellhorn for a wild throw home.
»» MARINERS 1, RED SOX 0
Willie Bloomquist chimed in, hitting the first pitch off the wall in rightfield. Nixon and Bellhorn were a bit slow with the relay, and I thought they could have had Bloomquist at second if they really wanted to get him. They didn't, though, and that went in the books as a double that plated Reed and put Olivo on third.
»» MARINERS 2, RED SOX 0
Ichiro grounded into the hole on the right side, and the Red Sox played for the out as Bellhorn threw to first. Bloomquist went to third on the play.
»» MARINERS 3, RED SOX 0
Winn kept the hit parade going, doubling into the gap in rightcenter to score Bloomquist.
»» MARINERS 4, RED SOX 0
It had to end somewhere, and Beltre hit a high flyout to leftfield to end the inning. Wakefield threw 22 pitches.
TOP 3RD
Grade: B-
Meche discovered he can't keep certain hitters down in the Boston lineup. Damon bounced out to short. Renteria tagged a pitch toward third, but Beltre took it on the short hop and threw him out. Ortiz drilled the first pitch into the rightfield seats, a laser of a solo shot.
»» MARINERS 4, RED SOX 1
Ramirez worked a 1-2 count full, then grounded out to Boone to end the inning. Meche threw 11 pitches.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: C
The offense didn't do as well as the inning before, that's for sure. Sexson took Damon just short of the track in leftcenter on the first pitch. Ibañez got the hitters' counts and took a 3-1 pitch high for a free pass. Boone popped one foul, and Millar caught in near the seats and the camera well. Reed had a 2-0 count, but later flew out to a running Ramirez in the gap in leftcenter. Wakefield threw 13 pitches.
TOP 4TH
Grade: B
Meche had an inning. Nixon tapped one back to the mound. Millar got behind 0-2 and eventually lined out to Boone. Mueller walked on four pitches. Mirabelli got the backlash, taking a nasty 0-2 curve over the outside corner to end the inning. Meche threw 15 pitches.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: B-
Huh? Olivo got a 3-1 fastball (the sure sign that Wakefield's scuffling) and tagged it into the visitors' bullpen.
»» MARINERS 5, RED SOX 1
Bloomquist got behind 0-2 and put the 1-2 pitch through the hole on the left side for a single. Ichiro hit a hard grounder to second, though he easily beat out the double play (4-6 fielder's choice). Winn doubled down the rightfield line, and though it looked like the relay from Nixon to the infield was going fairly quickly, third-base coach Jeff Newman went Larry Bowa on us all and sent Ichiro from third. The throw had Ichiro beat by a mile, and he knew it. So, he slid, stopped a few feet short of the plate, and then played a little airborne Twister. He was called out, though replays show it was pretty close -- it was a photo-finish between Ichiro's hand touching the plate and Mirabelli tagging Ichiro's right ankle. Close call, but it went Boston's way. Beltre then swatted an 0-2 pitch to the track in rightcenter, where Damon came down with it. Wakefield threw 15 pitches.
TOP 5TH
Grade: D+
Meche had four decent-to-good innings, so you figured he was due for the requisite bad inning. This might qualify. Bellhorn shot a single up the middle to lead off. Damon checkswung on 3-1 and nubbed one to short, but Bloomquist couldn't come up with it after charging, though the play would have been pretty tough. Meche bore down and got Renteria whiffing at an 0-2 pitch over the outside corner. The at-bat with Ortiz was a cliffhanger. Meche hung a 1-2 curve which was fouled off. A 2-2 fastball was barely inside. Ortiz connected with the full-count pitch, taking it to Reed on the track in front of the 405-foot marker in centerfield. Needless to say, it was deep enough to move Bellhorn to third. Meche had fought hard against two hitters, but couldn't come up roses a third time, as Ramirez covered a decent pitch, taking Meche yard about seven rows back to rightfield for career homer number 400. This made the score a little too interesting.
»» MARINERS 5, RED SOX 4
Nixon got a first pitch up in the zone, and doubled into the gap in rightcenter. Millar flew out to Ichiro on a 3-1 pitch to mercifully end the inning. Meche threw 31 pitches and had 91 through five.
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: C
Not much offense. Sexson whiffed on a 1-2 pitch outside. Ibañez dropped a single in front of Ramirez on an 0-2 pitch. Ibañez moved to second on an 0-1 dirtball to Boone, who whiffed on a 1-2 pitch outside. Reed got down 0-2 and whiffed at a high 2-2 pitch later that got away from Mirabelli, though the easy 2-3 putout was recorded. Wakefield threw 16 pitches.
TOP 6TH
Grade: B+
Meche got through his final inning unscathed. He got ahead 0-2 on Mueller, eventually getting a flyout to Reed in shallow leftcenter. Mirabelli fouled off a 3-1 pitch before taking a fastball up and over the outside corner for strike three. Bellhorn took a full-count pitch high and outside for a walk. Damon tapped the 2-0 pitch to Sexson, who backhanded it and made a backhand flip with the other hand back to Meche to end the inning.
Meche's line: 6 innings, 4 runs, 7 hits, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts, 110 pitches (65 strikes)
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: C
There were some small threats, but no runs scored. Olivo came back to earth a bit, whiffing on an 0-2 dirtball (2-3 putout). Bloomquist got ahead 3-0 and took the five-pitch walk. Ichiro hit a grounder to the hole on the right side, but it was an easy 4-6 fielder's choice. Ichiro stole second on an 0-2 fastball. Winn managed to crank out a walk. Beltre grounded his 0-2 pitch to short for an easy 6-4 fielder's choice to end the inning. Wakefield threw 20 pitches.
TOP 7TH
Grade: B-
Shigetoshi Hasegawa came in for Meche. Renteria rolled out to Boone. Ortiz took a 1-2 fastball up and in, but over the plate for strike three. Ramirez stuck a single past a diving Bloomquist. Nixon got a 2-0 pitch up, and hit it into the corner in rightfield for a double. Ramirez held at third because he's not too fast, and Ichiro's in rightfield. Millar hit a high fly ball that took Reed to the track in leftcenter. It nearly left the yard. Yikes.
Hasegawa's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 19 pitches (11 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: C
We haven't seen three pitches and three outs like this since Mariano Rivera did his thing against the Mariners in the 2001 ALCS. Sexson poked a single to leftfield. Ibañez smoked his ball to Millar, who made a nice stop and threw from his knees to second, then got back up to receive the throw coming from second -- a 3-6-3 double play. Boone hit a slow roller to Millar, who in a tricky play with Wakefield, underhanded to him in time. X-mo replays of the play shown in the next half-inning showed a slight funny step and possible ankle turn from Boone as he stepped on the bag.
Wakefield's line: 7 innings, 5 runs, 11 hits, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts, 104 pitches (66 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Grade: A
JJ Putz came in for Hasegawa and had a perfect inning, as opposed to the night before. He got ahead 0-2 on every hitter. Mueller flew out high to Reed on a full count. Mirabelli chopped the 1-2 pitch moundward, and Putz reached up to snare it. Bellhorn whiffed on a 1-2 pitch outside to end the inning.
Putz' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 14 pitches (9 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: C
Alan Embree came in for Wakefield. Most of the offense was done for the day. Reed got behind 0-2 and ended up waving at a 1-2 pitch outside. Olivo ripped an 0-2 pitch down the leftfield line and into the corner for a double. Bloomquist got behind 0-2 and ended up grounding out to third. Ichiro was intentionally walked before Winn took the first pitch to the track in leftfield, where Ramirez caught it.
Embree's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, 18 pitches (11 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Grade: B
Eddie Guardado came in to shut the door. Step one for a Cardiac Ninth is to allow the first hitter to get aboard. Damon grounded a 1-1 pitch through the left side for a single. It got better though. Renteria popped a 1-2 pitch foul to Sexson, though Olivo nearly had a low-speed collision with him in pursuit of the ball. Ortiz hit a grounder to Beltre, who made an off-balance throw to Sexson, who reached low to pick it. Nice play on both ends as Damon went to second on the play. Ramirez hit a low liner to Ichiro. Ballgame.
Guardado's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 15 pitches (9 strikes)
---
Gameball: Miguel Olivo.
Obvious, sure. There's no telling when he'll get another one though, so I'll take care of it now. Bill Krueger remarked on more than one occasion that facing a knuckleballer like Tim Wakefield is exactly the thing that could put you in a slump, but it appears that Miguel Olivo used Wakefield for the exact opposite outcome. He went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a solo shot, helping anchor the bottom third of the lineup as some other hitters were slightly befuddled at the butterfly pitches. The thunderous bat of Miguel Olivo on this day was 3-for-4 with a double, a homer, 2 runs scored, 2 RBIs, an obligatory strikeout, and no stranded runners.
Goat: Adrian Beltre.
I hate to bust him because he had his eight-game hitting streak snapped, but stranding four runners with an 0-for-5 day does look pretty icky in the boxscore, and there's no real other clear-cut favorite for the goat. To his credit, he did hit two balls very well -- he nearly had the nine-game hitting streak, but Edgar Renteria was in just the right place for the laser of a line drive, and Beltre took Johnny Damon to the warning track in leftcenter to end the 4th.
Was it a coincidence that Mike Blowers was at the game? They put the camera on him at one point in the game, and they read off his stats against Tim Wakefield. I believe they said he was 7-for-14 with a few homers. He did drive in seven runs against him in one game, and oh, what a memory that was. Olivo raking a solo shot is less devastating compared to what Blowers was doing, but in both cases, Wakefield had resorted to throwing the fastball. Instead of going to the fastball, since it obviously doesn't work, he should just drop down.
The bats weren't as good as they were in the Friday game (14 runs won't happen every day), but the one fairly big inning was nice to see. It started out pretty innocently, and who would have thought that some infield roller from Olivo would be the hit that broke the scoreless tie? Runs were driven in by four straight batters. That's good times right there. It wasn't exactly a snowball effect, but that rally had some staying power. It also had Randy Winn's double as a two-out hit with a runner in scoring position. In related news, Randy Winn is a grossly underrated hitter, and even more so this year because he hasn't started out hitting .235 or anything like that. He's hitting .304? Yeah, I'll take that.
About Gil Meche, the first four innings were very good. Innings like the fifth come along once every outing for Meche whether we like it or not. The problem for the Mariners now is that no starting pitcher has recorded an out in the seventh inning since (coincidentally) Meche did on the 9th in the Bronx (Jeff Nelson blew the 3-3 tie in that Randy Johnson game). The positive thing is that this start by Meche and the Franklin start on Saturday are steps up in terms of effectiveness and the team having a chance to win. Still, though, they're not getting deep into the games. To update the May starting rotation badness Excel spreadsheet, here's the average line of the Mariner starting pitcher this month: 5.21 innings, 4.46 runs (4.31 earned), 7.2 hits, 2.4 walks, 2.8 strikeouts, 91.8 pitches (55.3 strikes). With this start, Meche also managed knock a couple points off of the rotation's ERA, taking it from 7.59 to 7.45. Way to go, Gil! His May ERA in three starts is now 5.23.
The multi-hit Mariners in this game were Randy Winn (2-for-4, 2 doubles, one RBI, one walk), Miguel Olivo (above), and yes, Willie Bloomquist. We're definitely not the biggest Willie fans, but it's rare that he gets a multi-hit game. When there's that much proof that he's definitively helping my team and not making errors, I've simply got no gripe for that particular game. If Bloomquist has a multi-hit game, it's at least worth mentioning. There's a chance that he might have bought another day or two of playing time out at short since he knocked a couple hits, and since no one at the shortstop position this year has shown the ability to hit consistently. So, the situation is ready-made: if Bloomquist starts the next couple days, it's because he showed some offensive prowess in this game. If not, it's because starting pitchers not named Tim Wakefield are 99.9% of the time not knuckleball pitchers. Not a lot of Steve Sparks sightings anymore.
Your Seattle Mariners are 3-10 in the month of May, but more nicely, they've found their way out of the cellar since Oakland lost. Oakland has also lost Rich Harden to the 15-day disabled list, so there's a chance the Mariners might have a slight advantage in holding down that third-place spot. Oakland has lost eight straight ballgames, one-upping the Mariners' seven-game streak from the final day of April and into this month.
However, there isn't a much worse way to go about solidifying your third-place division slot than sending Aaron Sele to the hill against the Yankees. At least the game's not in the Bronx. Use the big part of the ballpark and keep the ball low to Tino, please. Thank you.
Wang. Sele. Tonight.
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