Sunday, August 06, 2006
GAME 109: ATHLETICS 5, MARINERS 2
In 25 words or less: The last 18 Mariner hitters got only three balls out of the infield. Piñeiro was horrible. In other words, GO SEAHAWKS!
This one featured Dan Haren going up against Joel Piñeiro. Piñeiro had allowed 15 first-inning runs so far this season. Adrian Beltre came into the game 7-for-18 against Haren. Righties were hitting .326 this season against Piñeiro. This is apparently the same guy that set down 51 straight righthanded batters when he first came to the Majors. The Mariners had lost their last ten games against Oakland. Their only win against the A's came in the first meeting between the teams this season. The Mariners really had to win the last two games of the series. They lost the first game of the series, and the Mariners needed this one because going up against Joe Blanton on Sunday was pretty much a win for Oakland. The Blue Angels flew overhead during the game, but how would the Mariners fly during Seafair weekend?
Oh yeah, I was blacked out by MLB.tv (Fox), so this is off of Dave Niehaus/Ron Fairly and the last couple innings after the blackout ended. There's really no use to go back through this game and visually clarify everything, especially given the final result.
TOP 1ST
Jason Kendall worked a 1-2 count full before whiffing. Mark Kotsay was down 0-2 but grounded to short on a full count. Milton Bradley doubled down the leftfield line on the first pitch. Frank Thomas lined a single into right, and Ichiro threw home to try to get Bradley, but Bradley's slide knocked the ball loose from Rene Rivera's glove. Thomas went to second on the throw.
»» ATHLETICS 1, MARINERS 0
Eric Chavez grounded the first pitch to second. Piñeiro threw 19 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Ichiro tapped the first pitch to the right side, where Haren came off the mound and threw to first. Jose Lopez flew out to Kotsay in deep leftcenter. Adrian Beltre walked on a full-count slider low and away. Raul Ibañez fell behind 0-2 and badly whiffed on a 1-2 sinker. Haren threw 16 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Jay Payton shot a grounder past a diving Beltre and into left for a single. Nick Swisher walked on four pitches. Marco Scutaro looped a ball into shallow left, and Betancourt moved back to snare the fly. Mark Ellis drove the second pitch a few feet short of the track in center, where Jones got to it and made the catch. Kendall poked a single into center to score Payton and moved Swisher to third.
»» ATHLETICS 2, MARINERS 0
Kotsay looped the first pitch for a single in front of Ibañez, scoring Swisher and moving Kendall to second.
»» ATHLETICS 3, MARINERS 0
Bradley laced a 1-2 pitch into right for a double, scoring Kendall and moving Kotsay to third. Pitching coach Rafael Chaves visited the mound.
»» ATHLETICS 4, MARINERS 0
Thomas was down 0-2 and took a 1-2 curve barely off the plate inside before walking on a full-count pitch inside on the ninth pitch of the at-bat, loading the bases. Chavez, the ninth batter to the plate in the inning, fell behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 pitch. Piñeiro threw 33 pitches and had 52 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Richie Sexson was up 2-0 and ended up flying out high to right. Ben Broussard lined the second pitch into left for a single. Yuniesky Betancourt singled into the hole on the left side, moving Broussard to second. Rene Rivera drove a fly ball into deep rightcenter, where it was caught by Kotsay, but Broussard was able to tag and throw to third. Adam Jones was up 2-0 but whiffed on a 2-2 pitch in the dirt. Haren threw 18 pitches and had 34 through two.
TOP 3RD
Payton bounced to short, but Betancourt threw too high to first (error) and over the reach of Sexson. Swisher hit a high fly ball to Ichiro in rightcenter on the second pitch. Scutaro was ahead 3-1 before doubling into the leftfield corner on a full count, moving Payton to third. Ellis was intentionally walked ot load the bases. Kendall got ahead 3-0 but popped to Lopez on the right side on a 3-1 pitch with infield fly rule being called.
Jake Woods came in for Piñeiro. Kotsay worked a 1-2 count full before grounding out to second. Woods threw six pitches.
Piñeiro's line: 2 2/3 innings, 4 runs, 7 hits, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts, 76 pitches (45 strikes)
BOTTOM 3RD
Ichiro popped out to Ellis backing into shallow right. Lopez smacked the second pitch into the leftfield corner for a double. Beltre was ahead 3-1 and hit a high fly to left that barely got over the wall in left, scoring Lopez.
»» ATHLETICS 4, MARINERS 2
Ibañez grounded to first on the second pitch (3-1 putout). Sexson bounced to third, but the ball went off the glove of Chavez (error), snapping his 65-game errorless streak. Broussard fell behind 0-2 and foul-tipped a 1-2 pitch into Kendall's glove behind the plate. Haren threw 21 pitches and had 55 through three.
TOP 4TH
Bradley broke his bat on the first pitch, grounding to short and just getting beaten by Betancourt's throw. Thomas took the first pitch for a strike, but took the next four for balls. Chavez fell behind 0-2 and took a 1-2 pitch at the knees for strike three. Payton rolled a 2-2 pitch to second, where Lopez went to Betancourt at the bag for the force. Woods threw 16 pitches and had 22 total.
BOTTOM 4TH
Betancourt was ahead 3-0 before walking on a 3-1 pitch. Rivera rolled the second pitch to Chavez behind the bag at third, who went to second for the force, but the turn to first wasn't in time for a double play. Jones grounded a 1-2 pitch to Chavez, who made a nice pick to his glove side and nearly turned the double play, but Jones beat it out at first (Rivera was forced). Ichiro rode a 3-1 pitch in front of the track in left for a flyout. Haren threw 16 pitches and had 71 through four.
TOP 5TH
Swisher slapped a 2-2 pitch into right for a single. Scutaro flew out to center on an 0-2 pitch. Ellis popped the second pitch high to third. Kendall was down 0-2 and flew out to right on a 1-2 pitch. Woods threw 16 pitches and had 38 total.
BOTTOM 5TH
Lopez grounded out to third. Beltre flew out to Bradley in rightcenter on a 1-2 pitch. Ibañez popped a 2-0 pitch to Chavez in foul ground on the left side. Haren threw ten pitches and had 81 through five.
TOP 6TH
Kotsay singled up the middle into center. Bradley whiffed on a 1-2 pitch. Thomas banged the first pitch into left for a single. Chavez grounded the second pitch to second to start a 4-6-3 double play. Woods threw 13 pitches and had 49 total.
BOTTOM 6TH
Sexson whiffed on a 1-2 fastball. Broussard took an 0-2 pitch over the inside corner. Betancourt whiffed on an 0-2 pitch. Haren struck out the side on ten pitches and had 91 through six.
TOP 7TH
Payton rolled to Sexson at first, who bobbled it and tried to tag Payton as he went by, but it was with the glove, which didn't have the ball in it. Mike Hargrove came out to argue, but it was to no avail. Swisher was up 3-0 and checked his swing on a full-count pitch, moving Payton to second.
Mark Lowe came in for Woods. Scutaro bunted along the left side, where Beltre threw to first as Payton and Swisher moved to third and second. Ellis had the hitters' counts before walking on a full-count pitch outside. Kendall took the first pitch and it went to the backstop, scoring Payton from third and moving Swisher and Ellis to third and second. Chaves came to the mound for a visit.
»» ATHLETICS 5, MARINERS 2
Kendall grounded the next pitch to third, where Beltre threw straight home and Rivera tagged out Swisher as Ellis went to third. Kotsay took a 1-2 pitch low and Rivera snap-threw to third and nearly got Ellis leaning too far off the bag. Kotsay whiffed on the next pitch. Lowe threw 15 pitches.
Woods' line: 3 1/3 innings, 1 run (unearned), 3 hits, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, 56 pitches (35 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Greg Dobbs, hitting for Rivera, grounded a 1-2 pitch under Haren's glove, but Ellis made the play to first. Jones whiffed on a 2-2 pitch. Ichiro grounded back to the mound.
Haren's line: 7 innings, 2 runs, 4 hits, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts, 106 pitches (67 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Kenji Johjima came in to catch. Bradley grounded to short on the first pitch. Thomas was up 2-0 and ended up grounding under a diving Betancourt for a single. Chavez flew out to center on a 1-2 pitch. Payton had the hitters' counts before walking on a 3-1 pitch outside. Chaves came to the mound for a visit. Swisher took an 0-2 fastball for strike three.
Lowe's line: 2 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, 33 pitches (18 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Kiko Calero came in for Haren. Lopez popped to second on the second pitch. Beltre whiffed on a 1-2 pitch. Ibañez took a 2-2 pitch over the inside corner.
Calero's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 14 pitches (10 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Rafael Soriano came in for Lowe. Scutaro drove a fly to Ichiro on the warning track on the second pitch. Ellis got ahead 3-0 but whiffed on a full count. Kendall walked on a full count. Kotsay walked, moving Kendall to second. Bradley exploded his bat and rolled the second pitch to first.
Soriano's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 2 walks, 1 strikeout, 21 pitches (8 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Huston Street came in for Calero. Sexson took a 2-2 fastball over the outside corner. Broussard flew out to deep left on the first pitch. Betancourt was up 2-0 but grounded out to short.
Street's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 10 pitches (6 strikes)
---
Gameball: Jake Woods.
If you go and look at this guy's game log, he really hasn't sucked since May. Lately, Mike Hargrove has been using him in more late-inning situations than he had earlier in the season. On Friday night, for instance, he had a later-inning appearance. When Joel Piñeiro goes and craps the bed against a division rival, though, the fact that Woods pitched an inning the night before didn't mean he wasn't going to come in for long relief in this one. He ate up a few innings and was pulled from the game in a precarious situation, and one of his runners ended up scoring thanks to an error and Mark Lowe having his shakiest appearance since being called up. Still, the run was unearned. Woods has made 13 appearances since the end of May, and he has only given up earned runs in two of those appearances. Of course, Woods can't do much to keep the Mariners from having to try and salvage a game in the series against Joe Blanton. So yeah, we might as well make it twelve straight losses by the Mariners at the hands of the A's. Pathetic.
Goat: Joel Piñeiro.
I really really really really really wish they could have gotten rid of him at the deadline or before the season. Anything to spare us from what we're seeing from him now. Though it's highly unlikely, I think it's definitely to the point where if Piñeiro is ever the same pitcher he used to be and the same pitcher we thought would be very good someday, it's not going to be in Seattle. He can't rush the fastball up to the plate at 94 like he used to do, and now he gets hit way too hard. It's just sad to see it all degenerate into what it is now. Not a lot of people have brought this up yet (at least I don't think so), but the Mariners after 109 games have had the same five starting pitchers all year, much like they did in that 2003 season. I hate that the Mariners have lost the first two games of this Oakland series, sure, and I hate that they don't seem to have any jump at all. Still, the Mariners were saddled with the brutal misfortune of getting Oakland on the schedule and having Jarrod Washburn and Piñeiro starting the first two games of the series.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 79-30 .725 -- W3
2002 67-42 .615 12 W4
2003 66-43 .606 13 L1
2000 63-46 .578 16 W1
2006 53-56 .486 26 L2
2005 47-62 .431 32 L1
2004 40-69 .367 39 L1
Blanton. Meche. Today.
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