Sunday, July 24, 2005
GAME 96: INDIANS 4, MARINERS 3
Indians 4, Mariners 3
[posted ~12:10p]
In 25 words or less: The Mariners got another closely contested game, but this time the key error showed up on their side, and the win wasn't theirs.
This one featured Gil Meche going up against Cliff Lee. Lee threw seven innings of shutout ball against the Mariners on the 23rd of April back in Seattle. Gil Meche is Gil Meche. He was hoping to keep the ball down, throw strikes, and avoid the big inning. Another thing is that if anyone went back after MLB.tv archived the Fox feed (I hadn't experienced this yet), that feed is hilarious. It never breaks away for commercials or anything. You get to see the Fox crew trying out all their graphics on-screen before actually using them, I saw the opening montage getting messed with a few times, I saw Josh Lewin and Rick Manning prepping for the first on-screen shot, and unfortunately Lewin joked that he needed to tuck in his nose hairs.
TOP 1ST
Grade: B
The Mariners drew first blood. Ichiro doubled the second pitch down the rightfield line and into the corner. Randy Winn bunted the first pitch to the third-base side, and Aaron Boone threw him out, moving Ichiro to third. Raul Ibañez grounded hard to first, where Ben Broussard decided not to go home with a throw, and instead stepped on first. Probably a wise move, though Ichiro scored.
»» MARINERS 1, INDIANS 0
Richie Sexson got ahead 3-0 and took a 3-1 pitch inside for a walk. Adrian Beltre tapped back to the mound, and Lee one-hopped Broussard, though the latter was able to pick it out.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: B-
There was moderate trouble. Grady Sizemore got behind 0-2 but worked the count full for a high flyout to Ichiro in rightcenter. Coco Crisp sliced a full-count double down the leftfield line. Jhonny Peralta fell behind 0-2, then whiffed at a 1-2 curveball. Victor Martinez gave a 1-2 pitch a good ride, but Reed tracked it down in centerfield.
TOP 2ND
Grade: C
This one got derailed. Willie Bloomquist flew out to leftfield. Mike Morse dinked a single the other way into rightfield. Jeremy Reed lined the first pitch to Broussard at first, who easily stepped on first to complete the double play.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: B-
Almost a carbon copy of the first. Ben Broussard grounded out to short. Ron Belliard knocked the second pitch into centerfield for a single. Casey Blake tapped back to the mound, where Meche threw to Morse at short, but Belliard's takeout slide forced Morse's throw wide of first to break up the double play (1-6 fielder's choice). Aaron Boone smacked a ball up the middle, but Willie Bloomquist moved over to plug the hole, and he underhanded to Morse covering the bag at second for the force.
TOP 3RD
Grade: C-
Lee was looking good early. Miguel Olivo nearly homered on the first pitch, but it was well foul. He whiffed on an 0-2 changeup. Ichiro got behind 0-2 and chopped out to second on the seventh pitch of the at-bat. Winn whiffed on an 0-2 pitch.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: A
Jason Dubois got behind 0-2 and eventually whiffed on a 2-2 fastball. Sizemore got ahead 2-0, fouled off three pitches, then whiffed on a 2-2 fastball outside. Crisp flew out on the first pitch to Winn along the leftfield line.
TOP 4TH
Grade: B-
The Mariners played add-on early. Ibañez fouled off two pitches after a 3-1 count, then bounced a single through the hole on the right side. Sexson got behind 0-2 and ended up doubling off the scoreboard wall in centerfield, missing a homer by about ten feet. Ibañez scored easily.
»» MARINERS 2, INDIANS 0
Beltre got behind 0-2 and ended up chopping out to second, moving Sexson to third. Bloomquist flew out to Sizemore in centerfield, and Sexson tagged up, only to be gunned down by Sizemore, whose throw had Sexson by a good ten feet.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: C+
Meche gave half of the lead right back. Peralta got the hitters' counts and pummeled a 3-1 high fastball over the 405-foot marker on the centerfield fence.
»» MARINERS 2, INDIANS 1
Martinez popped the second pitch to Bloomquist in shallow centerfield. Broussard fouled off a 3-1 pitch before taking a full-count walk. Belliard looped a flyout to Ichiro in shallow rightfield. Blake flew out high to Bloomquist behind the bag at second.
TOP 5TH
Grade: C
It started nicely, then it fizzled. Morse dumped a single into leftfield. Reed hit the second pitch to fairly deep leftcenter for a flyout. Olivo got behind 0-2 and ended up with the whiff. Ichiro was green-lit on 3-0 and chopped to second, where Belliard stumbled forward to tag Morse on his way to second for the forceout.
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: D+
The roof didn't fall in, but it might as well have done so. Boone stuck the first pitch off of Meche up the middle and past Morse into centerfield for a single. Dubois got ahead 3-1, fouled off a pitch, then flew out to Ichiro at the track near rightcenter. With the count 1-0 on Sizemore, Meche picked Boone off of first. Sizemore grounded to Morse, who airmailed Sexson at first, who did get the throw since he's tall, but couldn't come back down on the bag in time (error for Morse). Crisp bounced the second pitch up the middle for a single, moving Sizemore to second. Peralta ripped the first pitch into leftfield for a single, and Sizemore easily scored (Winn was in leftfield, after all). Crisp went to second.
»» INDIANS 2, MARINERS 2
Martinez stung an 0-2 pitch into rightfield for a single to score Crisp. Peralta moved over to third.
»» INDIANS 3, MARINERS 2
Broussard popped high to Beltre on the infield grass.
TOP 6TH
Grade: C
Again, a nice start, but nothing else. Winn poked the second pitch into centerfield for a single. Ibañez whiffed on a 2-2 pitch over the outside corner. Sexson hit the first pitch to the gap in rightcenter, but it was caught by Blake. Beltre got down 0-2 and ended up bouncing out to second.
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: B+
Some glitz from the catcher spot in this innings. Belliard grounded a pitch through the hole on the right side for a single. Blake whiffed on a full-count pitch down and in, and Olivo (barely) gunned down Belliard trying to sneak into second. Boone flew out high on the second pitch to Reed in centerfield.
TOP 7TH
Grade: C-
The Mariners were well-grounded. Bloomquist rolled out to second on a 2-0 pitch. Morse tapped back to the mound. Reed grounded a 2-0 pitch right to Broussard at first, who stepped on the bag.
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: C+
The game slipped away. Dubois mashed the first pitch over the bullpen in rightcenter (423 feet) for his first homer as an Indian.
»» INDIANS 4, MARINERS 2
Sizemore whiffed on a 1-2 pitch low and away. Crisp got behind 0-2 and eventually slapped a liner into Morse's glove. Peralta fouled off three pitches with a full count before finally failing to make contact with a dirtball way outside.
Meche's line: 7 innings, 4 runs (2 earned), 9 hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts, 116 pitches (74 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Grade: B-
The Mariners blew a chance to tie it. Olivo got behind 0-2 and eventually whiffed on a 1-2 offspeed pitch. Ichiro worked an 0-2 count full (holding a checkswing along the way that drew some ire from the Cleveland dugout), then chopped a ball toward Peralta at short. Peralta charged and barehanded the ball, but Ichiro legged out the single. Winn whacked the second pitch to the wall in the rightcenter gap for a double. This scored Ichiro all the way from first.
»» INDIANS 4, MARINERS 3
Scott Sauerbeck came in for Lee. Ibañez got behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 sidearmed breaking ball over the outside corner.
Bobby Howry came in for Sauerbeck. Sexson bounced the second pitch to first.
Lee's line: 7 1/3 innings, 3 runs, 8 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts, 103 pitches (69 strikes)
Sauerbeck's line: 1/3 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 4 pitches (3 strikes)
Howry's line: 1/3 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 2 pitches (1 strike)
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: B
Ron Villone came in for Meche. Martinez got ahead 3-0 and walked on the fifth pitch. Broussard grounded a ball up the middle that Morse fielded to start the 6-4-3 double play.
Jeff Nelson came in for Villone. Nelson got behind 0-2, fouled off two pitches, then couldn't check a swing on an outside pitch.
Villone's line: 2/3 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 9 pitches (3 strikes)
Nelson's line: 1/3 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 5 pitches (5 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Grade: B-
Bob Wickman came in for Howry, and the shadows were a doozy. Beltre chopped the second pitch toward the right side, where Belliard charged, barehanded, and threw across his body in time to first. Bloomquist got behind 0-2 but ended up stinging a ball off of a diving Broussard's glove and into rightfield for a single. Morse singled up the middle under Wickman's glove. Reed bounced the ball the same way that Beltre did to make the first out, and Belliard got him, this time not needing the barehand. Chris Snelling came in to hit for Olivo. He got ahead 3-0, but chopped to Belliard. Ballgame.
Wickman's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 19 pitches (12 strikes)
---
Gameball: Randy Winn.
His average has crept up to .270. I'm hoping it gets up to .290 soon, though I might be asking a bit much. The point is, Winn is hitting much more consistently than that one stretch where his batting average did a cliffdive from .300 territory. We'll see if Winn heats up, and given that he usually warms up in the second half, we could see some weird homers out of Winn here and there. Winn had a bunt, a leadoff single in the sixth, and the double to bring the Mariners within one run in the eighth. Raul Ibañez and Richie Sexson hung him out to dry. Basically, let's just hope that Ichiro and Winn can start clicking at the same time to set up the rest of the lineup. Richie Sexson is pretty warm lately, so if more runners are on for him, maybe it won't be a solo shot every time out. More damage, please.
Goat: Jeremy Reed.
Though the error was the catalyst for turning the game upside down, I can't bring myself to goat Mike Morse since he went 3-for-4. So, I'm going with the 0-for-4 from Reed. He also left four runners on base. As much as I hate to say it, this won't give Mike Hargrove much reason to leave him in the lineup against the next lefty whenever Jose Lopez comes back from the knee soreness. I hate to say it because I know this situation will probably wind up with Willie Bloomquist playing in center. Please, just let Reed develop. Play him against the lefties because he's going to need to hit against them at some point. Don't platoon him against Bloomquist. This public service announcement is brought to you by David, some hack writer for a weblog entitled Sports and Bremertonians.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 69-27 .719 -- W1
2002 60-36 .625 9 W2
2003 59-37 .615 10 L1
2000 57-39 .594 12 W2
2005 42-54 .438 27 L1
2004 37-59 .385 32 L2
If the Mariners decided to keep Mike Morse in their long-term plans at shortstop, I can't wait to see him about two or three years from now. He'll hopefully work the kinks out of his game in the meantime. Until then, we'll be left with some frustrating games like this one. Morse went 3-for-4 but committed the error that helped Cleveland tie the game in the fifth. Of course, the sick thing about the error is that if Morse makes the throw, that's the third out of the inning. Everything in that inning happened with two outs. Sizemore got on with the error, Crisp singled, Peralta singled to score one, and Martinez singled before Meche was able to get the third out. Granted, Meche shouldn't implode after one of his guys makes an error. Then again, with Sizemore, the Cleveland lineup had just turned over, so they were seeing Meche for the third time in the game.
I'm really displeased with what appears to be Cliff Lee's utter mastery of the Mariners this year. As I started the post with, he threw seven shutout innings of four-hit ball back in April against the Mariners. In this game, he threw first-pitch strikes to eleven straight Mariners at one point. Granted, I'm not Doug Waechter circa-2003 ticked off about this, since Cliff Lee did have a good year last year and has at least some track record of minor success, but he's no Cy Young candidate or anything like that.
Gil Meche didn't have that bad of a start. Of course, he did implode after the Morse error, and that's never good. Meche gave up three of his nine hits after Morse threw high to first base. He struck out six batters and walked only one, so that end of his game appeared to be working well. He gave up two homers, though they were solo shots. They're still homers. As for Meche avoiding the big inning, the only inning that could be considered big was the Morse error inning, since it snowballed into two runs after there were two out. Other than that, I'm not too ticked off about Meche's start.
Though Meche gave up the leadoff homer in the 7th, Randy Winn managed to score Ichiro with a double. The Mariners had the tying run on second with one out, and neither Raul Ibañez nor Richie Sexson could push Winn across. Sure, it happens sometimes, but that doesn't make it any less disappointing. If the Mariners pull a victory out of this game, the Indians suffer two demoralizing late-inning losses in a row. Yes, these are the kind of things you hope for in a season like this. Yes, it was worse last year.
Multi-hit games in this one belonged to Ichiro (2-for-4 with a double), Randy Winn (2-for-3 with a double and an RBI), and Mike Morse (3-for-4). It was a much better team hitting effort than the four-hit malaise on Friday night, but they didn't win this game. Go figure. Miguel Olivo accounted for half of the team's six strikeouts, while Raul Ibañez struck out twice, and Randy Winn once. I can't get many lines out of Olivo striking out that I haven't already spewed out at some point of the season. It's old hat now. Basically, the thing about the ten hits is that none of them came with Randy Winn on second with one out in the top of the eighth, and that didn't help the Mariners' plight.
We're left with the rubber game on a Sunday in Cleveland. A clash in Cuyahoga County. Fun.
Sele. Millwood. Currently happening as I type this.
[posted ~12:10p]
In 25 words or less: The Mariners got another closely contested game, but this time the key error showed up on their side, and the win wasn't theirs.
This one featured Gil Meche going up against Cliff Lee. Lee threw seven innings of shutout ball against the Mariners on the 23rd of April back in Seattle. Gil Meche is Gil Meche. He was hoping to keep the ball down, throw strikes, and avoid the big inning. Another thing is that if anyone went back after MLB.tv archived the Fox feed (I hadn't experienced this yet), that feed is hilarious. It never breaks away for commercials or anything. You get to see the Fox crew trying out all their graphics on-screen before actually using them, I saw the opening montage getting messed with a few times, I saw Josh Lewin and Rick Manning prepping for the first on-screen shot, and unfortunately Lewin joked that he needed to tuck in his nose hairs.
TOP 1ST
Grade: B
The Mariners drew first blood. Ichiro doubled the second pitch down the rightfield line and into the corner. Randy Winn bunted the first pitch to the third-base side, and Aaron Boone threw him out, moving Ichiro to third. Raul Ibañez grounded hard to first, where Ben Broussard decided not to go home with a throw, and instead stepped on first. Probably a wise move, though Ichiro scored.
»» MARINERS 1, INDIANS 0
Richie Sexson got ahead 3-0 and took a 3-1 pitch inside for a walk. Adrian Beltre tapped back to the mound, and Lee one-hopped Broussard, though the latter was able to pick it out.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: B-
There was moderate trouble. Grady Sizemore got behind 0-2 but worked the count full for a high flyout to Ichiro in rightcenter. Coco Crisp sliced a full-count double down the leftfield line. Jhonny Peralta fell behind 0-2, then whiffed at a 1-2 curveball. Victor Martinez gave a 1-2 pitch a good ride, but Reed tracked it down in centerfield.
TOP 2ND
Grade: C
This one got derailed. Willie Bloomquist flew out to leftfield. Mike Morse dinked a single the other way into rightfield. Jeremy Reed lined the first pitch to Broussard at first, who easily stepped on first to complete the double play.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: B-
Almost a carbon copy of the first. Ben Broussard grounded out to short. Ron Belliard knocked the second pitch into centerfield for a single. Casey Blake tapped back to the mound, where Meche threw to Morse at short, but Belliard's takeout slide forced Morse's throw wide of first to break up the double play (1-6 fielder's choice). Aaron Boone smacked a ball up the middle, but Willie Bloomquist moved over to plug the hole, and he underhanded to Morse covering the bag at second for the force.
TOP 3RD
Grade: C-
Lee was looking good early. Miguel Olivo nearly homered on the first pitch, but it was well foul. He whiffed on an 0-2 changeup. Ichiro got behind 0-2 and chopped out to second on the seventh pitch of the at-bat. Winn whiffed on an 0-2 pitch.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: A
Jason Dubois got behind 0-2 and eventually whiffed on a 2-2 fastball. Sizemore got ahead 2-0, fouled off three pitches, then whiffed on a 2-2 fastball outside. Crisp flew out on the first pitch to Winn along the leftfield line.
TOP 4TH
Grade: B-
The Mariners played add-on early. Ibañez fouled off two pitches after a 3-1 count, then bounced a single through the hole on the right side. Sexson got behind 0-2 and ended up doubling off the scoreboard wall in centerfield, missing a homer by about ten feet. Ibañez scored easily.
»» MARINERS 2, INDIANS 0
Beltre got behind 0-2 and ended up chopping out to second, moving Sexson to third. Bloomquist flew out to Sizemore in centerfield, and Sexson tagged up, only to be gunned down by Sizemore, whose throw had Sexson by a good ten feet.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: C+
Meche gave half of the lead right back. Peralta got the hitters' counts and pummeled a 3-1 high fastball over the 405-foot marker on the centerfield fence.
»» MARINERS 2, INDIANS 1
Martinez popped the second pitch to Bloomquist in shallow centerfield. Broussard fouled off a 3-1 pitch before taking a full-count walk. Belliard looped a flyout to Ichiro in shallow rightfield. Blake flew out high to Bloomquist behind the bag at second.
TOP 5TH
Grade: C
It started nicely, then it fizzled. Morse dumped a single into leftfield. Reed hit the second pitch to fairly deep leftcenter for a flyout. Olivo got behind 0-2 and ended up with the whiff. Ichiro was green-lit on 3-0 and chopped to second, where Belliard stumbled forward to tag Morse on his way to second for the forceout.
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: D+
The roof didn't fall in, but it might as well have done so. Boone stuck the first pitch off of Meche up the middle and past Morse into centerfield for a single. Dubois got ahead 3-1, fouled off a pitch, then flew out to Ichiro at the track near rightcenter. With the count 1-0 on Sizemore, Meche picked Boone off of first. Sizemore grounded to Morse, who airmailed Sexson at first, who did get the throw since he's tall, but couldn't come back down on the bag in time (error for Morse). Crisp bounced the second pitch up the middle for a single, moving Sizemore to second. Peralta ripped the first pitch into leftfield for a single, and Sizemore easily scored (Winn was in leftfield, after all). Crisp went to second.
»» INDIANS 2, MARINERS 2
Martinez stung an 0-2 pitch into rightfield for a single to score Crisp. Peralta moved over to third.
»» INDIANS 3, MARINERS 2
Broussard popped high to Beltre on the infield grass.
TOP 6TH
Grade: C
Again, a nice start, but nothing else. Winn poked the second pitch into centerfield for a single. Ibañez whiffed on a 2-2 pitch over the outside corner. Sexson hit the first pitch to the gap in rightcenter, but it was caught by Blake. Beltre got down 0-2 and ended up bouncing out to second.
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: B+
Some glitz from the catcher spot in this innings. Belliard grounded a pitch through the hole on the right side for a single. Blake whiffed on a full-count pitch down and in, and Olivo (barely) gunned down Belliard trying to sneak into second. Boone flew out high on the second pitch to Reed in centerfield.
TOP 7TH
Grade: C-
The Mariners were well-grounded. Bloomquist rolled out to second on a 2-0 pitch. Morse tapped back to the mound. Reed grounded a 2-0 pitch right to Broussard at first, who stepped on the bag.
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: C+
The game slipped away. Dubois mashed the first pitch over the bullpen in rightcenter (423 feet) for his first homer as an Indian.
»» INDIANS 4, MARINERS 2
Sizemore whiffed on a 1-2 pitch low and away. Crisp got behind 0-2 and eventually slapped a liner into Morse's glove. Peralta fouled off three pitches with a full count before finally failing to make contact with a dirtball way outside.
Meche's line: 7 innings, 4 runs (2 earned), 9 hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts, 116 pitches (74 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Grade: B-
The Mariners blew a chance to tie it. Olivo got behind 0-2 and eventually whiffed on a 1-2 offspeed pitch. Ichiro worked an 0-2 count full (holding a checkswing along the way that drew some ire from the Cleveland dugout), then chopped a ball toward Peralta at short. Peralta charged and barehanded the ball, but Ichiro legged out the single. Winn whacked the second pitch to the wall in the rightcenter gap for a double. This scored Ichiro all the way from first.
»» INDIANS 4, MARINERS 3
Scott Sauerbeck came in for Lee. Ibañez got behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 sidearmed breaking ball over the outside corner.
Bobby Howry came in for Sauerbeck. Sexson bounced the second pitch to first.
Lee's line: 7 1/3 innings, 3 runs, 8 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts, 103 pitches (69 strikes)
Sauerbeck's line: 1/3 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 4 pitches (3 strikes)
Howry's line: 1/3 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 2 pitches (1 strike)
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: B
Ron Villone came in for Meche. Martinez got ahead 3-0 and walked on the fifth pitch. Broussard grounded a ball up the middle that Morse fielded to start the 6-4-3 double play.
Jeff Nelson came in for Villone. Nelson got behind 0-2, fouled off two pitches, then couldn't check a swing on an outside pitch.
Villone's line: 2/3 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 9 pitches (3 strikes)
Nelson's line: 1/3 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 5 pitches (5 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Grade: B-
Bob Wickman came in for Howry, and the shadows were a doozy. Beltre chopped the second pitch toward the right side, where Belliard charged, barehanded, and threw across his body in time to first. Bloomquist got behind 0-2 but ended up stinging a ball off of a diving Broussard's glove and into rightfield for a single. Morse singled up the middle under Wickman's glove. Reed bounced the ball the same way that Beltre did to make the first out, and Belliard got him, this time not needing the barehand. Chris Snelling came in to hit for Olivo. He got ahead 3-0, but chopped to Belliard. Ballgame.
Wickman's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 19 pitches (12 strikes)
---
Gameball: Randy Winn.
His average has crept up to .270. I'm hoping it gets up to .290 soon, though I might be asking a bit much. The point is, Winn is hitting much more consistently than that one stretch where his batting average did a cliffdive from .300 territory. We'll see if Winn heats up, and given that he usually warms up in the second half, we could see some weird homers out of Winn here and there. Winn had a bunt, a leadoff single in the sixth, and the double to bring the Mariners within one run in the eighth. Raul Ibañez and Richie Sexson hung him out to dry. Basically, let's just hope that Ichiro and Winn can start clicking at the same time to set up the rest of the lineup. Richie Sexson is pretty warm lately, so if more runners are on for him, maybe it won't be a solo shot every time out. More damage, please.
Goat: Jeremy Reed.
Though the error was the catalyst for turning the game upside down, I can't bring myself to goat Mike Morse since he went 3-for-4. So, I'm going with the 0-for-4 from Reed. He also left four runners on base. As much as I hate to say it, this won't give Mike Hargrove much reason to leave him in the lineup against the next lefty whenever Jose Lopez comes back from the knee soreness. I hate to say it because I know this situation will probably wind up with Willie Bloomquist playing in center. Please, just let Reed develop. Play him against the lefties because he's going to need to hit against them at some point. Don't platoon him against Bloomquist. This public service announcement is brought to you by David, some hack writer for a weblog entitled Sports and Bremertonians.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 69-27 .719 -- W1
2002 60-36 .625 9 W2
2003 59-37 .615 10 L1
2000 57-39 .594 12 W2
2005 42-54 .438 27 L1
2004 37-59 .385 32 L2
If the Mariners decided to keep Mike Morse in their long-term plans at shortstop, I can't wait to see him about two or three years from now. He'll hopefully work the kinks out of his game in the meantime. Until then, we'll be left with some frustrating games like this one. Morse went 3-for-4 but committed the error that helped Cleveland tie the game in the fifth. Of course, the sick thing about the error is that if Morse makes the throw, that's the third out of the inning. Everything in that inning happened with two outs. Sizemore got on with the error, Crisp singled, Peralta singled to score one, and Martinez singled before Meche was able to get the third out. Granted, Meche shouldn't implode after one of his guys makes an error. Then again, with Sizemore, the Cleveland lineup had just turned over, so they were seeing Meche for the third time in the game.
I'm really displeased with what appears to be Cliff Lee's utter mastery of the Mariners this year. As I started the post with, he threw seven shutout innings of four-hit ball back in April against the Mariners. In this game, he threw first-pitch strikes to eleven straight Mariners at one point. Granted, I'm not Doug Waechter circa-2003 ticked off about this, since Cliff Lee did have a good year last year and has at least some track record of minor success, but he's no Cy Young candidate or anything like that.
Gil Meche didn't have that bad of a start. Of course, he did implode after the Morse error, and that's never good. Meche gave up three of his nine hits after Morse threw high to first base. He struck out six batters and walked only one, so that end of his game appeared to be working well. He gave up two homers, though they were solo shots. They're still homers. As for Meche avoiding the big inning, the only inning that could be considered big was the Morse error inning, since it snowballed into two runs after there were two out. Other than that, I'm not too ticked off about Meche's start.
Though Meche gave up the leadoff homer in the 7th, Randy Winn managed to score Ichiro with a double. The Mariners had the tying run on second with one out, and neither Raul Ibañez nor Richie Sexson could push Winn across. Sure, it happens sometimes, but that doesn't make it any less disappointing. If the Mariners pull a victory out of this game, the Indians suffer two demoralizing late-inning losses in a row. Yes, these are the kind of things you hope for in a season like this. Yes, it was worse last year.
Multi-hit games in this one belonged to Ichiro (2-for-4 with a double), Randy Winn (2-for-3 with a double and an RBI), and Mike Morse (3-for-4). It was a much better team hitting effort than the four-hit malaise on Friday night, but they didn't win this game. Go figure. Miguel Olivo accounted for half of the team's six strikeouts, while Raul Ibañez struck out twice, and Randy Winn once. I can't get many lines out of Olivo striking out that I haven't already spewed out at some point of the season. It's old hat now. Basically, the thing about the ten hits is that none of them came with Randy Winn on second with one out in the top of the eighth, and that didn't help the Mariners' plight.
We're left with the rubber game on a Sunday in Cleveland. A clash in Cuyahoga County. Fun.
Sele. Millwood. Currently happening as I type this.
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