Saturday, May 27, 2006
GAME 51: TWINS 9, MARINERS 5
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: Bases loaded, nobody out...SO WHAT?! Fire Lincoln!
This one featured Jamie Moyer going up against Boof Bonser. Moyer came in with a 7-14 road record over the past three seasons. The Mariners hoped to win, not just to win, but to not be mired in a three-game losing streak, which would happen with a loss in this game. Things looked so promising after that four-game winning streak, didn't they? Four-game winning streaks aren't enough. Winning five of six doesn't cut it. This team needs to go on a tear where they win 14 of 15 games before I start taking them seriously. Do I think they're ill-equipped to go on such a tear? Absolutely. The Mariners have to prove everyone wrong before anyone can be convinced that something's going right.
TOP 1ST
Ichiro chopped an 0-2 pitch to first on a PFP play, and he was barely out, though it wasn't called that way. Willie Bloomquist lined the second pitch into center for a single, moving Ichiro to second. Raul Ibañez drilled a 1-2 single through the right side to load the bases with nobody out. Richie Sexson whiffed on a belt-high 2-2 slider. Carl Everett whiffed on a high 2-2 fastball. Adrian Beltre was mowed down on an 0-2 fastball up and away. Bonser threw 22 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Lew Ford grounded to second. Luis Castillo lined the first pitch into right for a single, and Ichiro nicely shorthopped it so it didn't bounce through for a double. Joe Mauer was ahead 2-0 and punched a full-count letter-high breaking ball into rightfield for a single, pushing Castillo to third. Torii Hunter popped the second pitch to fairly deep right, and Castillo ran on Ichiro and lived to tell about it, since Castillo got his feet in and the throw short-hopped Johjima, who couldn't block the plate in time. Mauer went to second on the just-late throw.
»» TWINS 1, MARINERS 0
Michael Cuddyer had the hitters' counts before cranking the first pitch just foul off the wall just outside the leftfield foul pole. Cuddyer ended up flying out to Betancourt in shallow left. Moyer threw 23 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Kenji Johjima drove the 0-2 pitch off the track in rightcenter for a double. Jeremy Reed flew out to the track in left to a backpedaling Ford, but Johjima tagged and went to third. Yuniesky Betancourt rolled over an outside pitch to third, and Johjima got to the third-base bag just in time to avoid Batista's tag, but Batista had more than enough time to throw to first. Ichiro walked on a full-count pitch inside and in the dirt. Bloomquist was up 2-0 and Bonser got a visit from the pitching coach. Bloomquist had both hitters' counts before splitting his bat on a 3-1 pitch for a single into rightfield, scoring Johjima and moving Ichiro to second.
»» TWINS 1, MARINERS 1
Ibañez was ahead 2-0 and blasted a full-count fastball well over the wall in rightcenter, off the facing of the upper deck.
»» MARINERS 4, TWINS 1
Sexson bounced the second pitch to third. Bonser threw 32 pitches and had 54 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Justin Morneau roped the first pitch, but right to Ichiro at the baggie in right. Rondell White was down 0-2 and took a 1-2 change over the inside corner. Tony Batista lined the second pitch near the leftfield line and to the wall for a double. Juan Castro poked a single into center on an outside pitch, scoring Batista.
»» MARINERS 4, TWINS 2
Ford slapped the first pitch right at Ichiro. Moyer threw 11 pitches and had 34 through two.
TOP 3RD
Everett worked a 1-2 count full before rolling out to second. Beltre bounced the second pitch to the left side, where it bounced off Batista's glove and Castro didn't quite make the throw over in time as Beltre reached. Johjima grounded to short on a full count, and with Beltre running on the pitch, the only out was recorded at first. Reed bounced the second pitch to short. Bonser threw 17 pitches and had 71 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Castillo fought off a ball up and in and wrapped it into the leftfield corner for a double. Mauer whiffed over a 1-2 fastball inside. Hunter one-hopped the first pitch off the track and over the leftfield wall, scoring Castillo.
»» MARINERS 4, TWINS 3
Cuddyer did Hunter one better and lined the second pitch over the leftfield wall.
»» TWINS 5, MARINERS 4
Morneau popped high to Bloomquist in shallow right on an 0-2 pitch. White flew out to left on a full count on a sinking fly ball. Moyer threw 20 pitches and had 54 through three.
TOP 4TH
Betancourt flew out to Morneau near the mound on a 2-2 pitch. Ichiro whiffed badly on an 0-2 breaking ball in the dirt. Bloomquist failed to check his swing on a 1-2 breaking ball away in the dirt. Bonser threw 13 pitches and had 84 through four.
BOTTOM 4TH
Batista popped the second pitch to Betancourt in foul ground near the leftfield line. Castro hit a line drive toward fairly deep right that was caught by a leaping Ichiro. Ford was ahead 2-0 before grounding hard to third. Moyer threw nine pitches and had 63 through four.
TOP 5TH
Ibañez was down 0-2 and later rolled a 2-2 pitch to the hole on the right side (4-1 putout). Sexson ripped a single past the reach of a diving Batista and into leftfield. Everett rolled to second for a 4-6-3 double play. Bonser threw 13 pitches and had 97 through five.
Bonser's line: 5 innings, 4 runs, 8 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts, 97 pitches (65 strikes)
BOTTOM 5TH
Castillo grounded hard to third, and Beltre had it go off his wrist and toward the third-base bag, but planted his right foot with momentum going backwards to throw in time to first. Mauer chopped a pitch over the mound and into center for a single. Hunter grounded to second for what could have been a 4-6-3 double play, except Betancourt had trouble getting the ball out of the glove, though he had a long way to run to get to second due to playing Batista to pull. Cuddyer had the hitters' counts before one-hopping a full-count pitch over the wall in center, which kept Hunter at third though he was going wuth the pitch. Morneau grounded the first pitch up the middle to Betancourt, who threw in time to first. Moyer threw 14 pitches and had 77 through five.
TOP 6TH
Carlos Silva came in for Bonser. Beltre flew out right to Hunter in center. Johjima bounced the second pitch to short. Reed worked an 0-2 count full before grounding hard right back to the mound. Silva threw 13 pitches.
BOTTOM 6TH
White was down 0-2 before tapping a 2-2 broken-bat grounder to Moyer. Batista grounded a 2-2 pitch hard to short, where Betancourt made the quick stop to his knees and got up to throw out Batista. Castro lined the second pitch about eight rows into the seats over the leftfield wall.
»» TWINS 6, MARINERS 4
Ford popped the second pitch to right. Moyer threw 17 pitches and had 94 through six.
TOP 7TH
Betancourt shot a single through the right side. Ichiro fell behind 0-2 whiffed badly over a 1-2 pitch in the dirt. Bloomquist chopped the first pitch into the hole on the left side, and Castro ranged over to grab it and throw quickly to get the force at second. Ibañez got ahead 3-1 before chopping the full-count pitch high to Silva near the first-base line, who tagged Ibañez as he ran past. Silva threw 14 pitches and had 27 total.
Silva's line: 2 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 27 pitches (17 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Castillo doubled down the leftfield line and to the wall on a full-count pitch. Mauer grounded up the middle, where Bloomquist ranged over to his backhand side to get it and leaped to throw to first but airmailed Sexson, scoring Castillo. Mauer went to second as a result.
»» TWINS 7, MARINERS 4
Julio Mateo came in for Moyer. Hunter worked an 0-2 count full before flying out to Ichiro in deep rightcenter, but it was more than deep enough to move Mauer to third. Cuddyer dumped a fly into center that was caught by a sliding Reed, but that took enough time to score Mauer.
»» TWINS 8, MARINERS 4
Morneau flew out high to Ibañez in shallow leftcenter on the second pitch. Mateo threw 11 pitches.
Moyer's line: 6 innings, 8 runs (7 earned), 11 hits, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 104 pitches (68 strikes)
Mateo's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 11 pitches (6 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Jesse Crain came in for Silva. Sexson stuck a 3-1 pitch down the leftfield line for a double. Everett worked a 1-2 count for a walk, moving Sexson to second. Crain got a visit from his pitching coach. Beltre bumped a 1-2 pitch through the right side for a single (!!!!!) to load the bases.
Juan Rincon came in for Crain. Johjima grounded to second, where Castillo ran down Beltre for the tag and threw to first to get Johjima out, but Everett was caught napping off of third, and Morneau threw over to get him. That's a f*@!ing triple play. I hate this team. Rincon threw one pitch.
»» TWINS 8, MARINERS 5
Crain's line: 0 innings, 1 run, 2 hits, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 16 pitches (8 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Sean Green and his freshly-shaven head came in for Mateo. White fell behind 0-2 and chopped a 2-2 pitch high off the mound, where Green got to it and threw to first, nearly pulling Sexson off the bag. Batista fell behind 0-2 but lined a 2-2 pitch to left, where Ibañez made a dive and was just short of the ball and it rolled to the wall for a double. Castro had the hitters' counts before singling the 3-1 pitch over Betancourt and into center, moving Batista to third. Ford singled up the middle to score Batista and move Castro to third.
»» TWINS 9, MARINERS 5
Castillo lined right to Bloomquist at second, who threw to first to double off Ford. Green threw 22 pitches.
Green's line: 1 inning, 1 run, 3 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 22 pitches (14 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Reed flew out to Ford near the bullpen mounds outside the leftfield foul line. Betancourt worked a 1-2 count full and singled into center. Ichiro was down 0-2 and chopped a 2-2 pitch to the left side that hopped over Batista and was picked up by Castro, who had no play as Betancourt went to second. Bloomquist popped a 1-2 pitch to Hunter in center as the runners held. Ibañez took an 0-2 pitch in the dirt that got away from Mauer behind the plate, and Betancourt moved to third on the wild pitch. Ibañez ended up taking a 1-2 curve over the inside corner under his arms.
Rincon's line: 2 innings, 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 27 pitches (19 strikes)
---
Gameball: Richie Sexson.
Six Mariners had two-hit games, but we'll focus on the tall guy, who went 2-for-4 with a double. He hasn't homered since the first game of the Baltimore series about a week ago, but he's still warmed up a slight bit lately. He's got a little four-game hit streak and has hit safely in five of his last six games. In the streak, he's 6-for-14 with three doubles and strangely his only three RBIs in the streak were in the third game of the Baltimore series. He's walked once and struck out four times in that span. If you want to do the four of five games thing, he's hitting 7-for-22 in that span with a homer and seven RBIs. Four of those were on a grand slam to open that Baltimore series. In all, the four-game hit streak has bumped him from .198 to a .215 season average. Sickly, he's now hitting .217 in May, four points better than his April clip. The hit column in his game log has a bunch of scattered goose eggs, though this mini-streak lately has been the best he's consistently been hitting since the middle of April, when he had an eight-game hitting streak.
Goat: Jamie Moyer.
This is the second time in three starts that Moyer has gotten knocked around. Two starts ago in Oakland he got lit up for 7 runs (5 earned) and 11 hits in six innings. In this one, 8 runs (7 earned) and 11 hits again in 6(-plus) innings in a game where he blew a 4-1 lead and the Twins scored seven unanswered runs. He had a pretty decent April. This month, he's 1-3 with a 5.06 ERA. He did have his best start of the season this month, though as you may remember, the only run in that game was scored when Moyer balked with a runner on third against Tampa Bay (the Scott Kazmir game). The thing that was different about this start compared to his last bad one was that Moyer didn't walk anyone, which in a way is good and bad. If he did walk three guys and all of them came around to score, you could just say he had control problems and just shouldn't let those guys on base. When he doesn't walk anyone and he still gets smacked around, he just plain got hit hard. Moyer gave up two homers in this game, a two-run shot by Mike Cuddyer that propelled the Twins back into the lead at 5-4 as well as the Juan Castro (number nine hitter) solo dinger that gave the Twins an insurance run. Moyer is 1-3 with a 6.20 ERA on the road this season and 1-2 with a 3.55 ERA at home. Lefties are hitting .277 against him while righties are hitting .356.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 39-12 .765 -- W7
2002 33-18 .647 6 W1
2003 33-18 .647 6 W2
2000 27-24 .529 12 W1
2006 22-29 .431 17 L3
2005 21-30 .412 18 L1
2004 19-32 .373 20 L1
Piñeiro. Santana. Tomorrow.
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GAME 50: TWINS 3, MARINERS 1
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: The Mariners hadn't faced Francisco Liriano, which gives the offense the excuse to say they didn't have a book on him, so they sucked.
This one featured Felix Hernandez going up against Francisco Liriano. On the MLB.tv archived feed (FSN North), the first 35 minutes or so is the on-field presentation of some state legislators and governor Tim Pawlenty signing the bill for the financial package for the Twins' new outdoor ballpark, coming to a Twin City near you in 2010. Pawlenty also signed a home plate that will be the first used in the new park. Could you imagined what would have happened if the Twins got a stadium bill up to the governor's office, but Jesse Ventura was the governor?
TOP 1ST
Ichiro had the hitters' counts before spanking a single along the leftfield line on a full count. Jose Lopez was ahead 2-0 and Mauer came to the mound for a visit. Lopez got both hitters' counts before flying out high to center on a 3-1 pitch. Raul Ibañez watched as Ichiro took off on the second pitch and nabbed second when the ball went off the end of Castro's glove. Ibañez ended up grounding to second on a 2-2 pitch, moving Ichiro to third. Richie Sexson didn't check his swing on a 1-2 fastball in the dirt. Liriano threw 20 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Jason Kubel hit a shallow fly to left on a 2-0 pitch, and ball two in the at-bat was called by Tim Tschida in response to Hernandez going to his mouth while on the mound. Luis Castillo grounded the second pitch hard to third. Joe Mauer was ahead 3-1 and ended up walking on a low full-count fastball. Torii Hunter lined the second pitch into rightfield for a single, moving Mauer to second. Michael Cuddyer fell behind 0-2 before bouncing a 1-2 pitch to Beltre, who missed a tag on Mauer passing by, but threw to first anyway for the out. Hernandez threw 18 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Carl Everett flew out to left on a 2-2 pitch. Adrian Beltre was down 0-2 and whiffed over a 1-2 slider. Kenji Johjima flew out to right on a 2-2 pitch. Liriano threw 16 pitches and had 36 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Justin Morneau bounced a ball up the middle to a ranging Betancourt, who made the spin and throw, which was wide and Sexson missed with the tag (Morneau got the single). Rondell White was down 0-2 and then drilled a 1-2 pitch down the leftfield line (Beltre got a piece of it) for a double, moving Morneau to third. Tony Batista slapped the second pitch into shallow right to score Morneau and move White to third.
»» TWINS 1, MARINERS 0
Juan Castro bounced a 1-2 pitch to short to start a 6-4-3 double play, scoring White.
»» TWINS 2, MARINERS 0
Kubel popped the first pitch to Ibañez near the bullpen plates in foul ground on the line. Hernandez threw 16 pitches and had 34 through three.
TOP 3RD
Willie Bloomquist bounced an 0-2 pitch to short. Yuniesky Betancourt waved at an 0-2 fastball off the plate outside. Ichiro chopped a 1-2 pitch to second. Liriano threw ten pitches and had 46 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Castillo was down 0-2 before whiffing on a 2-2 breaking ball. Mauer got a hold of a hanger on the second pitch, clubbing it out to rightcenter.
»» TWINS 3, MARINERS 0
Hunter fell down 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 curve low and away. Cuddyer whiffed on a 1-2 pitch as Hernandez struck out the side. Hernandez threw 21 pitches and had 55 through three.
TOP 4TH
Lopez was up 2-0 before whiffing on a 2-2 pitch down in the dirt (2-3 putout). Ibañez grounded out to short. Sexson drove a 2-1 pitch to the bag/wall to the left of center for a double. Everett whiffed over a 1-2 inside pitch. Liriano threw 16 pitches and had 62 through four.
BOTTOM 4TH
Morneau was down 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 breaking ball over the inner half. White flew out to right on the first pitch. Batista bounced a 1-2 pitch to short. Hernandez threw nine pitches and had 64 through four.
TOP 5TH
Beltre shot the second pitch through the right side for a single. Johjima watched as Beltre went to second on the second pitch, which was a wild one that got away from Mauer. Johjima later chopped a 1-2 pitch off the plate and it bounced so high that nobody had a play as Beltre went to third and Johjima reached base. Bloomquist walked on four pitches, loading the bases. Liriano got a visit from his pitching coach, Rick Anderson. Betancourt was ahead 2-0 before whiffing on a low 2-2 pitch. Ichiro was down 0-2 before serving a 1-2 pitch into shallow center that turned into a running shoestring catch by Hunter running toward the infield, who threw immediately to second to double off Johjima.
Liriano's line: 5 innings, 0 runs, 4 hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts, 83 pitches (53 strikes)
BOTTOM 5TH
Castro grounded softly to third, where Beltre charged in and threw hard and in time to first. Kubel whiffed on an 0-2 curve away. Castillo lined the second pitch to a leaping Betancourt at short. Hernandez threw seven pitches and had 71 through five.
TOP 6TH
Matt Guerrier came in for Liriano. Lopez was down 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 pitch. Ibañez roped a 2-0 pitch right to Castro, who went to his knees at short to make the catch. Sexson worked a 1-2 count full before whiffing on a full count. Guerrier threw 13 pitches.
BOTTOM 6TH
Mauer flew out to left on a 2-2 pitch. Hunter was down 0-2 and grounded hard to third on a 1-2 pitch. Cuddyer whiffed on an 0-2 fastball. Hernandez threw 12 pitches and had 83 through six.
TOP 7TH
Everett lined the second pitch into right for a single. Beltre shot the second pitch through the mound and into center for a single, moving Everett to second. Johjima popped the second pitch high to Batista behind the bag at third as the infield fly rule was called. Bloomquist whiffed on an 0-2 breaking ball way away. Betancourt dumped a single into rightfield between a miscommunicating Castillo and Morneau, scoring Everett, but Beltre was hung up between third and home and eventually tagged out (4-2-6-5-2-6).
Guerrier's line: 2 innings, 1 run, 3 hits, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts, 24 pitches (18 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Morneau worked a 1-2 count full before grounding to first (3-1 putout). White worked an 0-2 count full before failing to check his swing on a curve in the dirt (2-3 putout). Batista fell behind 0-2 before whiffing over a 2-2 pitch.
Hernandez' line: 7 innings, 3 runs, 5 hits, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts, 103 pitches (73 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Juan Rincon came in for Guerrier. Ichiro rolled the first pitch to Morneau behind the bag at first. Lopez lined a 2-2 pitch to left. Ibañez split his bat while grounding out to second. Rincon threw 12 pitches.
Rincon's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 12 pitches (8 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
George Sherrill came in for Hernandez. Castro dumped the second pitch into center for a single. Ford dumped an 0-2 pitch into shallow left for a single, moving Castro to second. Castillo bunted a bit too hard to a charging Sexson, who threw right to third for the force on Castro as Ford went to second on the play. Mauer whiffed on a 1-2 pitch.
Rafael Soriano came in for Sherrill. Hunter got ahead 2-0 before bouncing to short on a 2-2 pitch.
Sherrill's line: 2/3 inning, 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 11 pitches (8 strikes)
Soriano's line: 1/3 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 5 pitches (3 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Joe Nathan came in for Rincon. Sexson flew out high to Morneau at first. Everett looked at a 1-2 pitch over the outside corner. Beltre popped the second pitch to Castillo drifting back in shallow right.
Nathan's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 11 pitches (8 strikes)
---
Gameball: Adrian Beltre.
When he has a multi-hit game, it's news. He singled in the fifth and seventh, and though he got thrown out between third and home to end the seventh, the futility of that Mariner rally had more to do with the hitters ahead of Yuniesky Betancourt not doing anything as well as Willie Bloomquist failing twice to get a bunt down. Beltre didn't fail the Mariners in this game. The bottom of the lineup built up some promise in the fifth, where Beltre led off with a single and the bases were loaded with nobody out, but Yuniesky Betancourt struck out and Ichiro was robbed on a shoestring catch/double play turned in by Torii Hunter. In the seventh, Everett and Beltre got aboard to put two on with nobody out, but the bottom third of the lineup went away 1-2-3. The 2-for-4 day bumped his batting average up by .006 to .213 for the season. If it seems like he's been scorching lately, that's because he is. He's hitting .239 in May after a .189 month of April. He's slugging at a .341 clip after doing so at a .233 clip last month. Okay, he's still terrible.
Goat: Raul Ibañez.
What's cooler than cool? His latest stretch is a 1-for-19 tear. His last multi-hit game came in May 16th at Oakland. He has only five hits since, going 5-for-37 (.135), sending his batting average from .294 to .265. Ibañez was hitting .323 after the game on May 5th against Cleveland. He is hitting .227 in May after a .301 April. Ibañez up until this point in the season has been a pretty consistent hitter. Now he's only batting five points higher than Carl Everett. Having Richie Sexson and Beltre stink it up most of the year has left a large enough hole in the lineup to begin with, and the Mariners don't need their number three hitter to join that group. Sexson and Beltre may have finally rubbed off on him, though Mariner fans surely hoped it'd be the other way around. This is a guy with a .282 career average, so we could only hope that he rises from .265 to get to that or something above that. Of course, all of us hoped John Olerud would rebound back to his career marks in 2003, and that never happened, one of many ingredients that assisted the Mariners to a 51-50 finish that year.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 38-12 .760 -- W6
2002 32-18 .640 6 L1
2003 32-18 .640 6 W1
2000 26-24 .520 12 L2
2006 22-28 .440 16 L2
2005 21-29 .420 17 W3
2004 19-31 .380 19 W1
Moyer. Bonser. Tonight.
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Friday, May 26, 2006
GAME 49: ORIOLES 2, MARINERS 0
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: The 23806 people at the Safe were treated to a surprise appearance from Good Meche and an obligatory disappearance from the offense.
This one featured Rodrigo Lopez, paper drinking cup eater who hadn't won since Opening Day, going up against Gil Meche. Being away from the Northwest for a while and apparently not reading the right sections of my dailies from the ol' place, I have no idea what Jimmy Carter was doing at the game.
TOP 1ST
Brian Roberts hit a fly down the line in left for a double. Melvin Mora whiffed on a 1-2 pitch. Miguel Tejada ripped a 1-2 pitch to the wall in left for a double, scoring Roberts.
»» ORIOLES 1, MARINERS 0
Jay Gibbons checked his swing on a full-count pitch outside. Ramon Hernandez was ahead 2-0 before taking a 2-2 pitch over the inside corner. Javy Lopez popped a 2-2 pitch to right. Meche threw 27 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Ichiro bounced the first pitch to second. Jose Lopez flew out to center on a 1-2 pitch. Raul Ibañez hanging 2-2 curve into left for a single. Richie Sexson took a 2-2 at the knees over the inside corner. R Lopez threw 16 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Corey Patterson fell behind 0-2 then fouled off three 1-2 pitches before foul-tipping a fourth (breaking ball) into Rivera's glove behind the plate. Jeff Conine rode the first pitch to the rightfield track, where Ichiro came down with it. Nick Markakis took a 2-2 pitch for a highish third strike. Meche threw 13 pitches and had 40 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Carl Everett grounded hard to first. Adrian Beltre popped the first pitch to Conine on the foul side of the first-base line near the bag. Jeremy Reed waved at a 1-2 pitch way outside. R Lopez threw ten pitches and had 26 through two.
TOP 3RD
Roberts shot a double down the rightfield line on the first pitch. Mora took an 0-2 pitch over the inside corner for Meche's fifth strikeout. Tejada rolled a 2-2 pitch to second, moving Roberts to third. Gibbons was ahead 3-0 and slapped a full-count pitch into centerfield to score Roberts.
»» ORIOLES 2, MARINERS 0
Hernandez whiffed on a 1-2 pitch up and in. Meche threw 20 pitches and had 60 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Rene Rivera grounded the second pitch to short. Yuniesky Betancourt popped a 1-2 pitch to third. Ichiro tapped the second pitch to the mound. R Lopez threw nine pitches and had 35 through three.
TOP 4TH
Javy Lopez flew out high to shallow center on the first pitch. Patterson popped the second pitch to Betancourt on the outfield grass. Conine took a 2-2 pitch over the inner half. Meche threw nine pitches and had 69 through four.
BOTTOM 4TH
Jose Lopez popped the second pitch to first. Ibañez whiffed on an 0-2 fastball over the outer half. Sexson rode the first pitch to fairly deep center for a flyout. R Lopez threw six pitches and had 41 through four.
TOP 5TH
Markakis bounced the second pitch to first. Roberts took an 0-2 pitch over Rivera and to the backstop and ended up whiffing over a 2-2 fastball inside. Mora flew out to center on a 2-2 pitch. Meche threw 14 pitches and had 83 through five.
BOTTOM 5TH
Everett worked a 1-2 count full before flying out to Patterson short of the track in rightcenter. Beltre nearly doubled an 0-2 pitch into the rightfield corner, but it was foul. Beltre ended up whiffing on the next pitch, a change down and on the outside corner. Reed rolled the first pitch to first. R Lopez threw 11 pitches and had 52 through five.
TOP 6TH
Tejada was up 3-0 and ended up grounding a 3-1 pitch hard to Beltre behind the bag. Gibbons took a full-count curve over the outside corner. Hernandez was up 2-0 and popped a 2-2 pitch to Sexson foul along the rightfield line. Meche threw 16 pitches and had 99 through five.
BOTTOM 6TH
Rivera was ahead 3-1 before grounding a full-count pitch to third. Betancourt lined out to Patterson in leftcenter on the second pitch. Ichiro grounded a 2-2 pitch to second. R Lopez threw 14 pitches and had 66 through six.
TOP 7TH
Javy Lopez walked on four pitches. Patterson worked an 0-2 count full before whiffing on a change over the outside corner. Conine rolled a 3-1 pitch to second to start a 4-6-3 double play.
Meche's line: 7 innings, 2 runs, 4 hits, 2 walks, 10 strikeouts, 115 pitches (70 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Jose Lopez grounded an 0-2 pitch hard to first. Ibañez flew out high to right on the second pitch. Sexson blistered the second pitch past the reach of Tejada and through the left side for a single, snapping the streak of 18 straight set down by R Lopez. Everett flew out to left on a 1-2 pitch. R Lopez threw 11 pitches and had 77 through seven.
TOP 8TH
Julio Mateo came in for Meche. Markakis lined out to Reed in rightcenter. Roberts whiffed on a 1-2 breaking ball in the dirt (2-3 putout). Mora fell behind 0-2 before whiffing on a 2-2 inside pitch.
Mateo's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 16 pitches (12 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Beltre rode a 2-2 pitch just short of the track in left. Reed walked on a full-count pitch up and away.
Chris Ray came in for R Lopez. Roberto Petagine, hitting for Rivera, dumped the first pitch into shallow left but he was robbed by a diving Markakis catch. Betancourt fell behind 2-0 before whiffing on a 2-2 pitch over the outside corner. Ray threw six pitches.
R Lopez' line: 7 1/3 innings, 0 runs, 2 hits, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts, 88 pitches (63 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Eddie Guardado came in for Mateo. Kenji Johjima came in to catch. Tejada flew out to left on a 2-2 pitch. Gibbons flew out to Reed in shallow leftcenter. Hernandez grounded out to third.
Guardado's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 9 pitches (6 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Ichiro whiffed badly at an 0-2 fastball way up and outside. Jose Lopez flew out to Patterson in fairly deep center. Ibañez worked a 1-2 count full before lining a pitch to deep center, but Patterson caught it on the run just short of the track.
Ray's line: 1 2/3 innings, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 20 pitches (13 strikes)
---
Gameball: Gil Meche.
This one definitely isn't on Meche. If anything, he was on this game. You know, the sad thing about Meche is that until he strings together a handful of good outings such as this, we're still left with more questions than answers. Joel Piñeiro had two great starts and was named Player of the Week, and we all know what's happened to him since. If the Mariners can get Meche turned around, that's a big deal. A very big deal. It's early, and he did scuffle in the first and third (yes, the innings where the Orioles scored), but he was able to stretch out to throw seven and get a tiny bit of rest for the bullpen, as Julio Mateo and Eddie Guardado pitched the remainder of the game. Still, Meche had some great stuff in this game. Sure, the Orioles aren't exactly a lineup full of nine Albert Pujolses, but Melvin Mora and Miguel Tejada are still part of that lineup, so that's got to stand for something. In a usual Meche start, his walks would come around to score, he'd fall behind a ton of hitters, and all his mistakes would trail over the middle of the plate and get crushed. Not so in these last two Meche starts.
Goat: Adrian Beltre.
When Rodrigo freakin' Lopez throws 7 1/3 innings of two-hit shutout ball, one can pretty much pick anyone that didn't get a hit for the goat. And maybe Jeremy Reed, who drew the only walk for the Mariners. And maybe Ichiro, who I'm not going to bag on because he had an 18-game hitting streak going into this one. So, let's pile on Beltre some more. He's hitting .037 higher this month than last, but it's too bad that only gets him to .226. He drew ten walks and struck out 21 times last month. This month, the ratio's not as good, as he's walked a mere three times and struck out fifteen. He has two homers this year, and the last one occurred on the 12th in Anaheim. You know, if we knew Beltre would suck this bad at the plate, they should have just ponied up for David Bell instead of letting him loose. Bell hit .247 for the Mariners in 2000 and .260 in 2001. But a quick look at this says the Mariners traded him for Desi Relaford and cash, which will happen when you trade for Jeff Cirillo and expect him to actually hit. Answer yourself this -- have the Mariners gone to the playoffs since David Bell was traded?
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 37-12 .755 -- W5
2002 32-17 .653 5 W1
2003 31-18 .633 6 L2
2000 26-23 .531 11 L1
2006 22-27 .449 15 L1
2005 20-29 .408 17 W2
2004 18-31 .367 19 L1
Texas came back from a seven-run deficit to beat Oakland. Thus, the Mariners didn't lose ground on Oakland, but did on Texas. The Rangers are now three up on the Mariners and two up on Oakland.
Hernandez. Liriano. Tonight.
/ Click for main page
Thursday, May 25, 2006
GAME 48: MARINERS 7, ORIOLES 4
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: The big inning was friendly this time and I can't think of a snappy Anna Benson one-liner to go here.
This one featured Kris Benson going up against Jarrod Washburn. On the live MLB.tv feed, I was blessed with the rarity of on-screen graphics and commercials on the FSNNW feed! Yayyyy!!! I get the thrill of seeing a portion of the commercials for the first time, so I won't be sick of them like I'm sure most in the Northwest are. One commercial I could stand to see more, though, is the Lotto commercial where the one guy bets the other guy that he can't vault (gymnastically) a parked car.
TOP 1ST
Brian Roberts started 3-0 before flying out to right on a 3-1 pitch. Melvin Mora foul-tipped a 2-2 pitch into Johjima's glove behind the plate. Miguel Tejada rolled the second pitch to second. Washburn threw 13 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Ichiro fell behind 0-2 before bouncing a 2-2 pitch to second. Jose Lopez was up 2-0 and rolled a 2-2 pitch to a charging Tejada, who charged and quickly threw to first, but Millar didn't come up with it and was charged with the error. Raul Ibañez whiffed over a 2-2 pitch and Jose Lopez took second on the pitch. Richie Sexson shot the second pitch through the left side for a single, scoring Jose Lopez.
»» MARINERS 1, ORIOLES 0
Carl Everett flew out high to center on the second pitch. Benson threw 19 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Javy Lopez dropped the second pitch in front of Reed in center for a single. Ramon Hernandez had the hitters' counts before walking on a full-count pitch down and in, the ninth pitch of the at-bat. Kevin Millar popped high to left as the runners held. Jeff Conine worked an 0-2 count for a walk (ugh!) loading the bases. Corey Patterson popped an 0-2 pitch to Beltre in front of the camera well on the left side. Luis Matos checkswung but made contact and grounded to first. Washburn threw 28 pitches and had 41 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Adrian Beltre bounced an 0-2 pitch to first. Kenji Johjima walked on four pitches. Jeremy Reed bunted the first pitch off the lip of the infield grass along the third-base line, and it careened over the line foul and came back fair and stayed fair. Johjima went to second and Reed reached on the incredible bunt. Yuniesky Betancourt blistered an 0-2 pitch at Conine, who looked to have lined up a nice sliding catch, but it went past him and to the wall, and the double scored Johjima and Reed. It might have gotten caught up in the lights.
»» MARINERS 3, ORIOLES 0
Ichiro bounced a 2-0 pitch off the warning track and into the stands in rightcenter to extend his hitting streak to 18 games and score Betancourt.
»» MARINERS 4, ORIOLES 0
Jose Lopez waved over a 1-2 pitch. Ibañez was ahead 3-1 before walking on a full-count pitch inside. Sexson took a 2-2 pitch that bounced over Javy Lopez and to the backstop, enabling Ichiro and Ibañez to move to third and second. Sexson blistered a full-count pitch into the leftfield corner for a double, scoring Ichiro and Ibañez.
»» MARINERS 6, ORIOLES 0
Everett dumped a single into shallow centerfield, scoring Sexson.
»» MARINERS 7, ORIOLES 0
Beltre took an outside first pitch and one-hopped Matos in rightfield for a single (!!!!!), moving Everett to second. Johjima whiffed on a 2-2 pitch down and away. Benson threw 41 pitches and had 60 through two.
Benson's line: 2 innings, 7 runs (6 earned), 7 hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, 60 pitches (35 strikes)
TOP 3RD
Roberts worked a 1-2 count for a walk, though it took nine pitches. Mora drove a 2-0 pitch and bounced it off of the roof of the field entry in the visitors' bullpen. Ibañez made a surprisingly good attempt to catch the ball.
»» MARINERS 7, ORIOLES 2
Tejada tapped the first pitch back to the mound. Javy Lopez rolled the second pitch to second. Hernandez walked on four pitches. Millar grounded hard to third. Washburn threw 22 pitches and had 63 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Kurt Birkins came in for Benson. Reed grounded hard to first. Betancourt popped high to center. Ichiro took a 2-2 pitch across the outside corner. Birkins threw 14 pitches.
TOP 4TH
Conine poked a single into shallow right. Patterson flew out to center. Matos fell behind 0-2 and flew out to center on the 1-2 pitch. Roberts worked an 0-2 count full before flying out to right. Washburn threw 18 pitches and had 81 through four.
BOTTOM 4TH
Jose Lopez dumped a ball toward rightfield but was robbed by Matos, who made a shoestring catch before hitting the turf. Ibañez popped a 2-0 pitch high to Patterson in rightcenter. Sexson was up 3-1 before walking on a full-count pitch outside. Everett popped the first pitch high to Matos in rightcenter. Birkins threw 12 pitches and had 26 total.
TOP 5TH
Mora lined the second pitch into right for a single. Tejada flew out high to right. Javy Lopez blasted a thigh-high over-the-plate 0-2 pitch to the seats under the leftfield bleachers.
»» MARINERS 7, ORIOLES 4
Hernandez foul-tipped a 1-2 pitch into the catcher's glove. Millar grounded out to second. Washburn threw 16 pitches and had 97 through five.
BOTTOM 5TH
Beltre bounced the second pitch to third. Johjima grounded the first pitch to short. Reed popped a 2-2 pitch foul which Mora nearly got to in the seats on the third-base side. Reed ended up rolling to short. Birkins threw 11 pitches and had 37 total.
TOP 6TH
Conine popped the second pitch to center. Patterson rolled the second pitch through the right side for a single. Matos flew out to left on a 3-1 pitch. Roberts lasered a single to left on the second pitch, moving Patterson to second.
Sean Green came in for Washburn. Mora had the hitters' counts before whiffing on a full-count pitch down and in. Green threw six pitches.
Washburn's line: 5 2/3 innings, 4 runs, 7 hits, 4 walks, 2 strikeouts, 108 pitches (62 strikes)
BOTTOM 6TH
Betancourt rolled out to short. Ichiro wasn't granted time on the first pitch and took it for a strike. He took an 0-2 pitch barely outside before whiffing on a 1-2 pitch very up and in. Jose Lopez walked on four pitches. Ibañez was up 2-0 and Hernandez and pitching coach Leo Mazzone visited Birkins on the mound. Ibañez ended up bouncing the next pitch to second. Birkins threw 15 pitches and had 52 total.
Birkins' line: 4 innings, 0 runs, 0 hits, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, 52 pitches (27 strikes)
TOP 7TH
Tejada grounded the second pitch to third. Javy Lopez bounced softly to short, and was thrown out by a charging Betancourt. Hernandez was ahead 3-0 before and was sawed off on a 3-1 pitch, popping it to second. Green threw 11 pitches and had 17 total.
BOTTOM 7TH
Chris Britton came in for Birkins. Sexson rolled the second pitch to short. Everett stroked an 0-2 pitch into leftcenter for a single. Beltre lined out to center on a 1-2 pitch. Johjima watched the second pitch go by as Everett took off on a delayed steal and was out by about five feet. Britton threw 12 pitches.
TOP 8TH
Millar was up 2-0 before flying out to Jose Lopez in shallow rightcenter on a full count. Conine was ahead 3-0 and bounced the 3-1 pitch to short. Patterson was ahead 2-0 before bouncing to first. Green threw 18 pitches and had 35 total.
Green's line: 2 1/3 innings, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 35 pitches (18 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Johjima popped a 2-2 pitch to right. Reed fell behind 0-2 before rolling a 2-2 pitch softly to a charging Roberts. Betancourt bounced the second pitch softly to short. Britton threw 13 pitches and had 25 total.
Britton's line: 2 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 25 pitches (17 strikes)
TOP 9TH
JJ Putz came in for Green. Nick Markakis, hitting for Matos, whiffed on a 2-2 splitter down and away. Roberts was ahead 2-0 before whiffing on a 2-2 fastball over the outside corner. Mora whiffed on a 2-2 fastball.
Putz' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts, 17 pitches (10 strikes)
---
Gameball: Sean Green.
You know, this is just about the only time that Mike Hargrove looks good for carrying a twelve-man pitching staff. With no Mariner starting pitcher having gotten into the seventh since Gil Meche's last turn (yipe!), the Mariner bullpen has been taxed heavily in the last four games. After letting an 8-2 Mariner lead shrink quite a bit two nights earlier, Green came in and did a very good job in a role where we'd usually see Julio Mateo, except Mateo had thrown 1 2/3 innings the night before and 1/3 of an inning the night before that, and those were his first two appearances since coming off the disabled list. Anyway, the Mariners needed a good start out of Jarrod Washburn, which they didn't get, and they needed the bullpen to get some rest, which mostly happened thanks to Green, before he turned over to Everyday JJ Putz, who has pitched in five of the last six games. I guess this is what the twelfth pitcher in the bullpen is for -- long relief when the rest of the bullpen is burnt since the starting pitching sucked for nearly a full turn through the rotation.
Goat: Raul Ibañez.
He's tailed off a bit. He's not in a full-fledged slump, I don't think, but it's a bit of a negative ebb. He's 0-for his last 11, with his last hit being a homer in the big inning against Chan Ho Park to close the San Diego series. That mini-slump covers part of that last San Diego game and the first three games of this Baltimore series. The statistical oddity in the stretch is the first game of the current series, where Ibañez was 0-for-1 and walked three times. However, maybe it really is a slump. After a .301 month of April, Ibañez is hitting a grand .244 in the month of May with a week to go. He slugged .505 last month and is doing so at a .419 clip this month. But hey, his strikeouts appear down this month. He's struck out ten times this month and had 21 last month. Anyway, with as well as Ibañez was hitting for most of April and part of May, we had to expect him to tail off a little bit, and it appears for a bit like that's what is happening. So, that's when a night like this comes and Richie Sexson drives in three runs behind him. Now if the starting pitching would give the bullpen some rest, the team would be better off in the next few days.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 36-12 .750 -- W4
2002 31-17 .646 5 L1
2003 31-17 .646 5 L1
2000 26-22 .542 10 W1
2006 22-26 .458 14 W1
2005 19-29 .396 17 W1
2004 18-30 .375 18 W1
Hey, looks like the Rangers and Oakland both lost. Thus, your Seattle Mariners are two games out of first-place Texas (who is at .500) and one back of Oakland for second.
R Lopez. Meche. Tonight.
/ Click for main page
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
GAME 47: ORIOLES 14, MARINERS 4
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: Glassman Dale Chihuly was in the ballpark, but the Mariners didn't blow glass. They just blew. The big inning struck twice.
This one featured former Mariner swingman pitcher John Halama going up against formerly good Joel Piñeiro. Halama had the spot start, filling in for Hayden Penn, who was going to make his Major League debut before needing an appendectomy.
TOP 1ST
Brandon Fahey was ahead 3-0 and took the 3-1 pitch way up and away for a leadoff walk. Melvin Mora roped the second pitch right at Beltre at third. Miguel Tejada was ahead 2-0 before watching Fahey nearly get picked off of first. Tejada responded on the 2-2 pitch by hitting a bullet of a double into left and to the wall, pushing Fahey to third. Javy Lopez fell behind 0-2 before grounding a 1-2 pitch to Beltre at third, who threw home to easily get Fahey into a rundown between third and home. Ramon Hernandez clubbed a homer into the visitors' bullpen in left.
»» ORIOLES 3, MARINERS 0
Corey Patterson slapped a ball down the rightfield line for a double that may have been a triple had he not tripped as he was going through the bag at first. Kevin Millar worked a 1-2 count for a walk, though it took eight pitches. Pitching coach Rafael Chaves came to the mound for a visit. Nick Markakis drilled a pitch that didn't get outside enough for a single up the middle to score Patterson and move Millar to second.
»» ORIOLES 4, MARINERS 0
Luis Matos popped the first pitch to Ibañez near the leftfield line. Piñeiro threw 35 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Ichiro served a 1-2 pitch into leftfield, so make it a 17-game hitting streak. Jose Lopez rolled the second pitch along the first-base line that looked to go foul before rolling fair, and Halama threw in time to first as Ichiro moved to second. Raul Ibañez bounced the second pitch to second, moving Ichiro to third. Richie Sexson popped just short of the track in center. Halama threw 12 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Fahey bounced the second pitch up the middle for a single. Mora lined the first pitch to a backpedaling Bloomquist in front of the track in center. Tejada flew out to left. Javy Lopez failed to check his swing on a full count, though he was called out on the appeal to first. Piñeiro had 14 pitches and had 49 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Carl Everett was ahead 3-1 before whiffing on a full count. Adrian Beltre popped the first pitch to right. Kenji Johjima tapped back to the mound. Halama threw 11 pitches and had 23 through two.
TOP 3RD
Hernandez singled the first pitch into rightfield. Patterson dropped a fly ball inside the leftfield line for a double, moving Hernandez to third. Millar grounded a 2-2 pitch hard to third. Markakis was intentionally walked. Matos lined the second pitch softly to Jose Lopez on the outfield grass, who threw to a quickly covering Betancourt at short for the 4-6 double play. Piñeiro threw 14 pitches and had 63 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Willie Bloomquist rolled the second pitch to first on a PFP play, but he apparently beat the throw back to Halama (replays showed it was just about a tie) as Baltimore manager Sam Perlozzo came out immediately to argue. Yuniesky Betancourt lined a single into shallow leftcenter on a 1-2 pitch, moving Bloomquist to second. Ichiro spanked a pitch into left for a single to load the bases. Jose Lopez walked on four pitches, forcing Bloomquist across and keeping the bases loaded.
»» ORIOLES 4, MARINERS 1
Ibañez chopped the first pitch high to first, scoring Betancourt and moving Ichiro to third and Jose Lopez to second.
»» ORIOLES 4, MARINERS 2
Sexson foul-tipped a 2-2 change into the catcher's glove. Everett chopped out to third. Halama threw 23 pitches and had 46 through three.
TOP 4TH
Fahey grounded the second pitch to first. Mora rolled a ball that he thought was foul off or behind the plate, but it went fair and Sexson got it and stepped on first. Tejada took the second pitch off the "1" in the number 10 on his back. Javy Lopez was ahead 3-0 before whiffing on a low full-count breaking ball. Piñeiro threw 15 pitches and had 78 through four.
BOTTOM 4TH
Beltre grounded the second pitch to short. Johjima rolled the first pitch to second. Bloomquist was ahead 2-0 before he grounded out to second on a nice sliding stop by Fahey. Halama threw eight pitches and had 54 through four.
TOP 5TH
Hernandez popped a full-count pitch to Johjima behind the plate. Patterson blasted the first pitch onto the far end of the vertical Mariner banner over the equipment tunnel in rightcenter.
»» ORIOLES 5, MARINERS 2
Millar poked a single through the left side. Markakis punched the second pitch through the left side for a single to move Millar to second. Matos lined out to left on a 2-2 pitch. Fahey bounced to second. Piñeiro threw 20 pitches and has 98 through five.
Piñeiro's line: 5 innings, 5 runs, 10 hits, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts, 67 pitches (40 strikes)
BOTTOM 5TH
Betancourt had the hitters' counts before walking on a full-count pitch in the dirt. Ichiro bounced into a 4-6 fielder's choice to force out Betancourt at second. Jose Lopez popped the second pitch to center as Ichiro held. Ibañez lined out to Tejada, who caught it just above his shoestrings. Halama threw 13 pitches and had 67 through five.
Halama's line: 5 innings, 2 runs, 4 hits, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, 67 pitches (40 strikes)
TOP 6TH
Julio Mateo came in for Piñeiro. Mora was behind 0-2 before whiffing on a 2-2 breaking ball. Tejada fell behind 0-2 and failed to check his swing on a 1-2 pitch down and away, though he was called out by the first-base appeal as well, and wasn't happy about it. Javy Lopez whiffed on a highish 0-2 pitch as Mateo struck out the side. Mateo threw 13 pitches.
BOTTOM 6TH
Adam Loewen, making his Major League debut after being called up from AA Bowie, came in for Halama. Sexson took a full-count pitch down over the inside corner, though Sexson didn't agree with it. Everett walked on four pitches. Beltre was nailed with the first pitch, taking it high off the left shoulder to send Everett to second. Johjima rolled a pitch up the middle for a single, scoring Everett and moving Beltre to second.
»» ORIOLES 5, MARINERS 3
Todd Williams came in for Loewen. Bloomquist took the second pitch off the left tricep above the elbow, loading the bases. Betancourt took an 0-2 fastball that tailed back over the outer half. Ichiro fell behind 0-2 before whiffing on a 1-2 pitch at the knees. Williams threw nine pitches.
Loewen's line: 1/3 inning, 1 run, 1 hit, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, 13 pitches (5 strikes)
TOP 7TH
Hernandez fell behind 0-2 before grounding a 1-2 pitch to Sexson behind the bag at first. Patterson walked on four pitches. Millar popped to Bloomquist just short of the track in center as Patterson was off with the pitch and had to scurry back to first.
George Sherrill came in for Mateo. Markakis fell behind 0-2 and Patterson stole second two pitches later, beating the throw from Johjima. Markakis ended up lining out to left on a 1-2 pitch. Sherrill threw seven pitches.
Mateo's line: 1 2/3 innings, 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, 24 pitches (16 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Jose Lopez rolled a 2-2 pitch softly to short as Tejada threw low just in time to a stretch Millar at first. Ibañez had the hitters' counts before lining out to center on a 3-1 pitch. Sexson was ahead 3-0 before taking a full-count pitch over the outside corner, though it might have been low and/or outside. Williams threw 16 pitches and had 25 total.
Williams' line: 1 2/3 innings, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts, 25 pitches (15 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Matos walked on four pitches. Fahey air-bunted the second pitch just outside the right-handed batter's box to Johjima.
Rafael Soriano came in for Sherrill. Mora fell behind 0-2 and drilled the 1-2 pitch through the left side for a single, moving Matos to second. Tejada took a 2-1 pitch over the inside corner and did not agree with Jerry Layne behind the plate again. Tejada ended up popping to left on a full count with the runners going. Javy Lopez took a 2-2 slider over the outside corner. Soriano threw
Sherrill's line: 2/3 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 13 pitches (8 strikes)
Soriano's line: 2/3 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 17 pitches (11 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
LaTroy Hawkins came in for Williams. Everett punched a 1-2 pitch through the right side for a single. Manager Sam Perlozzo and a trainer came out to see Hawkins after an inadvertent stumble off the mound. Beltre drove the second pitch to the track in rightcenter that Patterson went over to get, but it landed in the palm of his glove and came out as Everett scored adn Beltre was credited with the triple.
»» ORIOLES 5, MARINERS 4
Johjima popped the second pitch to Millar beside the mound. Roberto Petagine, hitting for Bloomquist, worked a 1-2 count full before popping to Mora behind the bag at third. Jeremy Reed was brought in to hit for Betancourt.
Chris Ray came in for Hawkins. Reed fell behind 0-2 and was blown down by a 1-2 fastball outside.
Hawkins' line: 2/3 inning, 1 run, 2 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 14 pitches (10 strikes)
TOP 9TH
JJ Putz came in for Soriano. Reed stayed in to play center, and Mike Morse came in to play short. Hernandez was ahead 3-1 before chopping high to Beltre at third, who barehanded it out of the air and gunned low to first as Sexson made the stretch and the out was recorded (crazy play). Patterson took an 0-2 pitch high on the right thigh. Millar watched as Patterson drew three pickoff throws before nabbing second base on the first pitch. Millar was ahead 2-0 and dumped a broken-bat single into shallow right to score Patterson, who drew an off-line throw from Ichiro, enabling Millar to take second.
»» ORIOLES 6, MARINERS 4
Markakis ripped the second pitch off the base of the wall in centerfield, scoring Millar. Chaves visited the mound.
»» ORIOLES 7, MARINERS 4
Matos dunked the second pitch over Morse's reach (yes, Betancourt probably has that by position in place of height) for a single, moving Markakis to third.
Jake Woods came in for Putz. Fahey knocked a single up the middle to score Markakis and move Matos to second.
»» ORIOLES 8, MARINERS 4
Mora watched a wild 1-1 pitch that got away from Johjima to move the runners to second and third, which was moote when Mora walked on a 3-1 pitch to load the bases. Tejada bounced to third and Beltre threw home, but Johjima just plum didn't catch it (error). Matos scored and the bases remained loaded.
»» ORIOLES 9, MARINERS 4
Javy Lopez singled the second pitch into center, scoring Fahey and keeping the bases loaded.
»» ORIOLES 10, MARINERS 4
Hernandez was ahead 2-0 cranked the 2-2 pitch into the visitor's bullpen. Get slammed!
»» ORIOLES 14, MARINERS 4
Patterson worked a 1-2 count for a walk. Chaves visited the mound. Millar popped the first pitch to right. Markakis took a 2-2 breaking ball over the outside corner to mercifully end the inning.
Putz' line: 1/3 inning, 4 runs (3 earned), 3 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 18 pitches (11 strikes)
Woods' line: 2/3 inning, 5 runs, 3 hits, 2 walks, 1 strikeout, 31 pitches (15 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Ichiro whiffed on some 0-2 heat. Jose Lopez fell behind 0-2 before flying out to center on the 1-2 pitch. Ibañez rolled an 0-2 pitch to third.
Ray's line: 1 1/3 innings, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 14 pitches (12 strikes)
---
Gameball: Julio Mateo.
Well, it's two appearances for Mateo since coming off the disabled list, and so far, so good. He came in for some long relief after Joel Piñeiro demonstrated once again that he's far from his Player of the Week form. Mateo only threw three pitches in the first game of the series to get one out, but in this game he bridged the gap from Piñeiro to the late-shift guys in the bullpen. Dave Valle came on in the fifth/sixth as well as the end of the game saying even though Piñeiro didn't have his best stuff, he gave the team a chance to win, but I think that's bunk. Mateo came in to start the sixth and faced the meat of the order right away. His worst move of the game was walking Corey Patterson on four pitches, but Patterson just wasn't getting out on this night. Anyway, with Mateo possibly getting back in the swing of things (more outings will determine whether this is the case) and the Putz/Guardado roles basically swapping for themselves, there's not going to be many innings left over for Sean Green. Will he continue to get better by not getting many innings on the Major League level, or is it time to get some random waiver-wire guy to be the rarely-used righty in the bullpen? If you ask me, Green should be sent down so the bench can be deepened, but this is Hargrove we're talking about here.
Goat: Joel Piñeiro.
Was this old Piñeiro? Four runs in the first inning? Nine batters sent to the plate in the first? We've seen this song and dance from Piñeiro before. He can't start doing this again. The Mariners already have one enigmatic starting pitcher to deal with every five days (Gil Meche), and they really don't need another one. What you may not know is that the Mariners do indeed have five semi-consistent starters in the rotation. Moyer and Washburn are fairly consistent, Hernandez has been consistently bad, and Piñeiro and Meche are inconsistent. Bottom line is that Piñeiro can't be spotting the other team a four-run lead before the Mariners even get to the plate. That's not just a scoreboard thing or a psychological thing, it's also a good way to immediately sap the energy out of 19435 fans. As such, the four-game winning streak came to a crashing end. By the way, the Mariners' longest win streak in 2005 was four games, in 2004 it was five games, and way back in 2003 it was nine games. Really, I don't think a team can have a legitimate tear unless the winning streak is over a half dozen.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 35-12 .745 -- W3
2002 31-16 .660 4 W2
2003 31-16 .660 4 W2
2000 25-22 .532 10 L1
2006 21-26 .447 14 L1
2005 18-29 .383 17 L4
2004 17-30 .362 18 L2
The Mariners' only saving grace of this game was the fact that Texas and Oakland both lost, so the Mariners lost zero ground in the division race or water-tread or whatever you want to call it.
Benson. Washburn. Tonight.
/ Click for main page
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
GAME 46: MARINERS 8, ORIOLES 6
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: All of 18819 people at the ballpark saw meaningful contributions from both Eddie Guardado and Richie Sexson. No, really.
This one featured Erik Bedard going up against Jamie Moyer. The Mariners hoped to keep the momentum they generated from the three-game weekend sweep of the hot-until-that-point San Diego Padres. A win here would get the Mariners to within four games of the .500 mark. That seems like small beans except that the entire division sucks. The Mariners were three back of the division lead heading into this one.
TOP 1ST
Brandon Fahey rolled out to second. Melvin Mora grounded hard to Beltre at third on a 1-2 pitch. Miguel Tejada was ahead 3-0 and walked on a 3-1 pitch. Jay Gibbons rolled a single into center to move Tejada to second. Ramon Hernandez ripped a liner that one-hopped off the leg of Ibañez and went toward the leftfield line for a double (not an error) to score Tejada and move Gibbons to third.
»» ORIOLES 1, MARINERS 0
Javy Lopez was ahead 3-1 before walking on an inside full-count pitch to load the bases. Jeff Conine fell behind 0-2 before fouling a down-and-away 1-2 pitch into Johjima's glove. Moyer threw 30 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Ichiro was ahead 3-0 and walked on an outside 3-1 pitch. Jose Lopez fell behind 0-2 and popped the 2-2 pitch high into the sky, and it came down in front of the benches in the visitors' bullpen in leftcenter.
»» MARINERS 2, ORIOLES 1
Raul Ibañez walked on a full-count pitch outside. Richie Sexson rolled over on a pitch, placing it behind the bag at third to Mora, moving Ibañez to second. Carl Everett was ahead 2-0 and chopped a 2-2 pitch to third as Ibañez held. Adrian Beltre punched an 0-2 pitch toward the gap in leftcenter to score Ibañez, but he was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double (8-4). Bedard threw 30 pitches.
»» MARINERS 3, ORIOLES 1
TOP 2ND
Corey Patterson laid the perfect drag bunt on the first pitch, down the first-base line where Moyer couldn't get to it. Luis Matos didn't have a pitch thrown to him before Moyer picked him off of first (1-3-6). Matos popped to Ibañez on the track in the leftfield corner. Fahey popped the second pitch to Bloomquist in the leftcenter gap. Moyer threw six pitches and had 36 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Kenji Johjima whiffed badly on a 1-2 pitch in the dirt away. Willie Bloomquist rolled to short. Yuniesky Betancourt bounced the second pitch to third. Bedard threw nine pitches and had 39 through two.
TOP 3RD
Mora was ahead 3-1 before blistered a full-count pitch (eighth of the at-bat) down the leftfield line, but it was so quick he couldn't get past first. Tejada popped the first pitch to center as Mora held. Gibbons popped a 2-2 pitch to Ibañez in shallow left as Mora still held. Hernandez poked a 3-1 pitch into right for a single, moving Mora to second. Javy Lopez whiffed on a high 1-2 change. Moyer threw 23 pitches and had 59 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Ichiro served a pitch into left for a single, extending his hitting streak to sixteen games. Jose Lopez fell behind 0-2 before rolling a 1-2 pitch hard to third for a 5-4-3 double play. Ibañez had the hitters' counts before walking on a 3-1 pitch low and away. Sexson got under the second pitch, flying out to fairly deep center. Bedard threw 16 pitches and had 55 through three.
TOP 4TH
Conine worked a 1-2 count full before whiffing. Patterson popped high to second. Matos dumped the first pitch along the rightfield line before Ichiro could get to it and got a double out of it. Fahey lined the second pitch to a running Ichiro. Moyer threw 14 pitches and had 73 through four.
BOTTOM 4TH
Everett was ahead 3-0 and rolled a full-count pitch to short on the eighth pitch of the at-bat. Beltre drove a ball to the track in left, but it was a flyout. Johjima popped high to first. Bedard threw 16 pitches and had 71 through four.
TOP 5TH
Mora popped a 1-2 pitch to Sexson in foul ground along the first-base line. Tejada took a 3-1 pitch for ball four. Gibbons popped the second pitch to center. Hernandez was ahead 3-1 before checking his swing on a full-count change in the dirt. Javy Lopez watched as Hernandez was nearly picked off of first by Johjima, but then chopped a single through the right side, scoring Tejada and moving Hernandez to second as Ichiro threw to second instead.
»» MARINERS 3, ORIOLES 2
Conine flew out to right. Moyer threw 24 pitches and had 97 through five.
BOTTOM 5TH
Bloomquist took a 1-2 pitch at the knees over the inside corner. Betancourt poked a full-count pitch into shallow rightcenter for a single to extend his hitting streak to ten games. Ichiro punched a 2-2 pitch through the right side for a single, moving Betancourt to third, who didn't slide, though third-base coach Carlos Garcia directed for one. Jose Lopez chopped to a charging Mora on the left side, who threw home, but Betancourt got the hand on the plate before the throw got in. Jose Lopez got the single and Ichiro moved to second.
»» MARINERS 4, ORIOLES 2
Ibañez was ahead 2-0 and later walked on a full-count pitch low and away to load the bases. Pitching coach Leo Mazzone came out to the mound for a visit. Sexson crushed the low-and-away second pitch four rows into the seats in centerfield to the right of the hitters' backdrop.
»» MARINERS 8, ORIOLES 2
Everett rolled out to second. Beltre grounded to second. Bedard threw 33 pitches and had 104 through five.
Bedard's line: 5 innings, 8 runs, 7 hits, 4 walks, 2 strikeouts, 104 pitches (61 strikes)
TOP 6TH
Patterson fell behind 0-2 and whiffed over a 1-2 change. Matos roped a 3-1 pitch to left, but it was caught by Ibañez reaching back and running onto the track. Gibbons was behind 0-2 and rolled a 1-2 pitch up the middle, then Betancourt picked it up and did that whole spin-and-throw thing and the throw got to first in time. Moyer threw 14 pitches and had 111 through six.
Moyer's line: 6 innings, 2 runs, 7 hits, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts, 111 pitches (65 strikes)
BOTTOM 6TH
Chris Britton came in for Bedard. Johjima flew out to center on a 2-2 pitch. Bloomquist rolled the second pitch to second. Betancourt sliced an 0-2 pitch to right for a lineout.
Britton's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 10 pitches (8 strikes)
TOP 7TH
Sean Green came in for Moyer. Mora bounced the second pitch to third. Tejada crushed the second pitch just over the wall in rightcenter.
»» MARINERS 8, ORIOLES 3
Gibbons bounced the second pitch to second. Hernandez tapped an 0-2 pitch back to the mound. Green threw nine pitches.
BOTTOM 7TH
Sendy Rleal came in for Britton. Ichiro flew out to right on the second pitch. Jose Lopez popped to right on a 2-2 pitch. Ibañez chopped the first pitch to first on a tricky PFP play (3-1 putout). Rleal threw eight pitches.
Rleal's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 8 pitches (6 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Javy Lopez chopped the second pitch to third. Conine worked a 1-2 count for a walk. Patterson took a full-count pitch for strike three on the ninth pitch of the at-bat. Matos had the hitters' counts before rolling a full-count pitch up the middle for a single, moving Conine to second. Pitching coach Rafael Chaves came out to the mound for a visit. Fahey rolled a 2-2 pitch up the middle for a single to score Conine, who beat the four-hop throw from Bloomquist to the plate. Matos took second on the play.
»» MARINERS 8, ORIOLES 4
Mora took the second pitch off Johjima's glove and to the backstop, moving Matos to third and Fahey to second. Mora was ahead 2-0 and lined a 2-2 pitch into right for a single, scoring Matos and Fahey.
»» MARINERS 8, ORIOLES 6
Julio Mateo, in his first appearance since coming off the disabled list, came in for Green. Tejada grounded to short for a 6-4 force on Mora. Mateo threw three pitches.
Green's line: 1 2/3 innings, 4 runs, 4 hits, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, 44 pitches (28 strikes)
Mateo's line: 1/3 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 3 pitches (2 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
LaTroy Hawkins came in for Rleal. Sexson was ahead 2-0 before flying out to rightcenter on a full count. Everett was ahead 2-0 before popping high to Tejada on the infield on a full count. Gibbons popped the second pitch to Conine near the camera well on the right side.
Hawkins' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 14 pitches (8 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Eddie Guardado came in for Mateo. Gibbons fell behind 0-2 and rode the 2-2 pitch a long way, but Ichiro came down with it at the wall in front of the 385-foot marker in rightcenter (exhale). Hernandez rode a 3-1 pitch to fairly deep center on which Bloomquist made a backpedaling catch. Javy Lopez fell behind 0-2 and whiffed and lost his bat on a low 1-2 breaking ball.
Guardado's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 15 pitches (9 strikes)
---
Gameball: Ichiro.
Remember when everyone was wondering when he'd get going? After the game on April 18th against Texas, he was hitting .177. That's right, Ichiro started the season 11-for-62. He finished the month of April on a 20-for-48 (.417) tear. In this month of May, the whole 19-game hitting streak has helped matters. He's in the middle of a 31-for-86 (.360) month. So, from the point that he was hitting .177, so roughly over a month, Ichiro has hit 51-for-134 (.381). That, friends, is a definite tear. That guy that was hitting .177 is now hitting .320 on the season. In a way, it seems like this happens almost every year. Of course, when the team was good, he'd wait until August and September to suck. Still, I can't much complain about his play, especially in the middle of this hitting streak he's on. In this game, he walked in the first and singled in the third and fifth. By the way, Ichiro's been hitting 29-for-68 during this hitting streak. That's a .426 clip. Not that the Mariners need him for power, but he hasn't homered since April 13th.
Goat: Sean Green.
This was his sixth appearance with the big club this season. This was his second all-out bad outing out of the six. Luckily they brought him in with a six-run lead, so his struggles were mostly inconsequential in the large scope of the game. What surprised me was that Julio Mateo wasn't the first guy out of the bullpen. Mike Hargrove didn't leave Green out there after the 8-2 lead became an 8-6 lead with Melvin Mora coming to the plate. I like the Sean Green story and everything, but I'm not sure I see how he fits in this bullpen. Of course, it all might fall into place if and when Eddie Guardado is back into his normal role. Since Mike Hargrove is a 12-man staff kind of guy, there's a spot in the bullpen for a rarely-used righty that can do long relief. They've already got the lefthanded version of that in the form of Jake Woods. In addition, George Sherrill is Mike Hargrove's present-day Paul Assenmacher and therefore throws to only one batter at a time. Just by pure results alone, Emiliano Fruto should have been the callup that stuck with this team, and Green should have been sent down. Then again, they're not always going to have three middle innings to give to him unless Gil Meche and Felix Hernandez keep scuffling, which hopefully doesn't keep happening. And Fruto's not going to close for this team unless something goes horribly wrong.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 34-12 .739 -- W2
2002 30-16 .652 4 W1
2003 30-16 .652 4 W1
2000 25-21 .543 9 W2
2006 21-25 .457 13 W4
2005 18-28 .391 16 L3
2004 17-29 .370 17 L1
The AL West-leading Rangers won on this night, so the Mariners are still three games back of the lead. However, Oakland and the Angels lost. Thus, the Mariners get a game on both. They are two back of Oakland and 3 1/2 up on the Angels, who have lost six straight. Four in a row is some life, sure, but I wonder what it'll be like if this team gets hot.
Halama. Piñeiro. Tonight.
/ Click for main page
Sunday, May 21, 2006
GAME 45: MARINERS 10, PADRES 8
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: Just when you think you have a gauge on this team after they were swept, they sweep a hot San Diego team.
This one featured Chan Ho Park going up against Felix Hernandez. The Mariners have some history with being Park'd. Park was 5-2 with a 2.45 ERA against the Mariners coming into the game, and Raul Ibañez was batting something like .056 against him before today.
TOP 1ST
Dave Roberts was ahead 3-0 before taking a low change on a full count for a walk. Mike Cameron bounced the first pitch to Beltre at the bag at third, who couldn't get a hold of the ball soon enough, so he only got the sure out at first as Roberts went to second. Brian Giles slapped a single over Betancourt and into leftfield to score Roberts.
»» PADRES 1, MARINERS 0
Mike Piazza whiffed over an 0-2 low fastball. Khalil Greene fell behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 2-2 fastball down and away. Hernandez threw 17 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Ichiro rolled the second pitch to Barfield, who had Ichiro by a mile but threw wide of first toward the first-base dugout, enabling Ichiro to take second. Jose Lopez one-hopped right to Park on the mound, who ran right at Ichiro, who was hung up between second and third and couldn't stay in the rundown long enough to move Lopez to second. Raul Ibañez was ahead 3-1 before flying out to left on a full count. Richie Sexson whiffed on a 1-2 slider low and away. Park threw 14 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Josh Bard blistered the first pitch right into Ichiro's glove. Geoff Blum doubled a 2-0 pitch to the wall in rightcenter. Adrian Gonzalez fell behind 0-2 before tapping a 1-2 pitch along the right side to Hernandez, who tossed to first as Blum went to third. Josh Barfield nubbed a 2-0 pitch to Hernandez and met the same fate as Gonzalez before him. Hernandez threw 12 pitches and had 29 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Carl Everett shot a 1-2 pitch past Barfield's reach through the right side for a single. Adrian Beltre poked a second-pitch single into center, moving Everett to second. Kenji Johjima slapped the second pitch into right, scoring Everett and moving Beltre to second.
»» PADRES 1, MARINERS 1
Jeremy Reed smacked the first pitch toward the leftcenter gap for a single, scoring Beltre and moving Johjima to third.
»» MARINERS 2, PADRES 1
Yuniesky Betancourt squeeze-bunted the first pitch in front of the plate, scoring Johjima and moving Reed to second, and Betancourt reached first after Park couldn't get a hold of the ball. The scoring went as a sacrifice fielder's choice.
»» MARINERS 3, PADRES 1
Ichiro evaded a 2-0 pitch inside and checked his swing, but the appeal to third said otherwise. Nonetheless, Ichiro rolled the next pitch into centerfield for a single, scoring Reed and moving Betancourt to second. Ichiro's hitting streak now stands at fifteen games.
»» MARINERS 4, PADRES 1
Lopez looped an 0-2 pitch to Barfield in shallow right as the runners held. Ibañez blasted the second pitch toward the hitters' backdrop beyond the centerfield wall. Betancourt and Ichiro scored ahead of Ibañez.
»» MARINERS 7, PADRES 1
Sexson whiffed on a 1-2 pitch and Niehaus thought for a second it was the final out of the inning. Everett was ahead 2-0 and ended up crushing a 2-2 pitch into the seats in rightcenter.
»» MARINERS 8, PADRES 1
Beltre fell behind 0-2 and later grounded to short on a 1-2 pitch. Park threw 33 pitches and had 47 through two.
TOP 3RD
Roberts had the hitters' counts before walking on a 3-1 pitch up and away. Cameron got ahead 2-0 and Johjima visited the mound. Cameron ended up flying out to Sexson in foul ground on the right side. Giles fell behind 0-2 and took a 2-2 pitch in the dirt and spun off the mound oddly toward the first-base side, possibly reaching for the hamstring as the trainers came out. Hernandez stayed in the game. Giles ended up taking a full-count pitch in the dirt for a walk, moving Roberts to second. Piazza took the first pitch in the dirt as pitching coach Rafael Chaves came to the mound. Piazza was ahead 3-0 and ended up poking a full-count pitch into right for a single to score Roberts and move Giles to third.
»» MARINERS 8, PADRES 2
Greene whiffed on a 2-2 change down and away. Bard drilled the second pitch into right for a single, scoring Giles and moving Piazza to second.
»» MARINERS 8, PADRES 3
Blum popped the first pitch to Reed running in from center. Hernandez threw 33 pitches and had 62 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Johjima had the hitters' counts before pegging a full-count pitch right to Barfield at second. Reed rolled out to second. Betancourt popped an 0-2 pitch to shallow center. Park threw 13 pitches and had 60 through three.
TOP 4TH
Gonzalez lined the first pitch to a leaping Betancourt at short. Barfield rolled over a 3-1 pitch and grounded to third. Roberts grounded an 0-2 pitch hard to second. Hernandez threw eight pitches and had 70 through four.
BOTTOM 4TH
Ichiro punched a single past the reach of Barfield and into rightcenter. Lopez was ahead 3-0 and flew out to Roberts in leftcenter on the 3-1 pitch. Ibañez took Roberts to the leftcenter track on the second pitch. Sexson took the second pitch in the left tricep, moving Ichiro to second. Everett popped the second pitch high to Blum just foul near the third-base line. Park threw 13 pitches and had 73 through four.
TOP 5TH
Cameron grounded hard to short. Giles rolled out to short. Piazza tapped the second pitch back to the mound, and I think Niehaus called Felix Hernandez by the name of Fernando. Not sure what to think of this. Hernandez threw seven pitches and had 77 through five.
BOTTOM 5TH
Beltre flew out to Cameron in leftcenter. Johjima lined out to Roberts reaching up and running toward the track in left. Reed fell behind 0-2 and popped a 2-2 pitch to Roberts along the leftfield line. Park threw 12 pitches and had 85 through five.
TOP 6TH
Greene bounced the second pitch to Beltre behind the bag at third. Bard rolled the second pitch to second. Blum fell whiffed on an 0-2 pitch in the dirt that got to the backstop, and Blum reached as Johjima couldn't get the throw to first in time. Gonzalez singled through the mound and into center, moving Blum to second. Barfield took the first pitch off of Johjima's glove and to the backstop (passed ball), moving the runners up 90 feet. Barfield ended up reached down for a 2-2 pitch and Reed died on a do-or-die play by a few inches, allowing Blum and Gonzalez to score. Barfield got a double from it.
»» MARINERS 8, PADRES 5
Roberts chipped the second pitch, a hanging change over the inner half, just over the wall in right. Barfield scored as well.
»» MARINERS 8, PADRES 7
Cameron popped a 2-2 pitch to right, the eighth pitch of the at-bat. Hernandez threw 26 pitches and had 103 through six.
Hernandez' line: 6 innings, 7 runs, 7 hits, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts, 103 pitches (65 strikes)
BOTTOM 6TH
Betancourt dumped a 2-2 pitch into shallow center for a single. Ichiro chopped the second pitch along the right side, where Barfield charged and tried to shovel to first with the glove, but it was slow and high as Ichiro reached on the single and Betancourt took second. Lopez, the team's leader in RBIs, bunted along the third-base line on the first pitch to move Ichiro to third and Betancourt to second. Park got a visit from the pitching coach. Ibañez was intentionally walked to load the bases. Sexson was ahead 3-0 before walking on a full-count pitch outside, forcing Betancourt across and keeping the bases loaded.
»» MARINERS 9, PADRES 7
Jon Adkins came in for Park. Everett smacked a ball off of Barfield's glove into right for a single to score Ichiro and move Ibañez and Sexson to third and second.
»» MARINERS 10, PADRES 7
Beltre whiffed on an 0-2 breaking ball down and away as only he, Sexson, and Bret Boone can. Johjima rolled the first pitch to second for a 4-6 force of Everett at second. Adkins threw seven pitches.
Park's line: 5 1/3 innings, 10 runs, 10 hits, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, 105 pitches (66 strikes)
TOP 7TH
Rafael Soriano came in for Hernandez. Giles lined the second pitch to left. Piazza lined the second pitch out to left as well. Greene bounced the first pitch to third. Soriano threw five pitches.
BOTTOM 7TH
Reed whiffed on a 2-2 pitch up over the outer half. Betancourt took a second pitch up and in and spun away and dropped the bat. Betancourt walked on four pitches. Ichiro slapped a ball to left for a flyout. Lopez flew out high to Gonzalez on the foul side of the first-base line. Adkins threw 16 pitches and had 23 total.
Adkins' line: 1 2/3 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 23 pitches (14 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Bard had the hitters' counts before blasting a full-count pitch down and in off the windows of the Hit It Here Cafe.
»» MARINERS 10, PADRES 8
Blum popped the second pitch high to Beltre on the left side. Gonzalez got ahead 2-0 before whiffing on a full-count fastball over the outer half. Barfield was ahead 2-0 before whiffing on a 2-2 fastball. Soriano threw 19 pitches and had 24 total.
Soriano's line: 2 innings, 1 run, 1 hit, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 24 pitches (15 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Scott Linebrink came in for Adkins. Ibañez fell behind 0-2 and ended up whiffing on a 2-2 fastball. Sexson worked an 0-2 count full before rolling over the full-count pitch and bouncing out to third. Everett grounded the second pitch to first (3-1 putout). Linebrink threw 13 pitches.
Linebrink's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 13 pitches (8 strikes)
TOP 9TH
JJ Putz came in for Soriano. Roberts nubbed the second pitch along the first-base line to Putz coming off the mound, who threw in time to first. Cameron was ahead 3-1 before flying out to right on a full count. Giles popped the first pitch to right.
Putz' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 9 pitches (6 strikes)
---
Gameball: Yuniesky Betancourt.
Make it a nine-game hitting streak during which he's hitting .333 (10-for-30). Today it wasn't necessarily some crazy defensive play that he made or a rare home run. It was the squeeze bunt with first and third and nobody out in the monster second inning. It wasn't the easiest pitch to bunt, but he got it down, and it was so good that Park couldn't come up with it and Betancourt reached. Of course, one look at Betancourt's numbers shows that his on-base percentage really isn't that much higher than his batting average, i.e., he draws barely any walks. He walked only once in April and his only walk of this month came today. By the same token, he's only struck out five times this month and seven last month. He's also 6-for-8 on steal attempts. He's one-third of the bottom third of the lineup that's been mostly very good for the Mariners, and this is really the first time that's happened in quite a while for the Mariners, even at some points when the team was good and the bottom third sucked. The case now is that it's a lineup with a 4-5-6 doughnut hole in it, though Carl Everett had himself a good game.
Goat: Felix Hernandez.
He's Harold Reynolds' just-named AL disappointment at the quarter point on SportsCenter. There's not going to be many games where he can give up seven runs and still get the win. There will be even fewer games in which he'll be handed a seven-run lead and manage to nearly blow it. We all knew Felix would have growing pains, sure. At the end of last year, no one predicted Felix running into a bout with shingles. The shingles definitely robbed him of part of his spring training and made him erratic for some of the start of the season. Or is it longer than that? Might it still be affecting him? I wish I knew. After Park threw 32 pitches in the Mariners' 8-run second inning, Felix did him one better and threw 33 in the next half-inning. However, he set down nine straight Padres after that, and struck out a tenth though the ball got away from Johjima and Blum reached base. It was weird because Felix lsot control of his fastball and starting being able to spot the changeup, which is a bit backward. There were portions of the middle innings in which he was going almost exclusively with that change to get swings and misses. Of course, this would all have been less bad had he gotten the third out sooner in the sixth. He'd retired the first two hitters of the inning before the four-run San Diego rally.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 33-12 .733 -- W1
2002 29-16 .644 4 L4
2003 29-16 .644 4 L1
2000 24-21 .533 9 W1
2006 20-25 .444 13 W3
2005 18-27 .400 15 L2
2004 17-28 .378 16 W3
News flash -- the Angels have lost five straight. The Mariners have won three straight thanks to their first sweep since September 12-14 of last season (home against Anaheim). Oakland has lost their last two and the Rangers lost today. Translation -- the Mariners are 2 1/2 games out of the cellar and three games back of the division lead with a 20-24 Baltimore team coming in for four games. They're closely matched in record, anyway.
Bedard. Moyer. Tomorrow.
/ Click for main page
GAME 44: MARINERS 6, PADRES 3
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: I'm not sure who the starting pitcher for the Mariners was in this game, but he was darned good.
This one featured Clay Hensley going up against Gil Meche. Hensley of course brings to mind the greatest Yankee ever to don the pinstripes, Hensley Meulens. On the transaction wire, Mike Morse was called up from Tacoma, Julio Mateo was activated from the DL, Emiliano Fruto was sent back to Tacoma, and you figured it had to happen sometime, but Matt Lawton was designated for assignment.
TOP 1ST
Dave Roberts took an 0-2 curve over the inside corner. Mike Cameron fell behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 pitch as the "Batting Order" graphic was freeze-framed on the MLB.tv feed for the last five pitches of the at-bat. Brian Giles popped the first pitch to Lopez. Meche threw 11 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Ichiro took the batters' box amid the Mariners' batting order graphic showing over the first two pitches. He was ahead 3-0 and couldn't quite beat out a grounder to short. Jose Lopez got behind 0-2 and poked an outside 1-2 pitch into rightfield for a single. Raul Ibañez whiffed over a 1-2 low breaking ball. Richie Sexson grounded deep into the hole at short for a 6-4 force on Lopez at second. Hensley threw 19 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Mike Piazza rolled a slightly hanging 0-2 breaking ball into center for a single. Khalil Greene split his bat on a soft liner into shallow center that Lopez ranged over to catch, and somehow he threw in time to first to double off Piazza, but Piazza on his way back lunged to get to the bag and spiked Sexson's right foot. Sexson stayed in the game. Adrian Gonzalez fell behind 0-2 before bouncing to Beltre who barehanded from behind the bag at third on a 2-2 pitch. Meche threw 13 pitches and had 24 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Carl Everett popped a 1-2 pitch to fairly deep center. Adrian Beltre rolled an 0-2 pitch to second. Kenji Johjima popped the second pitch high to left. Hensley nine pitches and had 28 through two.
TOP 3RD
Vinny Castilla flew out to left on a 2-2 pitch. Josh Barfield rolled out to short. Josh Bard fell behind 0-2 and rolled a 2-2 pitch to second. Meche threw 14 pitches and had 38 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Jeremy Reed drove an 0-2 pitch into the gap in rightcenter as Giles dropped and bobbled the ball upon nearly colliding with Cameron as Reed went all the way to third with the triple. Yuniesky Betancourt rolled the first pitch to second, scoring Reed.
»» MARINERS 1, PADRES 0
Ichiro whiffed badly on a 1-2 sinker in the dirt and the MLB.tv camera was the elevated rightfield camera. Lopez had the hitters' counts before whiffing badly on a breaking ball off the plate outside. Hensley threw 15 pitches and had 43 through three.
TOP 4TH
Roberts popped high to Lopez on the outfield grass. Cameron was inadvertently nubbed a 2-0 pitch in front of the plate and Johjima threw in time to first. Giles rolled the second pitch to second. Meche threw eight pitches and had 46 through four.
BOTTOM 4TH
Ibañez drilled a line drive into leftcenter and over Cameron into the throng of inebriated fans beyond the wall for a double. Sexson popped the first pitch high to center as Ibañez held. Everett dumped the first pitch into shallow leftcenter for a 'tweener single to move Ibañez to third. Beltre rolled over and chopped the second pitch to third, driving in Ibañez and moving Everett to second.
»» MARINERS 2, PADRES 0
Johjima was ahead 2-0 before lining a 2-2 pitch into the visitors' bullpen to the right of the manual scoreboard. I like surprises.
»» MARINERS 4, PADRES 0
Reed grounded hard to first. Hensley threw 14 pitches and had 57 through four.
TOP 5TH
Piazza rolled softly along the third-base line where Beltre charged pretty far to gun out Piazza at first, which is amazing even considering how slow Piazza is. Greene whiffed on a 1-2 breaking ball. Gonzalez was ahead 3-0 before whiffing over a full-count change down over the outside corner, the eighth pitch of the at-bat. Meche threw 16 pitches and had 62 through five.
BOTTOM 5TH
Betancourt rolled a 2-2 pitch up the middle for a single. Ichiro hit a low lineout to left. Lopez popped a 1-2 pitch near the leftfield corner, where Roberts went back for it but had it go over his head and off the wall, scoring Betancourt. Lopez got to third with the triple.
»» MARINERS 5, PADRES 0
Ibañez grounded hard to first, but Gonzalez went home right away and Lopez was called out, though replay showed he was never tagged and got the left hand in there. Ibañez reached on the play. Sexson bounced a 2-2 pitch to short for a 6-4 force on Ibañez. Hensley threw 23 pitches and had 80 through five.
TOP 6TH
Castilla took a 2-2 curve over the outer half. Barfield flew out to right on a 1-2 pitch. Bard took a 1-2 curve over the outside corner as half the Mariners on the field started to walk away, but it wasn't a strike after all. Bard finally whiffed on the seventh pitch of the at-bat with a full count. Meche threw 16 pitches and had 78 through six.
BOTTOM 6TH
Everett flew out to center on the first pitch. Beltre fell behind 0-2 before bouncing the 2-2 pitch to short. Johjima drove the second pitch down the leftfield line, but Roberts came down with it near the line in the corner. Hensley threw eight pitches and had 88 through six.
TOP 7TH
Roberts whiffed on a 2-2 low curve. Cameron worked a 1-2 count for the first Padre walk of the night, snapping Meche's streak of fifteen straight hitters retired by Meche. Giles had the hitters' counts before smacking a full-count pitch past Lopez' reach into center for a single, moving Cameron to third, as he'd takenoff with the pitch. Pitching coach Rafel Chaves came to the mound for a visit. Piazza grounded to Betancourt at short, who shoveled with the glove to Lopez to start a 6-4-3 double play. Meche threw 21 pitches and had 99 through seven.
BOTTOM 7TH
Reed spanked the first pitch into rightcenter, and somehow legged a double out of it. Betancourt singled over the head of Barfield at second on the first pitch, and Reed came around as Giles' throw home was cut off.
»» MARINERS 6, PADRES 0
Brian Sweeney, former Mariner, came in for Hensley. Ichiro dropped a single in front of Giles to move Betancourt to third and extend his hit streak to fourteen games. Lopez chopped to third, but Betancourt was hung up between third and home and was eventually tagged out, but Ichiro got to third behind him and Lopez got to second. Ibañez was intentionally walked to load the bases. Sexson chopped off the mound to Barfield up the middle, who underhanded to Greene to start the 4-6-3 double play. Sweeney threw 13 pitches.
Hensley's line: 6 innings, 6 runs, 9 hits, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts, 90 pitches (62 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Greene drilled a hanging belt-high breaking ball on the second pitch into the visitors' bullpen.
»» MARINERS 6, PADRES 1
Gonzalez rolled the first pitch to second. Castilla roped the first pitch right at Betancourt, who was knocked to his britches but caught it. Barfield rolled to Lopez ranging to his left, but couldn't fully grasp the ball though he had a long way to go (nonetheless scored an error). Bard drilled the second pitch off the base of the rightfield wall for a double to nearly advance Barfield home, but the same runner that bowled over Johjima and was out the night before decided not to test the arm, which threw a strike home anyway.
Eddie Guardado came in for Meche. Roberts barely held a 2-2 checkswing before fisting a full-count pitch into shallow right for a single to score Barfield and move Bard to third.
»» MARINERS 6, PADRES 2
Cameron had the hitters' counts before drilling the 3-1 pitch right at Guardado, where it went off the inside of his left leg above the ankle and went to Lopez, who threw to first but it wasn't in time. Bard scored and Roberts went to second.
»» MARINERS 6, PADRES 3
JJ Putz came in for Guardado, though it wasn't immediately clear to me whether that was because of performance or injury. Giles grounded the second pitch that looked destined to reach centerfield, but Lopez dove to get it and throw in time to first. Putz threw two pitches.
Meche's line: 7 2/3 innings, 3 runs (1 earned), 1 walk, 7 strikeouts, 108 pitches (72 strikes)
Guardado's line: 0 innings, 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 13 pitches (7 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Everett flew out to Cameron in rightcenter on the first pitch. Beltre grounded hard to Castilla behind the bag at third. Johjima walked on a full-count pitch off the plate outside. Reed popped a 2-2 pitch to the track in left. Sweeney threw 19 pitches and had 32 total.
Sweeney's line: 2 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 2 walks, 0 strikeouts, 32 pitches (15 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Piazza whiffed on an 0-2 fastball up and over the inner half. Greene whiffed on a 1-2 splitter. Gonzalez slapped a 2-2 pitch into leftcenter for a single. Castilla rolled an 0-2 pitch to second.
Putz' line: 1 1/3 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 18 pitches (15 strikes)
---
Gameball: Yuniesky Betancourt.
Ever so quietly, Betancourt has been hitting fairly well, especially for anything the Mariners might need out of the number nine slot in the order. He's never had more than three hitless games in a row this season. Though the errors have come in ever-so-tiny spots after his errorless April, his hitting has been more than solid. Betancourt currently has an eight-game hitting streak going, and he's hitting .321 (9-for-28) during the streak. He homered in the final two games of that series in Anaheim, which of course means he has two more homers than Willie Bloomquist. He has a double thrown in that streak as well, so a third of those nine hits went for extra bases. He's driven in five runs in the nine games and has 18 total RBIs on the year. Betancourt is hitting .267 for the month and .270 for the season. In this game, he singled twice to drive in Jeremy Reed each time the latter got aboard with a hit for extra bases (twice). One of the things that ticked me off when the Mariners got rid of Omar Vizquel many moons ago was that he really didn't start hitting and driving in runs until he was in Cleveland. The Mariners know what they have defensively out of this guy, and I hope they keep him around long enough for his bat to come around.
Goat: Eddie Guardado.
He didn't give up any runs, but I think this outing was really his first step backward ever since losing the closing role. His last five outings really had passed without incident, but this one was a bit iffy. I guess the one thing I could say in his defense was that if he's going to come into a ballgame, it's usually not in a non-save situation with runners on second and third with two down and a five-run lead. That said, he's not in the closing role, so he's not going to get a save situation in the ninth anyway, and the bottom line is that any pitcher you send out there has to just plain get hitters out. Guardado let both of Meche's runners score, but due to the error by Lopez, which I thought was a bit bunk since he had a long way to run to get to the ball, the two runs were unearned and Meche knocked his ERA down by over half a run. Ultimately, though, one could also defend Guardado by saying he got a bit screwed on the checkswing by Roberts, and you could argue that if Guardado lets Cameron's ball through instead of trying to get in front of it, then the inning ends. Catch-22, I guess. Still, a 6-1 game became a 6-3 game with him out there.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 32-12 .727 -- L1
2002 29-15 .659 3 L3
2003 29-15 .659 3 W5
2000 23-21 .523 9 L3
2006 19-25 .432 13 W2
2005 18-26 .409 14 L1
2004 16-28 .364 16 W2
Park. Hernandez. Today.
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