Saturday, April 29, 2006
GAME 24: ORIOLES 5, MARINERS 2
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: At this pace, the Mariners will end the year having hit like they've faced Pedro in 110 games.
This one featured Gil Meche going up against Daniel Cabrera. The Orioles wore their putrid black jerseys. An opening graphic on the TV broadcast showed that Meche averaged 19 pitches per inning coming into the game, the third-highest rate in baseball. The archived MLB.tv feed for this game was fun since they didn't cut to commercials and you could hear Niehaus/Rizzs and Valle talking during the breaks. This included a genuine reaction from Valle when hearing the news that the Houston Texans would not be selecting Reggie Bush. Also heard was a couple of post-inning clarifications on how many pitches Daniel Cabrera threw every inning.
TOP 1ST
Ichiro bounced a 2-2 pitch up the middle to Roberts at second. Jose Lopez whiffed on a 2-2 belt-high fastball over the inside corner. Raul Ibañez foul-tipped a 2-2 megafastball into the catcher's glove. Cabrera threw 15 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Brian Roberts shot an 0-2 groundout to third. Melvin Mora was ahead 2-0 before rolling over a 2-2 pitch to Beltre down the line at third, but he made the play. Miguel Tejada split his bat in half and dumped a second-pitch (down and away) single into shallow rightcenter. Jay Gibbons poked a 1-2 single into center, where Reed was caught between diving for the ball and shorthopping it, and the ball ate him up and went past (error), allowing Tejada to score from first as Ibañez ran over to field the ball. Niehaus did begin a sentence with "for cryin' out loud" during this sequence. Gibbons got credit for a single.
»» ORIOLES 1, MARINERS 0
Ramon Hernandez walekd on four pitches. Kevin Millar popped high to Lopez in shallow rightfield. Meche threw 21 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Richie Sexson smacked a 2-0 grounder to Mora at third. Carl Everett poked a ball off the dirt for a grounder to short. Kenji Johjima popped to left. Cabrera threw nine pitches and had 24 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Corey Patterson slapped an up-and-away second pitch off the leftfield foul pole for a solo shot. That's a Camden Yards homer.
»» ORIOLES 2, MARINERS 0
Jeff Conine walked on four pitches. Nick Markakis whiffed on a 1-2 fastball up in the zone and in. Roberts fell behind 0-2 and wound up whiffing on a 1-2 breaker in the dirt away. Mora chopped a 1-2 pitch to third. Meche threw 20 pitches and had 41 through two.
TOP 3RD
Adrian Beltre fisted a sinking fly into leftcenter where Tejada missed an over-the-shoulder catch and the ball fell for a single. Jeremy Reed swung weirdly at a high pitch, fighting it off his hands and bouncing to the mound to move Beltre to second. Yuniesky Betancourt popped the second pitch to Markakis in leftcenter, who had Patterson very close to a low-speed collision with him. Ichiro flew out to center on the second pitch. Cabrera threw ten pitches and had 34 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Tejada shot the first pitch to the right-side hole, where Lopez dove for it and threw from his knees on the outfield grass to get Tejada at first. Gibbons laced the second pitch into rightfield for a single. Hernandez worked an 0-2 count full before popping out to center. Millar flew out to Reed a couple steps in front of the track in centerfield. Meche threw 12 pitches and had 53 through three.
TOP 4TH
Lopez took a 1-2 fastball over the outside corner. Ibañez worked a 1-2 count full before grounding up the middle to Roberts, who made the play on the backhand and threw off balance in time to first. Sexson got under another one, flying out to center. Cabrera threw 14 pitches and had 48 through four.
BOTTOM 4TH
Patterson grounded hard to first, and it handcuffed Sexson for a second, but he came up with it and walked it over to first. Conine got ahead 2-0 and whiffed on a 2-2 knuckle-curve. Markakis grounded hard to left on the second pitch. Meche threw 11 pitches and had 64 through four.
TOP 5TH
Everett popped to Mora running down the leftfield line on a play where Tejada tripped up and experienced some knee discomfort but stayed in the game after precautionary attention from the training staff and manager Sam Perlozzo. Johjima worked an 0-2 count full before popping a high pitch to Mora in foul ground beside the third-base line. Beltre poked a 1-2 breaking ball for a single into rightfield. Reed popped a 2-0 pitch to left. Cabrera threw 18 pitches and had 66 through five.
BOTTOM 5TH
Roberts dug for a 2-2 pitch and flew out to center. Mora bunted the second pitch along the left side, catching everyone off guard as Meche tried an off-balance throw but they really had no play and luckily Sexson leaped to grab the wide throw as Mora had first base. Tejada walked on four pitches to move Roberts to second, attracting pitching coach Rafael Chaves for a mound visit. Gibbons lined out on the first pitch to a running Ichiro as the runners held. Hernandez ripped a single through the left side and Mora came around and tried to score, but the throw by Ibañez from left was a good one, as was the tag by Johjima at the plate as Mora was called out. Meche threw 14 pitches and had 78 through five.
TOP 6TH.
Betancourt whiffed at a 2-2 letter-high fastball inside. Ichiro doubled off the rightfield wall. Lopez wedged the first pitch just over the wall and Markakis' glove in leftfield to score Ichiro.
»» ORIOLES 2, MARINERS 2
Ibañez worked a 1-2 count full before whiffing on a low fastball over the inside corner. Sexson took a 3-1 pitch inside and off the dirt for a walk. Everett chopped the first pitch to short and was barely out. Cabrera threw 25 pitches and had 91 through six.
BOTTOM 6TH
Millar fell behind 0-2 but was bailed out on a 1-2 pitch that nicked him off the inside corner. Patterson bunted nicely out in front, and Beltre's best effort and throw to first weren't in time as the runners were safe at second and first. Chaves visited the mound. Conine poked a second-pitch single through the right side to load the bases.
George Sherrill came in for Meche. Markakis fouled off four 1-2 pitches, took the next pitch up and in and nearly was hit, then whiffed on a breaking ball on the next pitch. Roberts lined the first pitch to Ichiro drifting backward, and Millar scored. Patterson tagged and went to third.
»» ORIOLES 3, MARINERS 2
Julio Mateo came in for Sherrill. Mora watched the second pitch go off the fingers of Johjima's glove and to the backstop, scoring Patterson from third and moving Conine to second.
»» ORIOLES 4, MARINERS 2
Mora ended up chopping to third, and Beltre's threw appeared to mess with Sexson a bit, though he came up with it.
Meche's line: 5 innings, 4 runs (2 earned), 8 hits, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts, 85 pitches (49 strikes)
Sherrill's line: 2/3 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 10 pitches (8 strikes)
TOP 7TH
Johjima rolled out to third. Beltre fell behind 0-2 and would whiff on a 1-2 pitch in the dirt that bounced away from Hernandez behind the plate, but Beltre was able to reach first base safely. Reed bunted the second pitch nicely along the left side to move Beltre to second. Betancourt watched the second pitch go by as Beltre nabbed third and Hernandez behind the plate couldn't transfer the ball to his throwing hand cleanly. Betancourt was ahead 3-0, took what he thought was ball four, then rolled out to short. Cabrera threw 14 pitches.
Cabrera's line: 7 innings, 2 runs, 4 hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts, 105 pitches (61 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Tejada lined a full-count knee-high fastball down the pipe four rows into the rightfield seats just to the left of the scoreboard.
»» ORIOLES 5, MARINERS 2
Gibbons bounced to short. Hernandez whiffed on a 2-2 pitch. Millar worked a 1-2 count for a walk and needed nine pitches to do so. Patterson grounded the second pitch up the middle to a diving Lopez on the outfield grass, who looked to first but could have had a play at second -- both runners were safe as he never got off a throw. Conine rolled to short for a 6-4 fielder's choice.
Mateo's line: 1 1/3 innings, 1 run, 2 hits, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, 32 pitches (18 strikes)
TOP 8TH
LaTroy Hawkins came in for Cabrera. Chris Gomez came in for Tejada at short, and Luis Terrero came in to play left as Markakis moved to right as Gibbons was lifted. Ichiro blistered a 1-2 pitch through the mound and into centerfield for a single. Lopez never took a ball on five pitches, whiffing on the fifth, a dirtball away. Ibañez grounded hard to Roberts in the right-side hole, who nicely started a 4-6-3 double play.
Hawkins' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 12 pitches (10 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Jake Woods came in for Mateo. Markakis took an 0-2 breaking ball over the outside corner. Roberts got the hitters' counts before whiffing on a full-count fastball over the outside corner. Mora lined the second pitch into shallow leftfield for a single. Gomez was ahead 3-1 and wound up grounding hard to Beltre behind the third-base bag.
Woods' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 18 pitches (12 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Chris Ray came in for Hawkins. Sexson was ahead 3-1 but eventually grounded hard to third on a full count. Everett chopped to Gomez up the middle. Johjima rolled over on a groundout to third.
Ray's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 13 pitches (7 strikes)
---
Gameball: Ichiro.
You can't pin this loss on him. He did his job at the top of the lineup. His hits were hard-hit balls. He doubled off the wall then lasered a single through the box. When he was deep in the slump, I remember saying that he needed to pick it up to not only set the table for the rest of the lineup, but to help out the bottom third of the lineup, which was producing at the time. A few more Ichiro hits with the bottom of the lineup on base, and who knows what record they could have now? Ichiro pulled an 0-for-4 on Wednesday, but his last 0-fer before that was the first game of the Texas series. After that game, he was sitting at a paltry .177. In the nine games since, Ichiro has gone 16-for-37 (.432) and had the batting average jump to .273. Of course, the only extra-base hit he's had in that span was the double from this very game, and he's only walked once and hasn't stolen a base in the nine games. However, he's only struck out once in the same stretch, as opposed to nine strikeouts before that. In any event, he did his job in this game. Others didn't, but I'll get to that later.
Goat: Kenji Johjima.
I know he's not Miguel Olivo back there behind the plate or anything like that. I know he had a bunch of Gold Glove equivalents back in Japan. Is his thumb really that screwed up or did the Mariners get duped? One way or the other, we've been seeing a ton of passed balls involving this guy. The best thing he did in this game was make the tag at the plate on the other end of the Raul Ibañez throw. That ended the fifth with the Mariners down 2-1. In the sixth, what turned out to be the game-winning run for the Orioles got on base via Gil Meche hitting Kevin Millar with a pitch. That run scored to make it 3-2, then the second pitch after that went off of Johjima's glove and to the backstop, and another run came across. That misplay of a completely catchable ball made it 4-2 for Baltimore. Of course, Johjima's not just the goat here for his defensive purposes. He also had an 0-for-4 day at the plate and has really cooled off since anchoring the bottom third of the lineup for a decent portion of the month of April. He hasn't had a multi-hit game since the 19th, the middle game of the Texas series. He's gone hitless in all but one game since.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 20-4 .833 -- W9
2002 18-6 .750 2 W1
2003 15-9 .625 5 L1
2000 14-10 .583 6 W1
2005 12-12 .500 8 L1
2006 9-15 .391 11 L1
2004 8-16 .333 12 L1
Hernandez. Chen. Tonight.
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