Monday, July 04, 2005
GAME 81: MARINERS 6, ROYALS 0
Mariners 6, Royals 0
In 25 words or less: I reckon the boy from Spiro done did it again. Thanks goodness for the Royals.
This one featured Ryan Franklin and JP Howell. Franklin was trying to avoid being the first pitcher this year with 11 losses. In other news, Jeremy Reed sat for the second straight game. Me no like.
TOP 1ST
Grade: C
Some minor frustration in the first. Ichiro drew a leadoff walk. Randy Winn grounded to short for a fielder's choice to force out Ichiro. Raul Ibañez grounded a ball to second for the 4-6-3 double play. Not exactly how you'd want it to go.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: A
Franklin started off nicely. David DeJesus flew out to centerfield on the second pitch. Ruben Gotay flew out to Ichiro down the line in rightfield. Mike Sweeney foul-tipped an 0-2 pitch into Pat Borders' glove. Yes, a low-pitch inning for Ryan Franklin.
TOP 2ND
Grade: C-
Not much happening early. Adrian Beltre hit a grounder toward the hole on the right side, but Angel Berroa dove to his right and threw from his right knee to get Beltre at first. Sexson grounded out to short as well, with a less impressive play required. Lopez grounded out to third to end the inning.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: A
Franklin looked great early. Matt Stairs popped one back to Pat Borders near the third-base dugout on the first pitch. Terrence Long grounded out to first. Angel Berroa whiffed to end the inning.
TOP 3RD
Grade: A
Damage was done. Mike Morse singled into leftfield on the first pitch. Willie Bloomquist poked a single through the hole on the right side to move Morse to third. Pat Borders fouled off a 2-0 pitch, then stung the next pitch through the second baseman Gotay, scoring Morse and moving Bloomquist to second.
»» MARINERS 1, ROYALS 0
Ichiro whiffed on a pitch low and away. Winn fouled off a 3-1 pitch before hitting a pop fly to rightcenter. This was the play where Terrence Long caught the ball and he and David DeJesus slid into each other, which for some reason went for a Web Gem on Baseball Tonight even though Adrian Beltre's two basket catches in foul territory were nowhere to be found on the countdown. Nonetheless, Ibañez hit a laser beam on the second pitch, reaching the Royals' bullpen.
»» MARINERS 4, ROYALS 0
Beltre then whiffed on a 1-2 pitch to end the inning.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: B+
Franklin got some help. Mark Teahen walked on a full-count pitch down and in. John Buck popped a ball along the rightfield line that Jose Lopez ran over to catch. Shane Costa got the hitters' counts, but rolled the 3-1 pitch to Lopez, who started the 4-6-3 double play.
TOP 4TH
Grade:
Interesting thing about this inning -- Howell never threw a called strike. Sexson just got under a 2-0 pitch, flying out to DeJesus in leftcenter. Lopez grounded the 2-0 pitch to third, which Teahen bobbled for an error. Morse grounded the second pitch to Stairs at first, who tagged the bag and got Lopez in a rundown for the double play to end the inning.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: A
Still, Franklin kept rolling. DeJesus nubbed a ball to third to lead off. Gotay bounced one to Sexson. Sweeney hit a soft liner to Lopez to end the inning. Quite easy for Franklin.
TOP 5TH
Grade: C
Once again, not too much. Bloomquist flew out to centerfield on the first pitch. Borders hit a shallow fly to rightfield, which was caught by Gotay drifting backward. Ichiro had a 2-0 count and later singled past Gotay on a full count. Winn worked an 0-2 count full and fouled off a few pitches, but went away with a popout behind the plate.
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: A-
Franklin kept rolling along. Stairs grounded one down the line to Beltre. Long popped the first pitch foul down the leftfield line, where Beltre made an over-the-shoulder basket catch. Berroa singled up the middle on an 0-2 pitch. Teahen grounded an 0-2 pitch toward Franklin, who got a glove on it to knock it down and then threw to first for the out.
TOP 6TH
Grade: B+
The Mariners took out an insurance policy. Ibañez sliced a served a single into leftfield to lead off. Beltre hit a 2-0 laser through the right side for a single. Sexson put the bat on the first pitch, blooping one into rightfield for a single. Long fell down in rightfield trying to field the ball, and Ibañez fell down rounding third almost simultaneously. Ibañez did manage to score, though, and Beltre took third on the play.
»» MARINERS 5, ROYALS 0
Mike Wood came in for Howell. Lopez grounded the first pitch right to short, and an easy 6-4-3 double play was turned. However, Beltre scored.
»» MARINERS 6, ROYALS 0
Morse took a low 3-1 pitch for a walk. Bloomquist hit a chopper to third to end the inning.
Howell's line: 5 innings, 6 runs, 8 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 82 pitches (48 strikes)
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: A-
Franklin must have known he was facing the Royals. Buck bounced out to third. Costa placed a near-perfect bunt, and Beltre couldn't make the barehand play as Costa pocketed the infield single. DeJesus grounded a ball to Lopez, who threw to Morse at second for the forceout. Gotay got ahead 3-0, but popped to Ichiro in shallow rightfield on the next pitch.
TOP 7TH
Grade: C
Luckily the Mariners had a six-run lead at this point. Borders chopped a ball to short. Ichiro poked the 2-2 pitch through the right side for another single (warming up?). Winn was ahead 2-0 in his at-bat, during which Ichiro was nearly picked off. Winn would whiff on a full-count slow curve. Ibañez hit a hard grounder right to first to end the inning.
Wood's line: 2 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, 30 pitches (17 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: B-
Franklin would escape the jam of all jams. Sweeney mashed the second pitch of the inning over Morse and into the gap in leftcenter, good for a double. Stairs was beaned in the right arm with the second pitch. It appeared Franklin was falling off the wagon a bit. Long hit the first pitch hard into centerfield, which was partly good because Sweeney couldn't break for home. The bases were loaded with nobody out. Franklin then fell behind 2-0 on Berroa. He then got a couple of borderline inside strike calls. Berroa would end up swinging through a low pitch for the first out of the inning. Teahen popped the first pitch foul down the leftfield line, and Beltre made nearly the same over-the-shoulder basket catch play he did earlier in the game, this time cradling the ball with his body. Buck hit the first pitch right to short, where Morse went to Lopez at second for the inning-ending forceout. That's the way it's been going for the Royals.
TOP 8TH
Grade: C
Ryan Jensen came in for Wood. Beltre got ahead 3-1 but later hit a healthy fly ball to centerfield for a flyout. Sexson singled straight through the box on an 0-2 pitch. Lopez flew out to centerfield on an 0-2 pitch. Morse worked a 1-2 count full before grounding out to first.
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: B
Franklin would hang tough. Costa took a 1-2 pitch over the outside corner. DeJesus worked an 0-2 count full, then lined a ball over Bloomquist's head in deep centerfield for a double. Gotay got the hitters' counts, singling to leftfield. DeJesus held up at third since the single was a shallow one, but DeJesus must have forgotten that Randy Winn was coming up throwing and not Jose Guillen. Sweeney got behind 0-2, later grounding a 2-2 pitch right to Beltre, who turned the 5-4-3 double play. Amazing.
TOP 9TH
Grade: C
Again, the Mariners hit like they had a six-run lead and were facing the Royals. Bloomquist hit a checkswing grounder to second. Borders whiffed on an outside pitch. Ichiro dinked a 1-0 pitch into centerfield. Winn got ahead 3-0, but flew out to leftfield on 3-1.
Jensen's line: 2 innings, 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 33 pitches (21 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Grade: A-
Franklin would finish what he started. Stairs had a 2-0 count, later popping out to Lopez. Long got behind 0-2, later hitting a low liner to Winn. Berroa flew out to Ichiro on the first pitch. Ballgame.
Franklin's line: 9 innings, 0 runs, 6 hits, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts, 103 pitches (67 strikes)
---
Gameball: Ichiro.
Much worthy gameball-type praise could definitely go to Ryan Franklin for a complete-game six-hit shutout, as those things don't happen too often. Other praise could go to Raul Ibañez, whose three-run homer blew the game open and enabled Franklin to get into cruise control, except for that bases-loaded-with-nobody-out inning. However, I really think Ichiro needed a day like this. A 3-for-4 day with a walk is a very good day for Ichiro, and I hope it can get him a little bump in the confidence department, since he had a terrible June. Nonetheless, Ichiro getting on base more often creates more RBI opportunities for the meat of the order, of which Ibañez has suddenly pushed himself up to third in the order. We definitely don't have to worry about the three-righties-in-a-row "problem" that presented itself in the early part of the season anymore (exit Boone). Anyway, if Ichiro gets back on track, good times will be had.
Goat: Randy Winn.
He's lucky Ichiro was terrible throughout June. If I told you a month and a half ago that Randy Winn's average would be the same as Adrian Beltre's, and that they would both be hitting .264, you would have told me I was on crack. Interestingly, it's Ibañez that has kept his near-.300 pace over the last couple weeks while Randy Winn has fallen off the face of the earth. The damage today was an 0-for-5 while leaving six runners on base. But you see, we need the Mariners to kick some mucho tail before the deadline so that the trade value will be crazy high.
This might be a normal postgame formality here...
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 60-21 .741 -- W4
2003 53-28 .654 7 W1
2002 51-30 .630 9 L1
2000 48-33 .593 12 L1
2005 35-46 .432 25 W2
2004 32-49 .395 28 L4
The hitting was timely. The three-run homer by Ibañez got out of the yard in a hurry, but it also made the game a lot more comfortable to watch until Franklin made it way too interesting in the 7th. The aforementioned Ichiro had three hits, while Ibañez and Sexson chipped in two each. More interestingly, the bottom third of the lineup (Morse/Bloomquist/Borders) all had a hit apiece. Is anyone starting to miss those obligatory zeroes in the H column next to the names of Olivo and Valdez in the boxscore? Yeah, me neither.
Once Ibañez hit that homer, I was going to flip my lid if Franklin blew a four-run lead. Luckily, he made the absolute most of it. Granted, I'd have liked it better if the Mariners could have gotten a complete game in the final game of the series in Kansas City so the bullpen could be well-rested going into the four-game road series against the Angels, but still, bullpen rest is good anywhere you can get it. Franklin wriggled out of the nailbiting seventh inning and got two other double plays behind him in the game.
I'm getting ahead of myself here, but let's say the Mariners sweep the Royals. They'll have a four-game win streak going into the four-game series in Orange County to go into the break. What if they won eight in a row going into the break? It's a pipe dream, I know. They'd be at 41-46. Of course, with a team that hot going into the All-Star break, I'm sure the last thing that team would want is a break -- they'd want to keep playing and stay red-hot. Oh well. It was a nice thought, but I kind of wrote and thought myself into a corner.
I'm still ticked that the Angel Berroa play and the Terrence Long collision catch made their way onto the Web Gems segment on Baseball Tonight, but Adrian Beltre's two basket catches in foul territory didn't make a mark. Absolute crap. It doesn't help that Harold Reynolds is still very high on Berroa, but come on, help out your old team here.
It's hilarious to think that these next two games are at 2:10pm over here for me. I'll have to watch this stuff in the MLB.tv archive once I get home. Yes, it's crazy stuff. Of course, my training will take me to Norfolk, VA for football season, so I won't get the incredible joy of NFL Sundays starting at 7 or 8am, depending on whether the mainland has observed Daylight Savings Time.
The Mariners have crossed the halfway point. They're 35-46. That pace would lead them to a 70-92 finish, seven games better than last year. I'd rather they fulfill my prediction and win 77, but hey, time will tell.
Meche. Carrasco. Tomorrow.
In 25 words or less: I reckon the boy from Spiro done did it again. Thanks goodness for the Royals.
This one featured Ryan Franklin and JP Howell. Franklin was trying to avoid being the first pitcher this year with 11 losses. In other news, Jeremy Reed sat for the second straight game. Me no like.
TOP 1ST
Grade: C
Some minor frustration in the first. Ichiro drew a leadoff walk. Randy Winn grounded to short for a fielder's choice to force out Ichiro. Raul Ibañez grounded a ball to second for the 4-6-3 double play. Not exactly how you'd want it to go.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: A
Franklin started off nicely. David DeJesus flew out to centerfield on the second pitch. Ruben Gotay flew out to Ichiro down the line in rightfield. Mike Sweeney foul-tipped an 0-2 pitch into Pat Borders' glove. Yes, a low-pitch inning for Ryan Franklin.
TOP 2ND
Grade: C-
Not much happening early. Adrian Beltre hit a grounder toward the hole on the right side, but Angel Berroa dove to his right and threw from his right knee to get Beltre at first. Sexson grounded out to short as well, with a less impressive play required. Lopez grounded out to third to end the inning.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: A
Franklin looked great early. Matt Stairs popped one back to Pat Borders near the third-base dugout on the first pitch. Terrence Long grounded out to first. Angel Berroa whiffed to end the inning.
TOP 3RD
Grade: A
Damage was done. Mike Morse singled into leftfield on the first pitch. Willie Bloomquist poked a single through the hole on the right side to move Morse to third. Pat Borders fouled off a 2-0 pitch, then stung the next pitch through the second baseman Gotay, scoring Morse and moving Bloomquist to second.
»» MARINERS 1, ROYALS 0
Ichiro whiffed on a pitch low and away. Winn fouled off a 3-1 pitch before hitting a pop fly to rightcenter. This was the play where Terrence Long caught the ball and he and David DeJesus slid into each other, which for some reason went for a Web Gem on Baseball Tonight even though Adrian Beltre's two basket catches in foul territory were nowhere to be found on the countdown. Nonetheless, Ibañez hit a laser beam on the second pitch, reaching the Royals' bullpen.
»» MARINERS 4, ROYALS 0
Beltre then whiffed on a 1-2 pitch to end the inning.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: B+
Franklin got some help. Mark Teahen walked on a full-count pitch down and in. John Buck popped a ball along the rightfield line that Jose Lopez ran over to catch. Shane Costa got the hitters' counts, but rolled the 3-1 pitch to Lopez, who started the 4-6-3 double play.
TOP 4TH
Grade:
Interesting thing about this inning -- Howell never threw a called strike. Sexson just got under a 2-0 pitch, flying out to DeJesus in leftcenter. Lopez grounded the 2-0 pitch to third, which Teahen bobbled for an error. Morse grounded the second pitch to Stairs at first, who tagged the bag and got Lopez in a rundown for the double play to end the inning.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: A
Still, Franklin kept rolling. DeJesus nubbed a ball to third to lead off. Gotay bounced one to Sexson. Sweeney hit a soft liner to Lopez to end the inning. Quite easy for Franklin.
TOP 5TH
Grade: C
Once again, not too much. Bloomquist flew out to centerfield on the first pitch. Borders hit a shallow fly to rightfield, which was caught by Gotay drifting backward. Ichiro had a 2-0 count and later singled past Gotay on a full count. Winn worked an 0-2 count full and fouled off a few pitches, but went away with a popout behind the plate.
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: A-
Franklin kept rolling along. Stairs grounded one down the line to Beltre. Long popped the first pitch foul down the leftfield line, where Beltre made an over-the-shoulder basket catch. Berroa singled up the middle on an 0-2 pitch. Teahen grounded an 0-2 pitch toward Franklin, who got a glove on it to knock it down and then threw to first for the out.
TOP 6TH
Grade: B+
The Mariners took out an insurance policy. Ibañez sliced a served a single into leftfield to lead off. Beltre hit a 2-0 laser through the right side for a single. Sexson put the bat on the first pitch, blooping one into rightfield for a single. Long fell down in rightfield trying to field the ball, and Ibañez fell down rounding third almost simultaneously. Ibañez did manage to score, though, and Beltre took third on the play.
»» MARINERS 5, ROYALS 0
Mike Wood came in for Howell. Lopez grounded the first pitch right to short, and an easy 6-4-3 double play was turned. However, Beltre scored.
»» MARINERS 6, ROYALS 0
Morse took a low 3-1 pitch for a walk. Bloomquist hit a chopper to third to end the inning.
Howell's line: 5 innings, 6 runs, 8 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 82 pitches (48 strikes)
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: A-
Franklin must have known he was facing the Royals. Buck bounced out to third. Costa placed a near-perfect bunt, and Beltre couldn't make the barehand play as Costa pocketed the infield single. DeJesus grounded a ball to Lopez, who threw to Morse at second for the forceout. Gotay got ahead 3-0, but popped to Ichiro in shallow rightfield on the next pitch.
TOP 7TH
Grade: C
Luckily the Mariners had a six-run lead at this point. Borders chopped a ball to short. Ichiro poked the 2-2 pitch through the right side for another single (warming up?). Winn was ahead 2-0 in his at-bat, during which Ichiro was nearly picked off. Winn would whiff on a full-count slow curve. Ibañez hit a hard grounder right to first to end the inning.
Wood's line: 2 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, 30 pitches (17 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: B-
Franklin would escape the jam of all jams. Sweeney mashed the second pitch of the inning over Morse and into the gap in leftcenter, good for a double. Stairs was beaned in the right arm with the second pitch. It appeared Franklin was falling off the wagon a bit. Long hit the first pitch hard into centerfield, which was partly good because Sweeney couldn't break for home. The bases were loaded with nobody out. Franklin then fell behind 2-0 on Berroa. He then got a couple of borderline inside strike calls. Berroa would end up swinging through a low pitch for the first out of the inning. Teahen popped the first pitch foul down the leftfield line, and Beltre made nearly the same over-the-shoulder basket catch play he did earlier in the game, this time cradling the ball with his body. Buck hit the first pitch right to short, where Morse went to Lopez at second for the inning-ending forceout. That's the way it's been going for the Royals.
TOP 8TH
Grade: C
Ryan Jensen came in for Wood. Beltre got ahead 3-1 but later hit a healthy fly ball to centerfield for a flyout. Sexson singled straight through the box on an 0-2 pitch. Lopez flew out to centerfield on an 0-2 pitch. Morse worked a 1-2 count full before grounding out to first.
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: B
Franklin would hang tough. Costa took a 1-2 pitch over the outside corner. DeJesus worked an 0-2 count full, then lined a ball over Bloomquist's head in deep centerfield for a double. Gotay got the hitters' counts, singling to leftfield. DeJesus held up at third since the single was a shallow one, but DeJesus must have forgotten that Randy Winn was coming up throwing and not Jose Guillen. Sweeney got behind 0-2, later grounding a 2-2 pitch right to Beltre, who turned the 5-4-3 double play. Amazing.
TOP 9TH
Grade: C
Again, the Mariners hit like they had a six-run lead and were facing the Royals. Bloomquist hit a checkswing grounder to second. Borders whiffed on an outside pitch. Ichiro dinked a 1-0 pitch into centerfield. Winn got ahead 3-0, but flew out to leftfield on 3-1.
Jensen's line: 2 innings, 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 33 pitches (21 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Grade: A-
Franklin would finish what he started. Stairs had a 2-0 count, later popping out to Lopez. Long got behind 0-2, later hitting a low liner to Winn. Berroa flew out to Ichiro on the first pitch. Ballgame.
Franklin's line: 9 innings, 0 runs, 6 hits, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts, 103 pitches (67 strikes)
---
Gameball: Ichiro.
Much worthy gameball-type praise could definitely go to Ryan Franklin for a complete-game six-hit shutout, as those things don't happen too often. Other praise could go to Raul Ibañez, whose three-run homer blew the game open and enabled Franklin to get into cruise control, except for that bases-loaded-with-nobody-out inning. However, I really think Ichiro needed a day like this. A 3-for-4 day with a walk is a very good day for Ichiro, and I hope it can get him a little bump in the confidence department, since he had a terrible June. Nonetheless, Ichiro getting on base more often creates more RBI opportunities for the meat of the order, of which Ibañez has suddenly pushed himself up to third in the order. We definitely don't have to worry about the three-righties-in-a-row "problem" that presented itself in the early part of the season anymore (exit Boone). Anyway, if Ichiro gets back on track, good times will be had.
Goat: Randy Winn.
He's lucky Ichiro was terrible throughout June. If I told you a month and a half ago that Randy Winn's average would be the same as Adrian Beltre's, and that they would both be hitting .264, you would have told me I was on crack. Interestingly, it's Ibañez that has kept his near-.300 pace over the last couple weeks while Randy Winn has fallen off the face of the earth. The damage today was an 0-for-5 while leaving six runners on base. But you see, we need the Mariners to kick some mucho tail before the deadline so that the trade value will be crazy high.
This might be a normal postgame formality here...
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 60-21 .741 -- W4
2003 53-28 .654 7 W1
2002 51-30 .630 9 L1
2000 48-33 .593 12 L1
2005 35-46 .432 25 W2
2004 32-49 .395 28 L4
The hitting was timely. The three-run homer by Ibañez got out of the yard in a hurry, but it also made the game a lot more comfortable to watch until Franklin made it way too interesting in the 7th. The aforementioned Ichiro had three hits, while Ibañez and Sexson chipped in two each. More interestingly, the bottom third of the lineup (Morse/Bloomquist/Borders) all had a hit apiece. Is anyone starting to miss those obligatory zeroes in the H column next to the names of Olivo and Valdez in the boxscore? Yeah, me neither.
Once Ibañez hit that homer, I was going to flip my lid if Franklin blew a four-run lead. Luckily, he made the absolute most of it. Granted, I'd have liked it better if the Mariners could have gotten a complete game in the final game of the series in Kansas City so the bullpen could be well-rested going into the four-game road series against the Angels, but still, bullpen rest is good anywhere you can get it. Franklin wriggled out of the nailbiting seventh inning and got two other double plays behind him in the game.
I'm getting ahead of myself here, but let's say the Mariners sweep the Royals. They'll have a four-game win streak going into the four-game series in Orange County to go into the break. What if they won eight in a row going into the break? It's a pipe dream, I know. They'd be at 41-46. Of course, with a team that hot going into the All-Star break, I'm sure the last thing that team would want is a break -- they'd want to keep playing and stay red-hot. Oh well. It was a nice thought, but I kind of wrote and thought myself into a corner.
I'm still ticked that the Angel Berroa play and the Terrence Long collision catch made their way onto the Web Gems segment on Baseball Tonight, but Adrian Beltre's two basket catches in foul territory didn't make a mark. Absolute crap. It doesn't help that Harold Reynolds is still very high on Berroa, but come on, help out your old team here.
It's hilarious to think that these next two games are at 2:10pm over here for me. I'll have to watch this stuff in the MLB.tv archive once I get home. Yes, it's crazy stuff. Of course, my training will take me to Norfolk, VA for football season, so I won't get the incredible joy of NFL Sundays starting at 7 or 8am, depending on whether the mainland has observed Daylight Savings Time.
The Mariners have crossed the halfway point. They're 35-46. That pace would lead them to a 70-92 finish, seven games better than last year. I'd rather they fulfill my prediction and win 77, but hey, time will tell.
Meche. Carrasco. Tomorrow.
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