Wednesday, June 01, 2005
GAME 51: BLUE JAYS 9, MARINERS 7
Blue Jays 9, Mariners 7
[posted ~1:15p]
In 25 words or less: Know what this game reminded me of? This game (the beginning, at least) -- day after the trade deadline, 2003. Of course, the ramifications were greater then.
This one featured Chad Gaudin, who doesn't look quite as young as he did when he made his Major League debut against the Mariners, and Ryan Franklin. Did you know he's the pride of Spiro, Oklahoma? I'd have never guessed. They really should mention that on the broadcasts more.
Unfortunately, the first three and a half innings might not be too definitive since I was dealing with more pressing matters. You see, there was a torrential downpour here in Bremerton at about 6:30 or so, and it wasn't just a 30-second downpour we're used to. This may have been 10-20 minutes, and we were close enough to some lightning strikes to where you could hear a crackling instead of the rolling thunder. Long story short, the basement flooded. That's a sweeping operation. If anything, Mother Nature saved me from the first few innings. Those first few innings saw the Mariners Gaudin in defeat pretty quickly. You know, that could turn into a really bad Qwest ad.
TOP 1ST
Grade: F
Here's your game right here. Reed Johnson singled into leftfield on the second pitch of the game. Orlando Hudson tagged a double into centerfield, and one run came home before many people found their seats. Hudson took third on the throw home.
»» BLUE JAYS 1, MARINERS 0
Aaron Hill singled to leftfield, and Hudson came around. Yep, this one was lookin' bad.
»» BLUE JAYS 2, MARINERS 0
Shea Hillenbrand hacked at a 3-0 pitch and tapped back to the mound (ouch). Vernon Wells then crushed his second pitch into the bullpen.
»» BLUE JAYS 5, MARINERS 0
Gregg Zaun singled to keep the hit parade going. Frank Catalanotto got behind 0-2, but would leg out an infield single. Russ Adams grounded to first, and Sexson went to second to force out Catalanotto. Johnson, who led off the inning, grounded out to Beltre at third on the first pitch. Franklin threw only 30 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: D
Quick turnabout within this inning. Ichiro singled to lead off. Randy Winn drew a four-pitch walk. Adrian Beltre got the hitters' counts and grounded out to second, but the runners moved up. Richie Sexson got behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 2-2 pitch. Raul Ibañez grounded out to short. First two runners on, but nothing comes across. That's frustrating. Gaudin threw 22 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Grade: A-
Maybe Franklin had rebounded. Hudson got ahead 2-0 but would ground out to Boone. Hill grounded out to short. Hillenbrand grounded out to Beltre. Three groundouts. No homers. Franklin threw 11 pitches.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade:
The bottom of the lineup would take their try. Bret Boone got behind 0-2 and worked the count full before popping up to Hudson. Jeremy Reed singled to leftcenter. Willie Bloomquist popped out to Eric Hinske in foul ground outside of first. Rene Rivera singled an 0-2 pitch into centerfield for his first Major League hit. Ichiro grounded to first to end the inning. Gaudin threw 18 pitches.
TOP 3RD
Grade: D+
Then Franklin lost his mind. Hinske led off with a single to rightfield. Wells fouled the 1-1 pitch high behind the plate, and Rivera didn't make the catch, which was ruled an error. Two pitches later, Wells reached the bullpen once again.
»» BLUE JAYS 7, MARINERS 0
Zaun got behind 0-2 and whiffed two pitches later. Catalanotto singled to centerfield. Adams rolled a ball to short for a 6-4 fielder's choice. Then Franklin nailed Johnson with a pitch. Franklin was tossed by plate umpire Jim Wolf. Mike Hargrove came out for the obligatory argument, though he didn't get tossed. No sir, Wolf would be sadistic and leave him in the game, forcing him to watch what was going on. It wasn't pretty. Franklin had thrown 18 pitches in the inning.
Julio Mateo came in for Franklin. Hudson flew out to centerfield to end the inning.
Franklin's line: 2 2/3 innings, 7 runs (5 earned), 10 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 59 pitches (41 strikes)
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: C-
The bats wouldn't warm up. Winn tapped one back to the mound. Beltre whiffed. Sexson at least gave a fly ball a decent ride to leftfield. Gaudin threw 16 pitches.
TOP 4TH
Grade: A-
Mateo was about to settle into a groove. Hill flew out to centerfield. Hillenbrand was caught looking. Hinske grounded a 3-1 pitch to Boone. Mateo threw 10 pitches.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: C
Another leadoff runner stranded. Ibañez one-hopped a ball into the stands in rightfield for a ground-rule double. Boone badly waved at an 0-2 pitch outside. Bloomquist groudned out to third to end the inning. Gaudin threw 11 pitches.
TOP 5TH
Grade: A
Mateo was feeling it. Wells flew out to Reed near the track in leftcenter. Zaun flew out high to Reed. Catalanotto flew out to Reed as well. Mateo threw 11 pitches.
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: B-
The offense showed a pulse. Rivera got behind 0-2 and whiffed two pitches later. Ichiro served a single past the second baseman. Winn singled the first pitch through the right side to end Ichiro to third. Beltre drove the first pitch into the gap in leftcenter, and Ichiro and Winn crossed the plate.
»» BLUE JAYS 7, MARINERS 2
Sexson got the hitters' counts before taking a full-count breaking ball barely inside for a walk. Ibañez turned a 2-2 pitch foul before whiffing on a full count; Beltre and Sexson had taken off with that pitch, and Beltre beat the throw to third for a double steal. Boone of course responded by tapping out softly and harmlessly to the mound.
Gaudin's line: 5 innings, 2 runs, 7 hits, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts, 93 pitches (60 strikes)
TOP 6TH
Grade: A
Mateo was holding up his end of the bargain. Adams flew out high to Ichiro in shallow rightfield. Johnson hit a shallow pop to rightfield, caught by Boone. Mateo threw nine pitches.
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: C
Scott Downs came in for Gaudin. Reed whiffed on a low 0-2 pitch. Bloomquist fouled off four pitches with two strikes, then grounded the 10th pitch of the at-bat to short, but Adams threw high to first base, pulling Hinske off the bag. Bloomquist was aboard on the error. Rivera singled the first pitch through the left side. Ichiro rolled a ball off of Downs, and it ended up with Hudson, who stepped on the bag at second for the 1-4 fielder's choice. Runners were on the corners with two out for Winn, who got ahead 2-0, but ended up popping the full-count pitch to Hudson near the second-base bag. Downs threw 25 pitches.
TOP 7TH
Grade: C
This one wasn't as nice. Hill singled over Boone into rightfield, snapping Mateo's streak of ten straight hitters retired since he'd come in from the bullpen. Hillenbrand crushed his 1-0 pitch to the staircase above the visitors' bullpen in leftfield, a 389-foot shot.
»» BLUE JAYS 9, MARINERS 2
Hinske whiffed on an 0-2 breaking ball. Wells popped one high and foul near the plate, and Sexson came down with it. Zaun got behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 pitch down and in.
Mateo's line: 4 1/3 innings, 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts, 49 pitches (33 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: C
Again, not much in this one. Beltre took a 3-1 pitch high and outside for a walk. The first pitch to Sexson went off of Zaun's shin guard and to the backstop, and Beltre scurried to second. Ibañez flew out to centerfield, but it was deep enough for Beltre to take third. Mike Morse came in to pinch hit and make his Major League debut. He fouled off an 0-2 before whiffing on a low 2-2 pitch.
Downs' line: 2 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 42 pitches (25 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Grade: B
Shigetoshi Hasegawa came in for Mateo, but that wasn't the only change. Mike Hargrove made wholesale defensive changes, putting Greg Dobbs in at third and bringing in Dave Hansen to play first. Willie Bloomquist moved to second, and Morse stayed in to play short.
(towel)
Catalanotto lined a single over Morse and into leftfield. Adams got behind 0-2, eventually flying out to Winn in shallow leftfield. Johnson hit a soft lineout to Morse. Hudson grounded out to first for a 3-1 putout.
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: B-
Justin Speier came in for Downs. Reed poked the second pitch down the rightfield line for a double. Bloomquist got behind 0-2, eventually grounding out to second to send Reed to third. Rivera poked the first pitch into leftfield for a single, and Reed came across.
»» BLUE JAYS 9, MARINERS 3
Ichiro got ahead 2-0 and hit the 2-2 offering just inside the bag down the third-base line. Hill stopped the ball, couldn't do much more with it. Winn mashed the first pitch to rightfield to load the bases. Dobbs (not Beltre) flew out softly to rightfield on the first pitch. Hansen waited a bit longer, flying out to rightfield on the second pitch.
Speier's line: 1 inning, 1 run, 4 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 16 pitches (13 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Grade: B+
Hasegawa would stay in to save the rest of the pen. Hill grounded the first pitch to third. Hillenbrand fouled off a 2-0 pitch and later grounded out to short. Frank Menechino came in to pinch hit and instead got hit in the left tricep. Wells flew out to centerfield on the 0-2 pitch.
Hasegawa's line: 2 innings, 0 runs, 1 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 30 pitches (20 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Grade: A-
The Mariner newbies would help piece together a decent inning. Scott Schoeneweis (remember when he was decent?) came in for Speier. Ibañez dinked a 'tweener into shallow rightfield for a single. Morse had the hitters' counts and took the 3-1 pitch down and in. Reed smashed one past the first baseman (Morse had to dance around it) and into rightfield for a single to score Ibañez and put Morse on second.
»» BLUE JAYS 9, MARINERS 4
Bloomquist one-hopped the first pitch off the wall in front of the pub, scoring Morse and Reed.
»» BLUE JAYS 9, MARINERS 6
Miguel Batista came in for Schoeneweis. Rivera grounded out to short, and Bloomquist scooted to third. Ichiro grounded out to short, but the Blue Jays went for the sure out, and Bloomquist scored.
»» BLUE JAYS 9, MARINERS 7
With the bases now empty, Winn hit a gapper to leftcenter for a double. Beltre popped the second pitch behind the bag at second, and Adams came down with it. Ballgame.
Schoeneweis' line: 0 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 14 pitches (7 strikes)
Batista's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 7 pitches (6 strikes)
---
Gameball: Randy Winn.
Lost in the press that will go to Rene Rivera's first three Major League hits (he went 3-for-5) and a 3-for-5 night from Jeremy Reed will be Randy Winn's 3-for-5 night, also with a double. It was a good night all around for Winn and Ichiro, who combined to go 6-for-11. It's no secret that Ichiro ignites this offense, but when you can get Ichiro and Winn clicking, it usually bodes well for the offense. Except for most of this game, of course.
Goat: Ryan Franklin.
I'm having trouble here. Since Franklin was so bad, I don't think you'd be able to call it happy hour in Spiro. Regardless, drinks will probably be at happy-hour prices in the local watering hole(s) for a day or two. Five runs in the first? That's a way to take the air out of the Safe. I've remarked about what I think are the lack of make-the-crowd-noise-deafening acoustics at the Safe, but it's especially worse if the road team tacks on a bunch of runs early. You can hear a pin drop in there even if there's 30000 in the stadium. Anyway, absolutely terrible line out of Franklin. Brutal.
This marked the last game of a 9-18 month of May for the Seattle Mariners. Two of the final three games of the month had terrible starts from Piñeiro and Franklin that were so bad, they were reminiscent of the horrid performances by the rotation in the first half of the month. Franklin's performance left the rotation with a final May 2005 ERA of 5.95. The average start for a Mariner starting pitcher this month: 5.54 innings (5 2/3), 3.85 runs (3.67 earned), 6.5 hits, 2.4 walks, 2.7 strikeouts, 93.7 pitches (56.8 strikes). It's like having five Aaron Seles (though not the one from the last couple starts.
Let's bury the May pitching Excel chart once and for all...
Rotation ERA -- 5.95 (up from 5.68 before Piñeiro's last start)
Individual ERAs -- Moyer 7.88 over five starts, Piñeiro 7.22 (5 starts), Franklin 5.85 (6 starts), Meche 4.94 (5 starts), Sele 3.77 (5 starts)
Worst (and best) per-inning averages for the month...
Runs -- Moyer 0.92 (Sele 0.49)
Hits -- Piñeiro 1.43 (Meche 0.94)
Walks -- Sele 0.49 (Piñeiro 0.38)
Strikeouts -- Moyer 0.38 (Franklin 0.62)
Pitches -- Moyer 18.3 (Sele 15.9)
I guess the one thing I can say is that it's a bad month for starting pitching when Ryan Franklin has the best strikeout rate in your rotation.
Of course, I keep the 2005 vs. 2004 stuff in the same Excel file. This loss kept the Mariners two games better than their 2004 counterparts. They've got tonight and Friday to gain some ground on Team Terrible.
Great. Now I have to talk about the game. As I said, Ryan Franklin put the game out of doubt. The wind was out of the sails and didn't come back until it was much too late. The Mariner bats had trouble after the Blue Jays had been spotted a five-run lead before they even got to the plate. The first inning saw Ichiro and Randy Winn get aboard and not score. They were on first and second with nobody out and moved to second and third on the Beltre groundout, but were left there by Sexson and Ibañez. In the fourth, Ibañez hit a leadoff double and wasn't even moved by the next three hitters. The Russ Adams error in the 6th put Bloomquist on first with one out, and Rene Rivera did his job, though outs occurred when Ichiro and Winn stepped to the plate. In the 7th, Beltre drew a leadoff walk and went to second on the first pitch to Sexson, still with nobody out. He didn't score. In the 8th, Hargrove had already thrown in the towel, so it was Greg Dobbs and Dave Hansen getting a chance with the bases loaded and one out instead of Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson. Of course, the move looks bad in hindsight, but we'd be all over Hargrove if any of those guys got hurt in the final two innings of a game that was out of reach when they were taken out.
As for non-Franklin pitching, Julio Mateo would have been a sure gameball if Hargrove sent someone else out to the mound for the 7th. Mateo had retired ten straight hitters after having arguably his relief outing of the year the night before. Shigetoshi Hasegawa worked the final two innings, with a leadoff single and a beanball being the only tarnishes.
Still, how sad is it when four guys in your lineup can have three hits each and you still can't win the damn game? Ichiro, Winn, Reed, and Rivera all had three-hit games, and Raul Ibañez chipped in with a 2-for-5 night as well. Ichiro of course leads the team with a .321 average. After that, it gets interesting. Ibañez is second with .285, Winn has a .280 mark, but Reed is now up to .279. Is there anyone out there who's not a fan of Reed by now? Crap, I'd be satisfied if he just hit .280 or .290 for the rest of the year.
Richie Sexson went 0-for-3, but at least he drew a walk to get on base once. Bret Boone never reached base in his 0-for-3 night. Moreover in the land of zeroes, Greg Dobbs only got to the plate twice but managed to leave four runners on base to lead the team. In the LOB column in the boxscore, there is the 4 next to Dobbs' name, and there are also six occurrences of the number 3. The team as a whole stranded 14 runners, though this last number should probably have been tacked on a few paragraphs ago.
Yes, folks, let's move on to June. It can't come soon enough. Yo quiero béisbol de competitivo!
Chacin. Meche. Tonight.
[posted ~1:15p]
In 25 words or less: Know what this game reminded me of? This game (the beginning, at least) -- day after the trade deadline, 2003. Of course, the ramifications were greater then.
This one featured Chad Gaudin, who doesn't look quite as young as he did when he made his Major League debut against the Mariners, and Ryan Franklin. Did you know he's the pride of Spiro, Oklahoma? I'd have never guessed. They really should mention that on the broadcasts more.
Unfortunately, the first three and a half innings might not be too definitive since I was dealing with more pressing matters. You see, there was a torrential downpour here in Bremerton at about 6:30 or so, and it wasn't just a 30-second downpour we're used to. This may have been 10-20 minutes, and we were close enough to some lightning strikes to where you could hear a crackling instead of the rolling thunder. Long story short, the basement flooded. That's a sweeping operation. If anything, Mother Nature saved me from the first few innings. Those first few innings saw the Mariners Gaudin in defeat pretty quickly. You know, that could turn into a really bad Qwest ad.
TOP 1ST
Grade: F
Here's your game right here. Reed Johnson singled into leftfield on the second pitch of the game. Orlando Hudson tagged a double into centerfield, and one run came home before many people found their seats. Hudson took third on the throw home.
»» BLUE JAYS 1, MARINERS 0
Aaron Hill singled to leftfield, and Hudson came around. Yep, this one was lookin' bad.
»» BLUE JAYS 2, MARINERS 0
Shea Hillenbrand hacked at a 3-0 pitch and tapped back to the mound (ouch). Vernon Wells then crushed his second pitch into the bullpen.
»» BLUE JAYS 5, MARINERS 0
Gregg Zaun singled to keep the hit parade going. Frank Catalanotto got behind 0-2, but would leg out an infield single. Russ Adams grounded to first, and Sexson went to second to force out Catalanotto. Johnson, who led off the inning, grounded out to Beltre at third on the first pitch. Franklin threw only 30 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: D
Quick turnabout within this inning. Ichiro singled to lead off. Randy Winn drew a four-pitch walk. Adrian Beltre got the hitters' counts and grounded out to second, but the runners moved up. Richie Sexson got behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 2-2 pitch. Raul Ibañez grounded out to short. First two runners on, but nothing comes across. That's frustrating. Gaudin threw 22 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Grade: A-
Maybe Franklin had rebounded. Hudson got ahead 2-0 but would ground out to Boone. Hill grounded out to short. Hillenbrand grounded out to Beltre. Three groundouts. No homers. Franklin threw 11 pitches.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade:
The bottom of the lineup would take their try. Bret Boone got behind 0-2 and worked the count full before popping up to Hudson. Jeremy Reed singled to leftcenter. Willie Bloomquist popped out to Eric Hinske in foul ground outside of first. Rene Rivera singled an 0-2 pitch into centerfield for his first Major League hit. Ichiro grounded to first to end the inning. Gaudin threw 18 pitches.
TOP 3RD
Grade: D+
Then Franklin lost his mind. Hinske led off with a single to rightfield. Wells fouled the 1-1 pitch high behind the plate, and Rivera didn't make the catch, which was ruled an error. Two pitches later, Wells reached the bullpen once again.
»» BLUE JAYS 7, MARINERS 0
Zaun got behind 0-2 and whiffed two pitches later. Catalanotto singled to centerfield. Adams rolled a ball to short for a 6-4 fielder's choice. Then Franklin nailed Johnson with a pitch. Franklin was tossed by plate umpire Jim Wolf. Mike Hargrove came out for the obligatory argument, though he didn't get tossed. No sir, Wolf would be sadistic and leave him in the game, forcing him to watch what was going on. It wasn't pretty. Franklin had thrown 18 pitches in the inning.
Julio Mateo came in for Franklin. Hudson flew out to centerfield to end the inning.
Franklin's line: 2 2/3 innings, 7 runs (5 earned), 10 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 59 pitches (41 strikes)
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: C-
The bats wouldn't warm up. Winn tapped one back to the mound. Beltre whiffed. Sexson at least gave a fly ball a decent ride to leftfield. Gaudin threw 16 pitches.
TOP 4TH
Grade: A-
Mateo was about to settle into a groove. Hill flew out to centerfield. Hillenbrand was caught looking. Hinske grounded a 3-1 pitch to Boone. Mateo threw 10 pitches.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: C
Another leadoff runner stranded. Ibañez one-hopped a ball into the stands in rightfield for a ground-rule double. Boone badly waved at an 0-2 pitch outside. Bloomquist groudned out to third to end the inning. Gaudin threw 11 pitches.
TOP 5TH
Grade: A
Mateo was feeling it. Wells flew out to Reed near the track in leftcenter. Zaun flew out high to Reed. Catalanotto flew out to Reed as well. Mateo threw 11 pitches.
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: B-
The offense showed a pulse. Rivera got behind 0-2 and whiffed two pitches later. Ichiro served a single past the second baseman. Winn singled the first pitch through the right side to end Ichiro to third. Beltre drove the first pitch into the gap in leftcenter, and Ichiro and Winn crossed the plate.
»» BLUE JAYS 7, MARINERS 2
Sexson got the hitters' counts before taking a full-count breaking ball barely inside for a walk. Ibañez turned a 2-2 pitch foul before whiffing on a full count; Beltre and Sexson had taken off with that pitch, and Beltre beat the throw to third for a double steal. Boone of course responded by tapping out softly and harmlessly to the mound.
Gaudin's line: 5 innings, 2 runs, 7 hits, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts, 93 pitches (60 strikes)
TOP 6TH
Grade: A
Mateo was holding up his end of the bargain. Adams flew out high to Ichiro in shallow rightfield. Johnson hit a shallow pop to rightfield, caught by Boone. Mateo threw nine pitches.
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: C
Scott Downs came in for Gaudin. Reed whiffed on a low 0-2 pitch. Bloomquist fouled off four pitches with two strikes, then grounded the 10th pitch of the at-bat to short, but Adams threw high to first base, pulling Hinske off the bag. Bloomquist was aboard on the error. Rivera singled the first pitch through the left side. Ichiro rolled a ball off of Downs, and it ended up with Hudson, who stepped on the bag at second for the 1-4 fielder's choice. Runners were on the corners with two out for Winn, who got ahead 2-0, but ended up popping the full-count pitch to Hudson near the second-base bag. Downs threw 25 pitches.
TOP 7TH
Grade: C
This one wasn't as nice. Hill singled over Boone into rightfield, snapping Mateo's streak of ten straight hitters retired since he'd come in from the bullpen. Hillenbrand crushed his 1-0 pitch to the staircase above the visitors' bullpen in leftfield, a 389-foot shot.
»» BLUE JAYS 9, MARINERS 2
Hinske whiffed on an 0-2 breaking ball. Wells popped one high and foul near the plate, and Sexson came down with it. Zaun got behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 pitch down and in.
Mateo's line: 4 1/3 innings, 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts, 49 pitches (33 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: C
Again, not much in this one. Beltre took a 3-1 pitch high and outside for a walk. The first pitch to Sexson went off of Zaun's shin guard and to the backstop, and Beltre scurried to second. Ibañez flew out to centerfield, but it was deep enough for Beltre to take third. Mike Morse came in to pinch hit and make his Major League debut. He fouled off an 0-2 before whiffing on a low 2-2 pitch.
Downs' line: 2 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 42 pitches (25 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Grade: B
Shigetoshi Hasegawa came in for Mateo, but that wasn't the only change. Mike Hargrove made wholesale defensive changes, putting Greg Dobbs in at third and bringing in Dave Hansen to play first. Willie Bloomquist moved to second, and Morse stayed in to play short.
(towel)
Catalanotto lined a single over Morse and into leftfield. Adams got behind 0-2, eventually flying out to Winn in shallow leftfield. Johnson hit a soft lineout to Morse. Hudson grounded out to first for a 3-1 putout.
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: B-
Justin Speier came in for Downs. Reed poked the second pitch down the rightfield line for a double. Bloomquist got behind 0-2, eventually grounding out to second to send Reed to third. Rivera poked the first pitch into leftfield for a single, and Reed came across.
»» BLUE JAYS 9, MARINERS 3
Ichiro got ahead 2-0 and hit the 2-2 offering just inside the bag down the third-base line. Hill stopped the ball, couldn't do much more with it. Winn mashed the first pitch to rightfield to load the bases. Dobbs (not Beltre) flew out softly to rightfield on the first pitch. Hansen waited a bit longer, flying out to rightfield on the second pitch.
Speier's line: 1 inning, 1 run, 4 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 16 pitches (13 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Grade: B+
Hasegawa would stay in to save the rest of the pen. Hill grounded the first pitch to third. Hillenbrand fouled off a 2-0 pitch and later grounded out to short. Frank Menechino came in to pinch hit and instead got hit in the left tricep. Wells flew out to centerfield on the 0-2 pitch.
Hasegawa's line: 2 innings, 0 runs, 1 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 30 pitches (20 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Grade: A-
The Mariner newbies would help piece together a decent inning. Scott Schoeneweis (remember when he was decent?) came in for Speier. Ibañez dinked a 'tweener into shallow rightfield for a single. Morse had the hitters' counts and took the 3-1 pitch down and in. Reed smashed one past the first baseman (Morse had to dance around it) and into rightfield for a single to score Ibañez and put Morse on second.
»» BLUE JAYS 9, MARINERS 4
Bloomquist one-hopped the first pitch off the wall in front of the pub, scoring Morse and Reed.
»» BLUE JAYS 9, MARINERS 6
Miguel Batista came in for Schoeneweis. Rivera grounded out to short, and Bloomquist scooted to third. Ichiro grounded out to short, but the Blue Jays went for the sure out, and Bloomquist scored.
»» BLUE JAYS 9, MARINERS 7
With the bases now empty, Winn hit a gapper to leftcenter for a double. Beltre popped the second pitch behind the bag at second, and Adams came down with it. Ballgame.
Schoeneweis' line: 0 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 14 pitches (7 strikes)
Batista's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 7 pitches (6 strikes)
---
Gameball: Randy Winn.
Lost in the press that will go to Rene Rivera's first three Major League hits (he went 3-for-5) and a 3-for-5 night from Jeremy Reed will be Randy Winn's 3-for-5 night, also with a double. It was a good night all around for Winn and Ichiro, who combined to go 6-for-11. It's no secret that Ichiro ignites this offense, but when you can get Ichiro and Winn clicking, it usually bodes well for the offense. Except for most of this game, of course.
Goat: Ryan Franklin.
I'm having trouble here. Since Franklin was so bad, I don't think you'd be able to call it happy hour in Spiro. Regardless, drinks will probably be at happy-hour prices in the local watering hole(s) for a day or two. Five runs in the first? That's a way to take the air out of the Safe. I've remarked about what I think are the lack of make-the-crowd-noise-deafening acoustics at the Safe, but it's especially worse if the road team tacks on a bunch of runs early. You can hear a pin drop in there even if there's 30000 in the stadium. Anyway, absolutely terrible line out of Franklin. Brutal.
This marked the last game of a 9-18 month of May for the Seattle Mariners. Two of the final three games of the month had terrible starts from Piñeiro and Franklin that were so bad, they were reminiscent of the horrid performances by the rotation in the first half of the month. Franklin's performance left the rotation with a final May 2005 ERA of 5.95. The average start for a Mariner starting pitcher this month: 5.54 innings (5 2/3), 3.85 runs (3.67 earned), 6.5 hits, 2.4 walks, 2.7 strikeouts, 93.7 pitches (56.8 strikes). It's like having five Aaron Seles (though not the one from the last couple starts.
Let's bury the May pitching Excel chart once and for all...
Rotation ERA -- 5.95 (up from 5.68 before Piñeiro's last start)
Individual ERAs -- Moyer 7.88 over five starts, Piñeiro 7.22 (5 starts), Franklin 5.85 (6 starts), Meche 4.94 (5 starts), Sele 3.77 (5 starts)
Worst (and best) per-inning averages for the month...
Runs -- Moyer 0.92 (Sele 0.49)
Hits -- Piñeiro 1.43 (Meche 0.94)
Walks -- Sele 0.49 (Piñeiro 0.38)
Strikeouts -- Moyer 0.38 (Franklin 0.62)
Pitches -- Moyer 18.3 (Sele 15.9)
I guess the one thing I can say is that it's a bad month for starting pitching when Ryan Franklin has the best strikeout rate in your rotation.
Of course, I keep the 2005 vs. 2004 stuff in the same Excel file. This loss kept the Mariners two games better than their 2004 counterparts. They've got tonight and Friday to gain some ground on Team Terrible.
Great. Now I have to talk about the game. As I said, Ryan Franklin put the game out of doubt. The wind was out of the sails and didn't come back until it was much too late. The Mariner bats had trouble after the Blue Jays had been spotted a five-run lead before they even got to the plate. The first inning saw Ichiro and Randy Winn get aboard and not score. They were on first and second with nobody out and moved to second and third on the Beltre groundout, but were left there by Sexson and Ibañez. In the fourth, Ibañez hit a leadoff double and wasn't even moved by the next three hitters. The Russ Adams error in the 6th put Bloomquist on first with one out, and Rene Rivera did his job, though outs occurred when Ichiro and Winn stepped to the plate. In the 7th, Beltre drew a leadoff walk and went to second on the first pitch to Sexson, still with nobody out. He didn't score. In the 8th, Hargrove had already thrown in the towel, so it was Greg Dobbs and Dave Hansen getting a chance with the bases loaded and one out instead of Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson. Of course, the move looks bad in hindsight, but we'd be all over Hargrove if any of those guys got hurt in the final two innings of a game that was out of reach when they were taken out.
As for non-Franklin pitching, Julio Mateo would have been a sure gameball if Hargrove sent someone else out to the mound for the 7th. Mateo had retired ten straight hitters after having arguably his relief outing of the year the night before. Shigetoshi Hasegawa worked the final two innings, with a leadoff single and a beanball being the only tarnishes.
Still, how sad is it when four guys in your lineup can have three hits each and you still can't win the damn game? Ichiro, Winn, Reed, and Rivera all had three-hit games, and Raul Ibañez chipped in with a 2-for-5 night as well. Ichiro of course leads the team with a .321 average. After that, it gets interesting. Ibañez is second with .285, Winn has a .280 mark, but Reed is now up to .279. Is there anyone out there who's not a fan of Reed by now? Crap, I'd be satisfied if he just hit .280 or .290 for the rest of the year.
Richie Sexson went 0-for-3, but at least he drew a walk to get on base once. Bret Boone never reached base in his 0-for-3 night. Moreover in the land of zeroes, Greg Dobbs only got to the plate twice but managed to leave four runners on base to lead the team. In the LOB column in the boxscore, there is the 4 next to Dobbs' name, and there are also six occurrences of the number 3. The team as a whole stranded 14 runners, though this last number should probably have been tacked on a few paragraphs ago.
Yes, folks, let's move on to June. It can't come soon enough. Yo quiero béisbol de competitivo!
Chacin. Meche. Tonight.
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