Saturday, April 15, 2006
GAME 12: MARINERS 3, RED SOX 0
In 25 words or less: The game's result was a very unlikely one considering how it all started out.
This one featured Joel Piñeiro going up against Tim Wakefield. The Mariners had the chance to even out the series and keep their chances alive for a series win. They also had a chance to climb back to .500 and possibly lead the AL West depending on how the Angels fared later in the day. In other news, the Mariners were hoping some other things would go right, such as the fact that this is the game number 12 on the season and Adrian Beltre doesn't have a single RBI to his credit after 11.
TOP 1ST
Ichiro served a low liner into leftfield near the line, but it was caught by Ramirez. Jose Lopez grounded the 0-2 pitch behind the bag at third and Youkilis threw him out. Raul Ibañez lasered the first pitch right into the glove of the second baseman Cora. Wakefield threw a mere seven pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Adam Stern bounced the second pitch to Sexson, who took it to the bag. Alex Cora bounced a 2-2 pitch to Sexson (3-1 putout). David Ortiz poked a single up the middle on a 1-2 pitch. Manny Ramirez put a 1-2 fly ball high off the end of the bat into centerfield, but it appeared to cross up Reed, who slowly ran toward it but played it off the hop, allowing Ortiz to move to third. Kevin Youkilis mashed the second pitch, but it was foul down the leftfield line near the Monster. Youkilis got ahead 3-1 and grounded on a full count to Beltre on the left side, who threw to first in time. Piñeiro threw 23 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Richie Sexson popped the second pitch to a running Stern in centerfield. Beltre nubbed a 2-0 pitch along the third-base line and Bard came from behind the plate and pounced on it, throwing in time to first. Carl Everett singled off of Cora's glove and into centerfield. Jeremy Reed singled a 1-2 pitch under Snow's glove at first, allowing Everett to move to third since he took off with the pitch. Rene Rivera watched Reed steal second without a throw on the second pitch. Rivera later foul-tipped a way-outside 1-2 pitch into Bard's glove. Wakefield threw 17 pitches and had 24 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
JT Snow, wearing 84 in honor of his late father, worked a 1-2 count for a walk. Wily Mo Peña one-hopped a ball into the centerfield end of the Boston bullpen for a double, moving Snow to third. Josh Bard fell behind 0-2 and worked it for a walk, except it took 12 pitches. Alex Gonzalez fell behind 0-2 and watched the 1-2 pitch over the inside corner. Stern was fooled on his way to an 0-2 count and whiffed badly on the next pitch in the dirt. Cora nubbed out to second. Piñeiro threw 30 pitches and was at 53 through two.
TOP 3RD
Yuniesky Betancourt doubled down the leftfield line. Ichiro whiffed badly at a 1-2 pitch down and away, but it got past Bard, enabling both Ichiro and Betancourt to be safe at first and third. Lopez watched as Ichiro took second on the first pitch. Lopez' 0-2 pitch went off of Bard's glove and to the backstop, allowing Betancourt to score and Ichiro to move to third.
»» MARINERS 1, RED SOX 0
Lopez scorched the 1-2 pitch into a drawn-in Youkilis' glove at third. Ibañez lined the first pitch on one hop over the wall in rightfield, scoring Ichiro.
»» MARINERS 2, RED SOX 0
After Ibañez was nearly picked off of second, Sexson roped the 1-2 pitch into the leftfield corner for what ended up as a single, scoring Ibañez.
»» MARINERS 3, RED SOX 0
Beltre whiffed badly at a 1-2 knuckler. Everett dropped the second pitch into centerfield for a single, and Stern overran the ball (error), allowing Sexson to move to third, but Everett got too greedy and was nailed off the bag at first. Wakefield threw 23 pitches and had 47 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Ortiz flew out to Reed just short of the centerfield track. Ramirez creamed a 2-0 pitch right to short. Youkilis worked an 0-2 count full before flying out lazily to right. Piñeiro threw 15 pitches and had 68 through three.
TOP 4TH
Reed tried bunting himself aboard, but Snow was able to get to the ball and toss to a covering Cora at first. Rivera flew out to right. Betancourt popped the first pitch to Youkilis on the infield grass. Wakefield threw only six pitches and had 53 through four.
BOTTOM 4TH
Snow grounded the second pitch to second. Peña whiffed on a 1-2 breaking ball. Bard singled on the first pitch the other way into leftfield. Gonzalez grounded the first pitch hard to Beltre, who stopped it and threw to first. Piñeiro threw nine pitches and had 77 through four.
TOP 5TH
Ichiro popped to left on a 1-2 pitch. Lopez waited on a 1-2 pitch and doubled off the wall in centerfield. Ibañez popped the first pitch to Stern in front of the monster. Sexson popped out behind the bag at third to Youkilis. Wakefield threw 13 pitches and had 66 through five.
BOTTOM 5TH
Stern waved at a 2-2 change down and away. Cora hit the second pitch up the middle to a ranging Lopez, who went to the backhand and had enough time to take some steps and throw to first in time. Ortiz grounded the 2-2 pitch to Betancourt on the second-base side of the bag (shift). Piñeiro threw 12 pitches and had 89 through five.
TOP 6TH
Beltre grounded a 2-2 pitch to short. Everett flew out to rightfield on the first pitch. Reed took an 0-2 floater over the outside corner. Wakefield threw nine pitches and had 75 through six.
BOTTOM 6TH
Ramirez whiffed on a 2-2 breaker down and away. Youkilis shot the second pitch to the left side, where Beltre dove and threw in time to first on a quite-nice play. Snow hit a low sinking liner on the second pitch that was caught by a sliding Ibañez. Piñeiro threw 10 pitches and had 99 through six.
TOP 7TH
Rivera drove the second pitch high off the Monster inside the leftfield line for a double. Betancourt popped out to Gonzalez among a cluster of three Red Sox in shallow centerfield. Ichiro fell behind 0-2 and fisted a 1-2 popup to Gonzalez near the second-base bag. Shortly after, Gonzalez was unsuccessful with the hidden ball trick. Lopez grounded the first pitch hard to Youkilis at third. Wakefield threw 10 pitches and had 85 through seven.
BOTTOM 7TH
Peña shot a grounder past Lopez and into rightfield for a single. Bard flew out to Ibañez on the leftfield track. Gonzalez took a 2-2 pitch off his left wrist and stomach, moving Peña to second as Hargrove came out to say Gonzalez didn't make an attempt to get out of the way.
JJ Putz came in for Piñeiro. Stern whiffed at an 0-2 high fastball over the outside corner. Cora hit a shallow fly in center that Reed had to run a long way to get, but he did. Putz threw five pitches.
Piñeiro's line: 6 1/3 innings, 0 runs, 5 hits, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts, 111 pitches (71 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Ibañez flew out to Stern in leftcenter on 0-2. Sexson flew out to center on the second pitch. Beltre flew out to Gonzalez in shallow centerfield on a 2-0 pitch. Wakefield threw nine pitches and had 94 through eight.
BOTTOM 8TH
Ortiz whiffed on a belt-high 1-2 fastball. Ramirez fell behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 2-2 offspeed pitch. Youkilis worked a 1-2 count full and finally whiffed on a dirtball on the 12th pitch of the at-bat (2-3 putout). Putz threw 22 pitches and had 27 total.
Putz' line: 1 2/3 innings, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts, 27 pitches (20 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Everett fell behind 0-2 and swung and missed at a 1-2 dirtball (2-3 putout). Reed whiffed at a 1-2 dirtball as well (2-3 putout). Rivera popped another double, this one on the second pitch off the scoreboard in leftfield. Betancourt grounded the second pitch behind the bag at third to Youkilis.
Wakefield's line: 9 innings, 3 runs (2 earned), 9 hits, 0 walks, 6 strikeouts, 108 pitches (81 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Eddie Guardado came in for Putz. Mark Loretta, hitting for Snow, worked an 0-2 for a walk. Peña worked an 0-2 count full as well, but he popped to Sexson beside the Boston dugout for a huge out. Jason Varitek, hitting for Bard, flew out to Reed in fairly deep centerfield on a 2-2 count. Gonzalez fell behind 0-2 and later bounced the 1-2 pitch to short.
Guardado's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 21 pitches (11 strikes)
---
Gameball: Rene Rivera.
Well, I'm performing a ritual that was performed quite a few times last year. If I don't give Rene Rivera a gameball after this game, he may never get one. His first game back up with the big club and he doubles off the Monster twice, which is good in itself because he's hitting as a catcher and also because he's in the eighth slot in the lineup. The other end of the Rivera story is that something happened in that second inning, and Rivera has to get credit for at least some of it. Piñeiro had loaded the bases with nobody out, and worse yet, Josh Bard had loaded the bases with his twelve-pitch walk. If I set up a scenario in my mind that involves Piñeiro loading the bases full of Red Sox with nobody out, I'm thinking three runs are going to cross the plate. Of course, the next three hitters to come to the plate were Alex Gonzalez, Adam Stern, and Alex Cora, who are hardly world-beaters. Still, weirder things have happened, and this is Joel Piñeiro we're dealing with here. In any event, though he wasn't the guy throwing the pitches, he was the guy throwing down the fingers (even if they might be from the dugout) and receiving the pitches thereafter that got Piñeiro and the Mariners out of the mother of all jams.
Goat: Ichiro.
The Mariners have a leadoff hitter, a guy who has hit in the Majors before, we've all seen it. He went 0-for-4 today. The guy's hitting .200. Yes, I know it's twelve games into the season, and there are 150 to go. The bottom line is that this .200 stuff isn't really setting up the lineup well. In addition, with some of the decent nights the bottom of the lineup has been having lately, this team could be even better if Ichiro was joining the hit parade. The sixth through ninth hitters in the Mariner lineup were a combined 6-for-16 today with four strikeouts (knuckleballs, after all). Ichiro reached base today only because Josh Bard couldn't hold onto the knuckleball that struck him out. Ichiro got to first, and luckily he came around to score the first Mariner run of the game. I know he's busted out of that huge slump, which was a good thing, but there are low-scoring games like this one where the Mariners need Ichiro to get the rest of the lineup going. I could have chosed Adrian Beltre, but I think his defensive play today exempts him from goat status.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 9-3 .750 -- W2
2002 9-3 .750 -- W6
2000 8-4 .667 1 W3
2003 6-6 .500 3 W2
2005 6-6 .500 3 W1
2006 6-6 .500 3 W1
2004 4-8 .333 5 W2
Hey, look. Every Mariner team this decade won the 12th game of the season. Amazing.
Boy, did this game look dire for Joel Piñeiro. He needed 23 pitches to get out of the first, though some of that was partially due to Jeremy Reed having some sun trouble out in centerfield and letting a ball drop in front of him. Of course, what everyone is talking about is that second inning, that 30-pitch monstrosity. A walk, a double, and a 12-pitch walk (incredibly, his last walk of the game) set up the unlikely end. As I mentioned in the Rivera paragraph, the 9-1-2 hitters for Boston aren't exactly All-Stars, but in any situation like this, a lot has to go right for the offensive team not to score at least one run. Joel seemed like he flipped a switch or something and started getting his breaking stuff over and everything. The fact that Piñeiro was able to get into the seventh, let alone the fifth, is astounding. Sure, he doesn't have anywhere close to the pop on his fastball that he used to, but if he can just be a bit more consistent, the Mariners will be a lot better off for it. Sure, everyone would rather see eight shutout innings of two-hit ball or something, but we could be looking back on this months from now and we might say this was a turning point for Joel. I'm hoping so, anyway. Yes, Joel got his first win in four career starts at Fenway. Now if the same thing happens with Meche...
JJ Putz was on the top of his game again, which of course means they should trade him while his value's up. Okay, maybe not (haha). He mowed through the first five hitters in the Boston lineup in the seventh and eighth. Four of the five outs he recorded were via the strikeout, and he struck out the side in the eighth. It wasn't just that he struck out the side, it was that the parties who struck out were David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, and Kevin Youkilis. Not small beans by any means. The heat and the splitter were working real well. The great thing is that we might be able to say JJ has put the rough appearances behind him from the series against the Angels. He hasn't allowed a run since, and that covers four appearances and 5 2/3 innings. He's allowed three hits, walked none, and struck out 11 hitters over that span. Sure, when he runs into trouble later this year, we're going to refer right back to those appearances against the Angels, but JJ Putz has developed into a solid late-inning reliever. I can't say I thought that when he first came up with the Mariners, but I'm happy to be wrong here.
Adrian Beltre's a damned good defensive third baseman. He made a diving stop today and made a nice stop on another. This is in addition to the nice play he made last night on the safety squeeze bunt. What this pretty much amounts to is that if he doesn't hit soon, people in the more stat-inclined community will have to dig up defensive stats if Beltre's going to look like he's proved any of his worth as a Mariner. We're twelve games into the season and Beltre doesn't have a single RBI. Yeah, Sexson's been doing decent in front of him, but he's not homering every time, so there have definitely been some ducks on the pond, though a lot of them for a stretch there weren't named Ichiro. Still, after how good he looked in the World Baseball Classic, seeing Beltre flounder again like this is a little unnerving. Every single day of this marks one day closer to me tagging him as Jeff Cirillo redux, and that's not a good thought. They need this guy's bat to come around, and fast. Maybe they need to mess his foot up again or whatever his lingering injury during 2004 was that he got fixed. Maybe it made him mechanically correct or something.
The Mariners could still get a series win out of this mess. Of course, that means they have to end up with wins in games where pitchers like Jarrod Washburn and Gil Meche are starting on the mound. That can be quite adventourous, yes. If somehow the Mariners manage to win this series, they'll be 8-6 at the end of it and they'll be over .500. With the way the AL West is going, that might put them in sole possession of first place or something crazy like that. Perish the thought.
Washburn. Beckett. Tomorrow.
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