Sunday, June 11, 2006
GAME 64: MARINERS 12, ANGELS 6
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: Something's seriously wrong with this team, and especially the offense in this one. It's situation normal with Gil Meche though.
This one featured Gil Meche going up against John Lackey. The Mariners had won seven of nine and looked to make it eight of ten, though with Meche on the hill, it looked like a bit of a treacherous proposition. Little did any of us know that Lackey wasn't going to pitch like anyone that may have once been a Game 7 starter in the World Series. He pitched like it was the seventh game of spring training.
TOP 1ST
Ichiro was jammed on a 2-2 pitch and tapped back to the mound. Adrian Beltre rolled an 0-2 pitch to short. Jose Lopez popped to right on a 2-0 pitch. Lackey threw 13 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Chone Figgins worked a 1-2 count for a walk. Orlando Cabrera worked an 0-2 count before flying out to right on a full count. Vladimir Guerrero took the second pitch for a strike, and Johjima was able to gun down Figgins at second. Guerrero was down 0-2 before doubling to the rightfield wall on a 2-2 pitch. Garret Anderson flew out high to Ichiro in shallow right on the first pitch. Meche threw 20 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Raul Ibañez popped to right on the second pitch. Richie Sexson drove a full-count pitch to the track in right, where Guerrero went back for it and made an awkward leaping catch as only he or Manny Ramirez can do. Carl Everett rolled a 1-2 pitch to second. Lackey threw 12 pitches and had 25 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Kendry Morales was up 2-0 and rolled a 2-2 pitch up the middle to Betancourt, who dove but couldn't get a grip on it soon enough to gun in time from his seat, and his belt broke on the play. Juan Rivera popped the second pitch to shallow center for a single between Lopez and Reed, moving Morales to second. Dallas McPherson, whose first career homer came off of Meche, was up 2-0 and popped to right as the runners held (Ichiro). Mike Napoli popped the second pitch to Ibañez near the track in left. Adam Kennedy fell behind 0-2 and punched a 2-2 pitch through the right side for a single, scoring Morales and moving Rivera to second.
»» ANGELS 1, MARINERS 0
Figgins ripped a single through the left side to score Rivera and move Kennedy to third.
»» ANGELS 2, MARINERS 0
Cabrera was up 3-1 and walked on a full count, moving Figgins to second. Guerrero ripped a 1-1 pitch foul that nearly bludgeoned Kennedy, the runner at third. Guerrero ended up flying out to right on a 1-2 pitch. Meche threw 33 pitches and had 53 through two.
TOP 3RD
Kenji Johjima singled into center on the second pitch. Jeremy Reed looped a 1-2 broken-bat single into shallow right, moving Johjima to second, though he probably would have had third easily on the play. Yuniesky Betancourt rode the first pitch to the wall in rightcenter for a double, scoring Johjima and moving Betancourt to third.
»» ANGELS 2, MARINERS 1
Ichiro grounded to first, where Morales threw straight home and Reed was run back to third, where Betancourt had already advanced (Betancourt was called out). Beltre couldn't check his swing on a 1-2 breaking ball way the hell out of the zone down and away. Lopez doubled the second pitch off the track and wall in left in front of the bullpen, scoring Reed and Ichiro.
»» MARINERS 3, ANGELS 2
Ibañez popped to center on the first pitch. Lackey threw 20 pitches and had 45 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Anderson popped a 1-2 pitch to center. Morales whiffed on a 1-2 pitch. Rivera worked an 0-2 count for a walk. McPherson ripped a 1-2 pitch into right for a single, moving Rivera to third as the Angels' TV crew wondered why McPherson got four straight fastballs and no curves. Napoli worked a 1-2 count full before foul-tipping strike three into Johjima's glove. Meche threw 26 pitches and had 79 through three.
TOP 4TH
Sexson walked on a full count, taking nine pitches to get there. Everett popped to Napoli near the screen behind the plate on the first pitch. Johjima chopped the second pitch to third, moving Sexson over to second. Reed walked on four pitches. Betancourt grounded to the hole at short, where Cabrera beat Betancourt to first with the throw. Lackey threw 19 pitches and had 64 through four.
BOTTOM 4TH
Kennedy popped to Betancourt on the outfield grass. Figgins lined the second pitch to short. Cabrera drove a 2-0 pitch to center, where Reed made a leaping catch and crashed into the wall, good for the #1 Web Gem on Baseball Tonight. Meche threw eight pitches and had 87 through four.
TOP 5TH
Ichiro knocked a single through the middle. Beltre got under a hanging curve, flying out to Rivera just short of the track in left. Lopez dropped a base hit along the rightfield line to move Ichiro to third, but Lopez was able to take second on the play thanks to some not-so-sound defense throwingwise by Guerrero. Ibañez was intentionally walked to load the bases. Sexson crushed a ball over the centerfield wall and opened a new branch of Phi Slamma Jamma, except no college is involved and I'm really reaching.
»» MARINERS 7, ANGELS 2
Everett looped an 0-2 pitch over Cabrera at short for a single. Johjima nubbed a 1-2 pitch back to Lackey as Everett moved to second. Reed was up 2-0 and dropped a single in front of Figgins, who trapped it, and the single scored Everett.
»» MARINERS 8, ANGELS 2
Kevin Gregg came in for Lackey. Betancourt lined the first pitch to Rivera in left. Gregg threw one pitch.
Lackey's line: 4 2/3 innings, 8 runs, 9 hits, 3 walks, 1 strikeout, 93 pitches (57 strikes)
BOTTOM 5TH
Guerrero drove the first pitch to Reed short of the centerfield track. Anderson dropped a base hit down the leftfield line, and he beat the Ibañez throw to second for a double. Morales took the first pitch, a curveball that visibly crossed up Johjima. Morales walked on a 3-1 pitch. Rivera was down 0-2 and foul-tipped a 1-2 curve into Johjima's glove. McPherson flew out to center on the first pitch.
Meche's line: 5 innings, 2 runs, 7 hits, 4 walks, 3 strikeouts, 102 pitches (59 strikes)
TOP 6TH
Ichiro doubled a 2-2 pitch down the leftfield line. Beltre poked a 1-2 pitch into shallow center for a single, moving Ichiro to third. Lopez popped high to Morales near the mound on a 3-1 pitch. Ibañez looped a fly ball into shallow center that was caught by Figgins as Ichiro held at third. Sexson whiffed on a 2-2 fastball down and away. Gregg threw 23 pitches and had 24 total.
BOTTOM 6TH
Emiliano Fruto came in for Meche. Napoli was up 3-0 and cranked the full-count pitch out of the yard to left.
»» MARINERS 8, ANGELS 3
Kennedy slapped the second pitch into left for a single. Figgins poked an 0-2 pitch into center for a single, moving Kennedy to second. Cabrera whiffed on a 1-2 pitch. Guerrero whiffed on a 2-2 pitch. Anderson was up 2-0 and bounced to first on a full count. Fruto threw 26 pitches.
TOP 7TH
Everett was ahead 2-0 and wound up flying out to left. Johjima ripped a 2-0 pitch down the leftfield line for a double. Reed got ahead 3-0 before walking on a 3-1 pitch down and away. Betancourt singled through the left side, and for the second straight day, a runner sent home from third was out by a mile, and this time it was Johjima, who never got within five feet of the plate due to a good throw and block as Reed went to second. Ichiro roped a 2-2 up-and-in pitch over the out-of-town scoreboard in rightfield, scoring Reed and Betancourt.
»» MARINERS 11, ANGELS 3
Beltre rocked the second pitch over the scoreboard in right as well. Opposite field stuff there.
»» MARINERS 12, ANGELS 3
Lopez rolled the first pitch to third. Gregg threw 24 pitches and had 48 total.
BOTTOM 7TH
Morales fell behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 offspeed pitch. Rivera got ahead 2-0 before singling into right. McPherson was down 0-2 and took a 2-2 breaking ball over the inside corner. Napoli cranked a 2-0 pitch into the bullpens in left, scoring Rivera. He's got Fruto's number, I guess.
»» MARINERS 12, ANGELS 5
Kennedy singled into center on the first pitch. Figgins knocked an 0-2 pitch into right for a single, moving Kennedy to second.
Julio Mateo came in for Fruto. Cabrera grounded the second pitch to third, where Beltre stepped on the bag for the force. Mateo threw two pitches.
Fruto's line: 1 2/3 innings, 3 runs, 7 hits, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts, 47 pitches (31 strikes)
TOP 8TH
JC Romero came in for Gregg, Maicer Izturis came in to play short, and Tommy Murphy came in to play right. Ibañez grounded the second pitch to second. Sexson whiffed on a 2-2 pitch. Everett worked a 1-2 count for a walk. Johjima ripped a 3-1 pitch down the leftfield line for a double, moving Everett to third. Reed whiffed on an 0-2 pitch.
Romero's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 22 pitches (13 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Willie Bloomquist came in to play third. Murphy roped the second pitch down the rightfield line and got a triple out of it. Anderson knocked the first pitch into left for a single, scoring Murphy immediately.
»» MARINERS 12, ANGELS 6
Morales rolled to third to start a 5-4-3 double play. Rivera was down 0-2 and flew out to Lopez in shallow right on the 1-2 pitch. Mateo threw ten pitches and had 12 total.
Mateo's line: 1 1/3 innings, 1 run, 2 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 12 pitches (8 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Francisco Rodriguez came in for Romero. Betancourt popped to Morales in foul ground on the right side. Ichiro rolled the second pitch to first, where Morales bobbled it (error), giving Ichiro just enough time to beat out Morales' shovel throw to Rodriguez, though I think he might have been out. Bloomquist took a 2-2 slider over the outside corner. Lopez had the hitters' counts and took a full-count fastball over the outside corner.
Rodriguez' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 17 pitches (11 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Eddie Guardado came in for Mateo and Roberto Petagine came in to play first. McPherson rolled the second pitch into the hole on the right side and was robbed of a single by a sliding stop by Lopez. Napoli flew out to Lopez in shallow right. Jose Molina, hitting for Kennedy, popped to Reed on the track in rightcenter on a full count and on the tenth pitch of the at-bat.
Guardado's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 15 pitches (11 strikes)
---
Gameball: Jeremy Reed.
He needed a game like this in the worst way. He was 3-for-19 in the month of June before this game, but he chipped away at that ugliness with a 2-for-3 game, driving in a run and walking twice. Getting on base four times bumped his on-base percentage by .018 to .275. Getting two hits bumped his batting average to .227, ten points higher than before the game. It wasn't just his day at the plate that was great, though. He hasn't been too hot at the plate most of this year, sure, but his worth playing in centerfield can't be understated. I know I root hard for him because I'm convinced he'll get rolling at the plate, but it's plays like the leaping catch at the wall on the Orlando Cabrera fly ball that really make me glad the Mariners have that guy, and really make me ticked off that Hargrove benches him every time a lefthanded starting pitcher takes the mound for the opposition. I know the guy doesn't have a hit against a lefty this season, but he's barely had any chances either. I did mention that the catch play was the #1 Web Gem on Baseball Tonight, and between Reed, Ichiro, Beltre, Betancourt, and Lopez, the team manages to get into that nightly Top 5 quite a lot. Also, with catches like this by Reed, I'm not saying he's as good as Cameron or as Griffey was, but it's another solid centerfielder out there for the Mariners.
Goat: Gil Meche.
Sigh... I still can't believe he won this game. Both he and John Lackey weren't great in the first few innings, but Meche was worse. His first three innings were absolutely brutal. His threw 20, 33, and 26 pitches in first, second, and third innings. Yes, that math adds up to 79 pitches through three innings. He threw 23 pitches over the next two innings, which was a bit more humane. Luckily for Meche, it was the fourth and fifth innings that got him the win. Okay, it was that and a combination of the Angels not getting timely hits; both teams had 16 hits apiece in the game, but the Mariners doubled up the Angels in the run column. Anyway, Meche's struggles forced the hand of the bullpen, who had to finish out the remaining four innings with a combination of freshly called up Emiliano Fruto, Julio Mateo, and Eddie Guardado. The Mariners had used George Sherrill, Rafael Soriano, and JJ Putz the night before. Of course, what helped the Mariner bullpen's chances was the Thursday outing of Jake Woods, who threw 3 2/3 innings of shutout ball after Piñeiro left (we'll pretend that we'll blame Piñeiro for his two runs that scored with Woods on the mound).
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 50-14 .781 -- W1
2003 43-21 .672 7 W1
2002 39-25 .609 11 L1
2000 35-29 .547 15 L1
2006 30-34 .469 20 W2
2005 28-36 .438 22 L1
2004 26-38 .406 24 W1
Bonus feature...
LINEUP SINCE THE TWEAK (May 30th)
Ichiro 29-for-52 (.558), 3 doubles, 1 triple, 2 homers, 6 RBIs, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts
Beltre 14-for-49 (.286), 2 doubles, 3 homers, 7 RBIs, 4 walks, 10 strikeouts
Lopez 9-for-46 (.196), 6 doubles, 1 homer, 10 RBIs, 5 walks, 9 strikeouts
Ibañez 14-for-34 (.412), 2 doubles, 4 homers, 15 RBIs, 8 walks, 4 strikeouts
Sexson 10-for-42 (.238), 1 double, 4 homers, 15 RBIs, 3 walks, 11 strikeouts
Everett 7-for-33 (.212), 1 homer, 2 RBIs, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts
Johjima 11-for-40 (.275), 4 doubles, 2 RBIs, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts
Reed 7-for-26 (.269), 1 RBI, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts
Betancourt 14-for-41 (.341), 2 doubles, 1 triple, 1 homer, 5 RBIs, 2 walks, 1 strikeout
Hernandez. Weaver. Today.
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