Saturday, July 30, 2005
GAME 102: INDIANS 10, MARINERS 5
Indians 10, Mariners 5
In 25 words or less: This is a game you'd like to forget. It was a stinker early, and the one concussion didn't even relate to the beanballs.
This one featured Kevin Millwood going up against Aaron Sele. The latter was going for his lucky seventh straight loss. In other news, catcher Pat Borders was designated for assignment before the game, and Wiki Gonzalez was recalled from AAA Tacoma. Why? Well, it's to usher in the youth movement of the Mariners at catcher, of course! That happens when you go from a 42-year-old catcher to anybody.
TOP 1ST
Grade: C-
Sele dug the hole early. Grady Sizemore worked a 1-2 count full and then smoked a line drive out of the yard to the left of the hitters' backdrop in centerfield.
»» INDIANS 1, MARINERS 0
Ron Belliard tagged a 1-2 pitch past Yuniesky Betancourt at second for a single. Jhonny Peralta took an 0-2 pitch over the inside corner. Victor Martinez crushed the second pitch into the gap in rightcenter, scoring Belliard.
»» INDIANS 2, MARINERS 0
Jeff Liefer bounced the first pitch to second, moving Martinez over to third. Aaron Boone hit a 3-1 low liner to Ichiro in rightfield, who made the catch.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: B-
The Mariners cut it in half. Ichiro bounced out to second. Randy Winn got a hold of a high pitch and put it about ten or so rows into the rightfield seats.
»» INDIANS 2, MARINERS 1
Raul Ibañez flew out high near the leftfield line. Richie Sexson whiffed on a 2-2 pitch off the plate outside.
TOP 2ND
Grade: B-
Sele had some two-out trouble. Ben Broussard slapped a line drive the other way right into Mike Morse's glove at short. Casey Blake rolled a high pitch to second for a groundout. Jason Dubois bounced the first pitch up the middle for a single. Sizemore had the hitters' counts, took another strike, then took a pitch barely low for a walk, moving Dubois to second. Belliard got behind 0-2, and Wiki Gonzalez behind the plate had trouble catching a couple pitches, looking like maybe the signs were crossed up. Belliard reached on a pitch low and away and grounded to short, where Morse threw to second, but it wasn't in time, though it was ruled a fielder's choice. Peralta chopped the second pitch high to second and was forced out at first.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: C+
The Mariners couldn't muster any runs. Adrian Beltre roped the first pitch the other way into the outfield for a single. Jeremy Reed flew out to fairly deep leftfield on the first pitch. Mike Morse ripped the second pitch into leftfield for a single, moving Beltre to second. Yuniesky Betancourt lined the second pitch to fairly deep leftfield for an out. Wiki Gonzalez smacked a 1-1 pitch foul down the leftfield line, but almost with home-run distance. Gonzalez ended up rolling out to second.
TOP 3RD
Grade: C
The Indians widened the cushion. Martinez dinked a single into leftfield. Liefer slapped the first pitch into leftfield for a single, moving Martinez to second. Boone worked a 1-2 count full, then took a pitch low and away for a walk. Broussard fouled off an 0-2 pitch, then hit golfed the next pitch high to centerfield, where Reed came down with it. Martinez scored, and Liefer went to third.
»» INDIANS 3, MARINERS 1
Blake flew out short of the track in rightfield, scoring Liefer.
»» INDIANS 4, MARINERS 1
Dubois got behind 0-2 and eventually whiffed over a breaking ball on 2-2.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: C+
The Mariners couldn't push runners across again. Ichiro chopped a 2-0 pitch right to first, and Broussard jogged over and stepped on the bag. Winn rolled a ball up the middle, and Peralta fielded it but had no play. Winn had the single. Ibañez got ahead 2-0 and later got a hold of a high full-count pitch on a hit-and-run, singling through the right side and sending Winn to third. Sexson took a 1-2 pitch that nearly hit him, then took a 2-2 pitch high and outside, but apparently over the corner for strike three. Beltre grounded the second pitch to third.
TOP 4TH
Grade: D+
The roof fell in. Sizemore crushed the 1-1 pitch to the track in centerfield, where Reed looked to have caught the ball with the bottom of his glove, but lost it after he rammed into the wall and fell down. Sizemore ended up on third base. Belliard dunked the second pitch into shallow leftfield to score Sizemore.
»» INDIANS 5, MARINERS 1
Peralta dumped the second pitch into centerfield for a single, and Belliard moved to second. Martinez golfed a fastball down and in that went barely over the wall in rightfield.
»» INDIANS 8, MARINERS 1
Liefer flew out to Reed on the track in centerfield. Boone got ahead 2-0 and fouled off a couple of 2-2 pitches before whiffing on a 2-2 curve over the outside corner. Broussard got behind 0-2 and eventually flew out lazily to second.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: C
Nothing much here again. Reed got ahead 2-0, then later lined a 2-2 pitch right into a leaping Boone's glove at third. Morse got ahead 2-0 and eventually rolled out to second on a 2-2 count. Yuniesky Betancourt checkswung at the second pitch low and away, dinking it into centerfield for a single. Gonzalez flew out to rightfield.
TOP 5TH
Grade: B-
The Indians just couldn't get enough. Blake dropped the second pitch in front of Winn in leftfield for a single. Dubois ripped a single over Morse at short and into leftfield, moving Blake to second.
Shigetoshi Hasegawa came in for Sele. Sizemore got behind 0-2 before smacking a 2-2 pitch into rightfield for a single, and Dubois was caught in a rundown.
»» INDIANS 9, MARINERS 1
Belliard got ahead 3-0, fouled off three pitches with a full count, then flew out to Willie Bloomquist. Peralta got behind 0-2 and later nubbed a 1-2 pitch up the middle into centerfield for a single. Martinez grounded hard to first, where Sexson underhanded to a covering Hasegawa.
Sele's line: 4 innings, 9 runs, 12 hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, 98 pitches (66 strikes)
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: C+
The Mariners played like scoring was akin to the plague. Ichiro lofted a ball into centerfield for a single. Winn whiffed on a belly-high 2-2 pitch for a strikeout. Ichiro stole second on the 1-0 pitch to Ibañez, who grounded a 2-2 pitch hard to second. Ichiro moved to third on the groundout. Sexson one-hopped the second pitch to second.
TOP 6TH
Grade: B+
Hasegawa held the fort, or what was left of it. Liefer tagged the second pitch into centerfield for a single. Boone grounded to short for a textbook 6-4-3 double play. Broussard chopped to first, and Sexson underhanded a long toss over to a covering Hasegawa.
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: C-
It was obvious which team was going to win this game. Beltre nubbed a grounder toward third, and Boone ranged to his left, scooped, and made an off-balance throw in time. Willie Bloomquist, batting for Reed on account of the latter's mild concussion from ramming into the centerfield wall on a catch attempt, bounced out to second. Morse bounced out to short.
TOP 7TH
Grade: C+
It started to get out of hand. Blake fisted a 1-2 pitch in the air to Beltre at third. Dubois crushed a full-count pitch about ten rows back into the seats in rightcenter.
»» INDIANS 10, MARINERS 1
Hasegawa nailed Sizemore near the small of the back with the first pitch, and Hasegawa was tossed. Mike Hargrove argued to no avail. The Cleveland FSN Ohio crew was laying into Hasegawa and Hargrove.
Julio Mateo came in for Hasegawa. Belliard popped the first pitch to Betancourt in shallow rightfield. Peralta whiffed on an 0-2 breaking ball.
Hasegawa's line: 2 1/3 innnings, 1 run, 4 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 45 pitches (30 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: B-
The game officially got out of hand. Betancourt was drilled on the left buttock with the first pitch by Millwood, and the latter was tossed. Also ejected was Cleveland manager Eric Wedge.
Rafael Betancourt came in for Millwood. Gonzalez popped the first pitch to shallow rightfield, and it appeared to be between Belliard and Blake in rightfield. Belliard gave way to Blake at the last second, and Blake slid forward a bit and dropped it, and both runners were safe. Ichiro knocked the second pitch down the leftfield line and toward the corner for a double. Yuniesky Betancourt scored, and Gonzalez moved to second.
»» INDIANS 10, MARINERS 2
Winn slapped the first pitch into leftfield for a single. Gonzalez scored and Ichiro moved to second. Cleveland pitching coach Carl Willis visited the mound.
»» INDIANS 10, MARINERS 3
Ibañez popped the second pitch high into leftfield for a flyout. Sexson got behind 0-2 and later whiffed on a 1-2 fastball. Beltre took a 1-1 fastball that was a bit low, but called a strike, much to everyone's chagrin. He fouled the next pitch into the catcher's glove.
Millwood's line: 6 innings, 2 runs, 7 hits, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts, 88 pitches (57 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Grade: B+
Mateo shut down the Indians. Dave Hansen and Scott Spiezio came in for Sexson and Beltre. Martinez fouled a 1-2 pitch into the catcher's glove for a strikeout. Liefer lined the second pitch to the track in rightfield, where Ichiro reached up to catch it. Boone dumped the second pitch into leftfield for a single. Broussard got ahead 3-0, fouled off two pitches, then flew out to leftfield.
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: C-
Again, the Mariners couldn't do anything. Bloomquist fouled off an 0-2 pitch, then took a breaking ball just off the plate outside, but it was called a strike, and Bloomquist took quiet umbrage, getting out of the box a bit slowly. Morse worked an 0-2 count full and fouled off a couple pitches before whiffing on a belt-high fastball. Yuniesky Betancourt popped the second pitch high to rightfield.
Betancourt's line: 2 innings, 1 run (unearned), 2 hits, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts, 29 pitches (21 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Grade: A
Mateo completed his mastery of the Indians. Blake popped a 1-2 pitch high to Gonzalez behind the plate, who caught it without incident. Dubois whiffed on a 2-2 pitch. Sizemore whiffed on a 2-2 dirtball.
Mateo's line: 2 2/3 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts, 35 pitches (25 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Grade: B
David Riske came in for Rafael Betancourt. Gonzalez dumped a single into rightfield. Ichiro was drilled above the right back pocket on the second pitch, having a bit of trouble walking afterward. Riske was tossed.
Arthur Rhodes came in for Riske. Winn slapped the first pitch through the right side for a single, loading the bases. Ibañez smacked a 1-2 pitch over the shortstop, scoring Gonzalez and Ichiro.
»» INDIANS 10, MARINERS 5
Hansen took a 2-2 fastball over the outside corner. Spiezio worked an 0-2 count full before whiffing on a dirtball low and away. Bloomquist popped the first pitch to Blake. Ballgame.
Riske's line: 0 innings, 2 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 5 pitches (3 strikes)
Rhodes' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 17 pitches (11 strikes)
---
Gameball: Ichiro.
He went 2-for-4 with a beanball and a stolen base. He led off the first and third innings with groundouts before he warmed up. He singled to lead off the fifth, then singled to drive in Yuniesky Betancourt in the seventh, then he was drilled in the ninth by David Riske. Sure, it would have been nice for Ichiro to set the table those first two times up, since the Mariners couldn't seem to get anything going when the game was still within reasonable reach, but then Aaron Sele took care of that pretty quickly. In a totally weird note, I don't think it happens often where the leadoff hitter in the lineup actually hits to lead off the inning in his first three times at the plate. Anyway, I thought it was odd, and nobody out there probably cared, but there's that thought for you. Add to this the rightfield defense that we take for granted from Ichiro, and you get the gameball for this awful game. But who cares? A ton of people got free tee-shirts at the gate before the game. We all know the game doesn't matter, just the promotions.
Goat: Aaron Sele.
I don't know what more Aaron Sele needs to do to pitch himself out of a job. In this string of seven straight losses, he has allowed three earned runs in a game once, and that was at Kansas City back on the 6th. Just for shock value, I'll add up his totals in the span of seven losses. Here's his line: 34 innings, 40 runs (39 earned), 61 hits, 12 walks, 17 strikeouts, 637 pitches (387 strikes). That comes out to an ERA of 10.32 in that span, well over a run per inning. If you're ever sitting there one day at work or at school thinking, "how can a starting pitcher increase his ERA by 1.93 around the All-Star break?" then here's Case Study #1. He had an ERA of 3.73 after his June 20th start against Oakland, which was the last good start for Sele, though it was a no-decision. He now graces Mariner fans with a plump, juicy 5.66 ERA. His last win was one start before that Oakland start, which was a June 15th home start against the Phillies. You can bet that it keeps a lot of Phillies up late at night knowing that they were the last team to lose to Aaron Sele. If Aaron Sele is still a Mariner after the trade deadline, I seriously might blow a gasket.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 73-29 .716 -- W1
2002 62-40 .608 11 W1
2003 62-40 .608 11 W1
2000 59-43 .578 14 W1
2005 44-58 .431 29 L2
2004 39-63 .382 34 L1
The only thing worse than watching this game was watching from the bottom of the seventh to the end of it live, cooking dinner, waiting for MLB.tv to archive it, then watching the rest of the game up to that point. I'm basically saying it was worse watching it on archived footage than it was watching it as it happened. Nothing's going to ruin my mood, though, since I picked up the third season of SeaLab 2021 on DVD, along with Dane Cook's brand-new Retaliation album, and...a digital camera. I don't even know why I got a digital camera, since we all know there's basically nothing to take pictures of in Hawaii, but I guess I've just wanted one for the longest time, so I went and got one once I felt secure with my funds and everything. Yes, with purchases of these all at once, there's no way a Mariner game could bring my spirits down.
Crap, now I have to resort to talking about the game itself. Fairly or unfairly (see, I wasn't referring to the broadcaster), every time a Mariner pitcher gives up a few runs in the first inning of a home game, I always remind myself of Freddy Garcia the day after the deadline two seasons ago, when the team could last be considered "good." Of course, Garcia hung a four-spot in the first inning, and the fans booing that day weren't just venting about Freddy going out and stinking it up. The fans that day were also ticked off because the Mariners did jack at the deadline for the 958393th year in a row at the trade deadline. As bad Sele's line was in the game that most of this recap talks about, Garcia's line on August 1st of 2003 is a true ERA buster of five outs and seven runs. Also, as bad as Matt Thornton is, I like him exponentially better than Aaron Taylor, who I didn't like one bit. I'm not saying he's a bad person, I'm just saying that the way he pitched managed to not impress me in any way. Whoa, Julio Mateo struck out eight guys in long relief in that game. Also, Bartolo Colon was still good at the time.
Also, and I've referred to this game many a time here at Sports and B's, every time there's any semblance of a beanball war, I'm reminded of the first game I attended at the Safe. That's when we all learned that Chad Curtis was a punk. That was also around the time we discovered that Chuck Knoblauch couldn't handle himself at second base in the Bronx. How does soembody develop the thing Knoblauch had? When he threw to first, he'd look at the ball as it left his hand, rather than looking toward the target. How does somebody possibly develop that? I'd like to know who taught him to do it, if anyone. Oh yeah, that game. Jeff Fassero was on his way out of Seattle, and he spotted the Yankees a five-run lead before we had even found our seats, namely the Paul O'Neill homer. Three batters were nailed in the Cleveland/Seattle game last night, and only two got plunked in the Yankees/Mariners tilt from six years past. Of course, I'm pretty sure there was a later brushback of Alex Rodriguez, which drew the ire of the Mariner dugout and many fans. The sick thing was that in 1999, the Mariners still had their False Hope Comeback shoes on. The roof was closed because it was stormy outside that day, so that may account for the four homers that were hit.
Multi-hit games for the Mariner offense were bunched at the top of the order, with the aforementioned Ichiro (2-for-4 with an RBI, beanball, and steal), Raul Ibañez (2-for-5 with 2 RBIs), and lastly but definitely not leastly, the obvious gameball candidate, Randy Winn. Winn went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and a homer. He vaulted his average to .275 from .268 the night before. His average hasn't been this high in a month. On the 29th of last month, he was hitting .276 after a game at Oakland. June 18th marked the last game that Winn finished with an average over .300. Randy Winn's batting average bottomed out at .262 during his semi-nosedive. If it gets back to .290, whatever team he's with at the time will really like him.
A series loss to offset a series win (Detroit)? It could happen today. Might these be the times that try baseball men's souls?
Sabathia. Franklin. Today.
In 25 words or less: This is a game you'd like to forget. It was a stinker early, and the one concussion didn't even relate to the beanballs.
This one featured Kevin Millwood going up against Aaron Sele. The latter was going for his lucky seventh straight loss. In other news, catcher Pat Borders was designated for assignment before the game, and Wiki Gonzalez was recalled from AAA Tacoma. Why? Well, it's to usher in the youth movement of the Mariners at catcher, of course! That happens when you go from a 42-year-old catcher to anybody.
TOP 1ST
Grade: C-
Sele dug the hole early. Grady Sizemore worked a 1-2 count full and then smoked a line drive out of the yard to the left of the hitters' backdrop in centerfield.
»» INDIANS 1, MARINERS 0
Ron Belliard tagged a 1-2 pitch past Yuniesky Betancourt at second for a single. Jhonny Peralta took an 0-2 pitch over the inside corner. Victor Martinez crushed the second pitch into the gap in rightcenter, scoring Belliard.
»» INDIANS 2, MARINERS 0
Jeff Liefer bounced the first pitch to second, moving Martinez over to third. Aaron Boone hit a 3-1 low liner to Ichiro in rightfield, who made the catch.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: B-
The Mariners cut it in half. Ichiro bounced out to second. Randy Winn got a hold of a high pitch and put it about ten or so rows into the rightfield seats.
»» INDIANS 2, MARINERS 1
Raul Ibañez flew out high near the leftfield line. Richie Sexson whiffed on a 2-2 pitch off the plate outside.
TOP 2ND
Grade: B-
Sele had some two-out trouble. Ben Broussard slapped a line drive the other way right into Mike Morse's glove at short. Casey Blake rolled a high pitch to second for a groundout. Jason Dubois bounced the first pitch up the middle for a single. Sizemore had the hitters' counts, took another strike, then took a pitch barely low for a walk, moving Dubois to second. Belliard got behind 0-2, and Wiki Gonzalez behind the plate had trouble catching a couple pitches, looking like maybe the signs were crossed up. Belliard reached on a pitch low and away and grounded to short, where Morse threw to second, but it wasn't in time, though it was ruled a fielder's choice. Peralta chopped the second pitch high to second and was forced out at first.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: C+
The Mariners couldn't muster any runs. Adrian Beltre roped the first pitch the other way into the outfield for a single. Jeremy Reed flew out to fairly deep leftfield on the first pitch. Mike Morse ripped the second pitch into leftfield for a single, moving Beltre to second. Yuniesky Betancourt lined the second pitch to fairly deep leftfield for an out. Wiki Gonzalez smacked a 1-1 pitch foul down the leftfield line, but almost with home-run distance. Gonzalez ended up rolling out to second.
TOP 3RD
Grade: C
The Indians widened the cushion. Martinez dinked a single into leftfield. Liefer slapped the first pitch into leftfield for a single, moving Martinez to second. Boone worked a 1-2 count full, then took a pitch low and away for a walk. Broussard fouled off an 0-2 pitch, then hit golfed the next pitch high to centerfield, where Reed came down with it. Martinez scored, and Liefer went to third.
»» INDIANS 3, MARINERS 1
Blake flew out short of the track in rightfield, scoring Liefer.
»» INDIANS 4, MARINERS 1
Dubois got behind 0-2 and eventually whiffed over a breaking ball on 2-2.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: C+
The Mariners couldn't push runners across again. Ichiro chopped a 2-0 pitch right to first, and Broussard jogged over and stepped on the bag. Winn rolled a ball up the middle, and Peralta fielded it but had no play. Winn had the single. Ibañez got ahead 2-0 and later got a hold of a high full-count pitch on a hit-and-run, singling through the right side and sending Winn to third. Sexson took a 1-2 pitch that nearly hit him, then took a 2-2 pitch high and outside, but apparently over the corner for strike three. Beltre grounded the second pitch to third.
TOP 4TH
Grade: D+
The roof fell in. Sizemore crushed the 1-1 pitch to the track in centerfield, where Reed looked to have caught the ball with the bottom of his glove, but lost it after he rammed into the wall and fell down. Sizemore ended up on third base. Belliard dunked the second pitch into shallow leftfield to score Sizemore.
»» INDIANS 5, MARINERS 1
Peralta dumped the second pitch into centerfield for a single, and Belliard moved to second. Martinez golfed a fastball down and in that went barely over the wall in rightfield.
»» INDIANS 8, MARINERS 1
Liefer flew out to Reed on the track in centerfield. Boone got ahead 2-0 and fouled off a couple of 2-2 pitches before whiffing on a 2-2 curve over the outside corner. Broussard got behind 0-2 and eventually flew out lazily to second.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: C
Nothing much here again. Reed got ahead 2-0, then later lined a 2-2 pitch right into a leaping Boone's glove at third. Morse got ahead 2-0 and eventually rolled out to second on a 2-2 count. Yuniesky Betancourt checkswung at the second pitch low and away, dinking it into centerfield for a single. Gonzalez flew out to rightfield.
TOP 5TH
Grade: B-
The Indians just couldn't get enough. Blake dropped the second pitch in front of Winn in leftfield for a single. Dubois ripped a single over Morse at short and into leftfield, moving Blake to second.
Shigetoshi Hasegawa came in for Sele. Sizemore got behind 0-2 before smacking a 2-2 pitch into rightfield for a single, and Dubois was caught in a rundown.
»» INDIANS 9, MARINERS 1
Belliard got ahead 3-0, fouled off three pitches with a full count, then flew out to Willie Bloomquist. Peralta got behind 0-2 and later nubbed a 1-2 pitch up the middle into centerfield for a single. Martinez grounded hard to first, where Sexson underhanded to a covering Hasegawa.
Sele's line: 4 innings, 9 runs, 12 hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, 98 pitches (66 strikes)
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: C+
The Mariners played like scoring was akin to the plague. Ichiro lofted a ball into centerfield for a single. Winn whiffed on a belly-high 2-2 pitch for a strikeout. Ichiro stole second on the 1-0 pitch to Ibañez, who grounded a 2-2 pitch hard to second. Ichiro moved to third on the groundout. Sexson one-hopped the second pitch to second.
TOP 6TH
Grade: B+
Hasegawa held the fort, or what was left of it. Liefer tagged the second pitch into centerfield for a single. Boone grounded to short for a textbook 6-4-3 double play. Broussard chopped to first, and Sexson underhanded a long toss over to a covering Hasegawa.
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: C-
It was obvious which team was going to win this game. Beltre nubbed a grounder toward third, and Boone ranged to his left, scooped, and made an off-balance throw in time. Willie Bloomquist, batting for Reed on account of the latter's mild concussion from ramming into the centerfield wall on a catch attempt, bounced out to second. Morse bounced out to short.
TOP 7TH
Grade: C+
It started to get out of hand. Blake fisted a 1-2 pitch in the air to Beltre at third. Dubois crushed a full-count pitch about ten rows back into the seats in rightcenter.
»» INDIANS 10, MARINERS 1
Hasegawa nailed Sizemore near the small of the back with the first pitch, and Hasegawa was tossed. Mike Hargrove argued to no avail. The Cleveland FSN Ohio crew was laying into Hasegawa and Hargrove.
Julio Mateo came in for Hasegawa. Belliard popped the first pitch to Betancourt in shallow rightfield. Peralta whiffed on an 0-2 breaking ball.
Hasegawa's line: 2 1/3 innnings, 1 run, 4 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 45 pitches (30 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: B-
The game officially got out of hand. Betancourt was drilled on the left buttock with the first pitch by Millwood, and the latter was tossed. Also ejected was Cleveland manager Eric Wedge.
Rafael Betancourt came in for Millwood. Gonzalez popped the first pitch to shallow rightfield, and it appeared to be between Belliard and Blake in rightfield. Belliard gave way to Blake at the last second, and Blake slid forward a bit and dropped it, and both runners were safe. Ichiro knocked the second pitch down the leftfield line and toward the corner for a double. Yuniesky Betancourt scored, and Gonzalez moved to second.
»» INDIANS 10, MARINERS 2
Winn slapped the first pitch into leftfield for a single. Gonzalez scored and Ichiro moved to second. Cleveland pitching coach Carl Willis visited the mound.
»» INDIANS 10, MARINERS 3
Ibañez popped the second pitch high into leftfield for a flyout. Sexson got behind 0-2 and later whiffed on a 1-2 fastball. Beltre took a 1-1 fastball that was a bit low, but called a strike, much to everyone's chagrin. He fouled the next pitch into the catcher's glove.
Millwood's line: 6 innings, 2 runs, 7 hits, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts, 88 pitches (57 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Grade: B+
Mateo shut down the Indians. Dave Hansen and Scott Spiezio came in for Sexson and Beltre. Martinez fouled a 1-2 pitch into the catcher's glove for a strikeout. Liefer lined the second pitch to the track in rightfield, where Ichiro reached up to catch it. Boone dumped the second pitch into leftfield for a single. Broussard got ahead 3-0, fouled off two pitches, then flew out to leftfield.
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: C-
Again, the Mariners couldn't do anything. Bloomquist fouled off an 0-2 pitch, then took a breaking ball just off the plate outside, but it was called a strike, and Bloomquist took quiet umbrage, getting out of the box a bit slowly. Morse worked an 0-2 count full and fouled off a couple pitches before whiffing on a belt-high fastball. Yuniesky Betancourt popped the second pitch high to rightfield.
Betancourt's line: 2 innings, 1 run (unearned), 2 hits, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts, 29 pitches (21 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Grade: A
Mateo completed his mastery of the Indians. Blake popped a 1-2 pitch high to Gonzalez behind the plate, who caught it without incident. Dubois whiffed on a 2-2 pitch. Sizemore whiffed on a 2-2 dirtball.
Mateo's line: 2 2/3 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts, 35 pitches (25 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Grade: B
David Riske came in for Rafael Betancourt. Gonzalez dumped a single into rightfield. Ichiro was drilled above the right back pocket on the second pitch, having a bit of trouble walking afterward. Riske was tossed.
Arthur Rhodes came in for Riske. Winn slapped the first pitch through the right side for a single, loading the bases. Ibañez smacked a 1-2 pitch over the shortstop, scoring Gonzalez and Ichiro.
»» INDIANS 10, MARINERS 5
Hansen took a 2-2 fastball over the outside corner. Spiezio worked an 0-2 count full before whiffing on a dirtball low and away. Bloomquist popped the first pitch to Blake. Ballgame.
Riske's line: 0 innings, 2 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 5 pitches (3 strikes)
Rhodes' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 17 pitches (11 strikes)
---
Gameball: Ichiro.
He went 2-for-4 with a beanball and a stolen base. He led off the first and third innings with groundouts before he warmed up. He singled to lead off the fifth, then singled to drive in Yuniesky Betancourt in the seventh, then he was drilled in the ninth by David Riske. Sure, it would have been nice for Ichiro to set the table those first two times up, since the Mariners couldn't seem to get anything going when the game was still within reasonable reach, but then Aaron Sele took care of that pretty quickly. In a totally weird note, I don't think it happens often where the leadoff hitter in the lineup actually hits to lead off the inning in his first three times at the plate. Anyway, I thought it was odd, and nobody out there probably cared, but there's that thought for you. Add to this the rightfield defense that we take for granted from Ichiro, and you get the gameball for this awful game. But who cares? A ton of people got free tee-shirts at the gate before the game. We all know the game doesn't matter, just the promotions.
Goat: Aaron Sele.
I don't know what more Aaron Sele needs to do to pitch himself out of a job. In this string of seven straight losses, he has allowed three earned runs in a game once, and that was at Kansas City back on the 6th. Just for shock value, I'll add up his totals in the span of seven losses. Here's his line: 34 innings, 40 runs (39 earned), 61 hits, 12 walks, 17 strikeouts, 637 pitches (387 strikes). That comes out to an ERA of 10.32 in that span, well over a run per inning. If you're ever sitting there one day at work or at school thinking, "how can a starting pitcher increase his ERA by 1.93 around the All-Star break?" then here's Case Study #1. He had an ERA of 3.73 after his June 20th start against Oakland, which was the last good start for Sele, though it was a no-decision. He now graces Mariner fans with a plump, juicy 5.66 ERA. His last win was one start before that Oakland start, which was a June 15th home start against the Phillies. You can bet that it keeps a lot of Phillies up late at night knowing that they were the last team to lose to Aaron Sele. If Aaron Sele is still a Mariner after the trade deadline, I seriously might blow a gasket.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 73-29 .716 -- W1
2002 62-40 .608 11 W1
2003 62-40 .608 11 W1
2000 59-43 .578 14 W1
2005 44-58 .431 29 L2
2004 39-63 .382 34 L1
The only thing worse than watching this game was watching from the bottom of the seventh to the end of it live, cooking dinner, waiting for MLB.tv to archive it, then watching the rest of the game up to that point. I'm basically saying it was worse watching it on archived footage than it was watching it as it happened. Nothing's going to ruin my mood, though, since I picked up the third season of SeaLab 2021 on DVD, along with Dane Cook's brand-new Retaliation album, and...a digital camera. I don't even know why I got a digital camera, since we all know there's basically nothing to take pictures of in Hawaii, but I guess I've just wanted one for the longest time, so I went and got one once I felt secure with my funds and everything. Yes, with purchases of these all at once, there's no way a Mariner game could bring my spirits down.
Crap, now I have to resort to talking about the game itself. Fairly or unfairly (see, I wasn't referring to the broadcaster), every time a Mariner pitcher gives up a few runs in the first inning of a home game, I always remind myself of Freddy Garcia the day after the deadline two seasons ago, when the team could last be considered "good." Of course, Garcia hung a four-spot in the first inning, and the fans booing that day weren't just venting about Freddy going out and stinking it up. The fans that day were also ticked off because the Mariners did jack at the deadline for the 958393th year in a row at the trade deadline. As bad Sele's line was in the game that most of this recap talks about, Garcia's line on August 1st of 2003 is a true ERA buster of five outs and seven runs. Also, as bad as Matt Thornton is, I like him exponentially better than Aaron Taylor, who I didn't like one bit. I'm not saying he's a bad person, I'm just saying that the way he pitched managed to not impress me in any way. Whoa, Julio Mateo struck out eight guys in long relief in that game. Also, Bartolo Colon was still good at the time.
Also, and I've referred to this game many a time here at Sports and B's, every time there's any semblance of a beanball war, I'm reminded of the first game I attended at the Safe. That's when we all learned that Chad Curtis was a punk. That was also around the time we discovered that Chuck Knoblauch couldn't handle himself at second base in the Bronx. How does soembody develop the thing Knoblauch had? When he threw to first, he'd look at the ball as it left his hand, rather than looking toward the target. How does somebody possibly develop that? I'd like to know who taught him to do it, if anyone. Oh yeah, that game. Jeff Fassero was on his way out of Seattle, and he spotted the Yankees a five-run lead before we had even found our seats, namely the Paul O'Neill homer. Three batters were nailed in the Cleveland/Seattle game last night, and only two got plunked in the Yankees/Mariners tilt from six years past. Of course, I'm pretty sure there was a later brushback of Alex Rodriguez, which drew the ire of the Mariner dugout and many fans. The sick thing was that in 1999, the Mariners still had their False Hope Comeback shoes on. The roof was closed because it was stormy outside that day, so that may account for the four homers that were hit.
Multi-hit games for the Mariner offense were bunched at the top of the order, with the aforementioned Ichiro (2-for-4 with an RBI, beanball, and steal), Raul Ibañez (2-for-5 with 2 RBIs), and lastly but definitely not leastly, the obvious gameball candidate, Randy Winn. Winn went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and a homer. He vaulted his average to .275 from .268 the night before. His average hasn't been this high in a month. On the 29th of last month, he was hitting .276 after a game at Oakland. June 18th marked the last game that Winn finished with an average over .300. Randy Winn's batting average bottomed out at .262 during his semi-nosedive. If it gets back to .290, whatever team he's with at the time will really like him.
A series loss to offset a series win (Detroit)? It could happen today. Might these be the times that try baseball men's souls?
Sabathia. Franklin. Today.
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