Sunday, June 04, 2006
GAME 58: ROYALS 9, MARINERS 4
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: Before deadline day of 2001, Mark Redman was traded for Todd Jones. Today, he beat the Mariners. Yes, that trade tidbit was irrelevant.
This one featured Mark Redman going up against Jarrod Washburn. Unsurprisingly, there was no Jeremy Reed in the lineup. To further infuriate me, Mike Morse started in left. Raul Ibañez was a bit under the weather, and Mike Hargrove put him in at DH originally, but he was a last-minute scratch and Carl Everett was put into the DH slot. In other news, the roof was extended and Washburn is a flyball pitcher.
TOP 1ST
David DeJesus fell behind 0-2 and got under a hanging breaking ball, flying out to right. Tony Graffanino foul-tipped a belly-high fastball into Johjima's glove. Mark Grudzielanek took a 2-2 pitch over the outside corner. Washburn threw 14 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Ichiro slapped a single into shallow left. Adrian Beltre fell behind 0-2 before taking three pitches in the dirt, then ended up pulling a way outside pitch over the manual scoreboard in left.
»» MARINERS 2, ROYALS 0
Jose Lopez drove a 2-0 pitch a few feet short of the track in left. Richie Sexson was down 0-2 and rolled an outside 2-2 pitch to short. Carl Everett rolled out to short as well. Redman threw 21 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Reggie Sanders worked a 1-2 count full before whiffing on a full-count belt-high fastball. Emil Brown yanked the second pitch over the centerfield wall to the hitters' backdrop.
»» MARINERS 2, ROYALS 1
Angel Berroa popped foul to Sexson on the right side. Mark Teahen bounced a full-count pitch over the first-base bag and toward the rightfield corner for a double. John Buck foul-tipped a 2-2 pitch into Johjima's glove. Washburn threw 25 pitches and had 39 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Kenji Johjima was down 0-2 and tapped the 1-2 pitch back to the mound. Willie Bloomquist popped the second pitch to shallow right. Mike Morse rolled a 2-0 pitch out to second. Redman threw nine pitches and had 30 through two.
TOP 3RD
Esteban German scorched a ball off of the glove of a diving Sexson and it died in rightfield, but Lopez raced to get it and hold German to a single. DeJesus lined the first pitch right to short, but German got back to first in time. Tony Graffanino hit a fly ball to right on the first pitch, and it got by a running Bloomquist, but German beat the relay home. Graffanino went to second on the throw.
»» ROYALS 2, MARINERS 2
Grudzielanek poked a 2-2 pitch into rightfield that one-hopped in front of Ichiro, moving Graffanino to third. Pitching coach Rafael Chaves visited the mound. Sanders popped a 2-0 pitch to Ichiro drifting back to the rightfield track, and Graffanino tagged and scored easily.
»» ROYALS 3, MARINERS 2
Brown was up 2-0 and later bounced to short for a 6-4 force. Washburn threw 18 pitches and had 57 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Yuniesky Betancourt took a 3-1 pitch down and in for a walk. Ichiro lined a first-pitch breaking ball on a hit-and-run right to Redman on the mound, who tossed over to first for the easy double play. Beltre one-hopped the second pitch off the track and into the rightfield seats, where it went off the jaw of a middle-aged fan in the front row (that was a double). Lopez had the hitters' counts before taking a 3-1 pitch outside. Sexson was up 3-0 and rolled a full-count pitch through the right side on a hit-and-run, scoring Beltre and moving Lopez to third.
»» ROYALS 3, MARINERS 3
Everett popped the first pitch to fairly deep rightfield. Redman threw 20 pitches and had 50 through three.
TOP 4TH
Berroa clubbed a high second pitch into the gap and to the leftcenter wall for a double. Teahen bunted the second pitch along the third-base line, where Beltre charged and was able to get Teahen out at first as Berroa moved to third. Buck cranked an outer-half full-count pitch into the Mariners' bullpen.
»» ROYALS 5, MARINERS 3
German flew out to right. DeJesus had the hitters' counts and walked on a full count. Mike Hargrove didn't come out to the mound, but did advance to the dugout railing. Graffanino was behind 0-2 before taking a 2-2 pitch over the outside corner. Washburn threw 25 pitches and had 82 through four.
BOTTOM 4TH
Johjima popped the first pitch to DeJesus in shallow leftcenter. Bloomquist worked a 1-2 count for a walk. Morse watched the first pitch as Bloomquist was snuffed out on a delayed steal (2-6-3-6). Morse was up 2-0 and dumped a 2-2 pitch into center for a single. Betancourt singled the first pitch under Graffanino's glove and into rightfield (error), moving Morse to third. Ichiro flew out to left on a 2-2 pitch. Redman threw 18 pitches and had 68 through four.
TOP 5TH
Grudzielanek knocked a full-count pitch that was picked up on the short hop and backhanded by Sexson, who ran it to the bag. Sanders split his bat on a bloop single to shallow left that was nearly caught by a leaping Betancourt. Brown worked an 0-2 count for a walk.
Julio Mateo came in for Washburn. Berroa took the first pitch and Johjima tried to snuff out Sanders trying to steal third, but threw high and wide past Beltre, and Sanders coasted in. Brown went to second and wasn't running with the pitch and wasn't credited with a steal as a result.
»» ROYALS 6, MARINERS 3
Berroa tapped along the first-base line, and Mateo moved to get it and throw to first as Brown went to third. Teahen was down 0-2 and smoked a high 1-2 pitch into rightfield for a single, scoring Brown.
»» ROYALS 7, MARINERS 3
Buck rolled out to third to mercifully end the inning. Mateo threw 11 pitches.
Washburn's line: 4 1/3 innings, 7 runs, 8 hits, 3 walks, 0 strikeouts, 100 pitches (62 strikes)
BOTTOM 5TH
Beltre popped a full-count pitch high to Graffanino near the mound. Lopez popped the first pitch to right . Sexson popped a 2-0 pitch to Graffanino just in front of the stands in foul ground down the rightfield line. Redman threw ten pitches and had 78 through five.
TOP 6TH
German grounded hard right to Betancourt, who didn't get the ball cleanly and it rolled through his legs (error). DeJesus punched the first pitch through the right side for a single, moving German to second. Graffanino bunted the first pitch in front, where Mateo got it and threw to a covering Lopez at first as German and DeJesus moved to third and second. Grudzielanek was intentionally walked to load the bases. Sanders singled the second pitch into left, scoring German as well as DeJesus thanks to a badly-offline Morse throw home. Also, Mateo stayed on the mound and didn't back up home on the play.
»» ROYALS 9, MARINERS 3
Brown scorched the first pitch to Betancourt, who had it go off his glove, and he had no play, though he tried a late backhand flip to second which was futile (no error given on the play); anyway, the bases were loaded. Berroa grounded an 0-2 pitch to short for a 6-4-3 double play to mercifully end the inning. Mateo threw 17 pitches and had 28 total.
BOTTOM 6TH
Everett waved at a high 0-2 pitch. Johjima whiffed badly on a full-count breaking ball low and away. Bloomquist bounced a 1-2 pitch off the track and wall in center for a triple. Morse was up 2-0 and ended up doubling off the track and wall in right, scoring Bloomquist.
»» ROYALS 9, MARINERS 4
Elmer Dessens came in for Redman. Betancourt popped the second pitch to shallow right. Dessens threw two pitches.
Redman's line: 5 2/3 innings, 4 runs, 8 hits, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts, 96 pitches (54 strikes)
TOP 7TH
Teahen flew out to the leftfield track on the second pitch. Buck flew out to center when Bloomquist took a couple of steps back, then had to sprint back in to dive and make the catch. German popped a 2-0 pitch to deep center. Mateo threw six pitches and had 34 total.
Mateo's line: 2 2/3 innings, 2 runs (1 earned), 4 hits, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 34 pitches (21 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Ichiro rolled out to short. Beltre popped a full-count pitch to Brown in leftcenter. Lopez grounded to third on a full count, but the throw by Teahen was high and ended up in foul territory, enabling Lopez to scoot to second. Sexson grounded out to third. Dessens threw 21 pitches and had 23 total.
TOP 8TH
Rafael Soriano came in for Mateo. DeJesus dumped an 0-2 'tweener of a single into shallow leftcenter in front of Morse and Bloomquist, the former of which booted the ball away, though DeJesus stayed at first. Doug Mientkiewicz, hitting for Graffanino, nubbed the second pitch to the mound, where Soriano charged to get it but overran it and everyone was safe. Grudzielanek dumped a single into shallow center, loading the bases. Sanders whiffed on a 1-2 fastball. Brown grounded to short, where Betancourt started a 6-2-3 double play, forcing out DeJesus at the plate as well as Brown at first. Soriano threw 19 pitches.
Soriano's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 3 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 19 pitches (14 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Everett was behind 0-2 and grounded the 1-2 pitch to second. Johjima bounced the first pitch to second. Bloomquist took a 2-2 pitch over the inside corner. Dessens threw nine pitches and had 32 total.
TOP 9TH
Eddie Guardado came in for Soriano. Berroa popped the first pitch to Sexson in front of the tarp in foul ground down the rightfield line. Teahen flew out to a running Bloomquist in rightfield on a 2-0 pitch. Buck popped out to shallow right. Guardado threw eight pitches.
Guardado's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 8 pitches (4 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Jeremy Reed, hitting for Morse, flew out to center on a 1-2 pitch. Roberto Petagine, hitting for Betancourt, rolled the first pitch to third. Ichiro lined out right to short, and the ball knocked Berroa on his seat.
Dessens' line: 3 1/3 innings, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 40 pitches (26 strikes)
---
Gameball: Adrian Beltre.
He homered in consecutive games and doubled his season home-run output in the process. That's cause for celebration. Beltre is currently on a nine-game hitting streak. He is 14-for-38 (.368) with two doubles, two homers, and three RBIs in that span. The streak raised his batting average from .207 to a less horrific .236. It raised his slugging marks from .282 to .335. Any of this is a far reach from Beltre hitting .189 and slugging .233 in April, and frankly, that's the way it should be. Maybe this whole thing where he hits second in the lineup will work after all. If so, I wish Hargrove would have doine this a week or two sooner. Anyway, it'll be great if Beltre hits .500 the rest of the season and hits 35 more homers. Realistic? Absolutely not. Can a fan dream? Of course. In yet another season in whcih the Mariners probably won't be going anywhere, dreams are all that some fans like me have. You have to have them when you're seeing the Angels pulverize the bejeezus out of Cleveland on Sunday Night Baseball when you're typing up Beltre's gameball piece.
Goat: Jarrod Washburn.
He didn't just didn't have it. He was leaving pitches up, and he was getting knocked around. Eight hits might not be too much unless you consider that Washburn yielded that many hits and didn't get out of the fifth inning. Five of the eight hits he gave up were for extra bases -- two were homers and three were doubles. That's generally a recipe for all-out badness. It's also bad when you have Mike Morse in leftfield and Willie Bloomquist in center with a flyball pitcher on the mound, but that's no fault of Washburn's since all he's supposed to do is pitch, not manage. You'd like your four-game sweep of the Royals, sure, but a four-game sweep against any team is tough, especially when your team is the Mariners. Still, you have to figure a start like this was long overdue from Washburn, who had survived the fifth inning in each of his first eleven starts of the season, this start being his twelfth. Thusly, his ERA stands at 4.50, ballooning 0.61 from before this game. As we know, Washburn and Jamie Moyer have been the only consistent members of the starting rotation so far this year, and the Mariners need that to remain constant and for Gil Meche, Joel Piñeiro, and Felix Hernandez to improve so that the region can somewhat give a crap about this team again. So, the goals -- (1) make people care again, (2) get to .500, (3) be in a pennant race, (4) make the playoffs. I'll be content with the season if they accomplish the first two since I didn't expect much from this team anyway.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 46-12 .793 -- W14
2003 40-18 .690 6 W9
2002 37-21 .638 9 W1
2000 31-27 .534 15 W1
2005 26-32 .448 20 W1
2006 25-33 .431 21 L1
2004 22-36 .379 24 L2
Wood. Meche. Tomorrow.
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