Thursday, April 13, 2006
GAME 9: MARINERS 11, INDIANS 9
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: If the Mariners were going to snap a four-game skid and a Cleveland six-game tear, they'd have to withstand the Gil Meche Adventure.
This one featured Gil Meche going up against Paul Byrd.
TOP 1ST
Ichiro popped the first pitch to Boone in foul territory between third and home. Jose Lopez ripped an 0-2 pitch past a diving Michaels and to the leftfield wall for a double. Raul Ibañez roped the first pitch into rightfield for a single to score Lopez.
»» MARINERS 1, INDIANS 0
Richie Sexson nubbed slowly to first as Ibañez moved to second. Adrian Beltre bashed the second pitch right to Byrd, who caught the line drive. Byrd threw 10 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Grady Sizemore flew out to left on a 2-2 pitch. Jason Michaels walked on a full-count pitch low and away. Jhonny Peralta laced a 2-2 pitch into rightfield for a single that moved Michaels to second. Travis Hafner took a decent curve on a 2-1 pitch (only notable because it was a nice pitch) and later watched with a full count as Meche had Michaels hung up off of second, and he was tagged out, then on the same play Peralta was caught between first and second. Amazing. Meche threw 25 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Carl Everett got ahead 3-0 before flying out to Michaels on the rightfield track. Kenji Johjima whiffed on a full-count pitch in on the hands. Jeremy Reed stroked the second pitch high and nearly for a homer in rightcenter as Blake didn't quite get to it on the track and collided with the wall as Reed strolled into third with a triple. Yuniesky Betancourt reached out for a 2-2 pitch and grounded out to short. Byrd threw 18 pitches and had 28 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Travis Hafner walked on four pitches. Victor Martinez tapped the first pitch up the middle which was a sure double-play ball but Meche gave it some glove, and the ball went to Lopez, who went to second for the force-out and Martinez beat out the double play. Ben Broussard stuck a single up the middle to move Martinez to second. Ron Belliard took a 1-1 pitch way inside, so much so that he was drilled in the left bicep/shoulder. Aaron Boone grounded the first pitch to the left side, and Beltre threw home instead of to second, and the force was made on Martinez as the bases remained loaded. Blake saw Meche uncork an 0-1 wild pitch in the dirt outside that got away from Johjima and rolled to the backstop (probably should have been a passed ball), allowing Broussard to cross the plate and the other runners to move up 90 feet.
»» INDIANS 1, MARINERS 1
Blake still had the rest of the at-bat to go, and nearly was plunked with offspeed on the next pitch, but he drilled the next pitch into centerfield for a single to score Belliard and Boone.
»» INDIANS 3, MARINERS 1
Sizemore walked on four pitches, moving Blake to second. Michaels fell behind 0-2 and wound up grounding a hard 1-2 pitch to Beltre behind the bag at third, and he stepped on the bag for the forceout. Meche threw 24 pitches and had 49 through two.
TOP 3RD
Ichiro walked on four pitches. Lopez walked on a 3-1 pitch outside, moving Ichiro to second. Ibañez rolled a grounder up the middle for a single, scoring Ichiro and moving Lopez to third. This drew a visit to the mound by Cleveland pitching coach Carl Willis.
»» INDIANS 3, MARINERS 2
Sexson took the first pitch off the plate for a strike, then couldn't connect on a hanging breaking ball, fouling it off for an 0-2 count. He later whiffed on a 1-2 slider inside and waist high. Beltre whiffed on a 1-2 low slider. Everett worked a 1-2 count for a walk, moving Ibañez to second to load the bases. Johjima whacked his second 0-2 pitch off the top of the leftfield wall to clear the bases, and the throw got past Martinez behind the plate, but Johjima didn't advance past second. This got Danny Graves up and warming in the Cleveland bullpen.
»» MARINERS 5, INDIANS 3
Reed cranked a putch to nearly the same spot he hit the triple in his first at-bat, but Blake came down with the catch this time. Byrd threw 36 pitches and had 64 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Peralta grounded a 1-2 pitch to third. Hafner popped the second pitch to Reed in shallow centerfield. Martinez hit a 1-2 pitch toward the leftcenter gap, but it landed in the glove of Reed, who moved over to make the catch. Meche threw 10 pitches and had 59 through three.
TOP 4TH
Betancourt popped the first pitch to Broussard, who made the catch at the mound. Ichiro smacked an outside pitch into leftfield for a single to snap an 0-for-19 slump. Lopez watched as Ichiro took off on the first pitch and Martinez' throw was a bit short and bounced past, so the bag was stolen. Lopez put the next pitch into fairly deep leftfield, where it was caught by Michaels (Ichiro held). Ibañez spanked the ball down the rightfield line to score Ichiro for a sure double, but he was waved around second by third-base coach Carlos Garcia, who waved him on for the triple.
»» MARINERS 6, INDIANS 3
Danny Graves came in for Byrd. Sexson bounced the second pitch to third. Graves threw two pitches.
Byrd's line: 3 2/3 innings, 6 runs, 7 hits, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts, 75 pitches (45 strikes)
BOTTOM 4TH
Broussard ripped a base hit through the right side. Belliard poked the second pitch into rightfield for a single, and Ichiro nearly gunned down Broussard at third, but he was called safe. Boone fell behind 0-2 and wound up popping a 1-2 pitch high to Beltre, who'd moved over to the backside of the mound to make the catch. Blake laid the bat on a ball low and away and singled into rightfield to score Brossard and move Belliard to third. Jake Woods was warming up in the bullpen.
»» MARINERS 6, INDIANS 4
Sizemore ripped the second pitch off the first-base umpire Tim McClellan, and the ball rolled toward Lopez as Broussard scored and Belliard moved to third.
»» MARINERS 6, INDIANS 5
Michaels got the hitters' counts and took 3-1 pitch low and away. Peralta whiffed on a 2-2 curve down the pipe and low. Meche threw 25 pitches and had 84 through four.
Meche's line: 4 innings, 5 runs, 7 hits, 4 walks, 1 strikeout, 84 pitches (47 strikes)
TOP 5TH
Beltre got ahead 2-0 and wound up with a blistering single into leftfield. Everett popped the second pitch to Sizemore a few steps from the centerfield track as Beltre held at first. Johjima watched as Beltre took second on the 1-1 pitch without drawing a throw. Johjima whiffed on a 3-1 pitch down and away before walking on a pitch down and away. Reed grounded very hard to Broussard at first, who reacted quickly and turned the 3-6-3 double play. Graves threw 15 pitches and had 17 total.
BOTTOM 5TH
Jake Woods came in for Meche. Hafner grounded to Sexson behind the bag at first. Martinez flew out to right. Broussard hooked a hanging pitch foul down the rightfield line, not quite with homerun distance. Broussard ended up taking a full-count pitch over the outer half. Woods threw 14 pitches.
TOP 6TH
Betancourt looped a 2-2 pitch into shallow centerfield that dropped between Peralta and Belliard, who suffered a communication breakdown that allowed Betancourt to be on first. Ichiro lasered a second-pitch single through the right side, moving Betancourt to second. Lopez blew a couple of bunt attempts, then watched an 0-2 pitch hit the dirt and get past Martinez, allowing Betancourt and Ichiro to move up 90 feet. Lopez ended up tapping the 1-2 pitch back to the mound as the runners held. Ibañez was walked intentionally to load the bases. Sexson blasted the first pitch over the scoreboard in leftfield.
»» MARINERS 10, INDIANS 5
Beltre whiffed on a 2-2 breaking ball low and away. Everett flew out to Michaels in leftcenter. Graves threw 24 pitches and had 41 total.
Graves' line: 2 1/3 innings, 4 runs, 4 hits, 2 walks, 1 strikeout, 41 pitches (24 strikes)
BOTTOM 6TH
Belliard grounded an 0-2 pitch into the hole on the left side, and Betancourt ranged over to his right and threw against his own momentum in time to first. It was a pretty good play. Boone bounced out to third. Blake whiffed on a 1-2 pitch up and in. Woods threw 11 pitches.
TOP 7TH
Jason Davis came in for Graves. Johjima fell behind 0-2 and wound up whiffing on a breaking ball inside. Reed bounced out to second. Betancourt rolled out to second. Davis threw 12 pitches.
BOTTOM 7TH
Sizemore grounded a 1-2 pitch hard to second. Michaels got ahead 2-0 (Johjima followed through on a throw back to Woods and was hit in the hand by Michaels' bat) and later flew out to a running Ichiro in the rightcenter gap on a full count. Peralta dumped the second pitch into leftfield for a single, snapping Woods' streak of eight straight retired hitters. Hafner crushed a 2-0 pitch about 15 rows back into the rightfield seats with a lot of arc.
»» MARINERS 10, INDIANS 7
Martinez worked a 1-2 count for a walk. Broussard grounded a 2-2 pitch deep up the middle, where Betancourt plugged the hole and threw in time to first for another nice play. Woods threw 27 pitches and had 38 total.
TOP 8TH
Ichiro stung the first pitch up the middle for a single. Lopez bounced up the middle off of Davis' leg, and he threw in time to first, moving Ichiro to third. Ibañez rolled a double into the rightfield corner to score Ichiro.
»» MARINERS 11, INDIANS 7
Sexson whiffed on an 0-2 pitch way down and away. Beltre grounded the first pitch hard to third. Davis threw nine pitches.
Davis' line: 2 innings, 1 run, 2 hits, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 21 pitches (16 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Rafael Soriano came in for Woods. Belliard dropped the second pitch for a single into the gap in leftcenter. Boone lined out to Ibañez in leftfield on the second pitch as Belliard held. Blake on the second pitch clubbed a double to the wall in leftcenter, scoring Belliard.
»» MARINERS 11, INDIANS 8
Sizemore fell behind 0-2 and nearly flew out in the rightfield corner to Ichiro, who didn't come up with it. Sizemore took a slider inside on the next pitch that went all the way to the backstop, pushing Blake to third. On the next pitch, Sizemore flew out to Betancourt in shallow leftfield as Blake held. Michaels fouled an 0-2 pitch up and in into Johjima's glove as he fell to the deck.
Soriano's line: 1 inning, 1 run, 2 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 20 pitches (16 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Scott Sauerbeck came in for Davis. Everett grounded the first pitch hard to third. Johjima hit a hard chopper that Sauerbeck leapt to spear, throwing to first afterward. Reed flew out to centerfield.
Sauerbeck's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 7 pitches (5 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Eddie Guardado came in for Soriano. Peralta tagged a line drive right into the glove of a diving Beltre at third. Hafner punched a single past Lopez into centerfield. Martinez fell behind 0-2 and wound up doubling off the base of the wall in rightfield, except Ichiro threw straight into second and Martinez only got a single out of it because he thought it was gone and Hafner was on third. Eduardo Perez, hitting for Broussard, popped the first pitch foul near some prime seats and reached over a railing and got a glove on it as the railing got dangerously close to a certain shoulder. Perez hit a ball hard that went off Lopez' glove and into centerfield, scoring Hafner and moving Martinez to second. It would have been a sure double-play ball to end the game (originally charged as an error to Lopez, it was overruled the day after). Todd Hollandsworth ran for Perez.
»» MARINERS 11, INDIANS 9
Belliard fouled off four straight 1-2 pitches before whiffing at the fifth, a fastball up and away. Boone for some reason swung at the first pitch and flew out to Lopez at second.
Guardado's line: 1 inning, 1 run, 2 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 25 pitches (18 strikes)
---
Gameball: Ichiro.
Goat: Gil Meche.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 7-2 .778 -- W3
2002 6-3 .667 1 W3
2000 5-4 .556 2 L1
2005 5-4 .556 2 W3
2003 4-5 .444 3 L2
2006 4-5 .444 3 W1
2004 2-7 .222 5 W1
Hernandez. Johnson. Tonight.
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