Sunday, June 12, 2005
GAME 60: NATIONALS 2, MARINERS 1
Nationals 2, Mariners 1
In 25 words or less: Come-from-behind wins by the Nationals are a great story when they don't come against my team.
Okay, this might be an isolated incident here. This is just a lucky thing because the person I'm staying with has MLB.tv and I was able to actually sit there for three hours and watch it. I've had very few instances since I got to Hawaii where I could actually sit in one place for three hours and watch a game or do something not related to trying to find a place to live.
So even though I'm moving into my new place on Wednesday, I've called the cable/internet people (Time Warner/Road Runner) and they'll be able to hook my place up on...July 2nd. I was pre-warned about the non-quickness when it comes to getting service, so I really wasn't surprised.
Seriously, enough about me and this whole place they call Hawaii. It's time to do a game wrap, dang it.
This one featured Jamie Moyer going up against John Patterson.
TOP 1ST
Grade: C-
Not much of a start. Ichiro popped the first pitch foul by the third-base bag. Randy Winn singled up the middle past the shortstop. Adrian Beltre popped the 0-2 pitch high to Nick Johnson beside the mound. Richie Sexson got behind 0-2, later popping out to centerfield.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: C+
Moyer didn't start out too hot. Brad Wilkerson was beaned in the right arm with a 2-2 pitch. Marlon Byrd jumped on a 3-1 pitch, driving it to the gap in leftcenter where Raul Ibañez made a running catch, and Wilkerson had to hurry back to first on the failed hit-and-run attempt. Wilkerson stole second on the first pitch to Jose Guillen, drawing a ridiculously wide and late throw from Pat Borders behind the plate. Guillen walked on four pitches. Nick Johnson fell behind 0-2, later hitting a flare to leftfield that Ibañez charged and caught. With his momentum carrying him toward the infield, Ibañez threw to second and was able to double Wilkerson off of second, who thought the ball was going to drop.
TOP 2ND
Grade: C-
More of nothing out of the offense. Raul Ibañez flew out to centerfield. Bret Boone grounded the first pitch to third and was nailed by a charging and very old Vinny Castilla. Mike Morse took a 3-1 pitch to the track in centerfield, missing out on his first big-league homer.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: A
Luckily, Moyer would get on track a bit. Castilla flew out to centerfield. Junior Spivey grounded the first pitch to third. Gary Bennett whiffed on a 1-2 pitch that was way outside.
TOP 3RD
Grade: C-
This one was frustrating. Pat Borders led off by ripping a 1-1 pitch into centerfield for a single. Jamie Moyer missed bunting on the first two pitches, both strikes. He bunted the 0-2 pitch and placed it nicely, but it was too hard, and Johnson was already about halfway down the first-base line when Moyer had bunted the ball. Johnson was able to pounce on the ball and nail Borders at second. Not good. Patterson climbed the ladder and got Ichiro hacking and missing on a 0-2 pitch. Winn got ahead 3-1, and hit a gapper to leftcenter on a full count for a double, moving Moyer to third but no further thanks to Wilkerson stopping the ball short of the track and wall. Beltre came through in the clutch, popping the first pitch to Spivey just onto the outfield grass. Hilariously, the FSNNW broadcast had rolled the theme music before the ball had even come down in Spivey's glove.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: B-
Moyer returned to some shakiness. Cristian Guzman nubbed a 2-1 pitch into centerfield. John Patterson bunted to send Guzman to second. Wilkerson walked on a 3-1 pitch. Byrd got behind 0-2 and ended up flying out short of the track in leftfield, deep enough to move Guzman to third. Guillen weakly popped an 0-2 pitch to centerfield to end the inning.
TOP 4TH
Grade: C-
Not a banner inning for the middle third of the order. Sexson whiffed. Ibañez flew out to centerfield. For the cherry on top, Boone was caught looking.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: B-
It was apparent by this point that Moyer wasn't having one of his better outings. Johnson was beaned on the right elbow by a 2-2 pitch. Castilla got behind 0-2 and later flew out to Ichiro. Johnson was gunned down at second on the 3-1 pitch to Spivey. Johnson took the next pitch for ball four. Bennett whiffed on an 0-2 pitch low and outside, and Moyer reacted to the swing and miss in somewhat of an exhaustive nature...you'd really have to have seen it since I really can't describe it.
TOP 5TH
Grade: B
At least a run got across. Morse walked on a 3-1 pitch up and in. Borders hit an 0-2 lazy pop to leftfield. Moyer bunted correctly this time, able to move Borders to second. Ichiro hit a full-count hard grounder to first that ate up Johnson and went into rightfield, enough for career hit #999 for Ichiro and good to push Borders across the plate. Guillen also had some trouble fielding the ball in rightfield, and that ensured Borders' run, but Ichiro couldn't scoot to second.
»» MARINERS 1, NATIONALS 0
Winn fouled off a 2-0 pitch and later hit a grounder that went off Guzman's glove, though he was able to recover and throw to first in time. Dammit.
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: C-
I enjoyed the lead while I could. Guzman bounced a 3-1 pitch off the track and over the wall for a ground-rule double. Patterson bunted to the third-base side, moving Guzman to third. Wilkerson whiffed on a full count. Byrd tripled on the first pitch to score Guzman and tie the game. Fiddlesticks.
»» NATIONALS 1, MARINERS 1
Guillen had the hitters' counts and grounded to the hole at short, where Morse made a decent backhand play to nab him at first.
TOP 6TH
Grade: C-
Again, frustrating. Beltre led off by singling an 0-2 pitch through the right side for a single. Sexson whiffed on a 2-2 pitch. Ibañez was caught looking. Boone popped out to Spivey along the rightfield line. Oddly, Beltre did his job in Bizarro Sixth Inning.
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: B+
This would be Moyer's final inning. Johnson grounded out to short. Castilla grounded a 3-1 pitch deep into the hole at short, and Morse tried to backhand it, but never had control of the ball, and it went for a single. Spivey got behind 0-2 and ended up taking the whiff. Bennett flew out to Winn in leftcenter.
Moyer's line: 6 innings, 1 run, 4 hits, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts, 102 pitches (54 strikes)
TOP 7TH
Grade: C-
The last gasp. Morse ripped a leadoff single through the left side. He stole second on the 1-1 pitch to Borders. Borders fisted off a pitch that was way inside and grounded it to first, moving Morse over to third. Up came Greg Dobbs to pinch-hit for Moyer, officially signaling the end of the latter's outing. Dobbs proved his pinch-hitting prowess by getting the hitters' counts, and also by popping a foul ball behind the plate by the screen, caught by Bennett. The Mariners needed only a sacrifice fly to retake the lead, but oh well. Ichiro flew out to leftfield to end the inning, and in my mind, the game.
Patterson's line: 7 innings, 1 run, 6 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts, 106 pitches (73 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: C
JJ Putz came in for Moyer. Guzman grounded an 0-2 pitch hard to Beltre, who made the play. Paleozoic exile Carlos Baerga came in to pinch-hit for Patterson, and singled past a diving Boone into centerfield. Tony Blanco pinch-ran for the relic. Wilkerson took a 3-1 pitch high and outside for ball four. Ryan Church came in to pinch-hit for Byrd, and he drew a four-pitch walk. Great times, really. With the bases loaded and one out, I then predicted a two-run double for Guillen, but he instead just settled for a single up the middle to score one runner (Blanco). For all intensive purposes, that was the game.
»» NATIONALS 2, MARINERS 1
Johnson grounded the second pitch to Boone, who started the 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. Too bad that double play didn't come one hitter earlier.
Putz' line: 1 inning, 1 run, 2 hits, 2 walks, 0 strikeouts, 22 pitches (11 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Grade: C-
Luis Ayala came in for Patterson. Winn flew out to rightfield. Beltre fouled off a 2-0 pitch but flew out to Spivey on the outfield grass on the next pitch. Sexson grounded out hard to short to end the inning.
Ayala's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 9 pitches (6 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: B-
Jeff Nelson came in for Putz. Castilla was caught looking on an 0-2 pitch. Spivey walked on a 3-1 pitch. Bennett ripped a single to rightfield, moving Spivey to third. Surely Nelson couldn't get through it that easily. Guzman took a 1-2 backdoor slider over the outside corner. Wil Cordero hit in the pitcher's spot and flew out to centerfield.
Nelson's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 17 pitches (10 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Grade: C-
Chad Cordero came in to close things out. Ibañez grounded out to the hole on the right side. Boone took an 0-2 fastball over the outside corner since clutch is everything in life. Morse flew out to centerfield. Ballgame.
Cordero's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 11 pitches (8 strikes)
---
Gameball: Mike Morse.
The gameball after the obvious Randy Winn (only multi-hitting Mariner) is going to Morse, who went 1-for-3 with a walk, a steal, and a decent turn on the double play that ended the 7th. I'm just hoping he hits more consistently than now-Padre Wilson Valdez. Or Willie Bloomquist.
Goat: JJ Putz.
I keep thinking of Rondell White derailing Arthur Rhodes' season a couple years ago. Now I'm drawing that parallel with JJ Putz and the two grand slams in consecutive appearances from a few weeks ago. It's been said that closers and other relievers have to have short memories, but I've learned that the Seahawk defense and JJ Putz seem to have roughly the same amount of success. I'm not saying the offense wasn't terrible in spots during this game, because they certainly were bad. However, with the game tied, Putz gave up a single to a dinosaur and then used the next nine pitches to walk the next two batters. It's a miracle only one run scored in that inning, but it was all Washington needed.
Though I'm all the way over here in Hawaii, I did see part of the first game of the series as well, and though I know the Nationals are on a crazy tear right now and they're winning a bunch of one-run games, it makes it that much worse to know that I think the Mariners should have won both of the first two games in this series. It's pretty much a testament to the season that they didn't manage to pull one of these games off, and dare I say it's an end to the good streak of late. Maybe they can waddle in mediocrity for a week or two before having another good streak. Anything other than pushing the button marked "nosedive" is good with me.
Maybe it's better that I was away from the Mariners for a while. They did win seven of nine and eight of eleven. My interest in the Mariners was re-piqued after I got closer to getting my new place of residence, and now they've lost this series at RFK. The only good memory of this series so far that I'm remembering is Richie Sexson reaching the upper deck in leftfield. Washington's roll aside, I can't believe the Mariners might get swept in this series without even drawing Livan Hernandez. That's cause for momentary sadness. Of course, like I said, I'll have to wait until the first Saturday in July to fully welcome my new place to civilization, so maybe that'll give the Mariners some time to find themselves again.
But as much as I've just whined about the past two games, at least we can say that the Mariners haven't gotten the shellac treatment. They've had the lead in both games. The games have been competitive. The endings have left a lot to be desired, but it's still a step up from an 8-19 month of May. Of course, when a month of June starts out 4-4 and it's an improvement, that gives you an idea of the type of team we're dealing with. Baby steps.
The Mariners have four weeks of baseball left before the All-Star break. I know the Angels have been banged up, and I know Vlad Guerrero is back from injury and everything...but the Mariners might be able to make some hay if they go into the All-Star break five games back of the division lead. I think it's a worthwhile goal for this group, and I hope they can come through on it. They've shown signs of waking up lately, and I certainly hope they do.
Franklin. Armas. Today.
In 25 words or less: Come-from-behind wins by the Nationals are a great story when they don't come against my team.
Okay, this might be an isolated incident here. This is just a lucky thing because the person I'm staying with has MLB.tv and I was able to actually sit there for three hours and watch it. I've had very few instances since I got to Hawaii where I could actually sit in one place for three hours and watch a game or do something not related to trying to find a place to live.
So even though I'm moving into my new place on Wednesday, I've called the cable/internet people (Time Warner/Road Runner) and they'll be able to hook my place up on...July 2nd. I was pre-warned about the non-quickness when it comes to getting service, so I really wasn't surprised.
Seriously, enough about me and this whole place they call Hawaii. It's time to do a game wrap, dang it.
This one featured Jamie Moyer going up against John Patterson.
TOP 1ST
Grade: C-
Not much of a start. Ichiro popped the first pitch foul by the third-base bag. Randy Winn singled up the middle past the shortstop. Adrian Beltre popped the 0-2 pitch high to Nick Johnson beside the mound. Richie Sexson got behind 0-2, later popping out to centerfield.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: C+
Moyer didn't start out too hot. Brad Wilkerson was beaned in the right arm with a 2-2 pitch. Marlon Byrd jumped on a 3-1 pitch, driving it to the gap in leftcenter where Raul Ibañez made a running catch, and Wilkerson had to hurry back to first on the failed hit-and-run attempt. Wilkerson stole second on the first pitch to Jose Guillen, drawing a ridiculously wide and late throw from Pat Borders behind the plate. Guillen walked on four pitches. Nick Johnson fell behind 0-2, later hitting a flare to leftfield that Ibañez charged and caught. With his momentum carrying him toward the infield, Ibañez threw to second and was able to double Wilkerson off of second, who thought the ball was going to drop.
TOP 2ND
Grade: C-
More of nothing out of the offense. Raul Ibañez flew out to centerfield. Bret Boone grounded the first pitch to third and was nailed by a charging and very old Vinny Castilla. Mike Morse took a 3-1 pitch to the track in centerfield, missing out on his first big-league homer.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: A
Luckily, Moyer would get on track a bit. Castilla flew out to centerfield. Junior Spivey grounded the first pitch to third. Gary Bennett whiffed on a 1-2 pitch that was way outside.
TOP 3RD
Grade: C-
This one was frustrating. Pat Borders led off by ripping a 1-1 pitch into centerfield for a single. Jamie Moyer missed bunting on the first two pitches, both strikes. He bunted the 0-2 pitch and placed it nicely, but it was too hard, and Johnson was already about halfway down the first-base line when Moyer had bunted the ball. Johnson was able to pounce on the ball and nail Borders at second. Not good. Patterson climbed the ladder and got Ichiro hacking and missing on a 0-2 pitch. Winn got ahead 3-1, and hit a gapper to leftcenter on a full count for a double, moving Moyer to third but no further thanks to Wilkerson stopping the ball short of the track and wall. Beltre came through in the clutch, popping the first pitch to Spivey just onto the outfield grass. Hilariously, the FSNNW broadcast had rolled the theme music before the ball had even come down in Spivey's glove.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: B-
Moyer returned to some shakiness. Cristian Guzman nubbed a 2-1 pitch into centerfield. John Patterson bunted to send Guzman to second. Wilkerson walked on a 3-1 pitch. Byrd got behind 0-2 and ended up flying out short of the track in leftfield, deep enough to move Guzman to third. Guillen weakly popped an 0-2 pitch to centerfield to end the inning.
TOP 4TH
Grade: C-
Not a banner inning for the middle third of the order. Sexson whiffed. Ibañez flew out to centerfield. For the cherry on top, Boone was caught looking.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: B-
It was apparent by this point that Moyer wasn't having one of his better outings. Johnson was beaned on the right elbow by a 2-2 pitch. Castilla got behind 0-2 and later flew out to Ichiro. Johnson was gunned down at second on the 3-1 pitch to Spivey. Johnson took the next pitch for ball four. Bennett whiffed on an 0-2 pitch low and outside, and Moyer reacted to the swing and miss in somewhat of an exhaustive nature...you'd really have to have seen it since I really can't describe it.
TOP 5TH
Grade: B
At least a run got across. Morse walked on a 3-1 pitch up and in. Borders hit an 0-2 lazy pop to leftfield. Moyer bunted correctly this time, able to move Borders to second. Ichiro hit a full-count hard grounder to first that ate up Johnson and went into rightfield, enough for career hit #999 for Ichiro and good to push Borders across the plate. Guillen also had some trouble fielding the ball in rightfield, and that ensured Borders' run, but Ichiro couldn't scoot to second.
»» MARINERS 1, NATIONALS 0
Winn fouled off a 2-0 pitch and later hit a grounder that went off Guzman's glove, though he was able to recover and throw to first in time. Dammit.
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: C-
I enjoyed the lead while I could. Guzman bounced a 3-1 pitch off the track and over the wall for a ground-rule double. Patterson bunted to the third-base side, moving Guzman to third. Wilkerson whiffed on a full count. Byrd tripled on the first pitch to score Guzman and tie the game. Fiddlesticks.
»» NATIONALS 1, MARINERS 1
Guillen had the hitters' counts and grounded to the hole at short, where Morse made a decent backhand play to nab him at first.
TOP 6TH
Grade: C-
Again, frustrating. Beltre led off by singling an 0-2 pitch through the right side for a single. Sexson whiffed on a 2-2 pitch. Ibañez was caught looking. Boone popped out to Spivey along the rightfield line. Oddly, Beltre did his job in Bizarro Sixth Inning.
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: B+
This would be Moyer's final inning. Johnson grounded out to short. Castilla grounded a 3-1 pitch deep into the hole at short, and Morse tried to backhand it, but never had control of the ball, and it went for a single. Spivey got behind 0-2 and ended up taking the whiff. Bennett flew out to Winn in leftcenter.
Moyer's line: 6 innings, 1 run, 4 hits, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts, 102 pitches (54 strikes)
TOP 7TH
Grade: C-
The last gasp. Morse ripped a leadoff single through the left side. He stole second on the 1-1 pitch to Borders. Borders fisted off a pitch that was way inside and grounded it to first, moving Morse over to third. Up came Greg Dobbs to pinch-hit for Moyer, officially signaling the end of the latter's outing. Dobbs proved his pinch-hitting prowess by getting the hitters' counts, and also by popping a foul ball behind the plate by the screen, caught by Bennett. The Mariners needed only a sacrifice fly to retake the lead, but oh well. Ichiro flew out to leftfield to end the inning, and in my mind, the game.
Patterson's line: 7 innings, 1 run, 6 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts, 106 pitches (73 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: C
JJ Putz came in for Moyer. Guzman grounded an 0-2 pitch hard to Beltre, who made the play. Paleozoic exile Carlos Baerga came in to pinch-hit for Patterson, and singled past a diving Boone into centerfield. Tony Blanco pinch-ran for the relic. Wilkerson took a 3-1 pitch high and outside for ball four. Ryan Church came in to pinch-hit for Byrd, and he drew a four-pitch walk. Great times, really. With the bases loaded and one out, I then predicted a two-run double for Guillen, but he instead just settled for a single up the middle to score one runner (Blanco). For all intensive purposes, that was the game.
»» NATIONALS 2, MARINERS 1
Johnson grounded the second pitch to Boone, who started the 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. Too bad that double play didn't come one hitter earlier.
Putz' line: 1 inning, 1 run, 2 hits, 2 walks, 0 strikeouts, 22 pitches (11 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Grade: C-
Luis Ayala came in for Patterson. Winn flew out to rightfield. Beltre fouled off a 2-0 pitch but flew out to Spivey on the outfield grass on the next pitch. Sexson grounded out hard to short to end the inning.
Ayala's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 9 pitches (6 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: B-
Jeff Nelson came in for Putz. Castilla was caught looking on an 0-2 pitch. Spivey walked on a 3-1 pitch. Bennett ripped a single to rightfield, moving Spivey to third. Surely Nelson couldn't get through it that easily. Guzman took a 1-2 backdoor slider over the outside corner. Wil Cordero hit in the pitcher's spot and flew out to centerfield.
Nelson's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 17 pitches (10 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Grade: C-
Chad Cordero came in to close things out. Ibañez grounded out to the hole on the right side. Boone took an 0-2 fastball over the outside corner since clutch is everything in life. Morse flew out to centerfield. Ballgame.
Cordero's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 11 pitches (8 strikes)
---
Gameball: Mike Morse.
The gameball after the obvious Randy Winn (only multi-hitting Mariner) is going to Morse, who went 1-for-3 with a walk, a steal, and a decent turn on the double play that ended the 7th. I'm just hoping he hits more consistently than now-Padre Wilson Valdez. Or Willie Bloomquist.
Goat: JJ Putz.
I keep thinking of Rondell White derailing Arthur Rhodes' season a couple years ago. Now I'm drawing that parallel with JJ Putz and the two grand slams in consecutive appearances from a few weeks ago. It's been said that closers and other relievers have to have short memories, but I've learned that the Seahawk defense and JJ Putz seem to have roughly the same amount of success. I'm not saying the offense wasn't terrible in spots during this game, because they certainly were bad. However, with the game tied, Putz gave up a single to a dinosaur and then used the next nine pitches to walk the next two batters. It's a miracle only one run scored in that inning, but it was all Washington needed.
Though I'm all the way over here in Hawaii, I did see part of the first game of the series as well, and though I know the Nationals are on a crazy tear right now and they're winning a bunch of one-run games, it makes it that much worse to know that I think the Mariners should have won both of the first two games in this series. It's pretty much a testament to the season that they didn't manage to pull one of these games off, and dare I say it's an end to the good streak of late. Maybe they can waddle in mediocrity for a week or two before having another good streak. Anything other than pushing the button marked "nosedive" is good with me.
Maybe it's better that I was away from the Mariners for a while. They did win seven of nine and eight of eleven. My interest in the Mariners was re-piqued after I got closer to getting my new place of residence, and now they've lost this series at RFK. The only good memory of this series so far that I'm remembering is Richie Sexson reaching the upper deck in leftfield. Washington's roll aside, I can't believe the Mariners might get swept in this series without even drawing Livan Hernandez. That's cause for momentary sadness. Of course, like I said, I'll have to wait until the first Saturday in July to fully welcome my new place to civilization, so maybe that'll give the Mariners some time to find themselves again.
But as much as I've just whined about the past two games, at least we can say that the Mariners haven't gotten the shellac treatment. They've had the lead in both games. The games have been competitive. The endings have left a lot to be desired, but it's still a step up from an 8-19 month of May. Of course, when a month of June starts out 4-4 and it's an improvement, that gives you an idea of the type of team we're dealing with. Baby steps.
The Mariners have four weeks of baseball left before the All-Star break. I know the Angels have been banged up, and I know Vlad Guerrero is back from injury and everything...but the Mariners might be able to make some hay if they go into the All-Star break five games back of the division lead. I think it's a worthwhile goal for this group, and I hope they can come through on it. They've shown signs of waking up lately, and I certainly hope they do.
Franklin. Armas. Today.
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