Saturday, May 06, 2006
GAME 32: MARINERS 4, INDIANS 1
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: A come-from-behind win yet again. Games in which the Mariners have control are unfortunately the rarity these days. Behold the rarity.
This one featured Cliff Lee going up against Joel Piñeiro. The Mariners were trying to snap a four-game losing streak. Of course, it looked like an uphill battle. Joel Piñeiro started and finished in his last start, but Cliff Lee in his career has completely owned the Mariners. What would give today?
TOP 1ST
Grady Sizemore got ahead 2-0 and cranked a down-the-pipe 2-2 pitch and carried it over the wall in rightcenter.
»» INDIANS 1, MARINERS 0
Jason Michaels grounded a 2-2 pitch up the middle to Betancourt. Jhonny Peralta flew out to Ibañez in leftcenter on a 2-2 pitch. Victor Martinez smacked a 2-0 pitch into rightfield for a single. Ben Broussard bounced the second pitch to first. Piñeiro threw 22 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Ichiro took a 1-2 pitch to the right elbow armor. Willie Bloomquist flew out to center on a 2-2 pitch. Raul Ibañez laced a liner right into Belliard's glove at second. Richie Sexson took a 3-1 pitch down and in, moving Ichiro to second. Carl Everett whiffed on a 1-2 fastball in the dirt. Lee threw 21 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Casey Blake worked a 1-2 count full before nearly drilling Piñeiro with a liner into centerfield. Ronnie Belliard flew out to left on the second pitch. Ramon Vazquez bounced the second pitch back to the mound to start a 1-6-3 double play. Piñeiro threw ten pitches and had 32 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Adrian Beltre hit a slow-rolling 0-2 pitch on the left side, where Vazquez charged in, barehanded, and made the strong throw to first in time, or so the umpire thought (replays showed he was barely safe). Kenji Johjima popped the 0-2 pitch to Vazquez down the leftfield line. Jose Lopez smacked a single into shallow center. Yuniesky Betancourt flew out to right on an 0-2 pitch. Lee threw 12 pitches and had 33 through two.
TOP 3RD
Aaron Boone lined out softly to Beltre at third. Sizemore lined the first pitch off Piñeiro's glove, and it caromed to Lopez at second, who threw in time to first. Michaels took a lowish 1-1 pitch and Johjima held the ball in place a bit long, then Hargrove came out to argue with home plate umpire Jim Reynolds and was tossed. Michaels later whiffed on a 2-2 breaking ball. Piñeiro threw eight pitches and had 40 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Ichiro rolled the second pitch up the middle to Belliard, who made the off-balance throw in time to first. Bloomquist popped the second pitch to Broussard behind the bag at first on the outfield grass. Ibañez grounded a 2-2 pitch to second. Lee threw nine pitches and had 42 through three.
TOP 4TH
Peralta fell behind 0-2 and later waved badly on a 1-2 pitch. Martinez took an 0-2 pitch over the outside corner. Broussard hit a second-pitch broken-bat grounder to second. Piñeiro threw nine pitches and had 49 through four.
BOTTOM 4TH
Sexson mashed a hard single into leftfield for a single. Everett drilled a single through the left side, moving Sexson to second. Beltre hit a sinking liner into leftfield that got past Michaels and rolled to the wall, scoring Sexson and Everett as Vazquez didn't make a relay throw home. Beltre got credit for a double.
»» MARINERS 2, INDIANS 1
Johjima hit a low-lining a 1-2 single into shallow rightfield and Beltre barely got his left foot onto the plate in time as Johjima took second.
»» MARINERS 3, INDIANS 1
Lopez laid down a near-perfect bunt to the left side which took a great play from Martinez to get Lopez at first (2-4 putout), and Johjima moved to third on the play. Betancourt popped the first pitch to shallow left as Johjima held. Ichiro took a full-count pitch up and in for a walk. Bloomquist flew out to Blake in rightcenter on the second pitch. Lee threw 22 pitches and had 64 through four.
TOP 5TH
Blake failed to check his swing on a full-count pitch. Belliard fell behind 0-2 and hit a 1-2 pitch right at Bloomquist, who was crossed up for a second and had to leap to keep the ball from going past. Vazquez looped out to Ibañez in shallow leftcenter. Piñeiro threw 13 pitches and had 62 through five.
BOTTOM 5TH
Ibañez took Sizemore to the centerfield track on a 2-2 pitch, the eighth pitch of the at-bat. Sexson was jammed and grounded a 2-2 pitch to short. Everett flew out high to Sizemore in leftcenter. Lee threw 16 pitches and had 80 through five.
TOP 6TH
Boone took a 2-2 pitch over the inside corner (stretching the black). Sizemore fell behind 0-2 before popping to leftcenter (Ibañez) on a 2-2 pitch. Michaels grounded the 1-2 pitch hard to third. Piñeiro threw 16 pitches and had 78 through six.
BOTTOM 6TH
Beltre looped a shallow fly on the first pitch to Blake in right. Johjima flew out to Blake in shallow right on the second pitch. Lopez got ahead 2-0 and lined to Sizemore in center on a full count. Lee threw ten pitches and had 90 through six.
TOP 7TH
Peralta lined out to left on an 0-2 pitch. Martinez grounded the second pitch right to first. Broussard whiffed on a 2-2 breaking ball down and away. Piñeiro threw 11 pitches and had 89 through seven.
BOTTOM 7TH
Betancourt popped to second. Ichiro bounced a single through the right-side hole just past the reach of Belliard. Bloomquist flew out to Belliard in shallow right on a 2-0 pitch. Ibañez reached the gap on a 2-2 pitch, reaching the wall for a double and plating Ichiro.
»» MARINERS 4, INDIANS 1
Fernando Cabrera came in for Lee. Sexson failed to check his swing on an 0-2 pitch in the dirt. Cabrera threw three pitches.
Lee's line: 6 2/3 innings, 4 runs, 7 hits, 2 walks, 1 strikeouts, 108 pitches (73 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Blake reached the gap in rightcenter, but it didn't get to the wall as he settled for a single, snapping Piñeiro's streak of 17 straight retired hitters. Belliard grounded the second pitch hard to Beltre, who started the 5-4-3 double play. Vazquez fell behind 0-2 before flying out to center on a 1-2 count. Piñeiro threw 11 pitches.
Piñeiro's line: 8 innings, 1 run, 4 hits, 0 walks, 6 strikeouts, 100 pitches (69 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Everett had the hitters' counts before flying out to center on a full count. Beltre looped a 2-2 breaking ball outside and popped to Belliard moving back into the centerfield grass. Johjima worked a 1-2 count full before tapping out to Cabrera beside the mound. Cabrera threw 19 pitches and had 22 total.
Cabrera's line: 1 1/3 innings, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 22 pitches (14 strikes)
TOP 9TH
JJ Putz came in for Piñeiro. Boone bounced to Sexson, who had Boone run into his tag. Sizemore rolled an 0-2 pitch to second. Michaels walked on a full-count pitch down and in. Peralta watched as Michaels took second on the first pitch (indifference). Peralta whiffed on a 2-2 splitter.
Putz' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, 19 pitches (12 strikes)
---
Gameball: Joel Piñeiro.
Really no other choice for the gameball here, even with my standards of non-obvious gameballs. No Mariner hitter had a multi-hit game. I could have tried to get some mileage out of JJ Putz throwing a scoreless ninth to get the save, but I don't feel like it. In Piñeiro's last start, he walked nobody and struck out nobody. Against the Twins, he got 17 groundouts and nine flyouts. Today against the Indians, the gross groundball tendency didn't hold up, as he got ten groundouts and eight flyouts. He didn't walk anyone, which was good, but he struck out six batters, a season high. Piñeiro may not be the Piñeiro of old, but as was bandied about in the series in Chicago, Freddy Garcia isn't what he used to be either. Niehaus and Fairly talked a great deal about Freddy not being able to crank the fastball up there like he used to, and now he's topping out around 91 or so. Of course, I remember the days when Freddy would try to strike people out with his fastball, and he'd overthrow and get himself into trouble and not get deep into games. That was before he realized his changeup was his best pitch. With Piñeiro, he can't rush it up there like he used to, but if he manages to successfully reinvent himself, then I'll consider that a victory. They haven't completely turned Piñeiro around, but things are looking up. If Gil Meche can start to make things look up for himself, that'll be good. I doubt it though.
Goat: Willie Bloomquist.
Raise your hand if you've been enjoying the McLemorization of Willie Bloomquist. Yeah, me neither. When Mike Hargrove has started Bloomquist lately, he's slotted him second in the lineup and bumped the nicely-hitting Jose Lopez all the way down to eighth. Depending on how games shake out, one could argue that Lopez gets at-bats taken away from him this way. It's not so bad if Bloomquist comes in, scratches out a hit, and wreaks havoc on the basepaths while not making any defensive gaffes. Today, he went 0-for-4 and left four ducks on the pond. Does hustle or the perception thereof make a difference when you go 0-for-4 and don't get on base? Jeremy Reed showed the ability last year that he can take away hits in the outfield on occasion, yet it's Bloomquist that gets the hype on the occasion that he makes a diving catch or something. My point? Reed can go 0-for-4 just as easily as Bloomquist. My point? Reed's three and a half years younger than Bloomquist and has more upside. If you're talking the future of this team, Reed's got to take his lumps. Bloomquist and Lawton getting time in centerfield while you bench Reed is something you do if you're a team that's built to win now. If anyone tells me this team is built to win now, I'll tell them they're on some sort of mind-altering substance.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 23-9 .719 -- L2
2002 22-10 .688 1 L1
2003 21-11 .656 2 W4
2000 17-15 .531 6 L2
2005 13-19 .406 10 L1
2006 13-19 .406 10 W1
2004 12-20 .375 11 L3
Sabathia. Washburn. Tomorrow.
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