Saturday, September 24, 2005
GAME 154: MARINERS 2, TIGERS 1
Mariners 2, Tigers 1
In 25 words or less: Even with Ryan Franklin pitching, neither team mustered much offense. Also, a starting pitcher walked four guys and it wasn't even Franklin.
This one featured Ryan Franklin going up against Sean Douglass. Richie Sexson was serving a one-game suspension for throwing a bucket of balls onto the field back on June 18th. Though I had my apartment at that date, I didn't have cable and internet for another two weeks, so I wasn't fortunate enough to see that. Maybe I'll see that now with MLB.tv. Hmm...
Could the Mariners push the Tigers to an eight straight loss? How many people in Detroit know that the Detroit Sports Report on FSN is broadcast from Bellevue? Doesn't that make it a fraud?
TOP 1ST
Grade: C
Picks and breaks. Ichiro bounced a full-count pitch to a backhanding Brandon Inge at third. Jeremy Reed got the hitters' counts and walked on a 3-1 pitch outside. Raul Ibañez watched as Reed was nailed at first by Ivan Rodriguez by about a fingertip after a 1-2 pitch. Ibañez later walked on a full-count pitch well outside. Adrian Beltre splintered his bat on a 1-2 liner that was speared by a leaping Inge at third.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grade: B+
Nothing too brutal. Curtis Granderson whiffed on an 0-2 pitch up and away. Placido Polanco popped the first pitch to Ibañez on the foul side of the leftfield line. Chris Shelton dropped the second pitch into shallow rightcenter for a single. Magglio Ordoñez bounced the first pitch in the left-side hole, where Yuniesky Betancourt went to second for the force.
TOP 2ND
Grade: C-
Opposite of hitting. Greg Dobbs flew out to centerfield on a 2-0 pitch. Yuniesky Betancourt whiffed on a low 1-2 breaking ball. Dave Hansen flew out to centerfield on a 2-2 pitch.
BOTTOM 2ND
Grade: B+
Not bad. Carlos Peña got ahead 3-0 but whiffed on a full-count. Ivan Rodriguez took the second pitch up and in but off his bat. Rodriguez fell behind 0-2 and popped a 2-2 pitch to Reed in rightcenter. Craig Monroe popped the second pitch to Reed near the scoreboard in rightcenter.
TOP 3RD
Grade: B-
Minimal damage. Jose Lopez got ahead 3-0 before doubling a 3-1 pitch near the leftfield corner and into the leftfield seats. Rene Rivera punched the second pitch through the right side for a single, scoring Lopez.
»» MARINERS 1, TIGERS 0
Ichiro lined the first pitch right to second. Reed grounded a 2-2 pitch to second for a 6-4-3 double play.
BOTTOM 3RD
Grade: C
Giving back. Brandon Inge grounded the first pitch to Lopez in the right-side hole. Omar Infante cranked an 0-2 hanging breaking ball over the fence in leftcenter.
»» TIGERS 1, MARINERS 1
Granderson got ahead 2-0 and whiffed on a 2-2 high pitch. Polanco fell behind 0-2 and popped a 2-2 pitch to Rivera behind the plate.
TOP 4TH
Grade: C
Bleah. Ibañez flew out to fairly deep rightfield on the second pitch. Beltre spanked a 2-0 pitch to leftfield for a single. Dobbs sliced a 2-0 flyout to leftfield. Betancourt walked on a 3-1 pitch very high. Hansen watched as Beltre was caught napping off of second base by Rodriguez behind the plate.
BOTTOM 4TH
Grade: B+
Not much trouble. Shelton whiffed on a 2-2 waist-high breaking ball over the plate. Ordoñez bounced to third. Peña hit a broken-bat single to rightfield on the second pitch. Rodriguez grounded the first pitch to Beltre behind the bah at second.
TOP 5TH
Grade: C
Negligible offense. Hansen got ahead 2-0 and later popped to Infante in shallow centerfield. Lopez took a 2-2 breaking ball over the outside corner and at the knees. Rivera dumped an 0-2 single into leftcenter. Ichiro got ahead 2-0 and later took the eighth pitch (2-2 count) over the inside corner at the knees, though Ichiro thought it was under him.
BOTTOM 5TH
Grade: A
Solid. Monroe grounded the second pitch hard to third. Inge popped the second pitch to Lopez in foul ground on the right side. Infante took a 1-2 pitch over the inside corner.
TOP 6TH
Grade: C-
Mind-numbing. Reed bounced the first pitch to second. Ibañez walked on four pitches (ball four outside). Beltre whiffed on a low 2-2 pitch. Dobbs foul-tipped a 1-2 pitch outside into the catcher's glove.
BOTTOM 6TH
Grade: B
Two-out ruckus, but not much more. Granderson bounced an 0-2 pitch into the right-side hole for Lopez. Polanco popped a 2-2 pitch into shallow rightfield. Shelton cranked a 3-0 fastball off the track in straightaway centerfield for a triple. Ordoñez grounded the first pitch hard to third.
TOP 7TH
Grade: C-
Chris Spurling came in for Douglass. Betancourt popped the second pitch into leftfield. Hansen popped a 3-1 pitch to centerfield. Lopez cranked a second-pitch line drive that was destined to be a homer to leftfield, but Monroe leaped to rob it.
Douglass' line: 6 innings, 1 run, 4 hits, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts, 99 pitches (54 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Grade: B
Mild trouble. Peña fell behind 0-2 and lined a full-count double into rightcenter. Rodriguez bounced the first pitch to short. Monroe grounded the first pitch hard to third, where Beltre dove to his left, spun around, and threw in time to first. Inge worked an 0-2 count for a walk (ball four down and in), and pitching coach Bryan Price strolled to the mound. Infante bounced the second pitch up the middle to Lopez, who threw to Betancourt covering second for the force.
Franklin's line: 7 innings, 1 run, 5 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts, 85 pitches (57 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Grade: B
Ahead. Rivera fell behind 0-2 and broke his bat on a 1-2 pitch that bounced through the left side for a single. Jaime Bubela ran for Rivera.
Vic Darensbourg came in for Spurling. Ichiro lined an 0-2 pitch into rightfield for a single, and Bubela made his way to third. Reed got ahead 2-0 and ended up grounding into a 1-6-3 double play as Bubela scored (Darensbourg didn't try going home).
»» MARINERS 2, TIGERS 1
Ibañez got ahead 3-1 and wound up reaching and softly lining out to short.
Spurling's line: 1 inning, 1 run, 1 hit, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 13 pitches (8 strikes)
Darensbourg's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 14 pitches (9 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Grade: B-
JJ Putz came in for Franklin (Yorvit Torrealba came in to catch). Granderson smoked a hard bouncer off the palm of Putz' throwing hand, and Beltre picked it up and threw to first. After the trainer and Mike Hargrove came out, Putz threw warmup pitches and stayed in the game. Polanco walked on four pitches (ball four high). Shelton walked on a high full-count pitch, moving Polanco to second. Ordoñez rolled to the left side, where Putz couldn't quite get it, and Beltre barehanded and threw to first, pulling Dobbs off the bag with a high throw. Nook Logan ran for Ordoñez.
George Sherrill came in for Putz. Carlos Guillen, hitting for Peña, fouled off the first two pitches and whiffed on the third pitch, a fastball.
Julio Mateo came in for Sherrill. Rodriguez grounded to third, where Beltre threw to second for the force.
Putz' line: 1/3 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 2 walks, 0 strikeouts, 16 pitches (6 strikes)
Sherrill's line: 1/3 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 3 pitches (3 strikes)
Mateo's line: 1/3 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 3 pitches (2 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Grade: C-
Chris Dingman came in for Darensbourg (Logan stayed in to play centerfield, Granderson moved to left, and Monroe moved to right). Beltre got under one, flying out to leftfield. Dobbs walked on four pitches (ball four outside). Betancourt looped an 0-2 single in front of Logan in shallow centerfield. Hansen grounded the first pitch hard right to short, starting a 6-4-3 double play.
Dingman's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 11 pitches (6 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Grade: B+
Eddie Guardado came in for Mateo. Monroe popped a 1-1 pitch foul on the right side, where Dobbs couldn't make the catch over the shoulder. Monroe later reached and poked a 2-2 pitch to rightfield for a single. Inge bunted the first pitch back along the right side, where Guardado came off the mound and threw to first, moving Monroe to second. Infante fell behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 pitch over the outer half. Marcus Thames, hitting for Granderson, whiffed at an 0-2 pitch over the outer half.
Guardado's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 15 pitches (12 strikes)
---
Gameball: Rene Rivera.
Goat: Dave Hansen.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 110-44 .714 -- W4
2002 88-66 .571 22 L2
2003 88-66 .571 22 W1
2000 86-68 .560 24 L2
2005 67-87 .435 43 W1
2004 59-95 .383 51 L1
With the 1-for-4 game, Ichiro has 193 hits on the season and sits with a .299 batting average. If he gets at-bats at the same pace he's been getting them for the season (646 at-bats in 154 games, 4.19 at-bats per game, which leaves him with about 34 at-bats)...
-- he needs 7 hits to reach 200 for the season; he'd need to hit .209 for the remainder of the season, and that'd leave him with a .294 season average.
-- he needs 11 hits to finish with a .300 average for the season; he'd need to hit .328 for the rest of the season, and he'd end up with 204 hits.
-- he needs 25 hits to finish with a .320 (.321) average for the season; he'd need to hit .745 for the rest of the season, and he'd end up with 218 hits.
Moyer. Grilli. Tonight.
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