Sunday, April 16, 2006
GAME 13: RED SOX 3, MARINERS 2
[posted in full Mon ~2:01a]
In 25 words or less: First the Mariners have to actually get to the World Series in order to be Seahawk'd, but they did get jobbed in this one.
This one featured Jarrod Washburn going up against Josh Beckett. The Mariners stood with a chance to still win the series in Boston and to vault over .500 for the first time since they were busy losing four straight after the 3-1 start. Also, the home plate umpire was Laz Diaz, but he wasn't even the umpire that would figure into this game the most.
TOP 1ST
Ichiro shoveled an 0-2 pitch for a flyout to left. Jose Lopez popped a full-count pitch to Ramirez on the track near the leftfield corner. Raul Ibañez was robbed on the second pitch by a diving Youkilis at first (3-1 putout). Beckett threw 12 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Kevin Youkilis took a 3-1 pitch up and away for a walk. Mark Loretta smacked the second pitch off the base of the scoreboard in leftfield for a double, moving Youkilis to third. David Ortiz popped a 2-2 pitch high to Beltre all alone on the left side (shift). Manny Ramirez bounced the 2-2 pitch to Sexson at first, but Youkilis scored.
»» RED SOX 1, MARINERS 0
Jason Varitek bounced a 3-1 pitch to Beltre behind the bag at third, who made a long throw that pulled Sexson away, but Sexson tagged Varitek in time. One problem -- the umpire didn't call Varitek out. Thus, Loretta scored. Screwjob.
»» RED SOX 2, MARINERS 0
Mike Lowell watched as Varitek took off for second on the first pitch (first move too). Lowell bounced the second pitch to Beltre. Washburn threw 24 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Richie Sexson blistered a first-pitch single to left. Adrian Beltre fell behind 0-2 and popped the 1-2 offering to Youkilis at first. Matt Lawton hit a sinking liner on the first pitch for an out to centerfield. Kenji Johjima ripped the first pitch past Gonzalez at short for a single. Jeremy Reed was blown down by an 0-2 fastball over the outside corner. Beckett threw ten pitches and had 22 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Dustan Mohr took a 1-2 pitch over the inside corner. Wily Mo Peña bounced the 2-0 pitch to Lopez at second, who bobbled it but still had time to recover and throw barely in time to first. Alex Gonzalez fouled off three straight 1-2 pitches before grounding to Beltre, who played the ball to the side and had it eat him up for what was charged as his second error of the day (bad hop). Youkilis grounded the 0-2 pitch behind the bag at third, and Beltre threw to Lopez at second for the force. Washburn threw 18 pitches and had 42 through two.
TOP 3RD
Yuniesky Betancourt tapped the second pitch back to the mound. Ichiro bounced a 1-2 pitch up the middle that Loretta had a bit of trouble handling (kinda played it in front of him), and Ichiro was safe at first on the error. Lopez watched as Youkilis saved a one-hop pickoff throw from Beckett. Lopez fell behind 0-2 and chopped a 1-2 pitch that hopped past Peña in rightfield and into the corner, scoring Ichiro. Lopez ended up on third with a triple.
»» RED SOX 2, MARINERS 1
Ibañez popped the first pitch behind the shortstop as three Red Sox converged on the ball and Ibañez ended up on first as Lopez scored.
»» RED SOX 2, MARINERS 2
Sexson got ahead 2-0 and took a 2-2 pitch over the outside corner. Beltre watched the second pitch in the dirt, but Ibañez tried the delayed steal thing and he was gunned down by about seven feet at second. Beckett threw 18 pitches and had 40 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Loretta bounced to Betancourt in the left-side hole, who made the off-balance throw in time to first. Ortiz took a 1-2 pitch high up and over the outside corner. Ramirez checkswung and nubbed the second pitch back to the Washburn coming off the mound (1-3 putout). Washburn threw only nine pitches and had 51 through three.
TOP 4TH
Beltre whiffed at a 2-2 fastball high and off the plate outside. Lawton was ahead 2-0 and took a full-count pitch inside for a walk on the ninth pitch of the at-bat. Johjima grounded a 2-0 pitch to short for a 6-4-3 double play. Beckett threw 17 pitches and had 57 through four.
BOTTOM 4TH
Varitek reached on the second pitch and singled just past the reach of Betancourt in the left-side hole. Lowell whiffed late on a 1-2 high fastball. Mohr took an 0-2 pitch just off the outside corner, took a 2-2 dirtball to the backstop (Varitek went to second), and ended up walking on a high full-count pitch. Peña was plunked on the left side on the first pitch, loading the bases. Gonzalez dumped an 0-2 pitch that was knocked down by the wind and it dropped in front of Reed, who had to let it drop for a single as Varitek scored and the bases remained loaded.
»» RED SOX 3, MARINERS 2
Youkilis was ahead 3-1 and wound up popping to Betancourt on a full count on the left side as infield fly rule was called. Loretta was ahead 2-0 and golfed a flyout to Ibañez short of the track in front of the scoreboard. Washburn threw 27 pitches and had 78 through four.
TOP 5TH
Reed chopped the 1-2 pitch to Gonzalez up the middle. Betancourt hit a sinking liner to Mohr for the out. Ichiro fell behind 0-2 and rolled the 1-2 pitch to short. Beckett threw 11 pitches and had 68 through five.
BOTTOM 5TH
Ortiz took a full-count pitch outside. Ramirez got ahead 3-0 and took a 3-1 pitch outside for a walk, moving Ortiz to second. Julio Mateo warmed up in the bullpen due to Washburn's bouts with suck. Varitek grounded the second pitch hard to Beltre, who dove to his backhand side, stepped on third, then threw in time to Sexson near first, who did get the umpire to see the tag this time (Ramirez went to second). Lowell took an 0-2 pitch off of Johjima's glove and to the backstop (passed ball, then charged a wild pitch afterward), allowing Ramirez to scoot to third. Lowell ended up flying out high to Lopez on the rightfield grass. Washburn threw 20 pitches and had 98 through five.
TOP 6TH
Lopez grounded the first pitch hard to third. Ibañez fell behind 0-2 and later hit a 1-2 pitch down the rightfield line that rattled into the corner and Ibañez was able to move to third with the triple as Peña bobbled it a bit, though somewhat inconsequentially (originally scored an error but rescinded), except for the boos. Sexson whiffed on a full-count breaking ball. Beltre fouled off a very high 2-2 pitch and ended with a whiff on an inside corner heater. Beckett threw 19 pitches and had 87 through six.
BOTTOM 6TH
Mohr whiffed on a 1-2 low change. Mateo was warming once again. Peña chopped the first pitch to third. Gonzalez worked an 0-2 count full before taking a full-count fastball over the outside corner on the eighth pitch. Washburn threw 13 pitches and had 111 through six.
Washburn's line: 6 innings, 3 runs (2 earned), 3 hits, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts, 111 pitches (68 strikes)
TOP 7TH
Lawton was ahead 2-0 and popped out to Gonzalez in shallow leftfield on a 2-2 pitch. Johjima drilled a 2-0 single up the middle. Reed took the first pitch off Varitek's glove and to the backstop as Johjima moved to second on the passed ball. Reed later flew out to left. Betancourt got ahead 2-0 and later bounced out to third. Beckett threw 14 pitches and had 101 through seven.
Beckett's line: 7 innings, 2 runs (1 earned), 6 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts, 101 pitches (66 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Julio Mateo came in for Washburn. Mike Timlin warmed in the Boston bullpen. Youkilis was ahead 3-0 and wound up flying out to Ibañez on the 3-1 pitch. Loretta punched a 1-2 single through the left side.
George Sherrill came in for Mateo. Ortiz waved at a 2-1 pitch down and away and later whiffed on a full-count breaking ball for a huge out.
Rafael Soriano came in for Sherrill. Ramirez took the first pitch off Johjima's glove and to the backstop (passed ball) and Loretta moved to second. Ramirez blistered the second pitch to Beltre, who had it go high off his glove as Loretta was safe at third and Ramirez reached first (probably saving a run). Varitek lined the 2-0 pitch right into Sexson's glove. Soriano threw five pitches.
Mateo's line: 1/3 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 11 pitches (7 strikes)
Sherrill's line: 1/3 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 7 pitches (4 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Mike Timlin came in for Beckett. Ichiro slashed the first pitch near the Monster, and Ramirez had some issues with it and jumped back in front of the scoreboard to make the catch. Lopez chopped a single into rightfield as the crowd sarcastically cheered Peña fielding the ball without incident. Ibañez flew out to left on a sinking liner that Ramirez had to reach for. Sexson bounced the first pitch to third.
Timlin's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 9 pitches (6 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Lowell was ahead 2-0 and wound up walking on a full count. Mohr whiffed on an 0-2 high fastball. Peña scorched the 3-1 pitch right to Sexson, who knocked it down and took a second to find it, but got it and tagged the oncoming Peña coming down the line as Lowell went to second. Gonzalez couldn't check his swing on an 0-2 slider low and away.
Soriano's line: 1 1/3 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 25 pitches (15 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Jonathan Papelbon came in for Timlin. Beltre lined a 1-2 pitch to rightfield, but Mohr was out there instead of Peña, and the ball was caught. Lawton flew out to Adam Stern in centerfield on the 2-2 pitch. Johjima bounced the 3-1 pitch to third.
Papelbon's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 12 pitches (6 strikes)
---
Gameball: Jose Lopez.
The .185 hitter that leads off for the Mariners is immediately followed by a .294 hitter. It's true. Lopez has had four multi-hit games so far this season. In this one, he went 2-for-4 with a triple and an RBI, and he scored once. I know in past years when Lopez has come up, I'd wondered to myself whether Lopez would actually be able to hit on a consistent basis in the Majors. I saw he had some flashes of brilliance, but I had my doubts. This season, so far, so good. He's 8-for-26 on the road trip, which is better than the road trip of the guy hitting in front of him. Of course, when they bat Lopez second, he has the meat of the order behind him and so he'll be seeing some nice pitches. Since I'm the guy who gets ticked off whenever Jeremy Reed gets benched against a lefthanded pitcher with any competence, I can't help but wonder what might happen if Reed batted second again. Might he be swinging the bat just as well as Lopez? However, if there's one thing we know about Mike Hargrove, it's that we've gotta have the lefty-righty-lefty thing in the lineup, no questions asked except between Sexson and Beltre. Throw Reed into the two-hole, and it's three lefties before you get to Sexson unless you change everything else. Dare to dream...
Goat: Jarrod Washburn.
Three hits in six innings. Not so bad, you say? Add four walks and a hit batter to that. I might be able to deal with a walk or two, sure. Four and a hit batsman is pretty brutal. A mitigating factor would be that it's the third start of the season and he was in Boston. For the other side, he's the #3 guy in the rotation, he got a much-too-hefty contract in the offseason, and Gil Meche and Felix Hernandez are throwing behind him in the rotation. It's pretty simple -- the front-end rotation guys eat up the innings and save the bullpen so there's a margin for error when the back end of the rotation comes around. Thus, guys like Washburn should be looked upon to get deep into games. On the other hand, you need these guys to last late into the season as well, and I'm not sure Washburn should be out there throwing 111 pitches in his third start. I'd have pulled him somewhere in the sixth. He had 98 after five innings. Still, it takes some control on Washburn's part, and it does take at least sixteen pitches to walk four batters, and it took way more than that in this game.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 10-3 .769 -- W3
2002 10-3 .769 -- W7
2000 8-5 .615 2 L1
2003 7-6 .538 3 W3
2005 6-7 .462 4 L1
2006 6-7 .462 4 L1
2004 5-8 .333 5 W3
I know it was only the thirteenth game of the season and it wasn't a playoff game or anything like that, but even if first-base umpire Rick Reed did have the best angle on that play in the first, it would have been nice to have one of those multi-umpire conferences where they try to get it right and stuff. Of course, these were the Mariners and they were playing in Boston, which is on the east coast, so fat chance in hell if they get a call or something. Adrian Beltre threw wide, yes, but Richie Sexson made that tag, and everyone in the stadium probably knew it. Everyone on the field other than Rick Reed probably knew it. A run scored on that play, and though I certainly didn't like Jarrod Washburn and his pinpoint control today (pinpoint as in scattershot), this game turned out to be a one-run game, and well, it was the difference (or part thereof) in the game. This wasn't a game I expected the Mariners to win, but I'd have liked it to be just because Washburn walked a bunch of guys or because a runner on third with one out stayed there with Sexson and Beltre coming to the plate. An umpire's call -- that's rough.
Should I do some sort of daily Ichiro rant until his batting average gets back above .250? After his 0-for-19 streak earlier this month, he's put together another nice one, sitting at 0-for-13 and counting. He hasn't gotten a hit since his 1-for-4 outing in the final game of the Cleveland series, and that hit was a homer. In even better news, Ichiro has amassed ten hits this so far in the young season along with nine strikeouts. He's walked five times. I don't know where I was going with the walks necessarily since that's not his thing, but he's definitely not supposed to have almost as many strikeouts as hits. Then again, the Mariners haven't been facing chop liver in terms of opposing arms, what with Blanton, Zito, Harden, Schilling, and Beckett all throwing against the Mariners lately. But what does it say if the only pitchers you can hit are the ones that are chop liver? If this team ever wants to be good again, it's going to have to get some players to step up in these situations.
Though it didn't seem like it, congratulations to Jeremy Reed on a good start to the season at the plate. His season-opening hitting streak was finally snapped today with an 0-for-3 day with a strikeout. His hit streak totaled ten games. Maybe Hargrove was sitting him against those lefties so that the streak would keep going. It's a blessing then, I guess. Let the man hit against lefties, I say!
The final thing is the unclutchness. You know, Raul Ibañez rattles a one-out triple into the rightfield corner in the sixth, and then Richie Sexson and Adrian Beltre can't make contact. Sexson's actually done some stuff this year, and he's a guy that does strike out often, so I can only bust on him so much because I know in some of these situations, he'll get a hold of one. In this one, he didn't. Then when you've got Adrian Beltre in his current state behind him, and with two out, there's no way in hell Ibañez is crossing that plate. In other words, after Sexson struck out, the final outcome of the inning was already in the bag, as sad as that is. I don't know how often I have to ask myself this question, but when will it be too late with Beltre? He still doesn't have any RBI this season (13 games). The last time he got a hit was in his third at-bat of the middle game of the Cleveland series. He and Ichiro are in a slump race, and Beltre's current dry spell is at 0-for-16. Good times, good times!
Also, if you're paying attention to the race against Mariner teams of this decade, the current Mariners have the same record after thirteen games that last year's team did, and they're a mere one game better than the 2004 team at this point in the season. Tell me that isn't scary. Granted, I don't think this team will drop off like the 2004 team, but weirder things have happened, have they not? Also, the 2005 Mariners never had an over-.500 month. Every month was below .500 except for their .500 April where they were 12-12.
Meche. DiNardo. Tomorrow.
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