Wednesday, May 25, 2005
GAME 44: ORIOLES 3, MARINERS 2
Orioles 3, Mariners 2
In 25 words or less: From the moment Ron Villone beaned Brian Roberts in the 7th, the Mariners' 2-1 lead was as good as gone.
This one featured Joel Piñeiro -- coming back from taking 10 days "in Tacoma" -- against Bruce Chen. Piñeiro celebrated his 100th Major League start by going bleach-blond. In addition, former Mariner catcher John Marzano joined Rick Rizzs on both sides of the booth, as he will for the rest of the Baltimore series. For me, I'll always remember Marzano for standing up to Paul O'Neill behind the plate at the Kingdome. That was a high point of Mariner pride for me.
TOP 1ST
Grade: B
Hey, this is fun. Ichiro lined a single to centerfield to lead off. Randy Winn worked an 0-2 count full before grounding a ball to Melvin Mora at third, who barely got Winn at first. Ichiro was sent on the pitch and made it to second base easily. Adrian Beltre hit a high fly ball to leftcenter and Jeff Fiorentino came down with it. Richie Sexson laced a 2-0 pitch into leftfield for a single that scored Ichiro and got the Mariners an early lead.
»» MARINERS 1, ORIOLES 0
Bret Boone flew out to Fiorentino in leftcenter to end the inning.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: C
Of course, Joel Piñeiro hadn't taken the mound yet. Brian Roberts grounded the 2-0 pitch right to Sexson. Jeff Fiorentino took a four-pitch walk. Melvin Mora got behind 0-2. Fiorentino took second base on a 2-2 breaking ball that was very high, and though Miguel Olivo probably didn't have much of a chance anyway, the throw was wide. Mora worked the 0-2 count full and mashed a single to leftfield to score Fiorentino.
»» ORIOLES 1, MARINERS 1
Miguel Tejada hit a very high fly ball that was caught by Winn. Sammy Sosa grounded an 0-2 pitch to end the very shaky inning for a certain Mariner pitcher.
TOP 2ND
Grade: C
The Mariners failed to take advantage of Levine's Law. Raul Ibanez worked an 0-2 count for a leadoff walk. Miguel Olivo fouled off a few pitches with two strikes before swinging through a ball low and over the outside corner. Jeremy Reed saw a 3-0 count before getting jammed on 3-1 and popping out weakly to Tejada just past the infield. Wilson Valdez tapped back to the mound to end the inning.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: C+
Shakiness reigned again, except without runs. Rafael Palmeiro walked on an outside 3-1 pitch. Javy Lopez fouled off an 0-2 pitch before ripping the next pitch under a diving Beltre and into leftfield for a single. BJ Surhoff flew out to Ichiro, and Palmeiro held because he's old and slow. Jay Gibbons flew out to Winn on a 2-0 pitch. Roberts worked a 1-2 count for a walk, and pitching coach Bryan Price came to the mound to see what the frick was going on. With the count 0-2, Fiorentino hit a low liner to Winn to end the inning.
TOP 3RD
Grade: B
A lot similar to the first inning. Ichiro fouled off a 3-0 pitch (green light) before taking the 3-1 pitch low and outside. Winn popped up to left, and therefore didn't advance the runner. Beltre foul-tipped the 2-0 pitch before flying out to Gibbons on the track in rightcenter. Ichiro stole second despite a decent throw from Lopez on a 1-0 pitch to Sexson. Sexson poked a single to rightfield to score Ichiro and get the Mariners the lead back.
»» MARINERS 2, ORIOLES 1
Boone fouled the 2-2 pitch back, and it went off of Lopez' right hand behind the plate. Lopez tended to his hand, the Oriole trainers came out, cheesy organ music was played to accompany the stop in action, etc. Lopez had to come out of the game for what was later revealed to be a broken hand. Geronimo Gil stepped in his place. By the way, Boone flew out to centerfield to end the inning.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: B
Piñeiro faced less hitters, though it wasn't totally clear if he'd settled down. Mora had an 0-2 count before taking a fastball over the outside corner for strike three. Tejada had the hitters' counts before bouncing out to second on the 3-1 pitch. Sosa had the hitters' counts as well, but took the 3-1 pitch low and outside for the free pass. Palmeiro got behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 change. That's good.
TOP 4TH
Grade: C
Some mild frustration in this one. Ibañez hit a very high chopper over the mound. Tejada ran to get it behind the mound, but airmailed the throw to first, though Ibañez probably would have had the single anyway. The ball bounced off the front of the photographers' well and stayed in the field of play, rendering Mike Hargrove's semi-argument (I guess it was just an "inquiry") moot. Ibañez was credited with the single. Olivo got behind 0-2 and eventually hit a low liner to rightfield that was caught by Gibbons. Reed slapped a 2-2 pitch down the leftfield line, and the grass slowed it down. Reed had the single though. Valdez tapped one back to the mound again, though this one proved to be much more costly, as Chen fielded it cleanly to start the 1-6-3 double play.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: A-
This was Piñeiro's easiest inning. Gil had a 2-0 count, but eventually flew out to centerfield on a high pitch that Piñeiro kinda got away with. Surhoff fouled off an 0-2 pitch before grounding out to short on an outside curve. Gibbons grounded out to short on the second pitch to end the inning.
TOP 5TH
Grade: C
Repeat frustration. Ichiro hit the first pitch to leftfield, and Surhoff slid, but couldn't come up with the ball. Ichiro was given the single. Winn bunted back to the pitcher, and Ichiro moved to second, so that went off without a hitch. Beltre fouled off a 2-0 pitch, and lined the next pitch to rightfield, where Gibbons dove and dropped the ball. Beltre was given a single, and Ichiro was on third. Sexson had a 2-0 count, but grounded the next pitch up the middle, where a 4-6-3 double play was turned. Third time wasn't a charm for the Ichiro/Sexson combo that had worked twice before in the game.
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: B
Piñeiro's inning was dicier than the one before. Roberts singled to centerfield to lead off. Fiorentino had a 2-0 count, but grounded the next pitch to Beltre, who threw to first (Roberts was sent on the pitch). Mora lined a hard grounder to Beltre, who hot potato'd it for a couple seconds before nailing Mora at first. Roberts advanced to third on a 1-1 dirtball that went to the backstop. Tejada flew out to leftfield on the 3-1 pitch, which was a big out.
TOP 6TH
Grade: C-
The Mariner offense went to sleep as opposed to work. Boone fouled a 1-2 pitch high behind the plate, where it was caught by Gil up against the screen. Ibañez flew out to Tejada barely on the outfield grass. Olivo grounded out to Tejada at short to end the inning.
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: B-
This one was dicey, and Piñeiro didn't see the end of it. Sosa foul-tipped a full-count pitch into Olivo's glove. Palmeiro smacked a single into centerfield. Gil parachuted a 2-1 pitch into rightfield for a single. Mike Hargrove and the infielders came to the mound, and Piñeiro was pulled.
Ron Villone came in for Piñeiro. Surhoff grounded out to Sexson for a 3-1 putout, though both runners moved into scoring position. Villone got away with a high 1-2 pitch to Gibbons, who flew out to leftfield to end the inning.
Piñeiro's line: 5 1/3 innings, 1 run, 5 hits, 4 walks, 3 strikeouts, 107 pitches (60 strikes)
TOP 7TH
Grade: C-
An inning of mistakes for the Mariner offense. Reed took a four-pitch leadoff walk, so that's not bad. Valdez nearly bunted the first pitch fair down the first-base line, but it went foul. He bunted the 1-1 pitch in the air, and Gil ran over to catch it in foul territory along the first-base line. Not good. Ichiro fell behind 0-2. With the count 1-2, Reed was picked off of first. Again, not good. To rub it in, Ichiro singled through the right side. Winn grounded the 3-1 pitch to short to end the inning.
Chen's line: 7 innings, 2 runs, 8 hits, 3 walks, 1 strikeout, 119 pitches (67 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: C
Game over. Villone nailed Roberts in the front side of the left knee on the third pitch of the inning, but he stayed in the game. The crowd in Baltimore yelled, "YOOOOOOOOUUUUUU SUUUUUUUUCK" at Villone as Roberts writhed on the ground in pain. After blowing two bunts, Fiorentino bunted the 1-2 pitch to the left side, and Beltre tried and hurried to get the runner at second. The throw was high, and both runners were safe. Roberts had to slide on the play, which just made the knee worse, and he came out of the game (Chris Gomez pinch-ran).
Jeff Nelson came in for Villone. Mora placed a perfect bunt along the third-base line, and Olivo tried to barehand and throw to first, but he wouldn't have gotten Mora anyway. So, bases loaded and nobody out = good times. Tejada fouled the second pitch behind the first-base bag in foul territory, and Sexson dove back but missed it. Of course, the runner from third might have tagged and scored on such a play anyway. The count fell to 0-2, and Tejada eventually whiffed on a 2-2 frisbee outside. So, a ground ball could have gotten the Mariners out of the inning. Sosa got a pretty good pitch to hit, and flew out to centerfield, deep enough for Gomez to score.
»» ORIOLES 2, MARINERS 2
Then Nelson beaned Palmeiro for no apparent reason with a 1-1 pitch to the right tricep. Gil grounded a ball to Sexson, but it seemed like it took forever to Nelson to run off the mound and cover first. Nelson finally got over there, and Gil was nearly safe. Nonetheless, the inning was mercifully over.
Villone's line: 2/3 inning, 1 run (unearned), 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 13 pitches (8 strikes)
Nelson's line: 1/3 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 16 pitches (10 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Grade: C-
Todd Williams came in for Chen. Beltre got behind 0-2 and eventually took a fastball low and away for strike three. Sexson had the hitters' counts and walked on a 3-1 pitch low and outside. Boone made good of the situation, grounding a ball to second to start the 4-6-3 double play. Boone is clutch and clutch is everything in life.
Williams' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, 13 pitches (7 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: C
JJ Putz came in for Nelson. Of course, given the trend lately, no one would be surprised of the outcome. Surhoff took a 2-2 fastball tailing back over the plate for strike three. Then Gibbons smashed the first pitch he saw into the Oriole bullpen in leftcenter.
»» ORIOLES 3, MARINERS 2
For all intensive purposes, that was definitely the game. Gomez looped a single to shallow rightfield. Fiorentino flew out to Reed on the first pitch. Mora had the hitters' counts and singled through the right side on the 3-1 pitch. Tejada worked a 1-2 count full, but grounded out to thankfully end the inning.
Putz' line: 1 inning, 1 run, 3 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 21 pitches (12 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Grade: C
BJ Ryan came in to shut the door. Ibañez got down 0-2 and whiffed at a low pitch over the outside corner. Olivo flew out high to rightfield. Hargrove brought in Willie Bloomquist to pinch-hit for Reed, and I have a ton of problems with the move, Reed's lefthandedness be damned. Bloomquist nonetheless poked a single into centerfield on the second pitch. Of course, there's no righthanded bench bat of any merit, so Valdez was sent out to the plate once again. He fouled off an 0-2 pitch, but then took a breaking ball headed for his shoetops, but couldn't hold his checkswing. Ballgame.
Ryan's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 15 pitches (12 strikes)
---
Gameball: Richie Sexson.
It's a good thing when there are two obvious gameball candidates, because then I can just pick one of them. Frankly, if it wasn't Richie or Ichiro, I don't know who it would have been. Richie was 2-for-3 with a walk and drove in both of the Mariners' runs.
Goat: Ron Villone.
Good gracious. Sure, the 6th wasn't bad, but the 7th was...gaaaah. That's what "effectively wild" gets you, folks. The lesson? The Mariners had held the 2-1 lead since the top of the 3rd. For one, the Mariner bats have to add runs in Camden because you can only hold down the Oriole bats for so long. The second part of the lesson is that you can't let Brian Roberts or anybody on base before you get to Mora/Tejada/Sosa/Palmeiro, etc. I guarantee you Miguel Tejada will not hang up another 0-for-5 for the rest of this series.
Still, even with my railing of Villone, the offense outside of Ichiro and Richie Sexson did next to nothing. Ichiro was 3-for-3 with a walk and a steal, so you can't ask for much more out of him. Sexson drove him in twice. Randy Winn went 0-for-3 in the second spot, and Adrian Beltre went 1-for-4 in the third slot. Not a lot of production between Ichiro and Sexson there.
It didn't stop there for the lack of hitting though. Bret Boone probably had the worst line of the night with his 0-for-4, and he stranded three. Surprisingly, he didn't strike out at all. Miguel Olivo chimed in with a customary 0-for-4 of his own along with a strikeout. Wilson Valdez? 0-for-4, a strikeout, five stranded runners.
The last three innings of Mariner offense were just brutal though. The 7th saw Reed drawing a leadoff walk, but Valdez couldn't get a bunt down and Reed got picked off. The 8th saw Boone up with Sexson on first and one out, but he grounded into a double play. The 9th saw the pitfalls of the Mariner bench, as Willie Bloomquist was brought on to pinch-hit for Reed (lefty-righty), but Valdez was still sent to the plate. Translation: WE NEED BUCKY and/or can we just go to 11 pitchers like everyone else in the normal world and get a righty bat off the bench that means something?
As for Joel Piñeiro making his first start in a while, he was shaky to start off and was never really at his sharpest. However, he did have flashes of brilliance, he did get some low-90s pop on his fastball, and his curveball and change were pretty good at times. It's a start, anyway, and he didn't get shelled. He walked four guys, but I wasn't expecting him to strike out 12 and toss a 2-hit shutout or anything. Piñeiro cut his May ERA to an even 6.00 after four starts. The rotation now boasts a May ERA of 6.20. The average line per start: 5.517 innings (5 2/3), 3.9 runs (3.8 earned), 6.5 hits, 2.8 walks, 3 strikeouts, 96.3 pitches (57.7 strikes)
[NOTE -- the average starting pitcher line that was originally posted was wrong, as it divided the sums of all the crap by one less game than what had actually occurred. My bad.]
JJ Putz has given up homers in four of his last six appearances. Of course, he gave up the grand slams against the Red Sox and Yankees, and then this game-turning solo shot in the 8th to Gibbons, who I wasn't surprised hit the homer. He's a good player, that guy. He'd be great on the Mariner bench too, but that's beside the point. Sure, bullpen guys are supposed to have short memories, but sometimes you gotta wonder. It's a bit unnerving.
I've got a fever, and the only prescription is MORE CRAB CAKES!
Moyer. Lopez. Tonight.
In 25 words or less: From the moment Ron Villone beaned Brian Roberts in the 7th, the Mariners' 2-1 lead was as good as gone.
This one featured Joel Piñeiro -- coming back from taking 10 days "in Tacoma" -- against Bruce Chen. Piñeiro celebrated his 100th Major League start by going bleach-blond. In addition, former Mariner catcher John Marzano joined Rick Rizzs on both sides of the booth, as he will for the rest of the Baltimore series. For me, I'll always remember Marzano for standing up to Paul O'Neill behind the plate at the Kingdome. That was a high point of Mariner pride for me.
TOP 1ST
Grade: B
Hey, this is fun. Ichiro lined a single to centerfield to lead off. Randy Winn worked an 0-2 count full before grounding a ball to Melvin Mora at third, who barely got Winn at first. Ichiro was sent on the pitch and made it to second base easily. Adrian Beltre hit a high fly ball to leftcenter and Jeff Fiorentino came down with it. Richie Sexson laced a 2-0 pitch into leftfield for a single that scored Ichiro and got the Mariners an early lead.
»» MARINERS 1, ORIOLES 0
Bret Boone flew out to Fiorentino in leftcenter to end the inning.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: C
Of course, Joel Piñeiro hadn't taken the mound yet. Brian Roberts grounded the 2-0 pitch right to Sexson. Jeff Fiorentino took a four-pitch walk. Melvin Mora got behind 0-2. Fiorentino took second base on a 2-2 breaking ball that was very high, and though Miguel Olivo probably didn't have much of a chance anyway, the throw was wide. Mora worked the 0-2 count full and mashed a single to leftfield to score Fiorentino.
»» ORIOLES 1, MARINERS 1
Miguel Tejada hit a very high fly ball that was caught by Winn. Sammy Sosa grounded an 0-2 pitch to end the very shaky inning for a certain Mariner pitcher.
TOP 2ND
Grade: C
The Mariners failed to take advantage of Levine's Law. Raul Ibanez worked an 0-2 count for a leadoff walk. Miguel Olivo fouled off a few pitches with two strikes before swinging through a ball low and over the outside corner. Jeremy Reed saw a 3-0 count before getting jammed on 3-1 and popping out weakly to Tejada just past the infield. Wilson Valdez tapped back to the mound to end the inning.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: C+
Shakiness reigned again, except without runs. Rafael Palmeiro walked on an outside 3-1 pitch. Javy Lopez fouled off an 0-2 pitch before ripping the next pitch under a diving Beltre and into leftfield for a single. BJ Surhoff flew out to Ichiro, and Palmeiro held because he's old and slow. Jay Gibbons flew out to Winn on a 2-0 pitch. Roberts worked a 1-2 count for a walk, and pitching coach Bryan Price came to the mound to see what the frick was going on. With the count 0-2, Fiorentino hit a low liner to Winn to end the inning.
TOP 3RD
Grade: B
A lot similar to the first inning. Ichiro fouled off a 3-0 pitch (green light) before taking the 3-1 pitch low and outside. Winn popped up to left, and therefore didn't advance the runner. Beltre foul-tipped the 2-0 pitch before flying out to Gibbons on the track in rightcenter. Ichiro stole second despite a decent throw from Lopez on a 1-0 pitch to Sexson. Sexson poked a single to rightfield to score Ichiro and get the Mariners the lead back.
»» MARINERS 2, ORIOLES 1
Boone fouled the 2-2 pitch back, and it went off of Lopez' right hand behind the plate. Lopez tended to his hand, the Oriole trainers came out, cheesy organ music was played to accompany the stop in action, etc. Lopez had to come out of the game for what was later revealed to be a broken hand. Geronimo Gil stepped in his place. By the way, Boone flew out to centerfield to end the inning.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: B
Piñeiro faced less hitters, though it wasn't totally clear if he'd settled down. Mora had an 0-2 count before taking a fastball over the outside corner for strike three. Tejada had the hitters' counts before bouncing out to second on the 3-1 pitch. Sosa had the hitters' counts as well, but took the 3-1 pitch low and outside for the free pass. Palmeiro got behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 change. That's good.
TOP 4TH
Grade: C
Some mild frustration in this one. Ibañez hit a very high chopper over the mound. Tejada ran to get it behind the mound, but airmailed the throw to first, though Ibañez probably would have had the single anyway. The ball bounced off the front of the photographers' well and stayed in the field of play, rendering Mike Hargrove's semi-argument (I guess it was just an "inquiry") moot. Ibañez was credited with the single. Olivo got behind 0-2 and eventually hit a low liner to rightfield that was caught by Gibbons. Reed slapped a 2-2 pitch down the leftfield line, and the grass slowed it down. Reed had the single though. Valdez tapped one back to the mound again, though this one proved to be much more costly, as Chen fielded it cleanly to start the 1-6-3 double play.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: A-
This was Piñeiro's easiest inning. Gil had a 2-0 count, but eventually flew out to centerfield on a high pitch that Piñeiro kinda got away with. Surhoff fouled off an 0-2 pitch before grounding out to short on an outside curve. Gibbons grounded out to short on the second pitch to end the inning.
TOP 5TH
Grade: C
Repeat frustration. Ichiro hit the first pitch to leftfield, and Surhoff slid, but couldn't come up with the ball. Ichiro was given the single. Winn bunted back to the pitcher, and Ichiro moved to second, so that went off without a hitch. Beltre fouled off a 2-0 pitch, and lined the next pitch to rightfield, where Gibbons dove and dropped the ball. Beltre was given a single, and Ichiro was on third. Sexson had a 2-0 count, but grounded the next pitch up the middle, where a 4-6-3 double play was turned. Third time wasn't a charm for the Ichiro/Sexson combo that had worked twice before in the game.
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: B
Piñeiro's inning was dicier than the one before. Roberts singled to centerfield to lead off. Fiorentino had a 2-0 count, but grounded the next pitch to Beltre, who threw to first (Roberts was sent on the pitch). Mora lined a hard grounder to Beltre, who hot potato'd it for a couple seconds before nailing Mora at first. Roberts advanced to third on a 1-1 dirtball that went to the backstop. Tejada flew out to leftfield on the 3-1 pitch, which was a big out.
TOP 6TH
Grade: C-
The Mariner offense went to sleep as opposed to work. Boone fouled a 1-2 pitch high behind the plate, where it was caught by Gil up against the screen. Ibañez flew out to Tejada barely on the outfield grass. Olivo grounded out to Tejada at short to end the inning.
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: B-
This one was dicey, and Piñeiro didn't see the end of it. Sosa foul-tipped a full-count pitch into Olivo's glove. Palmeiro smacked a single into centerfield. Gil parachuted a 2-1 pitch into rightfield for a single. Mike Hargrove and the infielders came to the mound, and Piñeiro was pulled.
Ron Villone came in for Piñeiro. Surhoff grounded out to Sexson for a 3-1 putout, though both runners moved into scoring position. Villone got away with a high 1-2 pitch to Gibbons, who flew out to leftfield to end the inning.
Piñeiro's line: 5 1/3 innings, 1 run, 5 hits, 4 walks, 3 strikeouts, 107 pitches (60 strikes)
TOP 7TH
Grade: C-
An inning of mistakes for the Mariner offense. Reed took a four-pitch leadoff walk, so that's not bad. Valdez nearly bunted the first pitch fair down the first-base line, but it went foul. He bunted the 1-1 pitch in the air, and Gil ran over to catch it in foul territory along the first-base line. Not good. Ichiro fell behind 0-2. With the count 1-2, Reed was picked off of first. Again, not good. To rub it in, Ichiro singled through the right side. Winn grounded the 3-1 pitch to short to end the inning.
Chen's line: 7 innings, 2 runs, 8 hits, 3 walks, 1 strikeout, 119 pitches (67 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: C
Game over. Villone nailed Roberts in the front side of the left knee on the third pitch of the inning, but he stayed in the game. The crowd in Baltimore yelled, "YOOOOOOOOUUUUUU SUUUUUUUUCK" at Villone as Roberts writhed on the ground in pain. After blowing two bunts, Fiorentino bunted the 1-2 pitch to the left side, and Beltre tried and hurried to get the runner at second. The throw was high, and both runners were safe. Roberts had to slide on the play, which just made the knee worse, and he came out of the game (Chris Gomez pinch-ran).
Jeff Nelson came in for Villone. Mora placed a perfect bunt along the third-base line, and Olivo tried to barehand and throw to first, but he wouldn't have gotten Mora anyway. So, bases loaded and nobody out = good times. Tejada fouled the second pitch behind the first-base bag in foul territory, and Sexson dove back but missed it. Of course, the runner from third might have tagged and scored on such a play anyway. The count fell to 0-2, and Tejada eventually whiffed on a 2-2 frisbee outside. So, a ground ball could have gotten the Mariners out of the inning. Sosa got a pretty good pitch to hit, and flew out to centerfield, deep enough for Gomez to score.
»» ORIOLES 2, MARINERS 2
Then Nelson beaned Palmeiro for no apparent reason with a 1-1 pitch to the right tricep. Gil grounded a ball to Sexson, but it seemed like it took forever to Nelson to run off the mound and cover first. Nelson finally got over there, and Gil was nearly safe. Nonetheless, the inning was mercifully over.
Villone's line: 2/3 inning, 1 run (unearned), 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 13 pitches (8 strikes)
Nelson's line: 1/3 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 16 pitches (10 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Grade: C-
Todd Williams came in for Chen. Beltre got behind 0-2 and eventually took a fastball low and away for strike three. Sexson had the hitters' counts and walked on a 3-1 pitch low and outside. Boone made good of the situation, grounding a ball to second to start the 4-6-3 double play. Boone is clutch and clutch is everything in life.
Williams' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, 13 pitches (7 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: C
JJ Putz came in for Nelson. Of course, given the trend lately, no one would be surprised of the outcome. Surhoff took a 2-2 fastball tailing back over the plate for strike three. Then Gibbons smashed the first pitch he saw into the Oriole bullpen in leftcenter.
»» ORIOLES 3, MARINERS 2
For all intensive purposes, that was definitely the game. Gomez looped a single to shallow rightfield. Fiorentino flew out to Reed on the first pitch. Mora had the hitters' counts and singled through the right side on the 3-1 pitch. Tejada worked a 1-2 count full, but grounded out to thankfully end the inning.
Putz' line: 1 inning, 1 run, 3 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 21 pitches (12 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Grade: C
BJ Ryan came in to shut the door. Ibañez got down 0-2 and whiffed at a low pitch over the outside corner. Olivo flew out high to rightfield. Hargrove brought in Willie Bloomquist to pinch-hit for Reed, and I have a ton of problems with the move, Reed's lefthandedness be damned. Bloomquist nonetheless poked a single into centerfield on the second pitch. Of course, there's no righthanded bench bat of any merit, so Valdez was sent out to the plate once again. He fouled off an 0-2 pitch, but then took a breaking ball headed for his shoetops, but couldn't hold his checkswing. Ballgame.
Ryan's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 15 pitches (12 strikes)
---
Gameball: Richie Sexson.
It's a good thing when there are two obvious gameball candidates, because then I can just pick one of them. Frankly, if it wasn't Richie or Ichiro, I don't know who it would have been. Richie was 2-for-3 with a walk and drove in both of the Mariners' runs.
Goat: Ron Villone.
Good gracious. Sure, the 6th wasn't bad, but the 7th was...gaaaah. That's what "effectively wild" gets you, folks. The lesson? The Mariners had held the 2-1 lead since the top of the 3rd. For one, the Mariner bats have to add runs in Camden because you can only hold down the Oriole bats for so long. The second part of the lesson is that you can't let Brian Roberts or anybody on base before you get to Mora/Tejada/Sosa/Palmeiro, etc. I guarantee you Miguel Tejada will not hang up another 0-for-5 for the rest of this series.
Still, even with my railing of Villone, the offense outside of Ichiro and Richie Sexson did next to nothing. Ichiro was 3-for-3 with a walk and a steal, so you can't ask for much more out of him. Sexson drove him in twice. Randy Winn went 0-for-3 in the second spot, and Adrian Beltre went 1-for-4 in the third slot. Not a lot of production between Ichiro and Sexson there.
It didn't stop there for the lack of hitting though. Bret Boone probably had the worst line of the night with his 0-for-4, and he stranded three. Surprisingly, he didn't strike out at all. Miguel Olivo chimed in with a customary 0-for-4 of his own along with a strikeout. Wilson Valdez? 0-for-4, a strikeout, five stranded runners.
The last three innings of Mariner offense were just brutal though. The 7th saw Reed drawing a leadoff walk, but Valdez couldn't get a bunt down and Reed got picked off. The 8th saw Boone up with Sexson on first and one out, but he grounded into a double play. The 9th saw the pitfalls of the Mariner bench, as Willie Bloomquist was brought on to pinch-hit for Reed (lefty-righty), but Valdez was still sent to the plate. Translation: WE NEED BUCKY and/or can we just go to 11 pitchers like everyone else in the normal world and get a righty bat off the bench that means something?
As for Joel Piñeiro making his first start in a while, he was shaky to start off and was never really at his sharpest. However, he did have flashes of brilliance, he did get some low-90s pop on his fastball, and his curveball and change were pretty good at times. It's a start, anyway, and he didn't get shelled. He walked four guys, but I wasn't expecting him to strike out 12 and toss a 2-hit shutout or anything. Piñeiro cut his May ERA to an even 6.00 after four starts. The rotation now boasts a May ERA of 6.20. The average line per start: 5.517 innings (5 2/3), 3.9 runs (3.8 earned), 6.5 hits, 2.8 walks, 3 strikeouts, 96.3 pitches (57.7 strikes)
[NOTE -- the average starting pitcher line that was originally posted was wrong, as it divided the sums of all the crap by one less game than what had actually occurred. My bad.]
JJ Putz has given up homers in four of his last six appearances. Of course, he gave up the grand slams against the Red Sox and Yankees, and then this game-turning solo shot in the 8th to Gibbons, who I wasn't surprised hit the homer. He's a good player, that guy. He'd be great on the Mariner bench too, but that's beside the point. Sure, bullpen guys are supposed to have short memories, but sometimes you gotta wonder. It's a bit unnerving.
I've got a fever, and the only prescription is MORE CRAB CAKES!
Moyer. Lopez. Tonight.
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