Tuesday, August 09, 2005
GAME 112: MARINERS 1, TWINS 0
Mariners 1, Twins 0
In 25 words or less: For the first time in ages, I got the feeling I might be asking myself years from now where I was on this night.
This one featured Kyle Lohse going up against a certain 19-year-old by the name of Felix Hernandez. Since the first Felix start wasn't beamed back to Seattle, and since the MLB.tv feed was confined to a camera that was five miles away above and behind the plate at Comerica Park, the second start for Felix was met with that much more anticipation.
(For more on Felix, visit Seth, who speaks. Also, there's some crazy-ass breakdown in that post.)
TOP 1ST
Grade: B-
Shannon Stewart fouled off an 0-2 pitch and rolled a ball along the third-base line, and Adrian Beltre hoped that it would roll foul, but it ended up hitting the bag for a single. Stewart was gunned down by a one-hop Wiki Gonzalez throw at second after taking off on a 1-2 pitch to Nick Punto. Punto grounded the 2-2 pitch to short. Joe Mauer fouled off three 2-2 pitches before whiffing on a curveball.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: C+
Blown chance. Ichiro popped the second pitch off the track in leftfield and over the fence for a double. Willie Bloomquist air-bunted a 1-1 pitch foul but eventually whiffed on a 1-2 slider low and away. Raul Ibañez got the hitters' counts and walked on a 3-1 pitch inside. Richie Sexson whiffed at a high 1-2 fastball. Adrian Beltre got ahead 2-0 and chopped a full-count pitch along the third-base line, but Terry Tiffee threw on the run in time to first.
TOP 2ND
Grade: A
Felix was looking good. Matthew LeCroy took a mean 2-2 curveball over the plate at the knees for a strikeout. Jacque Jones popped the first pitch on the infield to Yuniesky Betancourt. Lew Ford bounced a 1-2 curve to short.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: C-
Quick. Jeremy Reed popped the 1-2 pitch high to Punto on the right side of the infield. Yuniesky Betancourt popped out to Ford in shallow centerfield. Chris Snelling bounced out to second.
TOP 3RD
Grade: A-
Felix rolls. Justin Morneau popped an 0-2 pitch to leftfield. Terry Tiffee bounced the second pitch to first, and Sexson stepped on the bag. Jason Bartlett worked a 1-2 count full, then broke his bat on a grounder to short.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: C
It's a Wiki offense. Wiki Gonzalez looped a single into shallow centerfield. Ichiro took a 1-2 pitch over the outside corner. Bloomquist popped the first ptich to Bartlett in shallow centerfield. Ibañez got behind 0-2 and tagged the 1-2 offering up the middle, but right into Bartlett's glove (lineout).
TOP 4TH
Grade: A-
Felix be rollin'. Stewart got behind 0-2 and ended up grounding to first, where Sexson underhanded to a covering Felix. Punto held his swing on a low 0-2 curve but couldn't hold up on the next pitch. Mauer lined out on a 3-1 pitch to centerfield.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: C
Ugh. Sexson grounded the first pitch to short, where Bartlett had the ball go off his glove, but still had enough time to throw to first. Beltre got the hitters' counts and took a full-count pitch over the outside half of the plate. Reed worked a 1-2 pitch for a walk. Reed was nailed at second on the 1-0 pitch to Betancourt.
TOP 5TH
Grade: B-
Felix meets jam. LeCroy fisted the first pitch over Beltre for a single into leftfield, snapping the Felix streak of 12 straight retired Minnesota hitters. Jones poked the second pitch up the middle, moving LeCroy to second. Ford bunted the first pitch to the right side, where Hernandez pounced on it and threw in time to third, nailing LeCroy, though Ford beat out the double-play try at first. Morneau got the hitters' counts and whiffed on a full-count fastball over the outside corner. Tiffee grounded an 0-2 pitch to Beltre at third, who thought about tagging Jacque Jones going to third, but threw the ball about 12 feet high to Sexson at first, pulling Sexson off the bag (error). With the bases loaded, Bartlett grounded the first pitch to Felix off the mound to the first-base side, and he tossed over to first.
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: C
More of nothing. Betancourt got ahead 2-0 and later reached on a full-count pitch and grounded out to short. Snelling grounded a ball to Morneau behind the bag at first, but the latter had trouble cradling the ball, and Snelling reached first. Gonzalez whiffed on a 2-0 pitch, and Snelling was out by about ten feet on what might have been a blown hit-and-run. Gonzalez later popped a 2-2 pitch to Jones in foul ground along the rightfield line.
TOP 6TH
Grade: A
Roll Felix! Stewart got behind 0-2 and later whiffed on a 1-2 slider low and away. Punto flew out to centerfield on the first pitch. Mauer bounced a 2-2 pitch to second.
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: C-
The offense was offensive. Defensively, the Twins moved Punto to centerfield to replace Ford, and Luis Rodriguez was put in at second base. Ichiro mashed a 2-1 pitch quite far but foul, then whiffed at the next pitch high and outside. Bloomquist got behind 0-2 then looped the 1-2 pitch to Jones just past the foul line in rightfield for the out. Ibañez whiffed on a 2-2 pitch low and away.
TOP 7TH
Grade: A
LeCroy flew out high to Snelling in shallow leftfield. Jones bounced the second pitch back to the mound, though Felix grimaced a bit after throwing the ball to first (he stayed in the game). Rodriguez lined the second pitch to Snelling just short of the track in leftfield.
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: B
Sexson got the hitters' counts and couldn't hold a swing on an outside slider in the dirt. Beltre reached for a pitch and grounded out to short. Reed bounced the first pitch into the gap in rightcenter, off the track and off the wall for a double. Betancourt drove the first pitch into the gap in rightcenter, scoring Reed. The ball took three hops to the wall, and Betancourt slid in with a triple.
»» MARINERS 1, TWINS 0
Snelling got ahead 3-1 and ended up popping the full-count pitch to Rodriguez on the edge of the outfield grass.
Lohse's line: 7 innings, 1 run, 4 hits, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts, 107 pitches (64 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Grade: B
Felix finished his night nicely. Morneau poked the first pitch into rightfield for a single. Tiffee bounced the second pitch to Bloomquist on the right side, who threw to second for the force, but it was hit too slow for Betancourt's throw to first to be meaningful (4-6 fielder's choice). Michael Ryan came in to hit for Bartlett. Ryan whiffed on an 0-2 breaking ball in the dirt. Stewart poked the first pitch through the left side for a single. Punto bounced the first pitch back to the mound, and Felix easily shoveled over for the out.
Hernandez' line: 8 innings, 0 runs, 5 hits, 0 walks, 6 strikeouts, 94 pitches (69 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: C-
Juan Rincon came in for Lohse. Gonzalez poked an 0-2 pitch down the rightfield line, where Ryan made the catch. Ichiro got behind 0-2 and later chopped out to short. Bloomquist grounded to the right side past a diving Tiffee, but Punto backed him up and threw in time to first (nice play).
Rincon's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 9 pitches (8 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Grade: A
Eddie Guardado came in to shut the door. Mauer chopped a 1-2 pitch to Bloomquist on the infield grass. LeCroy whiffed on an 0-2 pitch. Jones popped the first pitch high to Betancourt on the outfield grass. Ballgame.
Guardado's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 8 pitches (7 strikes)
---
Gameball: Eddie Guardado.
After the rookie had done his thing, and after the offense had finally scratched out a run, it came down to Eddie Guardado in the 9th. All he had to do was mow down Minnesota's third, fourth, and fifth hitters. Guardado proceeded by making mince meat out of Joe Mauer, Matt LeCroy, and Jacque Jones. Do I know how Eddie keeps doing it? I'm not sure I care as long as it gets done. In short, I haven't cared 28 times this season, though there was one time where I did. Eddie's shoulder could explode at any time, but he's come this far this season. It's amazing that he can just get by on tenacity and location, since it sure isn't speed. We know Eddie's gotten people out in the setup and closer roles for a while, so this isn't a huge surprise like when Kazuhiro Sasaki had the luggage accident and Shigetoshi Hasegawa stepped in and went absolutely insane in 2003. Hasegawa finished with a 1.48 ERA in 2003, while Eddie right now is sitting on a mark of 1.35. Who knows, maybe if we feel really good about things at Sports and B's, we could put up a Pump with the ERAs of Felix, Guardado, and maybe a George Sherrill or something. I'd fill my tank with 69-cent Felix Unleaded right now.
Goat: Adrian Beltre.
Quite simply, I didn't like any of his at-bats, and I surely didn't like the error, which very nearly crapped things up in the fifth inning. The inning should have been over right there, but instead the bases ended up loaded. Luckily Felix was able to get the next hitter, Jason Bartlett, to hit a ball right back to him. It's hard to pick a goat in a game like this, and I very easily could have gone with Richie Sexson and his two strikeouts, but I decided Beltre's error figured a lot more into the scope of the game. Seriously, if Bartlett does anything, the whole game goes to crap, the whole night goes to crap, etc. I do realize I'm saying this about a team that came back from a 4-0 deficit to win 5-4 the night before, but I'm not banking on comeback wins on consecutive nights from this team. No way. Anyway, remember when Beltre warmed up back? We kinda need that to happen at least once more this season to remind ourselves that we aren't insane. Beltre's average was at .269 after the game on July 7th. He's now at .254. His homers by month this year: two, three, one, six, two (in progress).
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 81-31 .723 -- W1
2002 69-43 .616 12 L1
2003 69-43 .616 12 W3
2000 66-46 .589 15 W4
2005 49-63 .438 32 W2
2004 42-70 .375 39 W1
The Mariners had gone 20 games without winning consecutive games. Thank goodness that's over. The Mariners won a second straight game for the first time since July 17th, the final game of the Baltimore series at the Safe. Hey, this here's their first series win in two weeks.
But really, that's not the important thing. Does anyone else out there feel like they've gotten a whole new lease on the season? I haven't been this pumped over a Mariner game in a long time. It's been a long time since I've felt this great about this team as a result of what happened on the field (the days when Beltre and Sexson signed in close succession was a pretty big time). Heck, this might have been the greatest Mariner game since this one. Surely you remember Rafael Soriano striking out Nomar Garciaparra on a warm summer day at the Safe back in 2003.
Like Jeremy said, there will still be four days between starts for Felix, and the team and 80% of the rotation will probably resort to their usual habits on those days. Seriously, though, it's good to know that 20% of the season will be worth watching from here on out. I was juiced for the 2006 season the minute the Mariners signed Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson, and it was partly because I was looking forward to Felix coming up for a full season and having the Mariners hopefully go out and get a relevant arm next winter. It could be fun, kids. If the Mariners can get a playoff spot next season, it will have been the first in five years. It didn't have to be that long (or however long it'll be), no, but it'll be good if we can taste that again.
Something I also alluded to in the game thread that Jeremy also brought up -- when's the last time you were juiced up when a Mariner pitcher got two strikes on a hitter? Well, maybe you might do that for Eddie Guardado, but for a starting pitcher? We discovered after while that Freddy Garcia was better when he let his fielders do the work instead of trying to strike everyone out. Gil Meche came through the pipe, and since he was a power pitcher, one would expect some decent strikeout numbers to come out of that, but it turns out Meche can't put hitters away with two strikes, or at least not as regularly as I'd like. Tonight, though, I know I was feeling a long-lost feeling, and the crowd was feeling it too. I remember when Randy Johnson was in town and the Microsoft K's for Kids meter would tilt. I remember when the pitching staff lost Randy and his strikeouts and no one was really left to strike out hitters. "What about the kids?" I thought. The Home Runs That Help promotion also wasn't helping for that much, and it'll take more than Sexson and Beltre to make that huge these days.
The great thing about Felix doing so well and the Mariners being able to pull off the win was the fact that the Mariner bats were collectively crappy. One quick look at the boxscore shows that no Mariner had a multi-hit game. Ichiro and Richie Sexson each struck out twice. The Mariners got only four hits and two walks off of Kyle Lohse, as well as a fielding error by Justin Morneau on a ball hit by Chris Snelling. You could say Lohse threw a whale of a game, but this was the Mariner lineup he was facing. Luckily a couple of rookies named Jeremy Reed (the only Mariner to reach base twice in the game) and Yuniesky Betancourt managed to get to Lohse in the seventh, and quite quickly. Reed has nine hits in his last nine games (eight starts), though Mike Hargrove really needs to hold back on his running game. Betancourt started his career at the plate with a triple, and he hit one that reeked of clutch tonight. The guy's got some wheels too. Yowza.
Radke. Piñeiro. Tomorrow.
In 25 words or less: For the first time in ages, I got the feeling I might be asking myself years from now where I was on this night.
This one featured Kyle Lohse going up against a certain 19-year-old by the name of Felix Hernandez. Since the first Felix start wasn't beamed back to Seattle, and since the MLB.tv feed was confined to a camera that was five miles away above and behind the plate at Comerica Park, the second start for Felix was met with that much more anticipation.
(For more on Felix, visit Seth, who speaks. Also, there's some crazy-ass breakdown in that post.)
TOP 1ST
Grade: B-
Shannon Stewart fouled off an 0-2 pitch and rolled a ball along the third-base line, and Adrian Beltre hoped that it would roll foul, but it ended up hitting the bag for a single. Stewart was gunned down by a one-hop Wiki Gonzalez throw at second after taking off on a 1-2 pitch to Nick Punto. Punto grounded the 2-2 pitch to short. Joe Mauer fouled off three 2-2 pitches before whiffing on a curveball.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: C+
Blown chance. Ichiro popped the second pitch off the track in leftfield and over the fence for a double. Willie Bloomquist air-bunted a 1-1 pitch foul but eventually whiffed on a 1-2 slider low and away. Raul Ibañez got the hitters' counts and walked on a 3-1 pitch inside. Richie Sexson whiffed at a high 1-2 fastball. Adrian Beltre got ahead 2-0 and chopped a full-count pitch along the third-base line, but Terry Tiffee threw on the run in time to first.
TOP 2ND
Grade: A
Felix was looking good. Matthew LeCroy took a mean 2-2 curveball over the plate at the knees for a strikeout. Jacque Jones popped the first pitch on the infield to Yuniesky Betancourt. Lew Ford bounced a 1-2 curve to short.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: C-
Quick. Jeremy Reed popped the 1-2 pitch high to Punto on the right side of the infield. Yuniesky Betancourt popped out to Ford in shallow centerfield. Chris Snelling bounced out to second.
TOP 3RD
Grade: A-
Felix rolls. Justin Morneau popped an 0-2 pitch to leftfield. Terry Tiffee bounced the second pitch to first, and Sexson stepped on the bag. Jason Bartlett worked a 1-2 count full, then broke his bat on a grounder to short.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: C
It's a Wiki offense. Wiki Gonzalez looped a single into shallow centerfield. Ichiro took a 1-2 pitch over the outside corner. Bloomquist popped the first ptich to Bartlett in shallow centerfield. Ibañez got behind 0-2 and tagged the 1-2 offering up the middle, but right into Bartlett's glove (lineout).
TOP 4TH
Grade: A-
Felix be rollin'. Stewart got behind 0-2 and ended up grounding to first, where Sexson underhanded to a covering Felix. Punto held his swing on a low 0-2 curve but couldn't hold up on the next pitch. Mauer lined out on a 3-1 pitch to centerfield.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: C
Ugh. Sexson grounded the first pitch to short, where Bartlett had the ball go off his glove, but still had enough time to throw to first. Beltre got the hitters' counts and took a full-count pitch over the outside half of the plate. Reed worked a 1-2 pitch for a walk. Reed was nailed at second on the 1-0 pitch to Betancourt.
TOP 5TH
Grade: B-
Felix meets jam. LeCroy fisted the first pitch over Beltre for a single into leftfield, snapping the Felix streak of 12 straight retired Minnesota hitters. Jones poked the second pitch up the middle, moving LeCroy to second. Ford bunted the first pitch to the right side, where Hernandez pounced on it and threw in time to third, nailing LeCroy, though Ford beat out the double-play try at first. Morneau got the hitters' counts and whiffed on a full-count fastball over the outside corner. Tiffee grounded an 0-2 pitch to Beltre at third, who thought about tagging Jacque Jones going to third, but threw the ball about 12 feet high to Sexson at first, pulling Sexson off the bag (error). With the bases loaded, Bartlett grounded the first pitch to Felix off the mound to the first-base side, and he tossed over to first.
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: C
More of nothing. Betancourt got ahead 2-0 and later reached on a full-count pitch and grounded out to short. Snelling grounded a ball to Morneau behind the bag at first, but the latter had trouble cradling the ball, and Snelling reached first. Gonzalez whiffed on a 2-0 pitch, and Snelling was out by about ten feet on what might have been a blown hit-and-run. Gonzalez later popped a 2-2 pitch to Jones in foul ground along the rightfield line.
TOP 6TH
Grade: A
Roll Felix! Stewart got behind 0-2 and later whiffed on a 1-2 slider low and away. Punto flew out to centerfield on the first pitch. Mauer bounced a 2-2 pitch to second.
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: C-
The offense was offensive. Defensively, the Twins moved Punto to centerfield to replace Ford, and Luis Rodriguez was put in at second base. Ichiro mashed a 2-1 pitch quite far but foul, then whiffed at the next pitch high and outside. Bloomquist got behind 0-2 then looped the 1-2 pitch to Jones just past the foul line in rightfield for the out. Ibañez whiffed on a 2-2 pitch low and away.
TOP 7TH
Grade: A
LeCroy flew out high to Snelling in shallow leftfield. Jones bounced the second pitch back to the mound, though Felix grimaced a bit after throwing the ball to first (he stayed in the game). Rodriguez lined the second pitch to Snelling just short of the track in leftfield.
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: B
Sexson got the hitters' counts and couldn't hold a swing on an outside slider in the dirt. Beltre reached for a pitch and grounded out to short. Reed bounced the first pitch into the gap in rightcenter, off the track and off the wall for a double. Betancourt drove the first pitch into the gap in rightcenter, scoring Reed. The ball took three hops to the wall, and Betancourt slid in with a triple.
»» MARINERS 1, TWINS 0
Snelling got ahead 3-1 and ended up popping the full-count pitch to Rodriguez on the edge of the outfield grass.
Lohse's line: 7 innings, 1 run, 4 hits, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts, 107 pitches (64 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Grade: B
Felix finished his night nicely. Morneau poked the first pitch into rightfield for a single. Tiffee bounced the second pitch to Bloomquist on the right side, who threw to second for the force, but it was hit too slow for Betancourt's throw to first to be meaningful (4-6 fielder's choice). Michael Ryan came in to hit for Bartlett. Ryan whiffed on an 0-2 breaking ball in the dirt. Stewart poked the first pitch through the left side for a single. Punto bounced the first pitch back to the mound, and Felix easily shoveled over for the out.
Hernandez' line: 8 innings, 0 runs, 5 hits, 0 walks, 6 strikeouts, 94 pitches (69 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: C-
Juan Rincon came in for Lohse. Gonzalez poked an 0-2 pitch down the rightfield line, where Ryan made the catch. Ichiro got behind 0-2 and later chopped out to short. Bloomquist grounded to the right side past a diving Tiffee, but Punto backed him up and threw in time to first (nice play).
Rincon's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 9 pitches (8 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Grade: A
Eddie Guardado came in to shut the door. Mauer chopped a 1-2 pitch to Bloomquist on the infield grass. LeCroy whiffed on an 0-2 pitch. Jones popped the first pitch high to Betancourt on the outfield grass. Ballgame.
Guardado's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 8 pitches (7 strikes)
---
Gameball: Eddie Guardado.
After the rookie had done his thing, and after the offense had finally scratched out a run, it came down to Eddie Guardado in the 9th. All he had to do was mow down Minnesota's third, fourth, and fifth hitters. Guardado proceeded by making mince meat out of Joe Mauer, Matt LeCroy, and Jacque Jones. Do I know how Eddie keeps doing it? I'm not sure I care as long as it gets done. In short, I haven't cared 28 times this season, though there was one time where I did. Eddie's shoulder could explode at any time, but he's come this far this season. It's amazing that he can just get by on tenacity and location, since it sure isn't speed. We know Eddie's gotten people out in the setup and closer roles for a while, so this isn't a huge surprise like when Kazuhiro Sasaki had the luggage accident and Shigetoshi Hasegawa stepped in and went absolutely insane in 2003. Hasegawa finished with a 1.48 ERA in 2003, while Eddie right now is sitting on a mark of 1.35. Who knows, maybe if we feel really good about things at Sports and B's, we could put up a Pump with the ERAs of Felix, Guardado, and maybe a George Sherrill or something. I'd fill my tank with 69-cent Felix Unleaded right now.
Goat: Adrian Beltre.
Quite simply, I didn't like any of his at-bats, and I surely didn't like the error, which very nearly crapped things up in the fifth inning. The inning should have been over right there, but instead the bases ended up loaded. Luckily Felix was able to get the next hitter, Jason Bartlett, to hit a ball right back to him. It's hard to pick a goat in a game like this, and I very easily could have gone with Richie Sexson and his two strikeouts, but I decided Beltre's error figured a lot more into the scope of the game. Seriously, if Bartlett does anything, the whole game goes to crap, the whole night goes to crap, etc. I do realize I'm saying this about a team that came back from a 4-0 deficit to win 5-4 the night before, but I'm not banking on comeback wins on consecutive nights from this team. No way. Anyway, remember when Beltre warmed up back? We kinda need that to happen at least once more this season to remind ourselves that we aren't insane. Beltre's average was at .269 after the game on July 7th. He's now at .254. His homers by month this year: two, three, one, six, two (in progress).
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 81-31 .723 -- W1
2002 69-43 .616 12 L1
2003 69-43 .616 12 W3
2000 66-46 .589 15 W4
2005 49-63 .438 32 W2
2004 42-70 .375 39 W1
The Mariners had gone 20 games without winning consecutive games. Thank goodness that's over. The Mariners won a second straight game for the first time since July 17th, the final game of the Baltimore series at the Safe. Hey, this here's their first series win in two weeks.
But really, that's not the important thing. Does anyone else out there feel like they've gotten a whole new lease on the season? I haven't been this pumped over a Mariner game in a long time. It's been a long time since I've felt this great about this team as a result of what happened on the field (the days when Beltre and Sexson signed in close succession was a pretty big time). Heck, this might have been the greatest Mariner game since this one. Surely you remember Rafael Soriano striking out Nomar Garciaparra on a warm summer day at the Safe back in 2003.
Like Jeremy said, there will still be four days between starts for Felix, and the team and 80% of the rotation will probably resort to their usual habits on those days. Seriously, though, it's good to know that 20% of the season will be worth watching from here on out. I was juiced for the 2006 season the minute the Mariners signed Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson, and it was partly because I was looking forward to Felix coming up for a full season and having the Mariners hopefully go out and get a relevant arm next winter. It could be fun, kids. If the Mariners can get a playoff spot next season, it will have been the first in five years. It didn't have to be that long (or however long it'll be), no, but it'll be good if we can taste that again.
Something I also alluded to in the game thread that Jeremy also brought up -- when's the last time you were juiced up when a Mariner pitcher got two strikes on a hitter? Well, maybe you might do that for Eddie Guardado, but for a starting pitcher? We discovered after while that Freddy Garcia was better when he let his fielders do the work instead of trying to strike everyone out. Gil Meche came through the pipe, and since he was a power pitcher, one would expect some decent strikeout numbers to come out of that, but it turns out Meche can't put hitters away with two strikes, or at least not as regularly as I'd like. Tonight, though, I know I was feeling a long-lost feeling, and the crowd was feeling it too. I remember when Randy Johnson was in town and the Microsoft K's for Kids meter would tilt. I remember when the pitching staff lost Randy and his strikeouts and no one was really left to strike out hitters. "What about the kids?" I thought. The Home Runs That Help promotion also wasn't helping for that much, and it'll take more than Sexson and Beltre to make that huge these days.
The great thing about Felix doing so well and the Mariners being able to pull off the win was the fact that the Mariner bats were collectively crappy. One quick look at the boxscore shows that no Mariner had a multi-hit game. Ichiro and Richie Sexson each struck out twice. The Mariners got only four hits and two walks off of Kyle Lohse, as well as a fielding error by Justin Morneau on a ball hit by Chris Snelling. You could say Lohse threw a whale of a game, but this was the Mariner lineup he was facing. Luckily a couple of rookies named Jeremy Reed (the only Mariner to reach base twice in the game) and Yuniesky Betancourt managed to get to Lohse in the seventh, and quite quickly. Reed has nine hits in his last nine games (eight starts), though Mike Hargrove really needs to hold back on his running game. Betancourt started his career at the plate with a triple, and he hit one that reeked of clutch tonight. The guy's got some wheels too. Yowza.
Radke. Piñeiro. Tomorrow.
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