Sunday, July 17, 2005
GAME 90: MARINERS 3, ORIOLES 2
Mariners 3, Orioles 2
In 25 words or less: It was a stalemate between two soft-tossing lefties, but both left the game in the late innings. Then it got interesting.
This one featured mega-journeyman Bruce Chen going up against elder statesman Jamie Moyer. Rafael Palmeiro got his 3000th hit the night before, so I thought about him less during this game. The Mariners came into the game hoping they'd give themselves a chance to split the series.
TOP 1ST
Grade: B
Not the easiest first inning for Moyer. Brian Roberts flew out to leftfield on the first pitch. Sammy Sosa whacked a 2-0 pitch off the third-base bag and down the leftfield line for a double. The ball got away from Randy Winn in the corner, but Sosa was running, and he stopped at second. Melvin Mora flew out to the track in rightfield, sufficiently deep to send Sosa to third. Miguel Tejada popped out to Jose Lopez in shallow centerfield.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: A
Oh my, the Mariners jumped on an opponent early! Ichiro whiffed brutally at a 2-0 pitch before lining out to center on a 3-1 pitch. Randy Winn got ahead 2-0 and slapped the 2-1 pitch down the leftfield line for a double. With the count 2-0 on Raul Ibañez, Chen made a bad pickoff throw to second, and Winn scooted to third. Ibañez fouled off a 3-0 pitch, whiffed on an offspeed inside pitch on 3-1, then flew out hard to centerfield on a full count, but it was deep enough to score Winn.
»» MARINERS 1, ORIOLES 0
After the broadcast had showed the Coors Cold Blast promo featuring Richie Sexson's homer from the night before, Sexson hammered the next pitch (1-1) to the left of the hitters' backdrop in centerfield, a 422-foot blast. Just a solo shot, sure, but a nice addition to the inning.
»» MARINERS 2, ORIOLES 0
Adrian Beltre lined a single into leftfield. Willie Bloomquist fouled off an 0-2 pitch before bouncing out to short.
TOP 2ND
Grade: B
This inning was a lot like the first. Rafael Palmeiro got ahead 2-0, and eventually flew out to centerfield. BJ Surhoff worked an 0-2 count full, fouling off a few pitches, then doubling off the track and wall in the gap in rightcenter. Luis Matos hit a hard roller to second for an out. Larry Bigbie checkswung on a 2-2 inside pitch, but the appeal didn't go his way as Moyer recorded the strikeout.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: C-
Then came the offensive hangover. Mike Morse got down 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 curve down and in. Jose Lopez fouled off a couple of two-strike pitches before hitting a healthy flyout to centerfield. Pat Borders grounded the first pitch hard to third, which was snared by Mora, who converted the putout.
TOP 3RD
Grade: B+
It never really got easy for Moyer in this game. Eli Whiteside smacked a single into centerfield. Roberts whiffed on an 0-2 dirtball away. Sosa got down 0-2, and would sting one back to Moyer, who smartly threw to second to get the lead runner for a fielder's choice (1-6). Mora popped high to Lopez in shallow centerfield.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: C
The Mariner bats were still a bit asleep. Ichiro rolled out on a 3-1 pitch to second. Winn got behind 0-2 and later slapped a flyout to shallow rightfield. Ibañez poked a solid single to centerfield on the first pitch. Sexson grounded out to Tejada in the hole at short on a 3-1 pitch.
TOP 4TH
Grade: C-
Things got dicey. Tejada fouled off a 2-0 pitch, but he took a full-count fastball inside for a free pass. Palmeiro smacked the first pitch into rightfield for a single, and Tejada moved to third (he was running on the pitch). Surhoff flew out high to the track in rightfield, and Ichiro's arm is great, but not that great. Tejada scored easily from third.
»» MARINERS 2, ORIOLES 1
Matos tagged the ball down the leftfield line for a double, sending Palmeiro to third. Beltre thought the ball had landed foul past the bag, and while he might have been correct, third-base umpire Fieldin Culbreth probably said it went over the bag fair. Bigbie grounded the first pitch to second, and since that's a ground ball to the right side and the Mariners needed an out, Palmeiro hit the pay station, though Matos mysteriously stayed at second.
»» ORIOLES 2, MARINERS 2
If Matos had made a baserunning mistake, he atoned for it by stealing third on the first pitch to Whiteside. The latter hot ahead 2-0, but later lazily flew out to short.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: C
This one was icky. Beltre bounced a ball to Mora, who had it go off of him, but he stayed with it and threw to first in time. Bloomquist whiffed on a 1-2 dirtball, but Whiteside threw in time to first. Morse clubbed his second pitch into the gap in leftcenter and kept running past second. The Orioles relayed the ball, and Mora's tag got Morse just before his foot touched third base. It was electrifying, at least. Morse got credited with a double.
TOP 5TH
Grade: B
Moyer had a hard time making it easy on himself in this game. Roberts poked a single to rightfield. He stole second base on the first pitch to Sosa, who flew out to rightfield on an 0-2 pitch. Roberts held (Ichiro had caught the ball). On a 2-0 pitch, Mora hit a very high fly to Bloomquist in shallow leftfield. Tejada flew out on the first pitch to Bloomquist on the track in centerfield, who made a one-handed catch (I'm not too keen on anyone making one-handed catches, let alone Bloomquist).
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: C
A little false hope in this inning. Lopez grounded the first pitch to the hole on the left side, but Tejada made an off-balance throw to first to get the out. Borders flew out to shallow rightfield. Ichiro took an 0-1 pitch off his right bicep, and he took first base. Winn batted the second pitch into leftfield for a single. Ibañez bounced out to second.
TOP 6TH
Grade: A
Moyer had his easiest inning of the night. Palmeiro flew out to Ichiro against the wall in rightfield. Surhoff grounded out to Sexson, who stepped on the bag. Matos flew out to Ichiro on the first pitch.
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: C-
Similarly, the Mariners went away in order as well. Sexson got behind 0-2, eventually looking at a 2-2 pitch over the inside corner. Beltre followed suit, falling behind 0-2, and whiffing at a 1-2 pitch high and outside. Bloomquist flew out to rightfield on the first pitch.
TOP 7TH
Grade: B
Moyer got into a pretty decent jam. Bigbie whiffed on a low 2-2 pitch. Whiteside blooped the first pitch into rightfield for a single. Roberts singled sharply through the left side, sending Whiteside to second. Sosa checkswung on a high 1-2 pitch, and I thought he went, but the umpires thought otherwise. He ended up taking a 2-2 pitch over the inside corner for strike three. Mora had the count 1-2, then was busted inside twice by Moyer to work the count full. Mora fouled off a full-count pitch before talking a called strike three over the outside corner, beautifully set up by Moyer and Borders.
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: C-
The bottom third responded with business as usual. Morse whiffed on an 0-2 dirtball away, and Whiteside threw over to first. Lopez flew out foul to Palmeiro near the dugout. Borders had a 3-0 count go full before hitting a healthy fly ball to leftfield for the out.
TOP 8TH
Grade: B
Moyer finished with a hard-fought inning. Tejada grounded out to third. Palmeiro singled past Lopez and Sexson, both of whom dove for the ball. Surhoff lined a ball to Ichiro at the track in rightfield. Matos blooped a single into rightfield, moving Surhoff to third. Bigbie whiffed on a 2-0 pitch down and outside, fouled off a 3-1 pitch, then grounded out to Sexson along the first-base line, underhanding to Moyer to finish the inning.
Moyer's line: 8 innings, 2 runs, 10 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts, 120 pitches (80 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: C-
It looked like the Mariners had blown it. Ichiro had the hitters' counts, taking a 3-1 pitch up and outside for a walk. Winn bunted the second pitch along the first-base line, and Chen threw to first to move Ichiro to second. Ibañez nearly homered, hitting a ball to the track in centerfield, but Ichiro held at second (I couldn't believe it, but that's just me).
Chris Ray came in for Chen. Sexson took the 1-2 pitch barely high before whiffing on a 2-2 pitch down and away.
Chen's line: 7 2/3 innings, 2 runs, 6 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts, 106 pitches (66 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Grade: B
JJ Putz came in for Moyer. Whiteside bounced the second pitch to Sexson at first. Roberts lined the first pitch over Beltre and down the leftfield line for a double. Sosa fouled off a 2-0 pitch before whiffing on a 2-2 pitch over the inside corner. Mora flew out to rightfield.
Putz' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 11 pitches (7 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Grade: A
Beltre fouled off a few pitches with two strikes before singling through the hole on the right side. Bloomquist bunted the 1-1 pitch into the air and foul, but luckily none of the fielders came down with it. He fouled off a 1-2 pitch before taking a hack and dribbling the ball down the third-base line not far from the plate. Ray came off the mound, and threw well high and wide of first, and the ball bounced into the stands. I don't think Ray would have had Bloomquist with a good throw, which is perhaps why Bloomquist was later credited with a hit on the play. He advanced to second on the error, and Beltre scooted to third on the play. Morse got behind, but ripped the 0-2 outside pitch into rightfield, where it one-hopped Surhoff and got away from him, allowing Beltre to score easily. Ballgame.
»» MARINERS 3, ORIOLES 2
Ray's line: 1/3 inning, 1 run (unearned), 3 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 22 pitches (16 strikes)
---
Gameball: Adrian Beltre.
After having a really good 10-pitch at-bat the night before against Rodrigo Lopez resulting in a double, Beltre had another top-notch at-bat to start the ninth. His nine-pitch affair included three foul-offs with two strikes on him. Though it was the ninth inning and I wanted that at-bat to end with a homer to send everyone home happy, Beltre instead ripped a single into rightfield, getting on base to set up the rest of the inning. I was a bit concerned that maybe Beltre had cooled off a bit just before the break and in the two games after, but a few at-bats like these make me think otherwise. Beltre struck out once in the game, but went 2-for-4, and scored the winning run.
Goat: Jose Lopez.
I expect someone to reach base, and it's not Pat Borders. Both went 0-for-3, but Lopez is the one that is expected to be the future at second base for the Mariners. Do I know how long it will take him to consistently hit Major League pitching? No. I hope he at least shows some signs of life soon though. We have a whole two and a half months of the season left for Lopez to have a handful or so of good games before it's all said and done. I've said I've never felt comfortable with him as a hitter, with that wide stance and everything, but oh well. He's hit at the minor-league levels, so it just has to carry over eventually. I know he's got some pop and some skill with the bat; I just thought I'd have seen more of it by now, that's all.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 65-25 .722 -- W1
2002 57-33 .633 8 W3
2003 56-34 .622 9 L2
2000 53-37 .589 12 W1
2005 40-50 .444 25 W1
2004 34-56 .378 31 W1
First off, what an outing for Jamie Moyer. The way it was going, I couldn't believe that he lasted eight innings. He faced 35 batters in his eight innings of work. Needless to say, the minimum over eight innings would be 24. As you'd suspect from his line, 10 hitters got hits, and (only) one walked. His only 1-2-3 inning was the sixth, when he set down Rafael Palmeiro, BJ Surhoff, and Luis Matos all in a row. By inning, he faced four, four, four, seven, five, three, five, and five hitters. Usually when you have a guy going eight innings, you'd get to a point where you'd say "(name) has retired seven hitters in a row" or some comparable streak. That didn't exist in this game for Jamie, who really seemed like he threw 120 pitches in this game. That's a ton of pitches, and Moyer is old, but on the other hand, he doesn't have a Kerry Wood curveball or a crazy slider or any brutally arm-taxing pitches. He's not Tim Wakefield, who could probably throw 24952204 pitches before his arm felt any fatigue, but he's not trying to blow the ball by people. Anyway, enough of my blabbing. What a hard-fought eight innings for Moyer, and it's a shame he didn't get the win.
The timely hits of the series against the Angels had mostly disappeared in the first two games of the series against the Orioles. Obviously, one timely hit was the final hit of the game, but what about other earlier situations? In the first, the Mariners took advantage of Randy Winn getting to third on a bad pickoff throw, and a fly ball by Ibañez brought him home. Ibañez ended a two-on, two-out situation in the fifth, for what that's worth. Worst of all was the eighth. Ichiro walked and was bunted over, but Ibañez just missed homering, and Sexson whiffed. The Mariners went away 1-2-3 in three innings, and possibly four if you count the double and out at third made by Mike Morse to end the fourth trying to stretch it into a triple. Those four innings don't have to do with timely hitting though. The other inning where they sent three hitters to the plate was the ninth, but that inning was good times.
For some reason, I'm pleasantly surprised by the Saturday night crowd of 39282, though it is the middle of July and no other big-time sports are taking place in Seattle. I figured either it was that or a bunch of people just missing Raf Palmeiro's 3000th hit by one game. Or a total overload of USS Mariner pizza feeders. Still, it's better than "smallest-ever crowd at Safeco Field," which we were hearing earlier this year.
I have to say I freaked out when Mike Hargrove brought JJ Putz into a tie game in the ninth. I've been iffy about Putz' mental strength ever since the grand slammage against the Red Sox and Yankees earlier in the year, and his subsequent outings indicated that he might be shaken. When Putz gave up the double to Roberts, I wasn't too far from blowing a gasket. Going 2-0 on Sammy Sosa made it worse. But then he got him to strike out, and he set down Melvin Mora as well to end the inning. Problem solved. If Putz puts together about a three-week stretch or a month where nothing catastrophic happens, I'll feel much better about him, and much better about the well-being of the Mariner bullpen.
Can the Mariners get a split of the series? Let's hope so. It'd be good fun. Of course, it's Gil Meche going, and he is the epitome of consistency.
Ponson. Meche. Today.
In 25 words or less: It was a stalemate between two soft-tossing lefties, but both left the game in the late innings. Then it got interesting.
This one featured mega-journeyman Bruce Chen going up against elder statesman Jamie Moyer. Rafael Palmeiro got his 3000th hit the night before, so I thought about him less during this game. The Mariners came into the game hoping they'd give themselves a chance to split the series.
TOP 1ST
Grade: B
Not the easiest first inning for Moyer. Brian Roberts flew out to leftfield on the first pitch. Sammy Sosa whacked a 2-0 pitch off the third-base bag and down the leftfield line for a double. The ball got away from Randy Winn in the corner, but Sosa was running, and he stopped at second. Melvin Mora flew out to the track in rightfield, sufficiently deep to send Sosa to third. Miguel Tejada popped out to Jose Lopez in shallow centerfield.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: A
Oh my, the Mariners jumped on an opponent early! Ichiro whiffed brutally at a 2-0 pitch before lining out to center on a 3-1 pitch. Randy Winn got ahead 2-0 and slapped the 2-1 pitch down the leftfield line for a double. With the count 2-0 on Raul Ibañez, Chen made a bad pickoff throw to second, and Winn scooted to third. Ibañez fouled off a 3-0 pitch, whiffed on an offspeed inside pitch on 3-1, then flew out hard to centerfield on a full count, but it was deep enough to score Winn.
»» MARINERS 1, ORIOLES 0
After the broadcast had showed the Coors Cold Blast promo featuring Richie Sexson's homer from the night before, Sexson hammered the next pitch (1-1) to the left of the hitters' backdrop in centerfield, a 422-foot blast. Just a solo shot, sure, but a nice addition to the inning.
»» MARINERS 2, ORIOLES 0
Adrian Beltre lined a single into leftfield. Willie Bloomquist fouled off an 0-2 pitch before bouncing out to short.
TOP 2ND
Grade: B
This inning was a lot like the first. Rafael Palmeiro got ahead 2-0, and eventually flew out to centerfield. BJ Surhoff worked an 0-2 count full, fouling off a few pitches, then doubling off the track and wall in the gap in rightcenter. Luis Matos hit a hard roller to second for an out. Larry Bigbie checkswung on a 2-2 inside pitch, but the appeal didn't go his way as Moyer recorded the strikeout.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: C-
Then came the offensive hangover. Mike Morse got down 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 curve down and in. Jose Lopez fouled off a couple of two-strike pitches before hitting a healthy flyout to centerfield. Pat Borders grounded the first pitch hard to third, which was snared by Mora, who converted the putout.
TOP 3RD
Grade: B+
It never really got easy for Moyer in this game. Eli Whiteside smacked a single into centerfield. Roberts whiffed on an 0-2 dirtball away. Sosa got down 0-2, and would sting one back to Moyer, who smartly threw to second to get the lead runner for a fielder's choice (1-6). Mora popped high to Lopez in shallow centerfield.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: C
The Mariner bats were still a bit asleep. Ichiro rolled out on a 3-1 pitch to second. Winn got behind 0-2 and later slapped a flyout to shallow rightfield. Ibañez poked a solid single to centerfield on the first pitch. Sexson grounded out to Tejada in the hole at short on a 3-1 pitch.
TOP 4TH
Grade: C-
Things got dicey. Tejada fouled off a 2-0 pitch, but he took a full-count fastball inside for a free pass. Palmeiro smacked the first pitch into rightfield for a single, and Tejada moved to third (he was running on the pitch). Surhoff flew out high to the track in rightfield, and Ichiro's arm is great, but not that great. Tejada scored easily from third.
»» MARINERS 2, ORIOLES 1
Matos tagged the ball down the leftfield line for a double, sending Palmeiro to third. Beltre thought the ball had landed foul past the bag, and while he might have been correct, third-base umpire Fieldin Culbreth probably said it went over the bag fair. Bigbie grounded the first pitch to second, and since that's a ground ball to the right side and the Mariners needed an out, Palmeiro hit the pay station, though Matos mysteriously stayed at second.
»» ORIOLES 2, MARINERS 2
If Matos had made a baserunning mistake, he atoned for it by stealing third on the first pitch to Whiteside. The latter hot ahead 2-0, but later lazily flew out to short.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: C
This one was icky. Beltre bounced a ball to Mora, who had it go off of him, but he stayed with it and threw to first in time. Bloomquist whiffed on a 1-2 dirtball, but Whiteside threw in time to first. Morse clubbed his second pitch into the gap in leftcenter and kept running past second. The Orioles relayed the ball, and Mora's tag got Morse just before his foot touched third base. It was electrifying, at least. Morse got credited with a double.
TOP 5TH
Grade: B
Moyer had a hard time making it easy on himself in this game. Roberts poked a single to rightfield. He stole second base on the first pitch to Sosa, who flew out to rightfield on an 0-2 pitch. Roberts held (Ichiro had caught the ball). On a 2-0 pitch, Mora hit a very high fly to Bloomquist in shallow leftfield. Tejada flew out on the first pitch to Bloomquist on the track in centerfield, who made a one-handed catch (I'm not too keen on anyone making one-handed catches, let alone Bloomquist).
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: C
A little false hope in this inning. Lopez grounded the first pitch to the hole on the left side, but Tejada made an off-balance throw to first to get the out. Borders flew out to shallow rightfield. Ichiro took an 0-1 pitch off his right bicep, and he took first base. Winn batted the second pitch into leftfield for a single. Ibañez bounced out to second.
TOP 6TH
Grade: A
Moyer had his easiest inning of the night. Palmeiro flew out to Ichiro against the wall in rightfield. Surhoff grounded out to Sexson, who stepped on the bag. Matos flew out to Ichiro on the first pitch.
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: C-
Similarly, the Mariners went away in order as well. Sexson got behind 0-2, eventually looking at a 2-2 pitch over the inside corner. Beltre followed suit, falling behind 0-2, and whiffing at a 1-2 pitch high and outside. Bloomquist flew out to rightfield on the first pitch.
TOP 7TH
Grade: B
Moyer got into a pretty decent jam. Bigbie whiffed on a low 2-2 pitch. Whiteside blooped the first pitch into rightfield for a single. Roberts singled sharply through the left side, sending Whiteside to second. Sosa checkswung on a high 1-2 pitch, and I thought he went, but the umpires thought otherwise. He ended up taking a 2-2 pitch over the inside corner for strike three. Mora had the count 1-2, then was busted inside twice by Moyer to work the count full. Mora fouled off a full-count pitch before talking a called strike three over the outside corner, beautifully set up by Moyer and Borders.
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: C-
The bottom third responded with business as usual. Morse whiffed on an 0-2 dirtball away, and Whiteside threw over to first. Lopez flew out foul to Palmeiro near the dugout. Borders had a 3-0 count go full before hitting a healthy fly ball to leftfield for the out.
TOP 8TH
Grade: B
Moyer finished with a hard-fought inning. Tejada grounded out to third. Palmeiro singled past Lopez and Sexson, both of whom dove for the ball. Surhoff lined a ball to Ichiro at the track in rightfield. Matos blooped a single into rightfield, moving Surhoff to third. Bigbie whiffed on a 2-0 pitch down and outside, fouled off a 3-1 pitch, then grounded out to Sexson along the first-base line, underhanding to Moyer to finish the inning.
Moyer's line: 8 innings, 2 runs, 10 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts, 120 pitches (80 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: C-
It looked like the Mariners had blown it. Ichiro had the hitters' counts, taking a 3-1 pitch up and outside for a walk. Winn bunted the second pitch along the first-base line, and Chen threw to first to move Ichiro to second. Ibañez nearly homered, hitting a ball to the track in centerfield, but Ichiro held at second (I couldn't believe it, but that's just me).
Chris Ray came in for Chen. Sexson took the 1-2 pitch barely high before whiffing on a 2-2 pitch down and away.
Chen's line: 7 2/3 innings, 2 runs, 6 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts, 106 pitches (66 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Grade: B
JJ Putz came in for Moyer. Whiteside bounced the second pitch to Sexson at first. Roberts lined the first pitch over Beltre and down the leftfield line for a double. Sosa fouled off a 2-0 pitch before whiffing on a 2-2 pitch over the inside corner. Mora flew out to rightfield.
Putz' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 11 pitches (7 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Grade: A
Beltre fouled off a few pitches with two strikes before singling through the hole on the right side. Bloomquist bunted the 1-1 pitch into the air and foul, but luckily none of the fielders came down with it. He fouled off a 1-2 pitch before taking a hack and dribbling the ball down the third-base line not far from the plate. Ray came off the mound, and threw well high and wide of first, and the ball bounced into the stands. I don't think Ray would have had Bloomquist with a good throw, which is perhaps why Bloomquist was later credited with a hit on the play. He advanced to second on the error, and Beltre scooted to third on the play. Morse got behind, but ripped the 0-2 outside pitch into rightfield, where it one-hopped Surhoff and got away from him, allowing Beltre to score easily. Ballgame.
»» MARINERS 3, ORIOLES 2
Ray's line: 1/3 inning, 1 run (unearned), 3 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 22 pitches (16 strikes)
---
Gameball: Adrian Beltre.
After having a really good 10-pitch at-bat the night before against Rodrigo Lopez resulting in a double, Beltre had another top-notch at-bat to start the ninth. His nine-pitch affair included three foul-offs with two strikes on him. Though it was the ninth inning and I wanted that at-bat to end with a homer to send everyone home happy, Beltre instead ripped a single into rightfield, getting on base to set up the rest of the inning. I was a bit concerned that maybe Beltre had cooled off a bit just before the break and in the two games after, but a few at-bats like these make me think otherwise. Beltre struck out once in the game, but went 2-for-4, and scored the winning run.
Goat: Jose Lopez.
I expect someone to reach base, and it's not Pat Borders. Both went 0-for-3, but Lopez is the one that is expected to be the future at second base for the Mariners. Do I know how long it will take him to consistently hit Major League pitching? No. I hope he at least shows some signs of life soon though. We have a whole two and a half months of the season left for Lopez to have a handful or so of good games before it's all said and done. I've said I've never felt comfortable with him as a hitter, with that wide stance and everything, but oh well. He's hit at the minor-league levels, so it just has to carry over eventually. I know he's got some pop and some skill with the bat; I just thought I'd have seen more of it by now, that's all.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 65-25 .722 -- W1
2002 57-33 .633 8 W3
2003 56-34 .622 9 L2
2000 53-37 .589 12 W1
2005 40-50 .444 25 W1
2004 34-56 .378 31 W1
First off, what an outing for Jamie Moyer. The way it was going, I couldn't believe that he lasted eight innings. He faced 35 batters in his eight innings of work. Needless to say, the minimum over eight innings would be 24. As you'd suspect from his line, 10 hitters got hits, and (only) one walked. His only 1-2-3 inning was the sixth, when he set down Rafael Palmeiro, BJ Surhoff, and Luis Matos all in a row. By inning, he faced four, four, four, seven, five, three, five, and five hitters. Usually when you have a guy going eight innings, you'd get to a point where you'd say "(name) has retired seven hitters in a row" or some comparable streak. That didn't exist in this game for Jamie, who really seemed like he threw 120 pitches in this game. That's a ton of pitches, and Moyer is old, but on the other hand, he doesn't have a Kerry Wood curveball or a crazy slider or any brutally arm-taxing pitches. He's not Tim Wakefield, who could probably throw 24952204 pitches before his arm felt any fatigue, but he's not trying to blow the ball by people. Anyway, enough of my blabbing. What a hard-fought eight innings for Moyer, and it's a shame he didn't get the win.
The timely hits of the series against the Angels had mostly disappeared in the first two games of the series against the Orioles. Obviously, one timely hit was the final hit of the game, but what about other earlier situations? In the first, the Mariners took advantage of Randy Winn getting to third on a bad pickoff throw, and a fly ball by Ibañez brought him home. Ibañez ended a two-on, two-out situation in the fifth, for what that's worth. Worst of all was the eighth. Ichiro walked and was bunted over, but Ibañez just missed homering, and Sexson whiffed. The Mariners went away 1-2-3 in three innings, and possibly four if you count the double and out at third made by Mike Morse to end the fourth trying to stretch it into a triple. Those four innings don't have to do with timely hitting though. The other inning where they sent three hitters to the plate was the ninth, but that inning was good times.
For some reason, I'm pleasantly surprised by the Saturday night crowd of 39282, though it is the middle of July and no other big-time sports are taking place in Seattle. I figured either it was that or a bunch of people just missing Raf Palmeiro's 3000th hit by one game. Or a total overload of USS Mariner pizza feeders. Still, it's better than "smallest-ever crowd at Safeco Field," which we were hearing earlier this year.
I have to say I freaked out when Mike Hargrove brought JJ Putz into a tie game in the ninth. I've been iffy about Putz' mental strength ever since the grand slammage against the Red Sox and Yankees earlier in the year, and his subsequent outings indicated that he might be shaken. When Putz gave up the double to Roberts, I wasn't too far from blowing a gasket. Going 2-0 on Sammy Sosa made it worse. But then he got him to strike out, and he set down Melvin Mora as well to end the inning. Problem solved. If Putz puts together about a three-week stretch or a month where nothing catastrophic happens, I'll feel much better about him, and much better about the well-being of the Mariner bullpen.
Can the Mariners get a split of the series? Let's hope so. It'd be good fun. Of course, it's Gil Meche going, and he is the epitome of consistency.
Ponson. Meche. Today.
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