Wednesday, July 27, 2005
GAME 99: TIGERS 8, MARINERS 5
Tigers 8, Mariners 5
In 25 words or less: What started out as kind of a crappy game turned into a see-saw affair with four lead changes and ended with a crappy result.
This one featured Jason Johnson going up against Joel Piñeiro. The mere appearance of Jason Johnson of course elicits the obligatory mentions on the TV and radio broadcasts of the device attached to the back of his belt with the tube running into his leg that helps him against his diabetes (obviously I'm brutally uneducated with diabetes, given how weirdly I phrased that). It always gets a mention, and though I'm glad I'm not left wondering what it is, I get inevitably uncomfortable at the mention of it. I guess it's because I had IV fluids running into me one time and it was one of the worst experiences of my life. It's horribly confining. Boo to tubes being stuck in oneself! Seriously, though, it was uncomfortable, and I don't know how Jason Johnson can pitch with a tube running into his leg.
Could the Mariners take the series with a win in this game? Here goes...
TOP 1ST
Grade: B+
Piñeiro started out fairly well. Curtis Granderson got behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 count. Carlos Guillen lined out to rightfield on the second pitch. Chris Shelton whiffed on a 1-2 curve in the dirt. Magglio Ordoñez got ahead 3-0, then popped the 3-1 pitch to Willie Bloomquist in front of second base.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: C
No early damage for the Mariners. Ichiro swatted the second pitch into leftfield for a flyout. Randy Winn slapped a 2-2 pitch through the hole on the right side for a single. Raul Ibañez gently popped the second pitch to leftfield. Richie Sexson bounced the first pitch into the hole on the left side, where Guillen backhanded the ball and threw to second for the force (6-4 fielder's choice).
TOP 2ND
Grade: B+
The leadoff runner was erased. Rondell White fouled off a 3-1 pitch and dribbled the full-count pitch near the third-base line, where Adrian Beltre charged, barehanded, and threw to first, but the throw was barely late. Ivan Rodriguez grounded the second pitch hard to Jose Lopez, who underhanded to Bloomquist to start the 4-6-3 double play. Dmitri Young flew out to Jeremy Reed on the track in the gap in leftcenter.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: C
The Mariners failed to take advantage of an error, though it was with two out. Adrian Beltre fouled off a 2-0 pitch before rolling over on the next pitch, a changeup that was rolled out to short. Jeremy Reed popped the first pitch high to rightfield. Willie Bloomquist bounced the second pitch through the middle for a single, then almost got picked off with Jose Lopez at the plate. Bloomquist was nearly picked off of first by Rodriguez after the 1-1 pitch, but Shelton couldn't handle the throw (E3) and the ball went into rightfield. Bloomquist skittered to second. Lopez took a full-count breaking ball too high for a walk. Miguel Olivo popped the second pitch in front of the third-base dugout, where John McDonald made a nice sliding catch.
TOP 3RD
Grade: B-
Detroit scratched one out. Omar Infante popped high to Reed in shallow centerfield. John McDonald fouled off a full-count pitch but mashed the next pitch into the gap in leftcenter, which looked like it might be a single, but McDonald squeezed a double out of it. Granderson flew out to Reed just short of the track on the first pitch. Guillen popped a 1-2 pitch to leftfield, where it was trapped by Winn, easily scoring McDonald.
»» TIGERS 1, MARINERS 0
Guillen took off on the first pitch to Shelton and was nailed by Olivo.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: B
Taking advantage of errors, then taking the lead. Ichiro poked the ball past Guillen in the hole on the left side for a single. Winn nearly bunted the first pitch fair down the third-base line, but it trickled foul. Winn whiffed over an 0-2 breaking ball down and in. Ibañez took a 3-1 pitch in the dirt that rolled away from Rodriguez, but it was ball four anyway and Ichiro didn't go past second. Sexson grounded right to Shelton at first, who threw to Guillen covering the bag at second, but Guillen dropped the knee-high throw which he'd had a glove on (E6), and everyone was safe. Beltre mashed the first pitch over the left side for a single, scoring Ichiro.
»» TIGERS 1, MARINERS 1
Reed lined a 3-1 pitch right to center, where it was caught, and Ibañez sprinted in to score.
»» MARINERS 2, TIGERS 1
Bloomquist fouled off a few 1-2 pitches before rolling out to second.
TOP 4TH
Grade: C
Piñeiro gave it right back. Shelton bounced out to short. Ordoñez popped out to second. White tagged a full-count pitch past a diving Lopez into the hole on the right side for a single. Rodriguez whiffed on a 3-0 pitch but took the next pitch low for a walk. Young ripped a double down the leftfield line, scoring White and Rodriguez to quickly erase the Mariner lead.
»» TIGERS 3, MARINERS 2
Infante got ahead 2-0 and popped the next pitch high to Ichiro just past the rightfield line.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: C
An inopportune line drive killed the threat. Lopez singled over the third baseman McDonald and into leftfield. Olivo whiffed over an outer-half slider on 0-2. Ichiro ripped a 3-1 pitch right to Infante, who tossed over to first for the easy 4-3 double play.
TOP 5TH
Grade: C
The Tigers played for some cushion. McDonald got the hitters' counts and took a full-count pitch high and inside. Granderson whiffed on an 0-2 fastball up and in. Guillen grounded the second pitch right to Sexson, who stepped on the bag at first but didn't have time to throw to second. Shelton dumped the 1-2 pitch into rightfield in front of Ichiro for a single, scoring McDonald.
»» TIGERS 4, MARINERS 2
Ordoñez chopped an 0-2 pitch that skipped past Lopez on a high hop into centerfield with some wicked topspin. White fouled off an 0-2 pitch and worked the count full. White popped to Lopez in shallow left. Thankfully.
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: C-
A double play nixed the second straight inning. Winn took a 3-0 pitch down the pipe, then took the next pitch up and in for a walk. Ibañez grounded the first pitch for a 4-6-3 double play. Sexson popped the second pitch high to center.
TOP 6TH
Grade: B-
The Tiger threat dissipated in fine fashion. Rodriguez looped the first pitch softly into shallow rightfield for a single. Young fouled off an 0-2 pitch and later grounded through the hole on the left side for a single, pushing Rodriguez to second. Infante bunted the first pitch along the right side, and Sexson charged, didn't have a play at second, then went to first for the out, and the runners moved to second and third.
Julio Mateo came in for Piñeiro. Mateo threw the second pitch for a pitchout to McDonald, and the Mariners had snuffed out the squeeze bunt, as McDonald didn't make contact with the pitch high and outside (it was a pitchout, after all), and Olivo ran Rodriguez toward third and the rundown was pretty short. McDonald whiffed on the 0-2 pitch, which was the next pitch.
Piñeiro's line: 5 1/3 innings, 4 runs, 10 hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, 100 pitches (63 strikes)
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: B
Hey, what's this? Beltre whiffed on a 2-2 pitch outside. Reed bounced a single up the middle. Bloomquist grounded the second pitch through the hole on the right side on a hit-and-run, moving Reed to third. Lopez fouled off an 0-2 pitch, but bounced the next pitch past a diving McDonald, and Guillen grabbed the ball but ate it since he had no play (Bloomquist took off with the pitch). Reed scored.
»» TIGERS 4, MARINERS 3
Olivo nubbed the second pitch in front of the plate, where Rodriguez pounced on it and threw in time to third to force out Bloomquist (2-5 fielder's choice). Ichiro doubled the first pitch into the gap, where Ordoñez had the ball go past him and to the wall. Lopez scored easily, and Olivo scored easily thanks to the misplay by Ordoñez, though it went as a triple for Ichiro. Hooray, lead!
»» MARINERS 5, TIGERS 4
Winn took an 0-2 pitch near his feet, blocked by Rodriguez. Winn whiffed on a breaking ball down and in on the next pitch.
TOP 7TH
Grade: B+
Mateo turned in his usual inning of relief. Granderson whiffed on a 1-2 fastball over the inner half. Guillen nearly homered the second pitch down the rightfield line, but pulled it too far. He took a 3-1 pitch for a high and outside strike, then despite his .474 average with a homer on full counts, flew out to Ichiro in rightcenter, who barely avoided Reed, who slid behind. Shelton flew out to Ichiro in fairly deep rightfield.
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: C-
The Mariners couldn't play add-on with the meat of the order. Ibañez lined out on the second pitch to second. Sexson pulled the first pitch to the hole on the left side, where Guillen threw to first in time. Beltre ripped the second pitch right to second, but for a groundout.
TOP 8TH
Grade: D+
Absolutely terrible. Ordoñez grounded the second pitch to short. White took an 0-2 pitch in the back and took his base. Rodriguez fisted the second pitch barely over Lopez and into shallow rightfield for a single.
Ron Villone came in for Mateo, and Nook Logan pinch-ran for White at second. Young fouled off a ton of pitches, then Villone dropped down sidearmed and Young reached and golfed it out to the bullpen in leftcenter.
»» TIGERS 7, MARINERS 5
Infante grounded the second pitch hard to third. McDonald tapped the second pitch back to the mound.
Mateo's line: 2 innings, 2 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 25 pitches (18 strikes)
Villone's line: 2/3 inning, 1 run, 1 hit, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 11 pitches (9 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: C-
The bats appeared to have nothing left. Reed gave a 2-0 pitch a good ride, but flew out to the track in leftfield. Bloomquist bounced the first pitch to short. Lopez popped high to leftfield.
Johnson's line: 8 innings, 5 runs (4 earned), 9 hits, 3 walks, 4 strikeoouts, 105 pitches (68 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Grade: C-
Matt Thornton came in for Villone. Granderson checkswung on an outside 1-2 pitch but looped it into leftfield for a single. Guillen hit the 2-0 pitch over the middle for a single, and pitching coach Bryan Price came out to the mound. Shelton took a 2-1 pitch off Olivo's glove and toward the backstop, advancing the runners into scoring position (passed ball). Shelton took the 3-1 pitch high for a walk to load the bases.
Shigetoshi Hasegawa came in for Thornton. Ordoñez flew out on the second pitch into centerfield, and Granderson scored easily.
»» TIGERS 8, MARINERS 5
Logan got ahead 2-0 and later flew out to Reed in rightcenter. Guillen tagged and went from second to third. Rodriguez flew out to center on the second pitch.
Thornton's line: 0 innings, 1 run, 2 hits, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 12 pitches (5 strikes)
Hasegawa's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 8 pitches (6 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Grade: C
Kyle Farnsworth came in for Johnson. Dave Hansen came in to hit for Olivo. He immediately whiffed on an 0-2 slider. Ichiro fell behind 0-2 and ended up grounding out to second. Winn took a 3-0 pitch over the outer half followed by ball foul high and outside. Winn went to second on catcher's indifference on the 0-1 pitch to Ibañez, who fell behind 0-2. He ended up foul-tipping an outside-corner fastball into Rodriguez' glove behind the plate. Ballgame.
Farnsworth's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 16 pitches (10 strikes)
---
Gameball: Jose Lopez.
Lopez rolls into the boxscore with a 2-for-3 night, scoring once, walking once, and driving in a run. His first hit led off the fourth inning, when he was doubled off first on the Ichiro lineout to second. His second hit was a nicely-placed infield single on an 0-2 pitch that kept the sixth inning alive and scored Jeremy Reed, getting the Mariners within a run. Hey, when Jose Lopez gets on base three times, I think it's news, and I hope it's a confidence builder for him. Well, the solid single to lead off the fourth is probably more of a boost than the seeing-eye infield single in the sixth, but still, the youngun's gotta start somewhere. I guess I'm letting Lopez slide for that grounder up the middle that got serious air on him and skipped over his glove. I reserve the right to do that, you know.
Goat: Julio Mateo.
I'm sticking it on the tablesetter instead of the one giving up the key hit or hits. After retiring the first five hitters he faced (which was very nice, don't get me wrong), he nailed Rondell White in the back, and with an 0-2 pitch, no less. That's a pitch that you either put someone away with, or waste and/or bury. I wish Mateo would have missed in the dirt right there instead of up and in. Still, if you're going to allow a leadoff baserunner to get on base, let it be on a single or something, but not an 0-2 beanball. That's a lot less forgivable. Ivan Rodriguez singled not long after that, and it set the table for Ron Villone and the apparent end of the game. I've given Julio Mateo a whole boatload of gameballs this year, but unfortunately he's got to falter sometime, and it's too bad this was one of those times. Not that it still didn't take Ron Villone to serve up the gopher ball. Anyway, it was too bad we had to see five good outs' worth of relief by Mateo go bad so quickly.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 72-27 .727 -- W4
2002 60-39 .606 12 L3
2003 60-39 .606 12 W1
2000 58-41 .586 14 L1
2005 43-56 .434 29 L1
2004 38-61 .384 34 L2
The starting pitchers are having some weird outings lately, and Joel Piñeiro followed suit. I guess it's a bad thing when the only clear-cut positive you can take out of the start is that he hit 93mph a couple times on the radar gun, so maybe the pop in his fastball might finally be returning soon. The good thing about Piñeiro's line is that he only gave up four runs. The bad thing(s)? Ten hits, two walks. I believe that would translate into 16 outs and 12 baserunners. Not too good. The first two innings were pretty good, and the rest were much less good.
I'd have to say that Ron Villone Dropping Down Sidearmed has been as great an idea as Mike Myers Throwing Overhanded So He Can Face Righties. Both were crappy ideas. Villone and the Mariners paid badly on the 2-2 pitch to Dmitri Young in the eighth. Villone left it low, though out over the outer half of the plate, and Young reached out (that does require arm extension) and put the barrel on it. Home run, Tigers win. Does anyone think the old Tacoma Tigers with Troy Neel, Mike Bordick, Scott Spiezio, and Todd Van Poppel could beat this Mariner team in its current state? Is there like a DiamondMind sim game that has the capability to do this? Why haven't EA or 2K Sports made a separate game or an add-on to their regular Major League games where you can run your own minor-league team? That'd be nuts. As we all know, there's got to be SOMETHING new and fantastic out there to sink GPAs on campus and in high schools across the nation.
What's worse about this is that for the most part, the bats as a whole had stepped up (I realize that's kind of a bold statement since Ibañez, Sexson, and Olivo all went hitless). How much can you really complain when the bats fight back twice and take the lead? I've talked about what killed the Mariners on the pitching side, but on offense, all that really went wrong happened in the fourth and fifth innings, where the Mariners got into double plays after having the leadoff batter reach base. Those double plays were very highly inopportune. Ichiro lined out with one out in the fourth, and Raul Ibañez' double-play ball left the bases clean with two out for Richie Sexson, whose best-case scenario would be no more than a solo shot in that at-bat.
In the trade-value watch, I guess what I'd take out of this game is that the value of Ron Villone decreased, Shigetoshi Hasegawa stock either went unchanged or slightly increased, Randy Winn increased in a day of heavy trading on the floor, and Willie Bloomquist increased as well. If only Ichiro, Sexson, and Beltre are the only true untouchables on this roster, I'm convincing myself that Willie Bloomquist's crazy-nuts streak of late has got to be catching the eye of some team out there that'd be willing to take a risk on him, and forever give me other worthwhile things to complain about when it comes to the Mariners. Yes, I do admit that there hasn't been much to be complaining about lately in the Bloomquist realm, which is unfortunate for us here as Bremertonians, but great for us as Mariner fans. That is, unless it brainwashes Bill Bavasi into giving him a four-year deal to start or something. That would be bad. It'd be passable if they did that and Bloomquist was six years younger than he is, but that's far from the case.
These first two games of the Detroit series have been weirdly entertaining to watch, and it's weird that the games have turned so quickly, something I haven't been used to with watching this team for most of the season. Not to say it'll happen for sure in the third and final game of the series, but maybe it could. It could be a 19-2 drubbing at the hands of the Tigers, but then again, it might not be. You could have the 19-2 loss to the Tigers and have Ichiro climb halfway up the foul pole to rob a home run, which is more than likely against the rules now that I think about it. Probably something about leaving the field of play.
I just realized I passed on Miguel Olivo for the goat despite his stellar like of 0-for-3 with a strikeout and leaving five runners on base, though he scored once. I guess I gave him reprieve for gunning down Carlos Guillen at second and snuffing out the squeeze play correctly, which was a nice play.
It's the rubber game of the series. Can the Mariners win their first series since...the series against the Angels before the break? That's how long it's been. July 10th. The Mariners have gone from winning six of eight after the Baltimore series to now having lost six of eight. Vive le mediocrity!
Maroth. Moyer. Tonight.
In 25 words or less: What started out as kind of a crappy game turned into a see-saw affair with four lead changes and ended with a crappy result.
This one featured Jason Johnson going up against Joel Piñeiro. The mere appearance of Jason Johnson of course elicits the obligatory mentions on the TV and radio broadcasts of the device attached to the back of his belt with the tube running into his leg that helps him against his diabetes (obviously I'm brutally uneducated with diabetes, given how weirdly I phrased that). It always gets a mention, and though I'm glad I'm not left wondering what it is, I get inevitably uncomfortable at the mention of it. I guess it's because I had IV fluids running into me one time and it was one of the worst experiences of my life. It's horribly confining. Boo to tubes being stuck in oneself! Seriously, though, it was uncomfortable, and I don't know how Jason Johnson can pitch with a tube running into his leg.
Could the Mariners take the series with a win in this game? Here goes...
TOP 1ST
Grade: B+
Piñeiro started out fairly well. Curtis Granderson got behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 count. Carlos Guillen lined out to rightfield on the second pitch. Chris Shelton whiffed on a 1-2 curve in the dirt. Magglio Ordoñez got ahead 3-0, then popped the 3-1 pitch to Willie Bloomquist in front of second base.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: C
No early damage for the Mariners. Ichiro swatted the second pitch into leftfield for a flyout. Randy Winn slapped a 2-2 pitch through the hole on the right side for a single. Raul Ibañez gently popped the second pitch to leftfield. Richie Sexson bounced the first pitch into the hole on the left side, where Guillen backhanded the ball and threw to second for the force (6-4 fielder's choice).
TOP 2ND
Grade: B+
The leadoff runner was erased. Rondell White fouled off a 3-1 pitch and dribbled the full-count pitch near the third-base line, where Adrian Beltre charged, barehanded, and threw to first, but the throw was barely late. Ivan Rodriguez grounded the second pitch hard to Jose Lopez, who underhanded to Bloomquist to start the 4-6-3 double play. Dmitri Young flew out to Jeremy Reed on the track in the gap in leftcenter.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: C
The Mariners failed to take advantage of an error, though it was with two out. Adrian Beltre fouled off a 2-0 pitch before rolling over on the next pitch, a changeup that was rolled out to short. Jeremy Reed popped the first pitch high to rightfield. Willie Bloomquist bounced the second pitch through the middle for a single, then almost got picked off with Jose Lopez at the plate. Bloomquist was nearly picked off of first by Rodriguez after the 1-1 pitch, but Shelton couldn't handle the throw (E3) and the ball went into rightfield. Bloomquist skittered to second. Lopez took a full-count breaking ball too high for a walk. Miguel Olivo popped the second pitch in front of the third-base dugout, where John McDonald made a nice sliding catch.
TOP 3RD
Grade: B-
Detroit scratched one out. Omar Infante popped high to Reed in shallow centerfield. John McDonald fouled off a full-count pitch but mashed the next pitch into the gap in leftcenter, which looked like it might be a single, but McDonald squeezed a double out of it. Granderson flew out to Reed just short of the track on the first pitch. Guillen popped a 1-2 pitch to leftfield, where it was trapped by Winn, easily scoring McDonald.
»» TIGERS 1, MARINERS 0
Guillen took off on the first pitch to Shelton and was nailed by Olivo.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: B
Taking advantage of errors, then taking the lead. Ichiro poked the ball past Guillen in the hole on the left side for a single. Winn nearly bunted the first pitch fair down the third-base line, but it trickled foul. Winn whiffed over an 0-2 breaking ball down and in. Ibañez took a 3-1 pitch in the dirt that rolled away from Rodriguez, but it was ball four anyway and Ichiro didn't go past second. Sexson grounded right to Shelton at first, who threw to Guillen covering the bag at second, but Guillen dropped the knee-high throw which he'd had a glove on (E6), and everyone was safe. Beltre mashed the first pitch over the left side for a single, scoring Ichiro.
»» TIGERS 1, MARINERS 1
Reed lined a 3-1 pitch right to center, where it was caught, and Ibañez sprinted in to score.
»» MARINERS 2, TIGERS 1
Bloomquist fouled off a few 1-2 pitches before rolling out to second.
TOP 4TH
Grade: C
Piñeiro gave it right back. Shelton bounced out to short. Ordoñez popped out to second. White tagged a full-count pitch past a diving Lopez into the hole on the right side for a single. Rodriguez whiffed on a 3-0 pitch but took the next pitch low for a walk. Young ripped a double down the leftfield line, scoring White and Rodriguez to quickly erase the Mariner lead.
»» TIGERS 3, MARINERS 2
Infante got ahead 2-0 and popped the next pitch high to Ichiro just past the rightfield line.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: C
An inopportune line drive killed the threat. Lopez singled over the third baseman McDonald and into leftfield. Olivo whiffed over an outer-half slider on 0-2. Ichiro ripped a 3-1 pitch right to Infante, who tossed over to first for the easy 4-3 double play.
TOP 5TH
Grade: C
The Tigers played for some cushion. McDonald got the hitters' counts and took a full-count pitch high and inside. Granderson whiffed on an 0-2 fastball up and in. Guillen grounded the second pitch right to Sexson, who stepped on the bag at first but didn't have time to throw to second. Shelton dumped the 1-2 pitch into rightfield in front of Ichiro for a single, scoring McDonald.
»» TIGERS 4, MARINERS 2
Ordoñez chopped an 0-2 pitch that skipped past Lopez on a high hop into centerfield with some wicked topspin. White fouled off an 0-2 pitch and worked the count full. White popped to Lopez in shallow left. Thankfully.
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: C-
A double play nixed the second straight inning. Winn took a 3-0 pitch down the pipe, then took the next pitch up and in for a walk. Ibañez grounded the first pitch for a 4-6-3 double play. Sexson popped the second pitch high to center.
TOP 6TH
Grade: B-
The Tiger threat dissipated in fine fashion. Rodriguez looped the first pitch softly into shallow rightfield for a single. Young fouled off an 0-2 pitch and later grounded through the hole on the left side for a single, pushing Rodriguez to second. Infante bunted the first pitch along the right side, and Sexson charged, didn't have a play at second, then went to first for the out, and the runners moved to second and third.
Julio Mateo came in for Piñeiro. Mateo threw the second pitch for a pitchout to McDonald, and the Mariners had snuffed out the squeeze bunt, as McDonald didn't make contact with the pitch high and outside (it was a pitchout, after all), and Olivo ran Rodriguez toward third and the rundown was pretty short. McDonald whiffed on the 0-2 pitch, which was the next pitch.
Piñeiro's line: 5 1/3 innings, 4 runs, 10 hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, 100 pitches (63 strikes)
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: B
Hey, what's this? Beltre whiffed on a 2-2 pitch outside. Reed bounced a single up the middle. Bloomquist grounded the second pitch through the hole on the right side on a hit-and-run, moving Reed to third. Lopez fouled off an 0-2 pitch, but bounced the next pitch past a diving McDonald, and Guillen grabbed the ball but ate it since he had no play (Bloomquist took off with the pitch). Reed scored.
»» TIGERS 4, MARINERS 3
Olivo nubbed the second pitch in front of the plate, where Rodriguez pounced on it and threw in time to third to force out Bloomquist (2-5 fielder's choice). Ichiro doubled the first pitch into the gap, where Ordoñez had the ball go past him and to the wall. Lopez scored easily, and Olivo scored easily thanks to the misplay by Ordoñez, though it went as a triple for Ichiro. Hooray, lead!
»» MARINERS 5, TIGERS 4
Winn took an 0-2 pitch near his feet, blocked by Rodriguez. Winn whiffed on a breaking ball down and in on the next pitch.
TOP 7TH
Grade: B+
Mateo turned in his usual inning of relief. Granderson whiffed on a 1-2 fastball over the inner half. Guillen nearly homered the second pitch down the rightfield line, but pulled it too far. He took a 3-1 pitch for a high and outside strike, then despite his .474 average with a homer on full counts, flew out to Ichiro in rightcenter, who barely avoided Reed, who slid behind. Shelton flew out to Ichiro in fairly deep rightfield.
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: C-
The Mariners couldn't play add-on with the meat of the order. Ibañez lined out on the second pitch to second. Sexson pulled the first pitch to the hole on the left side, where Guillen threw to first in time. Beltre ripped the second pitch right to second, but for a groundout.
TOP 8TH
Grade: D+
Absolutely terrible. Ordoñez grounded the second pitch to short. White took an 0-2 pitch in the back and took his base. Rodriguez fisted the second pitch barely over Lopez and into shallow rightfield for a single.
Ron Villone came in for Mateo, and Nook Logan pinch-ran for White at second. Young fouled off a ton of pitches, then Villone dropped down sidearmed and Young reached and golfed it out to the bullpen in leftcenter.
»» TIGERS 7, MARINERS 5
Infante grounded the second pitch hard to third. McDonald tapped the second pitch back to the mound.
Mateo's line: 2 innings, 2 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 25 pitches (18 strikes)
Villone's line: 2/3 inning, 1 run, 1 hit, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 11 pitches (9 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: C-
The bats appeared to have nothing left. Reed gave a 2-0 pitch a good ride, but flew out to the track in leftfield. Bloomquist bounced the first pitch to short. Lopez popped high to leftfield.
Johnson's line: 8 innings, 5 runs (4 earned), 9 hits, 3 walks, 4 strikeoouts, 105 pitches (68 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Grade: C-
Matt Thornton came in for Villone. Granderson checkswung on an outside 1-2 pitch but looped it into leftfield for a single. Guillen hit the 2-0 pitch over the middle for a single, and pitching coach Bryan Price came out to the mound. Shelton took a 2-1 pitch off Olivo's glove and toward the backstop, advancing the runners into scoring position (passed ball). Shelton took the 3-1 pitch high for a walk to load the bases.
Shigetoshi Hasegawa came in for Thornton. Ordoñez flew out on the second pitch into centerfield, and Granderson scored easily.
»» TIGERS 8, MARINERS 5
Logan got ahead 2-0 and later flew out to Reed in rightcenter. Guillen tagged and went from second to third. Rodriguez flew out to center on the second pitch.
Thornton's line: 0 innings, 1 run, 2 hits, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 12 pitches (5 strikes)
Hasegawa's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 8 pitches (6 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Grade: C
Kyle Farnsworth came in for Johnson. Dave Hansen came in to hit for Olivo. He immediately whiffed on an 0-2 slider. Ichiro fell behind 0-2 and ended up grounding out to second. Winn took a 3-0 pitch over the outer half followed by ball foul high and outside. Winn went to second on catcher's indifference on the 0-1 pitch to Ibañez, who fell behind 0-2. He ended up foul-tipping an outside-corner fastball into Rodriguez' glove behind the plate. Ballgame.
Farnsworth's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 16 pitches (10 strikes)
---
Gameball: Jose Lopez.
Lopez rolls into the boxscore with a 2-for-3 night, scoring once, walking once, and driving in a run. His first hit led off the fourth inning, when he was doubled off first on the Ichiro lineout to second. His second hit was a nicely-placed infield single on an 0-2 pitch that kept the sixth inning alive and scored Jeremy Reed, getting the Mariners within a run. Hey, when Jose Lopez gets on base three times, I think it's news, and I hope it's a confidence builder for him. Well, the solid single to lead off the fourth is probably more of a boost than the seeing-eye infield single in the sixth, but still, the youngun's gotta start somewhere. I guess I'm letting Lopez slide for that grounder up the middle that got serious air on him and skipped over his glove. I reserve the right to do that, you know.
Goat: Julio Mateo.
I'm sticking it on the tablesetter instead of the one giving up the key hit or hits. After retiring the first five hitters he faced (which was very nice, don't get me wrong), he nailed Rondell White in the back, and with an 0-2 pitch, no less. That's a pitch that you either put someone away with, or waste and/or bury. I wish Mateo would have missed in the dirt right there instead of up and in. Still, if you're going to allow a leadoff baserunner to get on base, let it be on a single or something, but not an 0-2 beanball. That's a lot less forgivable. Ivan Rodriguez singled not long after that, and it set the table for Ron Villone and the apparent end of the game. I've given Julio Mateo a whole boatload of gameballs this year, but unfortunately he's got to falter sometime, and it's too bad this was one of those times. Not that it still didn't take Ron Villone to serve up the gopher ball. Anyway, it was too bad we had to see five good outs' worth of relief by Mateo go bad so quickly.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 72-27 .727 -- W4
2002 60-39 .606 12 L3
2003 60-39 .606 12 W1
2000 58-41 .586 14 L1
2005 43-56 .434 29 L1
2004 38-61 .384 34 L2
The starting pitchers are having some weird outings lately, and Joel Piñeiro followed suit. I guess it's a bad thing when the only clear-cut positive you can take out of the start is that he hit 93mph a couple times on the radar gun, so maybe the pop in his fastball might finally be returning soon. The good thing about Piñeiro's line is that he only gave up four runs. The bad thing(s)? Ten hits, two walks. I believe that would translate into 16 outs and 12 baserunners. Not too good. The first two innings were pretty good, and the rest were much less good.
I'd have to say that Ron Villone Dropping Down Sidearmed has been as great an idea as Mike Myers Throwing Overhanded So He Can Face Righties. Both were crappy ideas. Villone and the Mariners paid badly on the 2-2 pitch to Dmitri Young in the eighth. Villone left it low, though out over the outer half of the plate, and Young reached out (that does require arm extension) and put the barrel on it. Home run, Tigers win. Does anyone think the old Tacoma Tigers with Troy Neel, Mike Bordick, Scott Spiezio, and Todd Van Poppel could beat this Mariner team in its current state? Is there like a DiamondMind sim game that has the capability to do this? Why haven't EA or 2K Sports made a separate game or an add-on to their regular Major League games where you can run your own minor-league team? That'd be nuts. As we all know, there's got to be SOMETHING new and fantastic out there to sink GPAs on campus and in high schools across the nation.
What's worse about this is that for the most part, the bats as a whole had stepped up (I realize that's kind of a bold statement since Ibañez, Sexson, and Olivo all went hitless). How much can you really complain when the bats fight back twice and take the lead? I've talked about what killed the Mariners on the pitching side, but on offense, all that really went wrong happened in the fourth and fifth innings, where the Mariners got into double plays after having the leadoff batter reach base. Those double plays were very highly inopportune. Ichiro lined out with one out in the fourth, and Raul Ibañez' double-play ball left the bases clean with two out for Richie Sexson, whose best-case scenario would be no more than a solo shot in that at-bat.
In the trade-value watch, I guess what I'd take out of this game is that the value of Ron Villone decreased, Shigetoshi Hasegawa stock either went unchanged or slightly increased, Randy Winn increased in a day of heavy trading on the floor, and Willie Bloomquist increased as well. If only Ichiro, Sexson, and Beltre are the only true untouchables on this roster, I'm convincing myself that Willie Bloomquist's crazy-nuts streak of late has got to be catching the eye of some team out there that'd be willing to take a risk on him, and forever give me other worthwhile things to complain about when it comes to the Mariners. Yes, I do admit that there hasn't been much to be complaining about lately in the Bloomquist realm, which is unfortunate for us here as Bremertonians, but great for us as Mariner fans. That is, unless it brainwashes Bill Bavasi into giving him a four-year deal to start or something. That would be bad. It'd be passable if they did that and Bloomquist was six years younger than he is, but that's far from the case.
These first two games of the Detroit series have been weirdly entertaining to watch, and it's weird that the games have turned so quickly, something I haven't been used to with watching this team for most of the season. Not to say it'll happen for sure in the third and final game of the series, but maybe it could. It could be a 19-2 drubbing at the hands of the Tigers, but then again, it might not be. You could have the 19-2 loss to the Tigers and have Ichiro climb halfway up the foul pole to rob a home run, which is more than likely against the rules now that I think about it. Probably something about leaving the field of play.
I just realized I passed on Miguel Olivo for the goat despite his stellar like of 0-for-3 with a strikeout and leaving five runners on base, though he scored once. I guess I gave him reprieve for gunning down Carlos Guillen at second and snuffing out the squeeze play correctly, which was a nice play.
It's the rubber game of the series. Can the Mariners win their first series since...the series against the Angels before the break? That's how long it's been. July 10th. The Mariners have gone from winning six of eight after the Baltimore series to now having lost six of eight. Vive le mediocrity!
Maroth. Moyer. Tonight.
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