Thursday, April 20, 2006
GAME 16: MARINERS 9, RANGERS 6
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: This team was starting to get boring and looked listless for two-thirds of this game. Yay for the final three innings.
This one featured Kevin Millwood going up against Jamie Moyer, staff ace against staff ace. Needless to say, the Mariners would have to buck up against Millwood to win this one, or -- not advised -- they could sit back and wait for something crazy and completely unforeseen and unexpected to happen. Whatever floats your boat.
TOP 1ST
Gary Matthews, Jr. ripped a single into leftfield.
Michael Young nubbed a ball to short for a 6-4-3 double play. Mark Teixeira rolled a ball up the first-base line that went to Sexson at the bag.
BOTTOM 1ST
Ichiro punched the first pitch under Jimenez' glove for a single. Jose Lopez bunted the second pitch in front of the plate, where Millwood picked up and threw to first to move Ichiro to second. Raul Ibañez reached on an 0-2 pitch and poked a single over Young's glove at short and into leftfield to score Ichiro.
»» MARINERS 1, RANGERS 0
Richie Sexson pummeled the second pitch right to the leftfielder Wilkerson. Kenji Johjima popped the second pitch to center.
TOP 2ND
Phil Nevin fell behind 0-2 and took a 2-2 pitch over the inside corner. Hank Blalock fell behind 0-2 and dribbled a grounder to the right-side hole that Lopez couldn't handle (error). Kevin Mench popped a ball into shallow leftfield for a single, moving Blalock to second. Brad Wilkerson popped to Reed in centerfield, who reached down but couldn't come up with the ball, loading the bases. Gerald Laird took an 0-2 pitch over the inside corner and didn't like it. Jimenez walked on four pitches to force Wilkerson across.
»» RANGERS 1, MARINERS 1
Matthews bounced to Beltre, who went to second for the force.
BOTTOM 2ND
Carl Everett took a full-count pitch over the outside corner. Adrian Beltre grounded an 0-2 pitch to third. Jeremy Reed popped the first pitch to the leftfield track.
TOP 3RD
Young fell behind 0-2 and ended up popped a 2-2 pitch to the rightcenter track and Reed got to it. Teixeira popped out to Betancourt on the infield. Nevin worked an 0-2 count full before bouncing to a charging Betancourt.
BOTTOM 3RD
Yuniesky Betancourt popped to the rightfield corner. Ichiro fell behind 0-2 and bounced a 1-2 pitch up the middle which Jimenez got to, but Ichiro easily got the single. Lopez popped out high to center on the first pitch. Ibañez watched the first pitch go by and watched Ichiro get gunned down at second.
TOP 4TH
Blalock looped a 1-2 pitch into rightfield for a single. Mench hit the second pitch past Betancourt at short to move Blalock to second. Wilkerson walked on a full count to load the bases. Laird popped the first pitch to Beltre on the infield. Jimenez grounded to a Betancourt, who tossed to Lopez for the out at second, but Lopez got taken out on his throw, allowing Blalock to score.
»» RANGERS 2, MARINERS 1
Matthews grounded the second pitch to Beltre, who threw to second for the out.
BOTTOM 4TH
Ibañez foul-tipped a 2-2 pitch into Laird's glove. Sexson whiffed on a 3-1 pitch before taking a full-count fastball down the pipe. Johjima drilled the second pitch over Wilkerson and off the wall in leftfield, and Wilkerson made a hard throw to second that had Johjima beat, but Johjima slid around the tag. Everett smoked the second pitch on a rope into Teixeira's glove at first.
TOP 5TH
Young laced down the leftfield line for a double that went off the jut of the leftfield stands. Teixeira cracked the second pitch for a double to leftfield as well, scoring Young.
»» RANGERS 3, MARINERS 1
Nevin took Ibañez to the track in leftfield, barely missing a homer. Blalock ripped a single into leftfield, scoring Teixeira.
»» RANGERS 4, MARINERS 1
Mench bounced to Beltre near the third-base bag, moving Blalock to second. Wilkerson was ahead 3-0 and and popped a 3-1 pitch to Reed in leftcenter.
BOTTOM 5TH
Beltre bounced to Teixeira at first. Reed lined out to third. Betancourt fell behind 0-2 and bounced a 2-2 pitch up the middle for a single. Ichiro served an 0-2 pitch into leftfield for a single, moving Betancourt to second. Lopez bounced up the middle, but Jimenez couldn't make a play on it. With the bases loaded, Ibañez popped a full-count fly to Jimenez on the edge of the outfield grass.
TOP 6TH
Laird bounced out to third. Jimenez worked a 1-2 count full before grounding hard to Beltre at third. Matthews fell behind 0-2 and tapped a 2-2 pitch in front of the plate, which Johjima pounced on and threw to first.
Moyer's line: 6 innings, 4 runs (3 earned), 8 hits, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, 106 pitches (66 strikes)
BOTTOM 6TH
Sexson popped the second pitch a mile high to Teixeira in foul ground on the right side. Johjima lined the first pitch hard to Wilkerson on the track in leftfield. Everett fell behind 0-2 and popped the 1-2 pitch lazily to Young.
TOP 7TH
Julio Mateo came in for Moyer. Young fell behind 0-2 and poked a 2-2 single into centerfield. Teixeira lined a second-pitch single into centerfield to move Young to third. Nevin grounded to third, and Beltre had hung up Young between third and home, and after a bunch of throws, Beltre ran Young back to the third-base bag, which was occupied by Teixeira, who would be called out. Nevin went to second on the play.
»» RANGERS 5, MARINERS 1
Blalock fisted a single past a drawn-in infield to score Young.
»» RANGERS 6, MARINERS 1
Mench whiffed on a 1-2 pitch.
BOTTOM 7TH
Beltre whiffed on a 0-2 pitch high and out of the zone. Reed dumped the first pitch into centerfield for a single. Betancourt poked an 0-2 pitch into leftfield for a single, moving Reed to second. Ichiro dropped a single into shallow rightcenter to score Reed.
»» RANGERS 6, MARINERS 2
Lopez bounced to the mound for a 1-6-3 double play.
TOP 8TH
Wilkerson whiffed on an 0-2 high pitch. Laird flew out to centerfield on the second pitch. Jimenez popped to Ibañez short of the leftfield track.
Mateo's line: 2 innings, 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 22 pitches (18 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Ibañez smoked a full-count pitch to the leftcenter wall with a double. Sexson grounded deep into the hole on the left side, and Young had no play as it went past him, and Ibañez went to third.
Antonio Alfonseca came in for Millwood. Johjima bounced the first pitch up the middle to Jimenez for a 4-6-3 double play that scored Ibañez.
»» RANGERS 6, MARINERS 3
Everett doubled the first pitch off the track in rightfield. Beltre was ahead 2-0 and smacked a lined drive to the base of the wall in rightfield (good sign), driving in Everett for his first RBI of the year, and sliding into second for a double.
»» RANGERS 6, MARINERS 4
Reed was ahead 3-0 and walked on a 3-1 pitch.
Akinori Otsuka came in for Alfonseca. Roberto Petagine, hitting for Betancourt, bounced right back to the mound.
Millwood's line: 7 innings, 3 runs, 12 hits, 0 walks, 4 strikes, 96 pitches (70 strikes)
Alfonseca's line: 2/3 inning, 1 run, 2 hits, 1 walk, 0 walks, 11 pitches (5 strikes)
Otsuka's line: 1/3 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 4 pitches (2 strikes)
TOP 9TH
JJ Putz came in for Mateo, and Willie Bloomquist came in to play short. Matthews got the hitters' counts and gapped the full-count pitch to rightcenter for a double. Young took an 0-2 pitch over the outside corner. Teixeira whiffed on an 0-1 pitch and Matthews took third without a throw since Johjima had the ball come out of his glove. Teixeira worked an 0-2 count full before whiffing on a pitch outside. Nevin walked on a 3-1 pitch. Blalock bounced to Putz on the mound, who turned and threw to first.
Putz' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 23 pitches (13 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Francisco Cordero came in for Otsuka. Adrian Brown came in to play rightfield. Ichiro turned toward a pitch, but it went off his front foot, and knowing Ichiro's hitting stance, he can't get out of the way of that. Lopez doubled the first pitch off the leftfield wall, moving Ichiro to third. Ibañez barely missed a homer, getting to the track in rightfield for a flyout that scored Ichiro.
»» RANGERS 6, MARINERS 5
Sexson was brushed back way up and in for ball two and a 2-0 count. Sexson singled through the left side of a drawn-in infield to score Ichiro and tie the game. Matt Lawton ran for Sexson.
»» RANGERS 6, MARINERS 6
Johjima singled up the middle to move Lawton to second.
CJ Wilson came in for Cordero. Everett crushed a ball off the KOMO 1000 News ad on the facing of the upper deck inside the foul pole above the leftfield scoreboard for a three-run shot.
»» MARINERS 9, RANGERS 6
Cordero's line: 1/3 inning, 4 runs, 3 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 12 pitches (7 strikes)
Wilson's line: 0 innings, 1 run, 1 hit, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 3 pitches (2 strikes)
---
Gameball: Ichiro.
I think we were all waiting for a day like this to come from Ichiro. He reached base every time he went to the plate. He singled four times, as is his forté, but it was his getting nailed in the foot by Francisco Cordero that got the wheel rolling in the ninth. They scored five runs in the ninth, sure, but they needed two to tie and three to win. With Ichiro on first, that brought the tying run to the plate thereafter. This team gets a billion times more fun to watch when Ichiro gets on and does his thing on the basepaths while the hitters behind him get better pitches to hit thanks to Ichiro's basepath hijinks. I won't say it has a direct correlation, but the top third of the lineup went 8-for-12 in this game. Of course, you could carry that one further and see in the boxscore that only Adrian Beltre and Jeremy Reed in the starting lineup got less than two hits in the game. Everyone else other than Ichiro had two hits apiece. This was Ichiro's first multi-hit game since the middle game of the series in Cleveland. With this 4-for-4 night in this game, he bumped a .177 average from after the first game of this series and now he's sitting on .227. It's a start, but if Ichiro consistently can hit and find the holes, we're in for some summer staff.
Goat: Julio Mateo.
I'm still not worried about this guy, but I wonder when it'll be time to worry. He's had six appearances so far this season and has given up runs in half of them. He's currently the owner of a sparkling 8.64 ERA. This isn't the Julio Mateo we've come to know and love in past seasons. This isn't the guy from whom you knew you were going to get an automatic inning or two of shutout middle relief in a close game. Mateo looks like he's still finding himself this season. Sure, the L gets tacked onto Moyer if weirder things don't happen in this game, but in any event, Mateo threw some fuel onto the fire in this game. The Mariners and Mateo were able to get away from that this time, but nine times out of ten, I don't see the Mariners being down 6-1 at the seventh-inning stretch and coming back to win. If it turns out this particular Mariner team develops a knack for late-inning comebacks, I'm all for it, though. I'm not expecting it, but I surely do like surprises.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2002 13-3 .813 -- W10
2001 12-4 .750 1 W1
2000 10-6 .625 3 W2
2003 9-7 .563 4 W1
2005 8-8 .500 5 L1
2006 7-9 .438 6 W1
2004 6-10 .375 7 L2
Padilla. Piñeiro. Tonight.
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