Thursday, May 26, 2005
GAME 45: ORIOLES 3, MARINERS 1
Orioles 3, Mariners 1
In 25 words or less: A familiar foe strikes as both teams execute the hurry-up offense. However, the latter was after the first, and that was the difference.
This one featured Jamie Moyer, trying to have his first good start in a looong time and finally become the Mariners' all-time winningest starting pitcher, and Rodrigo Lopez. In other news, Thursday's game hopefully marks the final time I have to hear "Can't Stop" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers every time Jay Gibbons comes to the plate. In completely unrelated news, I've always hated BJ Ryan's throwing motion. It just irks me because he just looks like he sort of spins but doesn't really load up energy before exploding toward the plate or anything like that. I'm not saying I wouldn't take Ryan over Villone in a heartbeat, because I totally would.
TOP 1ST
Grade: C-
Get used to this type of inning. Ichiro grounded the second pitch to short. Randy Winn fouled off a couple of 0-2 pitches before whiffing. Adrian Beltre hit the first pitch on a line to rightfield, and Jay Gibbons made a diving play...and trapped the ball. Not that the umpire saw it that way or anything. Of course, asking for a two-out rally from this lineup is a little much. Lopez threw eight pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: C
Not the kind of first inning the Mariners wanted from Jamie Moyer, especially considering what he's put out there the last four or so starts. Larry Bigbie flew out to centerfield on the first pitch. Melvin Mora had a 3-1 count, then singled softly to centerfield on a full count. Miguel Tejada wouldn't hang up another 0-for-5 in this game, as he doubled to leftfield to really spice things up. Much like he did with the tying run the night before, Sammy Sosa hit the first pitch he saw to Jeremy Reed in centerfield, and it was deep enough to score Mora from third.
»» ORIOLES 1, MARINERS 0
Moyer got ahead 0-2 on Rafael Palmeiro, which was fine and dandy. Unfortunately, the count was soon full. Moyer threw a pitch that was over the plate and a bit low, and Palmeiro busted out the 9-iron, barely getting over the rightfield wall and nailing the foul pole. Just another day at the office for Palmeiro when it comes to facing the Mariners. If you ask me, he can't retire soon enough. I always laugh at the story of him getting the Viagra ads after Edgar Martinez had spurned them. Love that story.
»» ORIOLES 3, MARINERS 0
Chris Gomez grounded out to short to end the inning. Moyer threw 17 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Grade: C
Like I said, get used to the futility. Richie Sexson got too far under a 3-1 pitch, flying out to Gibbons in foul territory along the rightfield line. Raul Ibañez split his bat in half, but it was good enough for a single to shallow centerfield. Bret Boone flew out high to leftfield, and Jeremy Reed slapped a low liner to leftfield that looked like it might fall, but BJ Surhoff was able to make the catch. Lopez threw 10 pitches.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: B
Get ready for the start of a roll for Moyer. BJ Surhoff flew out to Winn in shallow leftcenter on the first pitch. Jay Gibbons got ahead 3-0 and took a five-pitch walk. Geronimo Gil fouled off a 2-0 pitch, but hit a grounder up the middle (Moyer let it past) on the next pitch which fortunately started the 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. Moyer threw 10 pitches.
TOP 3RD
Grade: B
Zzzzzzz. Pat Borders hit a slow roller to first for a 3-1 putout. Wilson Valdez bunted a ball up the first-base line, but it was too quick, and Lopez was able to get the ball and shovel-pass it to first for the out. Ichiro flew out high to centerfield to end the inning. Lopez threw seven pitches.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: A-
Three up, three down. Bigbie grounded out to Boone. Mora got a somewhat high pitch to hit, but it went for a lazy flyout to Winn in leftfield. Tejada had a 2-0 count, but later flew out to centerfield to end the inning. Moyer threw 11 pitches.
TOP 4TH
Grade: C-
If it wasn't so quick, it would have been melatonin baseball. Winn popped the first pitch to Gomez behind the bag at second. Beltre got behind 0-2, later pulling a ball low and outside to short for a groundout. Sexson hit a high fly ball, but it went to Palmeiro beside the coaches' box in foul ground. Lopez threw 10 pitches.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: A
Moyer was officially dealing. Sosa grounded out to Beltre. Palmeiro flew out to Ichiro on the first pitch. Gomez got behind 0-2, popping softly to Boone two pitches later. Moyer threw 10 pitches.
TOP 5TH
Grade: B-
Wake up for a few minutes. Ibañez ripped the first pitch into the gap in rightcenter for a leadoff double. Boone grounded the first pitch to first base for a 3-1 putout. Though it moved Ibañez to third, the out was decidedly unclutch. Reed ripped a single to rightfield to score Ibañez, which was good to see. Yay, Reed!
»» ORIOLES 3, MARINERS 1
Then Borders hit an 0-2 pitch to short, starting a 6-4-3 double play. Lopez threw 10 pitches.
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: A
It's been a while since Moyer's gotten results like this. Surhoff got behind 0-2, later grounding out to first. Gibbons hit a grounder over Moyer, but Valdez got to it and threw to first in time. Gil flew out to Reed in leftcenter to end the inning. Moyer threw 13 pitches.
TOP 6TH
Grade: C
A bit frustrating, this one. Though Valdez isn't a good hitter, I think he got jobbed behind the plate in this at-bat. The 3-0 pitch was given quite a late strike call (it at least looked like it). He fouled off the 3-1 pitch, then took a curve that was a bit low but over the inside corner, and Valdez started toward first before heading toward the dugout instead. Ichiro grounded out to short. Winn fouled off a 2-0 pitch before sending the next pitch just past Tejada and into leftfield for a single. Beltre took the green light on 3-0 and smoked a single right past where you'd think a shortstop would usually play. Of course, the problem was that there were already two out. Sexson grounded the first pitch to third, which turned into an easy 5-4 fielder's choice. Lopez threw 17 pitches.
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: A
Moyer mowed through again. Bigbie hit his 1-1 pitch just foul down the leftfield line, though it had home-run distance. He worked the count full, but grounded to Sexson for the 3-1 putout. Mora reached at a pitch low and away, flying out to Valdez in shallow centerfield. Tejada reached at an outside pitch as well, grounding out to Valdez at short. Moyer threw 14 pitches.
TOP 7TH
Grade: C-
Not much doing again. Ibañez ripped his pitch just short of the track in rightfield, where it was caught. Boone reached at a pitch low and outside, bouncing it to short. Reed grounded one up the middle, and Gomez turned it into a groundout. Lopez threw nine pitches.
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: A-
Not much trouble for Moyer. Sosa grounded the 2-0 pitch to Valdez. Palmeiro hit his first pitch barely foul down the rightfield line for what probably would have been a double. Palmeiro whiffed on a 1-2 pitch low and outside. Gomez flew out to short on the first pitch. Moyer threw eight pitches.
TOP 8TH
Grade: C-
Plate umpire Tim McClellan was declared the Pepsi Fan of the Game, which is wrong on about a million levels. Way to be, guys. Borders grounded the second pitch to third. Valdez got behind 0-2, and bounced the 1-2 pitch to third, where Mora did like a backhanded hotdoggish swipe thing that I always used to do when I played first base. Anyway, that was a groundout. Ichiro got way under a 2-0 pitch, flying out high to centerfield. Lopez threw 10 pitches.
Lopez' line: 8 innings, 1 run, 5 hits, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 82 pitches (54 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: B
Moyer's run would come to an end. Surhoff got behind 0-2 and eventually hit a can o' corn to Reed in centerfield. Gibbons singled up the middle on the first pitch, ending a streak of 17 straight Baltimore hitters retired by Moyer and 20 straight Oriole batters without a hit. The tension ratcheted up a tiny bit when Gil singled up the middle after being down 0-2. Luckily, Bigbie swung at the first pitch and lined it to Valdez, who quickly underhanded to Boone running to the bag to double off Gibbons on a very quick double play. Moyer threw 12 pitches.
Moyer's line: 8 innings, 3 runs, 5 hits, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, 96 pitches (57 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Grade: C-
BJ Ryan came in to close it out. Winn hit a liner that was a bit too soft, and it was caught by Gomez playing second. Beltre flew out on the first pitch to Tejada on the outfield grass, so he put a huge wallop on that ball. Sexson took a 3-1 pitch low, but was called for a late strike. He whiffed on the next pitch. Ballgame.
Ryan's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 11 pitches (6 strikes)
---
Gameball: Jamie Moyer.
There's one other clear-cut gameball favorite for this game, though Moyer's the more obvious one. Still, I'm going with Moyer anyway. Sure, I won't let the shaky first inning go unmentioned, but he did set down 17 straight. That's no slouch of an effort, to say the least. He got 17 straight outs, and he hadn't gotten that many outs in any of his three previous May starts, and that was more than three times better than his first two May starts combined. Jamie Moyer needed a start like this in the worst way, and so did the Mariners. Moyer took his ERA from 15.30 to an even 10.00 with this start.
Goat: Ichiro.
This whole offense just sputters when Ichiro isn't in gear. We thought his slump might have been snapped when he hung up a 3-for-3 night with a walk in the first game of the series. In this game, it was a big ol' 0-for-4. The last time he went hitless? Sunday. Not too long ago. He'll snap out of it, sure, but this offense looks exponentially worse when he isn't clicking.
Rodrigo Lopez is now in the pantheon of Mariner efforts that came against Tim Hudson and Carlos Silva (last year too). Incredible. At least with the Mariner bats not doing anything against Lopez, they decided they'd hardly ever get into any deep counts, and the same with the Orioles. The game-wide hurry-up offense helped decrease the overall amount of time wasted, and since the Mariners didn't win, I feel less time was wasted (one hour and 55 minutes). I was able to spend time doing much more gratifying things such as watching Season 2 of Chappelle's Show on DVD and watching the American Idol season finale.
The last time through the starting rotation, the innings started to come around, though that was partly a function of Mike Hargrove leaving the starters in for as long as possible regardless of how many runs they'd given up. This most recent time through, the runs given up have decreased while the innings have gotten better. Since Moyer's last start on the 18th, the rotation's ERA in the month of May has gone from 7.31 to 6.01. Who would have guessed that the best two outings in that span of time would have come from Aaron Sele and Jamie Moyer? Oops, pow, surprise! The average game for a Mariner starting pitcher this month: 5.635 innings (5 2/3), 3.86 runs (3.76 earned), 6.4 hits, 2.7 walks, 2.9 strikeouts, 96.3 pitches (57.7 strikes)
Then there are the bats. The only other guy I would have considered for the gameball was Raul Ibañez, who got the broken-bat hit in the second, but tagged every other ball he hit, including the double. Needless to say, if the Mariners get five hits as a team, that means at least four guys have gone hitless. Five Mariners went hitless in this game, those with the names of Ichiro, Richie Sexson, Bret Boone, Pat Borders, and Wilson Valdez. Interestingly enough, this game had the complete opposite of the first game of the series where Ichiro and Sexson scored/drove in all (both) of the Mariners' runs. Here, both went hitless. Richie will have nights like this, Boone is having way too many nights like this (sadly, I'm used to it), Borders is old, and Valdez has solidified his reputation nicely at the plate.
This isn't the first time I've used space here at Sports and B's to complain about this, but one of Raffie Palmeiro's Viagra ads (around the 500-homer chase) had him at the plate swatting a homer. Unfortunately, they couldn't just take generic game footage and put it in the ad; they had a separate shoot instead. Palmeiro is shown earlier in the commercial in shot after shot taking a swing and then bringing the bat back with two hands to his front side, a la Jim Thome, though not as quick with the recoil. Anyone that's seen Palmeiro for any length of time knows he's letting go of the bat with the top hand on the follow-through, etc., a typical sweet-swinging lefty. The second flaw that irked me about the commercial -- there's a shot where Palmeiro hits a homer that stays just inside the leftfield foul pole. I'd like to know if Palmeiro has ever hit a homer just inside the foul pole in leftfield. Of course, if it were to occur, it would probably occur against the Mariners. Unfortunately, there's still a game tonight where it just might happen. So, Ryan Franklin needs to throw hard stuff outside to Palmeiro.
So how do you stay positive after this? Well, Moyer had a good start. The Mariners have lost the first two games of the series, though they haven't been clobbered or anything. They should have won the first game and always (technically) had this game within reach if the bats got their hitting shoes on. Sadly, they've managed to score only three runs combined in two games in Baltimore. Additionally, and if I took the numbers down right from the telecast, the Mariners are now 3-21 when they don't hit a home run, and they're 1-20 when they score three runs or less. That be putrid.
Franklin. Cabrera. Tonight.
In 25 words or less: A familiar foe strikes as both teams execute the hurry-up offense. However, the latter was after the first, and that was the difference.
This one featured Jamie Moyer, trying to have his first good start in a looong time and finally become the Mariners' all-time winningest starting pitcher, and Rodrigo Lopez. In other news, Thursday's game hopefully marks the final time I have to hear "Can't Stop" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers every time Jay Gibbons comes to the plate. In completely unrelated news, I've always hated BJ Ryan's throwing motion. It just irks me because he just looks like he sort of spins but doesn't really load up energy before exploding toward the plate or anything like that. I'm not saying I wouldn't take Ryan over Villone in a heartbeat, because I totally would.
TOP 1ST
Grade: C-
Get used to this type of inning. Ichiro grounded the second pitch to short. Randy Winn fouled off a couple of 0-2 pitches before whiffing. Adrian Beltre hit the first pitch on a line to rightfield, and Jay Gibbons made a diving play...and trapped the ball. Not that the umpire saw it that way or anything. Of course, asking for a two-out rally from this lineup is a little much. Lopez threw eight pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: C
Not the kind of first inning the Mariners wanted from Jamie Moyer, especially considering what he's put out there the last four or so starts. Larry Bigbie flew out to centerfield on the first pitch. Melvin Mora had a 3-1 count, then singled softly to centerfield on a full count. Miguel Tejada wouldn't hang up another 0-for-5 in this game, as he doubled to leftfield to really spice things up. Much like he did with the tying run the night before, Sammy Sosa hit the first pitch he saw to Jeremy Reed in centerfield, and it was deep enough to score Mora from third.
»» ORIOLES 1, MARINERS 0
Moyer got ahead 0-2 on Rafael Palmeiro, which was fine and dandy. Unfortunately, the count was soon full. Moyer threw a pitch that was over the plate and a bit low, and Palmeiro busted out the 9-iron, barely getting over the rightfield wall and nailing the foul pole. Just another day at the office for Palmeiro when it comes to facing the Mariners. If you ask me, he can't retire soon enough. I always laugh at the story of him getting the Viagra ads after Edgar Martinez had spurned them. Love that story.
»» ORIOLES 3, MARINERS 0
Chris Gomez grounded out to short to end the inning. Moyer threw 17 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Grade: C
Like I said, get used to the futility. Richie Sexson got too far under a 3-1 pitch, flying out to Gibbons in foul territory along the rightfield line. Raul Ibañez split his bat in half, but it was good enough for a single to shallow centerfield. Bret Boone flew out high to leftfield, and Jeremy Reed slapped a low liner to leftfield that looked like it might fall, but BJ Surhoff was able to make the catch. Lopez threw 10 pitches.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: B
Get ready for the start of a roll for Moyer. BJ Surhoff flew out to Winn in shallow leftcenter on the first pitch. Jay Gibbons got ahead 3-0 and took a five-pitch walk. Geronimo Gil fouled off a 2-0 pitch, but hit a grounder up the middle (Moyer let it past) on the next pitch which fortunately started the 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. Moyer threw 10 pitches.
TOP 3RD
Grade: B
Zzzzzzz. Pat Borders hit a slow roller to first for a 3-1 putout. Wilson Valdez bunted a ball up the first-base line, but it was too quick, and Lopez was able to get the ball and shovel-pass it to first for the out. Ichiro flew out high to centerfield to end the inning. Lopez threw seven pitches.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: A-
Three up, three down. Bigbie grounded out to Boone. Mora got a somewhat high pitch to hit, but it went for a lazy flyout to Winn in leftfield. Tejada had a 2-0 count, but later flew out to centerfield to end the inning. Moyer threw 11 pitches.
TOP 4TH
Grade: C-
If it wasn't so quick, it would have been melatonin baseball. Winn popped the first pitch to Gomez behind the bag at second. Beltre got behind 0-2, later pulling a ball low and outside to short for a groundout. Sexson hit a high fly ball, but it went to Palmeiro beside the coaches' box in foul ground. Lopez threw 10 pitches.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: A
Moyer was officially dealing. Sosa grounded out to Beltre. Palmeiro flew out to Ichiro on the first pitch. Gomez got behind 0-2, popping softly to Boone two pitches later. Moyer threw 10 pitches.
TOP 5TH
Grade: B-
Wake up for a few minutes. Ibañez ripped the first pitch into the gap in rightcenter for a leadoff double. Boone grounded the first pitch to first base for a 3-1 putout. Though it moved Ibañez to third, the out was decidedly unclutch. Reed ripped a single to rightfield to score Ibañez, which was good to see. Yay, Reed!
»» ORIOLES 3, MARINERS 1
Then Borders hit an 0-2 pitch to short, starting a 6-4-3 double play. Lopez threw 10 pitches.
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: A
It's been a while since Moyer's gotten results like this. Surhoff got behind 0-2, later grounding out to first. Gibbons hit a grounder over Moyer, but Valdez got to it and threw to first in time. Gil flew out to Reed in leftcenter to end the inning. Moyer threw 13 pitches.
TOP 6TH
Grade: C
A bit frustrating, this one. Though Valdez isn't a good hitter, I think he got jobbed behind the plate in this at-bat. The 3-0 pitch was given quite a late strike call (it at least looked like it). He fouled off the 3-1 pitch, then took a curve that was a bit low but over the inside corner, and Valdez started toward first before heading toward the dugout instead. Ichiro grounded out to short. Winn fouled off a 2-0 pitch before sending the next pitch just past Tejada and into leftfield for a single. Beltre took the green light on 3-0 and smoked a single right past where you'd think a shortstop would usually play. Of course, the problem was that there were already two out. Sexson grounded the first pitch to third, which turned into an easy 5-4 fielder's choice. Lopez threw 17 pitches.
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: A
Moyer mowed through again. Bigbie hit his 1-1 pitch just foul down the leftfield line, though it had home-run distance. He worked the count full, but grounded to Sexson for the 3-1 putout. Mora reached at a pitch low and away, flying out to Valdez in shallow centerfield. Tejada reached at an outside pitch as well, grounding out to Valdez at short. Moyer threw 14 pitches.
TOP 7TH
Grade: C-
Not much doing again. Ibañez ripped his pitch just short of the track in rightfield, where it was caught. Boone reached at a pitch low and outside, bouncing it to short. Reed grounded one up the middle, and Gomez turned it into a groundout. Lopez threw nine pitches.
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: A-
Not much trouble for Moyer. Sosa grounded the 2-0 pitch to Valdez. Palmeiro hit his first pitch barely foul down the rightfield line for what probably would have been a double. Palmeiro whiffed on a 1-2 pitch low and outside. Gomez flew out to short on the first pitch. Moyer threw eight pitches.
TOP 8TH
Grade: C-
Plate umpire Tim McClellan was declared the Pepsi Fan of the Game, which is wrong on about a million levels. Way to be, guys. Borders grounded the second pitch to third. Valdez got behind 0-2, and bounced the 1-2 pitch to third, where Mora did like a backhanded hotdoggish swipe thing that I always used to do when I played first base. Anyway, that was a groundout. Ichiro got way under a 2-0 pitch, flying out high to centerfield. Lopez threw 10 pitches.
Lopez' line: 8 innings, 1 run, 5 hits, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 82 pitches (54 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: B
Moyer's run would come to an end. Surhoff got behind 0-2 and eventually hit a can o' corn to Reed in centerfield. Gibbons singled up the middle on the first pitch, ending a streak of 17 straight Baltimore hitters retired by Moyer and 20 straight Oriole batters without a hit. The tension ratcheted up a tiny bit when Gil singled up the middle after being down 0-2. Luckily, Bigbie swung at the first pitch and lined it to Valdez, who quickly underhanded to Boone running to the bag to double off Gibbons on a very quick double play. Moyer threw 12 pitches.
Moyer's line: 8 innings, 3 runs, 5 hits, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, 96 pitches (57 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Grade: C-
BJ Ryan came in to close it out. Winn hit a liner that was a bit too soft, and it was caught by Gomez playing second. Beltre flew out on the first pitch to Tejada on the outfield grass, so he put a huge wallop on that ball. Sexson took a 3-1 pitch low, but was called for a late strike. He whiffed on the next pitch. Ballgame.
Ryan's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 11 pitches (6 strikes)
---
Gameball: Jamie Moyer.
There's one other clear-cut gameball favorite for this game, though Moyer's the more obvious one. Still, I'm going with Moyer anyway. Sure, I won't let the shaky first inning go unmentioned, but he did set down 17 straight. That's no slouch of an effort, to say the least. He got 17 straight outs, and he hadn't gotten that many outs in any of his three previous May starts, and that was more than three times better than his first two May starts combined. Jamie Moyer needed a start like this in the worst way, and so did the Mariners. Moyer took his ERA from 15.30 to an even 10.00 with this start.
Goat: Ichiro.
This whole offense just sputters when Ichiro isn't in gear. We thought his slump might have been snapped when he hung up a 3-for-3 night with a walk in the first game of the series. In this game, it was a big ol' 0-for-4. The last time he went hitless? Sunday. Not too long ago. He'll snap out of it, sure, but this offense looks exponentially worse when he isn't clicking.
Rodrigo Lopez is now in the pantheon of Mariner efforts that came against Tim Hudson and Carlos Silva (last year too). Incredible. At least with the Mariner bats not doing anything against Lopez, they decided they'd hardly ever get into any deep counts, and the same with the Orioles. The game-wide hurry-up offense helped decrease the overall amount of time wasted, and since the Mariners didn't win, I feel less time was wasted (one hour and 55 minutes). I was able to spend time doing much more gratifying things such as watching Season 2 of Chappelle's Show on DVD and watching the American Idol season finale.
The last time through the starting rotation, the innings started to come around, though that was partly a function of Mike Hargrove leaving the starters in for as long as possible regardless of how many runs they'd given up. This most recent time through, the runs given up have decreased while the innings have gotten better. Since Moyer's last start on the 18th, the rotation's ERA in the month of May has gone from 7.31 to 6.01. Who would have guessed that the best two outings in that span of time would have come from Aaron Sele and Jamie Moyer? Oops, pow, surprise! The average game for a Mariner starting pitcher this month: 5.635 innings (5 2/3), 3.86 runs (3.76 earned), 6.4 hits, 2.7 walks, 2.9 strikeouts, 96.3 pitches (57.7 strikes)
Then there are the bats. The only other guy I would have considered for the gameball was Raul Ibañez, who got the broken-bat hit in the second, but tagged every other ball he hit, including the double. Needless to say, if the Mariners get five hits as a team, that means at least four guys have gone hitless. Five Mariners went hitless in this game, those with the names of Ichiro, Richie Sexson, Bret Boone, Pat Borders, and Wilson Valdez. Interestingly enough, this game had the complete opposite of the first game of the series where Ichiro and Sexson scored/drove in all (both) of the Mariners' runs. Here, both went hitless. Richie will have nights like this, Boone is having way too many nights like this (sadly, I'm used to it), Borders is old, and Valdez has solidified his reputation nicely at the plate.
This isn't the first time I've used space here at Sports and B's to complain about this, but one of Raffie Palmeiro's Viagra ads (around the 500-homer chase) had him at the plate swatting a homer. Unfortunately, they couldn't just take generic game footage and put it in the ad; they had a separate shoot instead. Palmeiro is shown earlier in the commercial in shot after shot taking a swing and then bringing the bat back with two hands to his front side, a la Jim Thome, though not as quick with the recoil. Anyone that's seen Palmeiro for any length of time knows he's letting go of the bat with the top hand on the follow-through, etc., a typical sweet-swinging lefty. The second flaw that irked me about the commercial -- there's a shot where Palmeiro hits a homer that stays just inside the leftfield foul pole. I'd like to know if Palmeiro has ever hit a homer just inside the foul pole in leftfield. Of course, if it were to occur, it would probably occur against the Mariners. Unfortunately, there's still a game tonight where it just might happen. So, Ryan Franklin needs to throw hard stuff outside to Palmeiro.
So how do you stay positive after this? Well, Moyer had a good start. The Mariners have lost the first two games of the series, though they haven't been clobbered or anything. They should have won the first game and always (technically) had this game within reach if the bats got their hitting shoes on. Sadly, they've managed to score only three runs combined in two games in Baltimore. Additionally, and if I took the numbers down right from the telecast, the Mariners are now 3-21 when they don't hit a home run, and they're 1-20 when they score three runs or less. That be putrid.
Franklin. Cabrera. Tonight.
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