Wednesday, May 17, 2006
GAME 40: ATHLETICS 12, MARINERS 6
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: What's the point?
This one featured Felix Hernandez going up against Joe Blanton. For Oakland, it featured the dual returns of Steve Karsay coming back from the Cleveland system and Eric Chavez coming back from ye olde bacterial infection.
TOP 1ST
Ichiro smacked a 1-2 pitch past the backhand reach of Ellis into centerfield for a single. Jose Lopez fell behind 0-2 before rolling a 1-2 breaking ball through the left side for a single, moving Ichiro to second. Raul Ibañez was ahead 2-0 but later flew out to shallow right. Richie Sexson blistered the first pitch right to Chavez, who speared the laser and threw to second to double off Ichiro (5-4). Blanton threw 16 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Mark Ellis fell behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 breaking ball low. Nick Swisher took a full-count curve that evidently was just off the inside corner. Mark Kotsay laced the first pitch past the reach of Sexson and down the rightfield line with a double, moving Swisher to third. Eric Chavez punched the second pitch through the hole on the right side for a single, scoring Swisher and moving Kotsay to third.
»» ATHLETICS 1, MARINERS 0
Bobby Crosby whiffed on a 1-2 pitch off the plate outside. Jay Payton softly lined out to short. Hernandez threw 22 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Carl Everett slapped a 1-2 curve into left for a single. Adrian Beltre popped the second pitch high to center. Matt Lawton watched the second pitch go by as Everett was gunned down by roughly a mile, which hopefully means Lawton missed a sign as opposed to Hargrove actually sending Everett on a straight steal. On the next pitch, Lawton grounded out to second. Blanton threw nine pitches and had 25 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Adam Melhuse popped a 1-2 pitch to left. Jason Kendall nubbed a 1-2 pitch back to the mound. Dan Johnson split his bat on the first pitch, chopping out to second. Hernandez threw nine pitches and had 31 through two.
TOP 3RD
Kenji Johjima was ahead 2-0 before flying out to center on a full count. Yuniesky Betancourt flew out to Johnson on the infield with the second pitch. Ichiro bounced to second on a 3-1 pitch. Blanton threw 14 pitches and had 39 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Ellis singled into left on the first pitch. Swisher had the hitters' counts before popping to Beltre in the acreage of foul ground on the left side. Kotsay punched the second pitch for a single through the right side, moving Swisher to second. Chavez was ahead 2-0 before taking a 2-2 curveball of death over the inside corner. Crosby shot the second pitch through Beltre's legs on the in-between hop and into left for a single to score Ellis and move Kotsay to second.
»» ATHLETICS 2, MARINERS 0
Payton fell behind 0-2 before chopping a 1-2 pitch high to third, but Beltre's throw was beaten by Payton for the single to load the bases. Pitching coach Rafael Chaves visited the mound. Melhuse crushed a thigh-high pitch over the outer half, putting it into the stands high above the wall in rightcenter. That's a slam.
»» ATHLETICS 6, MARINERS 0
Kendall lined the second pitch to short just above Betancourt's shoelaces. Hernandez threw 28 pitches and had 59 through three.
TOP 4TH
Lopez poked the second pitch into left for a single. Ibañez punched a single through Johnson at first and into rightfield, moving Lopez to third. Sexson rolled over on an outside pitch, grounding into a 6-4-3 double play to score Lopez. As usual, no RBI on the play. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200.
»» ATHLETICS 6, MARINERS 1
Everett popped to left on the first pitch. Blanton threw 11 pitches and had 50 through four.
BOTTOM 4TH
Johnson lashed a single past the reach of Betancourt and into leftcenter. Ellis was ahead 2-0 and took a 2-2 breaking ball over the plate for strike three. Swisher drove a 2-2 semi-hanging breaking ball over the wall just to the left of center.
»» ATHLETICS 8, MARINERS 1
My video feed went out for a couple minutes. Kotsay grounded out to first. Chavez walked on four pitches. Crosby grounded the second pitch to third for a 5-4 forceout at second. Hernandez threw 21 pitches and had 80 through four.
TOP 5TH
Beltre grounded the first pitch to third. Lawton popped an 0-2 pitch to short. Johjima grounded to second. Blanton threw eight pitches and had 58 through five.
BOTTOM 5TH
Payton singled the second pitch up the middle. Melhuse drilled the first pitch into the rightfield corner for a double, moving Payton to third. Kendall fell behind 0-2 before singling the 2-2 pitch over a drawn-in infield into rightcenter, scoring Payton and Melhuse.
»» ATHLETICS 10, MARINERS 1
Jake Woods came in for Hernandez. Johnson was ahead 3-1 and fouled a full-count pitch near the third-base dugout and Beltre carefully went into the dugout with momentum after the unsuccessful pursuit. Johnson took a full-count pitch over the inside corner. Ellis took a 3-1 pitch up and away for a walk, moving Kendall to second. Swisher popped high to Johjima near the stands behind the plate. Kotsay fell behind 0-2 before popping out to shallow right on a 2-2 pitch. Woods threw 23 pitches.
Hernandez' line: 4 innings, 10 runs (5 earned), 11 hits, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts, 90 pitches (57 strikes)
TOP 6TH
Betancourt doubled the first pitch to the wall in leftcenter. Ichiro served the second pitch into the leftcenter gap as well, though not to the wall as it went for just a single. However, Betancourt scored.
»» ATHLETICS 10, MARINERS 2
Lopez didn't try to swing at a first pitch inside, but nubbed it to first for what was almost a 3-6-1 double play, but the throw went off of Blanton's glove (it had Lopez beat). Ibañez grounded a 2-2 pitch hard to first for a 3-6-3 double play. Blanton threw 11 pitches and had 69 through five.
BOTTOM 6TH
Chavez had a 2-0 count and later slapped a full-count single into leftfield. Marco Scutaro came in to run for Chavez. Crosby rode the second pitch to fairly deep center for a flyout as Scutaro held at first. Payton watched the second pitch way inside get away from Johjima and enable Scutaro to move to second. Payton smoked a single into centerfield and it got past Lawton and to the wall, scoring Scutaro easily, and he probably could have come all the way around if Ron Washington had not held him up.
»» ATHLETICS 11, MARINERS 2
Melhuse failed to check his swing on a 2-2 pitch in the dirt, but that's probably more of the umpire wanting to get to the hotel. I'd want to. Kendall was ahead 2-0 and ended up dropping a single into shallow rightcenter on a 2-2 pitch, scoring Payton.
»» ATHLETICS 12, MARINERS 2
Johnson lined out to Sexson. Woods threw 27 pitches and had 50 total.
TOP 7TH
Scutaro stayed in the game to play third. Sexson worked a 1-2 count full before taking strike three over the inside corner. Everett popped the second pitch to Crosby in shallow center. Beltre was ahead 2-0 and later whiffed obligatorily on a 2-2 breaking ball outside in the dirt. Blanton threw 14 pitches and had 83 through seven.
Blanton's line: 7 innings, 2 runs, 7 hits, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 83 pitches (56 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Jeremy Reed came in to play center, Roberto Petagine came in to play first, Willie Bloomquist came in to play third, and Lawton moved over to right. Ellis dumped a 2-0 single into center. Swisher grounded a 2-0 pitch hard to third, where Bloomquist bobbled it but stayed with it and threw in time to first as Ellis moved to second. Kotsay rolled out to short, moving Ellis to third. Scutaro worked a 1-2 count full before popping very high to short. Woods threw 18 pitches and had 68 total.
Woods' line: 3 innings, 2 runs, 4 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 68 pitches (38 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Kiko Calero came in for Blanton. Lawton popped the first pitch high to shallow center. Johjima whipped the second pitch into left for a single. Betancourt fell behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 curve well off the plate outside. Reed took a 1-2 slider barely off the plate outside before drilling a 2-2 single through the right side, moving Johjima to second. Lopez took the second pitch as it bounced well away from Calero, allowing Johjima and Reed to advanced to third and second. Lopez went halfway up the high wall in leftcenter for a triple, scoring Johjima and Reed.
»» ATHLETICS 12, MARINERS 4
Ron Flores came in for Calero. Ibañez crushed a ball over the wall in rightcenter, scoring Lopez. Blips on the radar.
»» ATHLETICS 12, MARINERS 6
Petagine whiffed on an 0-2 breaking ball outside. Flores threw six pitches.
Calero's line: 2/3 inning, 3 runs, 3 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 17 pitches (12 strikes)
Flores' line: 1/3 inning, 1 run, 1 hit, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 6 pitches (5 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Sean Green came in for Woods. Crosby rolled out to short. Payton nubbed a grounder slowly toward third, where Bloomquist barehanded and couldn't quite beat Payton to first. Melhuse was behind 0-2 and took a 1-2 tailing fastball that came back over the inside corner. Kendall drove a 2-2 pitch toward the leftcenter gap, but Ibañez ran it down. Green threw 17 pitches.
Green's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 17 pitches (12 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Steve Karsay came in for Flores. Everett bounced an 0-2 pitch to second. Bloomquist popped out to Crosby on the outfield grass with the second pitch. Lawton grounded the 2-0 pitch very hard to first (3-1 putout).
Karsay's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 8 pitches (5 strikes)
---
Gameball: Raul Ibañez.
He had a four-game winning streak going, but he was only 4-for-20 in that span and 6-for-35 since his last multi-hit game. In this one, he was one of the few bright spots tonight for the Mariners, going 2-for-4 with a two-run homer. With the single and the homer, Ibañez upped his slugging percentage by 20 points in one night, and it now sits at .485. Ibañez hit his fifth homer of the season in this game, tied for second on the team with Jose Lopez. That's one behind team-leader Carl Everett. There is so much wrong with that last sentence it's no wonder why this team is so much of a bore to watch and follow. Also sad, Ibañez is second on the team in RBIs with 22, eight behind Lopez and two ahead of Everett. In short, only three Mariners have 20 or more RBIs. The Devil Rays have two guys with 30 or more RBIs and another with 16. I guess the point is that even though Ibañez is hitting .294 and has been relatively consistent, I'd like to see the game log in the near future have a few more numbers greater than one in the hit column and stuff.
Goat: Felix Hernandez.
Adrian Beltre was worthless in this game and did commit the error that led to Felix being let off the hook for five of the runs, sure. That doesn't mean that Felix had it going or anything, because that was far from the case. Eleven hits is a lot of hits even if a pitcher throws a complete game. Eleven hits in four-plus innings, well, that's not good. This is one of those games Felix has to learn from, sure, but if you're like me and you look forward to a certain something every five days and hope you see something special out of this team and then get this, it's a bit depressing. It's unfortunate that Felix has to bite it against Oakland, since the A's are at the root of so much bad that's happened to the Mariners over the years, but the Mariners aren't going to be good this year, so no use worrying about that. All I want to see out of Felix is improvement, maturity, and the ability to dig himself out of trouble. He just plain got smacked around in this game. It was like it never ended. The boxscore says the game was only 2:28 long, but it seemed like it took forever. Oakland's inning-by-inning linescore reads 1-0-5-2-2-2-0-0-x.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 31-9 .775 -- W8
2002 28-12 .700 3 W2
2003 25-15 .625 6 W1
2000 22-18 .550 9 L1
2006 17-23 .425 14 L1
2005 16-24 .400 15 W1
2004 14-26 .350 17 W1
Moyer. Zito. Tonight.
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