Sunday, June 12, 2005
GAME 61: NATIONALS 3, MARINERS 2
Nationals 3, Mariners 2
In 25 words or less: Broom Hilda. I wasn't a huge fan of the comic to begin with, though I didn't hate it. However, it reminds me of this series.
This less-detailed-than-the-game-before recap is of a game that featured Ryan Franklin going up against Tony Armas, Jr. Jeremy Reed finally got some playing time on this interleague road trip, and Randy Winn and Bret Boone both got the day off. Willie Bloomquist played second in place of Boone.
TOP 1ST
Grade: C+
They at least made Armas work. Ichiro flew out to leftfield on the second pitch. Jeremy Reed got down 0-2 and fouled off seven pitches en route to a 13-pitch walk. Adrian Beltre got ahead 2-0 and smacked a double into rightfield, moving Reed to third. Richie Sexson got down 0-2 and whiffed on the fourth pitch. Raul Ibañez got ahead 2-0, but eventually tapped back to the mound to end the inning.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: B
Franklin had some mild trouble. Brad Wilkerson got one strike and watched the next four pitches for a walk. Ryan Church fell behind 0-2 and eventually bounced a ball to Boone, who started the 4-6-3 double play. Jose Guillen took three strikes on three pitches to end the inning.
TOP 2ND
Grade: C+
More missed opportunities. Mike Morse flew out to rightfield. Willie Bloomquist singled through the hole on the right side. Rene Rivera bounced a ball to Armas, who bobbled it. Runners stood on first and second with one out. Ryan Franklin grounded a ball to third, and Rivera was forced out at second. Runners stood on first and third with two out, but Ichiro was at the plate. He grounded out to short.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: C
One part of the Ricoh Scouting Report was violated. Nick Johnson doubled into rightfield. Vinny Castilla flew out deep to Reed in centerfield, and Johnson tagged and moved to third. Junior Spivey mashed a low pitch over the leftfield fence.
»» NATIONALS 2, MARINERS 0
Brian Schneider fell behind 0-2 and flew out to leftfield. Jamey Carroll got down 0-2 and was caught looking in a Franklin flash of brilliance.
TOP 3RD
Grade: C+
More frustration, not that it's anything new. Reed gave the ball a good right, missing a homer to rightfield. Beltre doubled to centerfield and was assisted by Wilkerson misplaying the ball a bit. However, he wasn't helped by his hamstring, which tightened up on him as he rounded first base. He later came out of the game. Sexson was caught looking. Ibañez worked a nine-pitch walk. Morse got behind 0-2 and managed to work the count full, but whiffed to end the threat.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: B-
Franklin had some diciness once again. Franklin gave up a single to Tony Armas, Jr., the pitcher. Wilkerson took five pitches, which were one strike followed by four balls. Luckily, Church went down whiffing. Guillen flew out to center. Johnson grounded to Bloomquist at second for the fielder's choice to end the inning.
TOP 4TH
Grade: C+
I'm not sure whether plain 1-2-3 innings were more tolerable. Bloomquist whiffed. Rivera doubled to centerfield. He took second on the 2-0 wild pitch to Franklin, who ended up walking. Too bad Ichiro was up next. He flew out to leftfield. Reed bounced out to second to end the inning.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: C
Unfortunately, Beltre was pulled at this point and replaced at third by Dave Hansen, leaving a gaping power hole in the third spot of the lineup. Castilla got behind 0-2 and would single to leftcenter. He stole second on the first pitch to Spivey, who ended up whiffing. Schneider flew out to rightfield. Carroll singled to leftcenter to score Castilla and pretty much drive the nail into the coffin. Yes, I know this was only the 4th inning.
»» NATIONALS 3, MARINERS 0
Armas grounded out to second to end the inning.
TOP 5TH
Grade: C
A baserunner, but the usual. Hansen got behind 0-2 and would whiff in Beltre's spot. Sexson singled to shallow centerfield. Ibañez stung one to short, but it was snared by Carroll at short. Morse got behind 0-2 and whiffed to end the inning.
Armas' line: 5 innings, 0 runs, 5 hits, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts, 107 pitches (70 strikes)
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: B-
It would be the final inning for Franklin. Wilkerson doubled to lead off. Church popped one behind the plate to Rivera. Guillen popped to Hansen near third base. Johnson drew a walk. Castilla was caught looking.
Franklin's line: 5 innings, 3 runs, 6 hits, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts, 83 pitches (54 strikes)
TOP 6TH
Grade: B
Signs of life! Gary Majewski came in for Armas. Bloomquist got ahead 2-0 and led off with a single. Rivera got behind 0-2 and would whiff. Greg Dobbs pinch-hit for Franklin, officially ending the day for the latter. Dobbs wrapped a double to rightfield that scored Bloomquist from first.
»» NATIONALS 3, MARINERS 1
Ichiro grounded out to short. Right after the 1-1 pitch to Reed, Dobbs was caught napping at second by the catcher. It's one thing for the pitcher to step off and nab the runner at second on a daylight play, but it's quite another for the catcher to throw all the way down to second to nab the runner. Inexcusable.
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: B+
Julio Mateo came in for Franklin. Spivey got behind 0-2 and ended up with the whiff. Morse bobbled a Schneider grounder at short. Carroll popped a ball foul to Hansen, alleviating the pressure a bit. Majewski thankfully was the next hitter, and Mateo got him via el whiffo.
TOP 7TH
Grade: B
More life! Reed singled to center to lead off. Hansen flew out to left (gaping #3 hole). Sexson flew out to centerfield. Ibañez doubled to leftfield, scoring Reed and bringing the Mariners within one run. Ibañez was able to scoot along to third on the throw back in from Church.
»» NATIONALS 3, MARINERS 2
Luis Ayala came in for Majewski. Morse flew out to end the threat.
Majewski's line: 1 2/3 innings, 2 runs, 4 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 30 pitches (22 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: B
Mateo turned in another mostly solid inning of relief. Wilkerson was ahead 2-0 but ended up flying out to Reed. Church walked on four pitches. Guillen fouled a 2-0 pitch to Sexson at first. Johnson flew out to leftfield to end the inning.
Mateo's line: 2 innings, 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 34 pitches (21 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Grade: C+
Once again, nothing. Bloomquist grounded to second to lead off. Rivera nearly hit a homer on an 0-2 pitch, but it went for a flyout. Randy Winn pinch-hit in Mateo's spot and hit a single, so that was something. Ichiro lined out to the rightfielder to end the inning. Fun.
Ayala's line: 1 1/3 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 15 pitches (11 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: A
Jeff Nelson came in for Mateo. Castilla flew out to right. Spivey succumbed to the whiff. Schneider popped out to short to end the inning.
Nelson's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 13 pitches (9 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Grade: C-
Chad Cordero came out once again to slam the door shut. Reed flew out to centerfield. Hansen bounced out to first. Sexson grounded out to short. Ballgame.
Cordero's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 7 pitches (6 strikes)
---
Gameball: Adrian Beltre.
Let's hope he's okay. Thank goodness the Mariners had the day off after this game. He went 2-for-2 with both of the hits being doubles, but came up grabbing his left thigh rounding the bag at first after the second double. The hamstringness is recurring a little too often for my tastes. Anyone think it's sickly ironic that he hit 48 bombs on a jacked-up foot last year and he's hitting (fill in the blank) this year? It's quite disheartening. Still, I know who on this team I'd want to see at third base and batting third in the lineup, and it's definitely not Dave Hansen.
Goat: Ichiro.
Flirting with .400 seems like an eternity ago. Ichiro has gone hitless in three of the ten games so far this month. Though this 0-for-5 outing (six runners left on base) ended a six-game hitting streak, Ichiro has had exactly zero multi-hit games in the month of June. I'm amazed the Mariners won eight of 11 games despite Ichiro going through this funk. Though the Nationals are red hot, I think the fact that Ichiro is off his game has finally caught up to the Mariners' offense. The result is now going from winning eight of 11 to losing four of five. Yes, we can use losing grammar again, it's okay.
Again, I don't care if the Nationals are on fire. The Mariners were in all three of the games in this series. I'm on a fence between hating the Mariners for not taking at least one of the games and telling myself that it's at least competitive baseball. Still, it's pathetic to think that the Mariners didn't even draw Livan Hernandez and they still got swept. Not a nice thought.
Ryan Franklin...unfortunately the run support argument does carry some weight here, but at the same time, don't walk three guys. Walks suck, and so do walk parties. Amazingly, I'm saying this despite the fact that none of the three walks came around to score. Now that boils down to Franklin keeping the ball down and not running it over the middle of the plate. Junior Spivey didn't hit the best home-run pitch, but he still got a hold of one. Worse yet, if you want to use the "that's okay if it's only a solo shot" argument, Franklin had given up a double to Nick Johnson two batters before that. Too bad.
I think this was the only game of the three in the series where the Mariners never held the lead. I guess that's why it seemed like the most boring game of the series. Though I'll draw somewhat on my hockey experience here, I think it's very important for the Mariners to score first, and I think that's doubly true when they're at Safeco Field. That's mostly to keep the crowd interested in the game, or else it goes silent and you can hear a pin drop in there. Scoring first helps everyone out, as it obviously should. Needless to say, they scored first in the first two games of this series in Washington and won neither game, but they've got to use anything they can as a building block. It's good for the hitters, the starting pitchers, everyone. I'm not sure what I'd think if I heard Franklin say, "hey, they got leads for the other two guys in the series..."
For the hitting, I already mentioned the two biggies in the gameball/goat section. Begrudgingly, I'll admit that Willie Bloomquist did indeed get two hits to provide some production from the bottom of the order. I'll also put some praise toward Greg Dobbs for his RBI double, though I wished it could have come a day earlier and could have been traded for that popout to the screen. Other than Ichiro's numbers, the other horrific numbers that stand out in the boxscore belong to Mike Morse, who went 0-for-4, struck out three times, left four runners on base, and made an error. As we well know, that's the tradeoff you'll get with the occasional 2-for-3 day from the Coded One.
What comes next is an off-day for Monday followed by three each with the Phillies, Mets (Mike Cameron returns), and the A's in Seattle. All we want is a winning homestand. A week ago, that would have been a realistic goal. Now...
Lieber. Meche. Tuesday.
In 25 words or less: Broom Hilda. I wasn't a huge fan of the comic to begin with, though I didn't hate it. However, it reminds me of this series.
This less-detailed-than-the-game-before recap is of a game that featured Ryan Franklin going up against Tony Armas, Jr. Jeremy Reed finally got some playing time on this interleague road trip, and Randy Winn and Bret Boone both got the day off. Willie Bloomquist played second in place of Boone.
TOP 1ST
Grade: C+
They at least made Armas work. Ichiro flew out to leftfield on the second pitch. Jeremy Reed got down 0-2 and fouled off seven pitches en route to a 13-pitch walk. Adrian Beltre got ahead 2-0 and smacked a double into rightfield, moving Reed to third. Richie Sexson got down 0-2 and whiffed on the fourth pitch. Raul Ibañez got ahead 2-0, but eventually tapped back to the mound to end the inning.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: B
Franklin had some mild trouble. Brad Wilkerson got one strike and watched the next four pitches for a walk. Ryan Church fell behind 0-2 and eventually bounced a ball to Boone, who started the 4-6-3 double play. Jose Guillen took three strikes on three pitches to end the inning.
TOP 2ND
Grade: C+
More missed opportunities. Mike Morse flew out to rightfield. Willie Bloomquist singled through the hole on the right side. Rene Rivera bounced a ball to Armas, who bobbled it. Runners stood on first and second with one out. Ryan Franklin grounded a ball to third, and Rivera was forced out at second. Runners stood on first and third with two out, but Ichiro was at the plate. He grounded out to short.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: C
One part of the Ricoh Scouting Report was violated. Nick Johnson doubled into rightfield. Vinny Castilla flew out deep to Reed in centerfield, and Johnson tagged and moved to third. Junior Spivey mashed a low pitch over the leftfield fence.
»» NATIONALS 2, MARINERS 0
Brian Schneider fell behind 0-2 and flew out to leftfield. Jamey Carroll got down 0-2 and was caught looking in a Franklin flash of brilliance.
TOP 3RD
Grade: C+
More frustration, not that it's anything new. Reed gave the ball a good right, missing a homer to rightfield. Beltre doubled to centerfield and was assisted by Wilkerson misplaying the ball a bit. However, he wasn't helped by his hamstring, which tightened up on him as he rounded first base. He later came out of the game. Sexson was caught looking. Ibañez worked a nine-pitch walk. Morse got behind 0-2 and managed to work the count full, but whiffed to end the threat.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: B-
Franklin had some diciness once again. Franklin gave up a single to Tony Armas, Jr., the pitcher. Wilkerson took five pitches, which were one strike followed by four balls. Luckily, Church went down whiffing. Guillen flew out to center. Johnson grounded to Bloomquist at second for the fielder's choice to end the inning.
TOP 4TH
Grade: C+
I'm not sure whether plain 1-2-3 innings were more tolerable. Bloomquist whiffed. Rivera doubled to centerfield. He took second on the 2-0 wild pitch to Franklin, who ended up walking. Too bad Ichiro was up next. He flew out to leftfield. Reed bounced out to second to end the inning.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: C
Unfortunately, Beltre was pulled at this point and replaced at third by Dave Hansen, leaving a gaping power hole in the third spot of the lineup. Castilla got behind 0-2 and would single to leftcenter. He stole second on the first pitch to Spivey, who ended up whiffing. Schneider flew out to rightfield. Carroll singled to leftcenter to score Castilla and pretty much drive the nail into the coffin. Yes, I know this was only the 4th inning.
»» NATIONALS 3, MARINERS 0
Armas grounded out to second to end the inning.
TOP 5TH
Grade: C
A baserunner, but the usual. Hansen got behind 0-2 and would whiff in Beltre's spot. Sexson singled to shallow centerfield. Ibañez stung one to short, but it was snared by Carroll at short. Morse got behind 0-2 and whiffed to end the inning.
Armas' line: 5 innings, 0 runs, 5 hits, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts, 107 pitches (70 strikes)
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: B-
It would be the final inning for Franklin. Wilkerson doubled to lead off. Church popped one behind the plate to Rivera. Guillen popped to Hansen near third base. Johnson drew a walk. Castilla was caught looking.
Franklin's line: 5 innings, 3 runs, 6 hits, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts, 83 pitches (54 strikes)
TOP 6TH
Grade: B
Signs of life! Gary Majewski came in for Armas. Bloomquist got ahead 2-0 and led off with a single. Rivera got behind 0-2 and would whiff. Greg Dobbs pinch-hit for Franklin, officially ending the day for the latter. Dobbs wrapped a double to rightfield that scored Bloomquist from first.
»» NATIONALS 3, MARINERS 1
Ichiro grounded out to short. Right after the 1-1 pitch to Reed, Dobbs was caught napping at second by the catcher. It's one thing for the pitcher to step off and nab the runner at second on a daylight play, but it's quite another for the catcher to throw all the way down to second to nab the runner. Inexcusable.
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: B+
Julio Mateo came in for Franklin. Spivey got behind 0-2 and ended up with the whiff. Morse bobbled a Schneider grounder at short. Carroll popped a ball foul to Hansen, alleviating the pressure a bit. Majewski thankfully was the next hitter, and Mateo got him via el whiffo.
TOP 7TH
Grade: B
More life! Reed singled to center to lead off. Hansen flew out to left (gaping #3 hole). Sexson flew out to centerfield. Ibañez doubled to leftfield, scoring Reed and bringing the Mariners within one run. Ibañez was able to scoot along to third on the throw back in from Church.
»» NATIONALS 3, MARINERS 2
Luis Ayala came in for Majewski. Morse flew out to end the threat.
Majewski's line: 1 2/3 innings, 2 runs, 4 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 30 pitches (22 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: B
Mateo turned in another mostly solid inning of relief. Wilkerson was ahead 2-0 but ended up flying out to Reed. Church walked on four pitches. Guillen fouled a 2-0 pitch to Sexson at first. Johnson flew out to leftfield to end the inning.
Mateo's line: 2 innings, 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 34 pitches (21 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Grade: C+
Once again, nothing. Bloomquist grounded to second to lead off. Rivera nearly hit a homer on an 0-2 pitch, but it went for a flyout. Randy Winn pinch-hit in Mateo's spot and hit a single, so that was something. Ichiro lined out to the rightfielder to end the inning. Fun.
Ayala's line: 1 1/3 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 15 pitches (11 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: A
Jeff Nelson came in for Mateo. Castilla flew out to right. Spivey succumbed to the whiff. Schneider popped out to short to end the inning.
Nelson's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 13 pitches (9 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Grade: C-
Chad Cordero came out once again to slam the door shut. Reed flew out to centerfield. Hansen bounced out to first. Sexson grounded out to short. Ballgame.
Cordero's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 7 pitches (6 strikes)
---
Gameball: Adrian Beltre.
Let's hope he's okay. Thank goodness the Mariners had the day off after this game. He went 2-for-2 with both of the hits being doubles, but came up grabbing his left thigh rounding the bag at first after the second double. The hamstringness is recurring a little too often for my tastes. Anyone think it's sickly ironic that he hit 48 bombs on a jacked-up foot last year and he's hitting (fill in the blank) this year? It's quite disheartening. Still, I know who on this team I'd want to see at third base and batting third in the lineup, and it's definitely not Dave Hansen.
Goat: Ichiro.
Flirting with .400 seems like an eternity ago. Ichiro has gone hitless in three of the ten games so far this month. Though this 0-for-5 outing (six runners left on base) ended a six-game hitting streak, Ichiro has had exactly zero multi-hit games in the month of June. I'm amazed the Mariners won eight of 11 games despite Ichiro going through this funk. Though the Nationals are red hot, I think the fact that Ichiro is off his game has finally caught up to the Mariners' offense. The result is now going from winning eight of 11 to losing four of five. Yes, we can use losing grammar again, it's okay.
Again, I don't care if the Nationals are on fire. The Mariners were in all three of the games in this series. I'm on a fence between hating the Mariners for not taking at least one of the games and telling myself that it's at least competitive baseball. Still, it's pathetic to think that the Mariners didn't even draw Livan Hernandez and they still got swept. Not a nice thought.
Ryan Franklin...unfortunately the run support argument does carry some weight here, but at the same time, don't walk three guys. Walks suck, and so do walk parties. Amazingly, I'm saying this despite the fact that none of the three walks came around to score. Now that boils down to Franklin keeping the ball down and not running it over the middle of the plate. Junior Spivey didn't hit the best home-run pitch, but he still got a hold of one. Worse yet, if you want to use the "that's okay if it's only a solo shot" argument, Franklin had given up a double to Nick Johnson two batters before that. Too bad.
I think this was the only game of the three in the series where the Mariners never held the lead. I guess that's why it seemed like the most boring game of the series. Though I'll draw somewhat on my hockey experience here, I think it's very important for the Mariners to score first, and I think that's doubly true when they're at Safeco Field. That's mostly to keep the crowd interested in the game, or else it goes silent and you can hear a pin drop in there. Scoring first helps everyone out, as it obviously should. Needless to say, they scored first in the first two games of this series in Washington and won neither game, but they've got to use anything they can as a building block. It's good for the hitters, the starting pitchers, everyone. I'm not sure what I'd think if I heard Franklin say, "hey, they got leads for the other two guys in the series..."
For the hitting, I already mentioned the two biggies in the gameball/goat section. Begrudgingly, I'll admit that Willie Bloomquist did indeed get two hits to provide some production from the bottom of the order. I'll also put some praise toward Greg Dobbs for his RBI double, though I wished it could have come a day earlier and could have been traded for that popout to the screen. Other than Ichiro's numbers, the other horrific numbers that stand out in the boxscore belong to Mike Morse, who went 0-for-4, struck out three times, left four runners on base, and made an error. As we well know, that's the tradeoff you'll get with the occasional 2-for-3 day from the Coded One.
What comes next is an off-day for Monday followed by three each with the Phillies, Mets (Mike Cameron returns), and the A's in Seattle. All we want is a winning homestand. A week ago, that would have been a realistic goal. Now...
Lieber. Meche. Tuesday.
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