Saturday, July 01, 2006
GAME 81: ROCKIES 2, MARINERS 0
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: I watched the game on archived video, so in reality it was a quick one while I was away.
This one featured Josh Fogg going up against Jamie Moyer. It was also the return of Yorvit Torrealba to Seattle, this time as a Rocky. Big ovations for him, I'm sure. The game was so quick and the Mariners offensively did nothing to win the game, leaving me to try to work Who references into the 25 Words. Even worse is the fact that although it was only a game that lasted one hour and fifty-two minutes to begin with, I go to MLB.tv to watch the game, and it starts with Brad Hawpe flying out to center for the final out of the second inning. Depending on what was airing before the Mariner game on FSN or whatever Mariners' network affiliate from whom they carried the graphicless feed, I don't know who to blame for it. If it's something that ran into the start of the broadcast, great, but if it's MLB.tv just plain screwing me out of the first inning and a half of the ballgame, then I'm a bit miffed. Thusly, for the first inning and change before that Hawpe out, I had to basically go with the text play-by-play. Boo.
TOP 1ST
Jamey Carroll fell behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 pitch. Cint Barmes got the hitters' counts and walked on a full count. Todd Helton had the hitters' counts and walked on a 3-1 pitch, moving Barmes to second. Matt Holliday tapped the first pitch back to the mound to start a 1-4-3 double play. Moyer threw 18 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Ichiro lined out to left on the second pitch. Adrian Beltre lined a single to left on the second pitch. Jose Lopez grounded the second pitch to second to start a 4-6-3 double play. Fogg threw six pitches.
TOP 2ND
Garrett Atkins was up 3-1 and singled into center on a full count. Ryan Spilborghs grounded to third on a 2-2 pitch to start a 5-4-3 double play. Brad Hawpe fell behind 0-2 and flew out to deep center on a 1-2 pitch. Moyer threw 19 pitches and had 37 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Raul Ibañez grounded a full-count pitch to short, where Barmes bobbled it, but still had enough time to throw Ibañez out at first. Richie Sexson chopped softly to the left side, where Atkins charged in from third and made the play to first. Carl Everett popped the 2-2 pitch to Atkins near the camera well on the left side. Fogg threw 14 pitches and had 20 through two.
TOP 3RD
Yorvit Torrealba chopped out to third. Choo Freeman fell behind 0-2 and ended up flying out to shallow right on a 1-2 pitch, though it was caught over the shoulder by Lopez, who had Ichiro and Sexson converging on the ball as well. Carroll got ahead 2-0 but ended up taking the 2-2 pitch over the inside corner. Moyer threw 13 pitches and had 50 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Kenji Johjima tapped the second pitch back to the mound. Jeremy Reed grounded the second pitch up the middle, where Carroll ranged over from second and one-hopped a throw to first that was picked by Helton. Yuniesky Betancourt lined a hard grounder to first on a 1-2 pitch. Fogg threw eight pitches and had 28 through three.
TOP 4TH
Barmes popped the first pitch to a running Ichiro on the rightfield line. Helton popped the second pitch to right. Holliday had the hitters' counts and walked on a low full-count pitch. Atkins punched a single through the left side. Spilborghs fell behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 breaking ball in the dirt. Moyer threw 16 pitches and had 66 through four.
BOTTOM 4TH
Ichiro tapped back to the mound. Beltre reached outside and grounded out to third. Lopez rode a 1-2 pitch to somewhat deep left for a flyout. Fogg threw ten pitches and had 38 through four.
TOP 5TH
Hawpe was up 3-1 and walked on a full-count pitch down and away. Torrealba bunted the first pitch out in front, where Johjima got to it and threw to first, moving Hawpe to second. Freeman grounded the second pitch hard to first, moving Hawpe to third. Carroll had the hitters' counts before reaching on a 3-1 pitch and hitting it over the left side for a single, easily scoring Hawpe.
»» ROCKIES 1, MARINERS 0
Barmes was down 0-2 and watched as Carroll was picked off of first by Moyer on the second attempt (1-3-6, throw barely gets him at second). Moyer threw 17 pitches and had 83 through five.
BOTTOM 5TH
Ibañez took a 3-1 pitch high and outside. Sexson grounded the second pitch hard to third to start a 5-4-3 double play. Everett worked a 1-2 count full before flying out to right. Fogg threw 13 pitches and had 51 through five.
TOP 6TH
Barmes stung a liner into the glove of Lopez at second. Helton grounded the second pitch hard to second. Holliday popped high to Johjima behind the plate. Moyer threw eight pitches and had 91 through six.
BOTTOM 6TH
Johjima dumped the first pitch for a fly into right near the line and Hawpe attempted a sliding basket catch, but it went off his glove and hands as Johjima got the single. Reed got ahead 3-0 and chopped a 3-1 pitch to first to start a 3-6-3 double play (oddly ended in Johjima being run back toward first). Betancourt popped the first pitch to left. Fogg threw seven pitches and had 58 through six.
TOP 7TH
Atkins flew out high to right on the first pitch. Spilborghs bounced a 2-2 pitch to second. Hawpe drove the first pitch to centerfield and it just carried and carried until it landed in front of the hitters' backdrop beyond the centerfield wall.
»» ROCKIES 2, MARINERS 0
Torrealba shot the first pitch through the left side for a single. Pitching coach Rafael Chaves visited the mound. Freeman popped a 2-2 pitch to right. Moyer threw 13 pitches and had 104 through seven.
BOTTOM 7TH
Ichiro popepd the first pitch to Barmes moving back into shallow enter. Beltre popped high to shallow left on a full count. Lopez was ahead 2-0 but ended up grounding out to short. Fogg threw 11 pitches and had 69 through seven.
TOP 8TH
Carroll rolled the second pitch to second. Barmes golfed a second-pitch breaking ball for a flyout to shallow left. Helton flew out to left on the second pitch. Moyer threw six pitches and had 110 through eight.
BOTTOM 8TH
Ibañez took a 2-2 pitch over the inner half for strike three, Fogg's first strikeout of the game. Sexson worked an 0-2 count full before flying out high to left. Everett drove the first pitch to Freeman running to the warning track in leftcenter. Fogg threw 13 pitches and had 82 through eight.
TOP 9TH
Holliday nearly homered near the leftfield foul pole on the first pitch, but ended up taking an 0-2 pitch over the inside corner as Holliday took umbrage. Atkins flew out to right on the second pitch. Spilborghs looped a fly ball near the rightfield line on the first pitch, but Ichiro went over and caught it despite having a very long way to run.
Moyer's line: 9 innings, 2 runs, 5 hits, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts, 116 pitches (77 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Johjima flew out to Freeman in shallow center. Reed one-hopped the second pitch back to the mound. Betancourt rolled the second pitch to a charging Barmes at short, who threw in time to first.
Fogg's line: 9 innings, 0 runs, 2 hits, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, 91 pitches (58 strikes)
---
Gameball: Jamie Moyer.
Moyer started and ended his month of June with complete games, but unfortunately could only win one of them thanks to the lack of offense behind him in this one. One quick look at his game log shows that June was by far his best month. In six starts in the month of June, Moyer went 3-2 with a 2.05 ERA. He gave up 10 earned runs and 35 hits in 44 innings. Five of those hits were homers. He walked ten batters and struck out 19. He never gave up more than three earned runs in a start in the month of June. Moyer has two losses tagged to him for June, and he gave up two runs in both of those games. I look at the lines for his starts this month, and if the Mariners' offense was worth a damn when Moyer was on the mound, he could have been 5-0 or 6-0 in the month of June. Moyer by far was the most consistent Mariner starting pitcher for the month and also was the least maddening. The only thing maddening was that they didn't score runs for him. It's a cryin' shame, I tell ya. The two worst things he did in this game were walking four guys and having one come around to score (Brad Hawpe) and giving up the solo homer (Hawpe again).
Goat: Ichiro.
His mini-slump is slowly becoming a credible slump. This slump can be quantified in different ways depending on how many of the last handful or so of games you want to use. He's gone hitless in the last two games (0-for-8), so that's obvious. You could use the last five games and say he's gone 4-for-21 (.190). You could stretch that back to the hitless game he had before this stretch (the 0-for-4 in Los Angeles that ended his 20-game hitting streak), and you'd end up with a 7-for-34 slump (.206). You can't expect Ichiro to always be in the midst of a 20-game hitting streak, though that'd be nice. Still, the way he started the month wasn't going to last. If it did, though, he'd have a 28-game hitting streak going into the second half of the season. Someday that might be possible for Ichiro, but that's an entire month to be hitting safely. If anyone could do it, it'd be Ichiro, sure, but that'd be incredible. Like all Mariners, though, his month of June is done. He hit .386 for the month and had a .427 on-base percentage. Seven of his 44 hits went for extra bases. He actually had two less hits in June than in May, but the Mariners had four days off in June and only two in May.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 60-21 .741 -- W4
2003 53-28 .654 7 W1
2002 51-30 .630 9 L1
2000 48-33 .593 12 L1
2006 41-40 .506 19 L1
2005 35-46 .432 25 W2
2004 32-49 .395 28 L4
LINEUP SINCE THE TWEAK (May 30th)
Ichiro 49-for-123 (.398), 3 doubles, 1 triple, 3 homers, 12 RBIs, 11 walks, 9 strikeouts
Beltre 39-for-118 (.331), 12 doubles, 2 triples, 5 homers, 20 RBIs, 10 walks, 20 strikeouts
Lopez 29-for-108 (.269), 10 doubles, 2 triples, 1 homer, 17 RBIs, 6 walks, 15 strikeouts
Ibañez 33-for-100 (.330), 6 doubles, 1 triple, 9 homers, 31 RBIs, 15 walks, 17 strikeouts
Sexson 27-for-108 (.250), 4 doubles, 8 homers, 28 RBIs, 11 walks, 24 strikeouts
Everett 14-for-68 (.206), 2 homers, 5 RBIs, 5 walks, 15 strikeouts
Johjima 32-for-93 (.344), 8 doubles, 1 triple, 5 homers, 16 RBIs, 4 walks, 6 strikeouts
Reed 20-for-88 (.227), 2 doubles, 4 homers, 7 RBIs, 4 walks, 11 strikeouts
Betancourt 27-for-97 (.278), 3 doubles, 2 triples, 2 homers, 9 RBIs, 5 walks, 8 strikeouts
Kim. Piñeiro. Tonight.
/ Click for main page
Friday, June 30, 2006
GAME 80: MARINERS 3, DIAMONDBACKS 2
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: Great win for the Mariners. It's more fun watching Bob Melvin get ejected when he's not managing your favorite team.
This one featured Gil Meche going up against Enrique Gonzalez. The Mariners were looking for their nineteenth win in twenty-six tries. In a smaller scope, a win would make it ten in twelve tries. The Mariners had the chance to equal their longest winning streak of the season at five games. Also, two games over .500 would tie the high-water mark for the season. The last time the Mariners were this high over .500, they had a record of 3-1.
TOP 1ST
Ichiro popped the 2-0 pitch high to Tracy moving onto the mound. Adrian Beltre got ahead 3-1 and rode a full-count pitch off the wall near the rightfield corner for a triple. Jose Lopez hit a chopper to the left side that went off Tracy's glove and Counsell couldn't pick it up to have a play as Beltre scored (credited as a single).
»» MARINERS 1, DIAMONDBACKS 0
Raul Ibañez whiffed on a 1-2 pitch over the outer half. Richie Sexson took the first pitch off of Snyder's glove behind the plate and it rolled away, moving Lopez to second. Sexson ended up flying out high to shallow right on the second pitch. E Gonzalez threw 19 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Craig Counsell fell behind 0-2 and ended up whiffing on a 2-2 low breaking ball. Eric Byrnes poked the first pitch into the rightfield corner for a triple. Chad Tracy fell behind 0-2 before grounding to first on a 1-2 pitch as Byrnes had to hold at third. Conor Jackson got ahead 3-1 before taking a full-count breaking ball at the waist. Meche threw 21 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Kenji Johjima grounded hard to third. Jeremy Reed popped out to left. Yuniesky Betancourt was up 2-0 before popping to Hudson in shallow center. E Gonzalez threw 11 pitches and had 30 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Luis Gonzalez bounced the second pitch to short. Shawn Green stroked a double down the leftfield line on the second pitch. Johjima went to the mound for a visit. Orlando Hudson grounded to Lopez moving back into shallow center. Chris Snyder worked a 1-2 count full before taking a curve for strike three. Meche threw 14 pitches and had 35 through two.
TOP 3RD
Gil Meche bounced a 2-2 pitch up the middle to Counsell. Ichiro popped a 2-0 pitch to Green in shallow right. Beltre had the hitters' counts and walked on a 3-1 pitch down and away. Lopez bounced the second pitch to short to force out Beltre at second. E Gonzalez threw 15 pitches and had 45 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
E Gonzalez fell behind 0-2 and ended up shooting a 1-2 pitch up the middle for a single. Counsell worked an 0-2 count full before punching a single through the right side, moving E Gonzalez to second. Byrnes shot the second pitch hard through the mound and to Betancourt to start a 4-6-3 double play, moving E Gonzalez to third. Tracy had the count 2-1 when Meche balked, which incredibly sucks. Meche rose up a bit while looking in for the sign and went back down, so it was a valid call.
»» DIAMONDBACKS 1, MARINERS 1
Tracy was ahead 3-1 and hit right back to the mound on a full count. Meche threw 22 pitches and had 57 through three.
TOP 4TH
Ibañez worked an 0-2 count full before grounding to second. Sexson worked a 1-2 count full before flying out very high to center. Johjima grounded the second pitch hard to third. E Gonzalez threw 14 pitches and had 59 through four.
BOTTOM 4TH
Jackson popped to Sexson near the first-base side of the mound. L Gonzalez was up 2-0 and whiffed on a 2-2 breaking ball. Shawn Green was up 3-0 before grounding hard to first on a 3-1 pitch. Meche threw 13 pitches and had 70 through four.
TOP 5TH
Reed rocketed the second pitch right into E Gonzalez' glove at the mound. Betancourt tapped back to the mound. Meche whiffed on an 0-2 breaking ball away. E Gonzalez threw nine pitches and had 68 through five.
BOTTOM 5TH
Hudson fell behind 0-2 before popping out high to center on a 2-2 pitch. Snyder split his bat on the second pitch, rolling out to short. E Gonzalez worked a 1-2 count full before grounding hard to second, where Lopez ranged over and booted the ball into centerfield (error). Counsell walked on a low 3-1 pitch. Pitching coach Rafael Chaves came to the mound for a visit. Byrnes smacked the first pitch into center for a single, scoring E Gonzalez and moving Counsell to second. Reed's throw wasn't exactly great either.
»» DIAMONDBACKS 2, MARINERS 1
Tracy popped the second pitch to Lopez in shallow center. Meche threw 21 pitches and had 91 through five.
TOP 6TH
Ichiro bounced out to first. Beltre fell behind 0-2 before whiffing on a 2-2 inside pitch. Lopez popped the first pitch high to left. E Gonzalez threw 12 pitches and had 80 through six.
BOTTOM 6TH
Jackson popped high to Sexson at first. L Gonzalez flew out to a trotting Ibañez in left on the second pitch. Shawn Green shot the second pitch through the mound and into center for a single. Hudson watched as Shawn Green was gunned down trying to steal second. Meche threw eight pitches and had 99 through five.
TOP 7TH
Ibañez popped a 2-2 pitch to Tracy at the dugout railing on the left side. Sexson blistered a down-and-in first pitch into the leftfield corner for a double. Johjima walked on a 3-1 change down and in. Reed whiffed on a 2-2 breaking ball in the dirt. Betancourt rode a fly ball to the centerfield track.
E Gonzalez' line: 7 innings, 1 run, 3 hits, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts, 100 pitches (58 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Hudson bounced to second. Snyder popped a 2-2 pitch to right. Andy Green, hitting for E Gonzalez, bounced to third on a 2-2 pitch.
Meche's line: 7 innings, 2 runs (1 earned), 6 hits, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts, 114 pitches (73 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Brandon Lyon came in for E Gonzalez. Carl Everett, hitting for Meche, popped the second pitch to shallow center. Ichiro fell behind 0-2 and served a 1-2 pitch into left for a flyout. Beltre fell down 0-2 and reached down and doubled to the wall in rightcenter on a 1-2 pitch. Lopez looped a 1-2 pitch to second.
Lyon's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 16 pitches (13 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Eddie Guardado came in for Meche. Counsell was ahead 2-0 and ended up rolling to first (3-1 putout). Byrnes whiffed on a 1-2 inside pitch. Tracy roped the second pitch into right for a single. Jackson spanked the second pitch back to the mound, where Guardado put a glove out and stopped it, and he thought it was in his glove, but it was at the top of the mound (his throw to first was barely late) as Tracy went to second. L Gonzalez looped the second pitch into shallow left but was robbed by a diving Reed (in the last game post, I did say he was due for one).
Guardado's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 14 pitches (9 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Jorge Julio came in for Lyon and Tony Clark came in for Jackson to play first. Ibañez rocked a 3-1 pitch to center which at first was called a triple, then was called a homer. Ol' Bob Melvin came out to argue and couldn't believe that the home plate umpire, who made the call on the play, was overruled in a conference after Ibañez was safe at third. Eventually, Melvin got tossed. I'll give it to him, this ejection was a lot better than most of the ones we saw in Seattle. However, as Thom Brenneman and Mark Grace said on the FSN Arizona telecast, Byrnes would have been racing in from centerfield to argue the call if it wasn't a homer.
»» DIAMONDBACKS 2, MARINERS 2
Sexson popped the second pitch high to Clark in foul ground on the right side. Johjima slapped a 1-2 pitch into the rightfield corner for a triple, just barely beating the relay from rightfield (Willie Bloomquist came in to run for Johjima). Reed whiffed on a 2-2 breaking ball in the dirt. Betancourt lined the first pitch in front of Byrnes for a single, scoring Bloomquist easily.
»» MARINERS 3, DIAMONDBACKS 2
Roberto Petagine, hitting for Guardado, got ahead 2-0 and walked on a full-count pitch in the dirt. Ichiro popped the second pitch to Byrnes in shallow leftcenter.
Julio's line: 1 inning, 2 runs, 3 hits, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, 25 pitches (13 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Shawn Green whiffed on a low 0-2 splitter. Hudson worked a 1-2 count full before whiffing on a fastball down and away. Jeff DaVanon, hitting for Snyder, worked an 0-2 count for a walk. Clark grounded to third on the first pitch.
Putz' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 16 pitches (9 strikes)
---
Gameball: JJ Putz.
It's been quite the month for Putz. Twelve appearances. One run, and Putz wasn't in a save situation in that game. Seven hits. Probably the most staggering thing is that he's walked only one hitter this month while striking out sixteen. Even more amazing, the one walk he's issued this month was in this very game, which may have been one of the more clutch saves he's had this month, and this was a game where the Mariners pulled it out in the ninth. This save here was probably in second place on the clutch save list for the month of June for Putz. Number one is, of course, the strikeout of Barry Bonds in the ninth way back on the 16th, probably the most entertaining game the Mariners have played this season. It's amazing the way this guy has developed. Remember that stretch last year where Putz was giving up a bunch of homers? He's come a long way since then. Sadly, Eddie Guardado has now done the exact opposite. This isn't about him, though. It's all about Putz here. Fourteen saves in fifteen tries this season. An ERA of 2.41. Seven walks and 52 strikeouts. Wow.
Goat: Ichiro.
He was 0-for-5. It's games like this that remind you of how much Ichiro means to the lineup when he's hitting, which is usually a lot. It also reminds you of how hard it can be for the Mariners to generate offense when he's not getting on base. When Enrique Gonzalez is shutting you out in six of the seven innings in which he throws, one can't help but think of how differently the game may have transpired if Ichiro had gotten on base even once. Maybe Enrique Gonzalez gets distracted if Ichiro gets on base, and maybe the Mariners scratch together some more runs and make this game a little less treacherous. What's a slump for Ichiro? In the last four games, he's gone 4-for-18 (.222), dropping his season batting average from .360 to a much more pedestrian .353. He's still hitting .396 for the month of June. I went back through Ichiro's game log and the Mariners' schedule so far this season, and I've come up with this: the Mariners have a record of 3-12 when Ichiro goes hitless. Of course, this also means that Ichiro has hit safely in 65 of 80 games this season.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 59-21 .738 -- W3
2003 52-28 .650 7 L2
2002 51-29 .638 8 W5
2000 48-32 .600 11 W3
2006 41-39 .513 18 W5
2005 34-46 .425 25 W1
2004 32-48 .400 27 L3
LINEUP SINCE THE TWEAK (May 30th)
Ichiro 49-for-120 (.408), 3 doubles, 1 triple, 3 homers, 12 RBIs, 11 walks, 9 strikeouts
Beltre 38-for-115 (.330), 12 doubles, 2 triples, 5 homers, 20 RBIs, 10 walks, 20 strikeouts
Lopez 29-for-105 (.276), 10 doubles, 2 triples, 1 homer, 17 RBIs, 6 walks, 15 strikeouts
Ibañez 33-for-98 (.337), 6 doubles, 1 triple, 9 homers, 31 RBIs, 14 walks, 16 strikeouts
Sexson 27-for-105 (.257), 4 doubles, 8 homers, 28 RBIs, 11 walks, 24 strikeouts
Everett 14-for-65 (.215), 2 homers, 5 RBIs, 5 walks, 15 strikeouts
Johjima 31-for-90 (.344), 8 doubles, 1 triple, 5 homers, 16 RBIs, 4 walks, 6 strikeouts
Reed 20-for-85 (.235), 2 doubles, 4 homers, 7 RBIs, 4 walks, 11 strikeouts
Betancourt 27-for-94 (.287), 3 doubles, 2 triples, 2 homers, 9 RBIs, 5 walks, 8 strikeouts
Fogg. Moyer. Tonight.
/ Click for main page
Thursday, June 29, 2006
GAME 79: MARINERS 10, DIAMONDBACKS 3
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: It's a winning baseball team and they can score seven combined runs in the final two innings.
This one featured Felix Hernandez going up against Edgar Gonzalez. A win would put the Mariners above .500 for the first time since they were 3-2, five games into the season. A win here would give the Mariners eighteen wins in twenty-five tries. Simple math there gives the Mariners a win percentage of .720 in that stretch of games. Yes, the Mariners have been playing crazy-good baseball lately, the kind of baseball that I thought a month or so ago that there was no way in hell this team was going to be playing. I like surprises. The Mariners are two games from the halfway point of the season, and they're guaranteed of being no worse than a game under .500 after 81 games have been played. In a related story, the tail-spinning Diamondbacks came in with an 8.65 first-inning ERA. They also came in with Bob Melvin managing, but that happens every game.
TOP 1ST
Ichiro was ahead 2-0 before dumping a 2-2 pitch into shallow center for a single. Adrian Beltre took a 2-2 pitch in the dirt that went wide of Estrada behind the plate and to the backstop, moving Ichiro to second. Beltre ended up whiffing on a full-count breaking ball. Jose Lopez laid the barrel and reached on an 0-2 pitch and flew out to left. Raul Ibañez took the first pitch behind him and it went to the backstop, moving Ichiro to third. Ibañez ended up flying out high to Hudson moving back into shallow right. E Gonzalez threw 18 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Craig Counsell chopped high to first on a quick PFP play with a nice flip by Sexson (3-1 putout). Jeff DaVanon was up 2-0 before whiffing on a 2-2 curve of death. Chad Tracy served an 0-2 pitch into shallow center for a single. Conor Jackson grounded hard to third. Hernandez threw 16 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Richie Sexson whiffed on a 1-2 breaking ball off the plate outside. Kenji Johjima popped an 0-2 pitch to Counsell moving back into shallow center. Jeremy Reed popped high to Tracy in foul ground near the third-base coaches' box. E Gonzalez threw 13 pitches and had 31 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Luis Gonzalez flew out to fairly deep center on the first pitch. Shawn Green chopped a 1-2 pitch to first and Sexson tagged him running down the line. Johnny Estrada bounced the first pitch through the right side for a single. Orlando Hudson knocked a 2-0 pitch near the rightfield line for a single, moving Estrada to third. E Gonzalez was ahead 2-0 before whiffing on a 2-2 curve down and away. Hernandez threw 14 pitches and had 30 through two.
TOP 3RD
Yuniesky Betancourt reached on an 0-2 pitch and dumped a single just past Counsell moving back into the outfield. Felix Hernandez bunted the second pitch along the first-base line, where Jackson cut him off running down the line. Ichiro popped the first pitch to center. Beltre looped the second pitch in front of Shawn Green in rightfield, who played Beltre to pull as Betancourt scored.
»» MARINERS 1, DIAMONDBACKS 0
Lopez flew out high to center. E Gonzalez 12 pitches and had 43 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Counsell smacked a 1-2 pitch up the middle for a single. DaVanon grounded the 2-2 pitch hard to first, moving Counsell to second. Tracy roped the second pitch barely foul down the leftfield line, and he whiffed on an 0-2 change on the next pitch. Jackson grounded the 1-2 pitch to third. Hernandez threw 17 pitches and had 47 through three.
TOP 4TH
Ibañez got the hitters' counts and walked on a 3-1 pitch outside. Sexson grounded the second pitch hard to short to start a 6-4-3 double play. Johjima grounded out to second. Gonzalez threw ten pitches and had 53 through four.
BOTTOM 4TH
L Gonzalez took an 0-2 fastball to the right tricep. Shawn Green whiffed on the second pitch, which got past Johjima to enable L Gonzalez to move to second. At this point, the FSN Arizona crew was still thinking about Hernandez throwing the errant fastball and showed footage of color man Mark Grace getting nailed in the right kidney with a Randy Johnson fastball. Shawn Green ripped a 2-2 pitch into the rightfield corner for a double, easily scoring L Gonzalez.
»» DIAMONDBACKS 1, MARINERS 1
Estraded flew out high and deep to center, enabling Shawn Green to tag and move to third. Pitching coach Rafael Chaves visited the mound. Hudson nubbed slowly to the left side, where Beltre charged and threw to first as Beltre would have had no play on Shawn Green, especially after having trouble coming up with a handle on it.
»» DIAMONDBACKS 2, MARINERS 1
E Gonzalez ripped the second pitch into center for a single. Counsell rolled the first pitch up the middle to short, where Betancourt flipped to second for the force. Hernandez threw 15 pitches and had 62 through four.
TOP 5TH
Reed blasted the second pitch somewhere to the left of the pool and just to the right of the 413-foot marker. What a blast, seriously.
»» DIAMONDBACKS 2, MARINERS 2
Betancourt popped a 2-2 pitch to Hudson calling off Jackson in foul ground near first. Hernandez chopped the first pitch to short. Ichiro fell behind 0-2 and shot a 1-2 pitch through the middle for a single. Beltre popped to shallow left. E Gonzalez threw 19 pitches and had 72 through five.
BOTTOM 5TH
DaVanon grounded the first pitch behind the bag at first and Sexson underhanded from the outfield grass to a covering Hernandez at first. Tracy walked on four pitches. Jackson was ahead 2-0 and ended up rolling out to second. L Gonzalez was up 2-0 and knocked a 2-2 comebacker to the mound that was nicely handled by Hernandez, who threw to first. Hernandez threw 15 pitches and had 77 through five.
TOP 6TH
Lopez drove a 2-0 pitch into the leftcenter gap for a double. Ibañez made contact with a letter-high 0-2 pitch and grounded to first, moving Lopez to third. Sexson whiffed on all three pitches he saw, the last one being belt-high over the outside corner. Johjima blistered a 2-2 pitch past a diving Tracy at third, scoring Lopez easily.
»» MARINERS 3, DIAMONDBACKS 2
Reed lasered the second pitch to right that Shawn Green made a first step in on, but moved back and reached to make the catch. E Gonzalez threw 16 pitches and had 88 through six.
BOTTOM 6TH
Shawn Green rolled the first pitch to short. Estrada looped an 0-2 pitch into left on which Ibañez got a bad jump and tried to make a sliding catch, but he missed. Luckily, Estrada wasn't hustling out of the box and only got a single out of it. Hudson grounded the first pitch to first to start a 3-6-3 double play. Hernandez threw six pitches and had 83 through six.
TOP 7TH
Betancourt grounded hard to short. Hernandez was ahead 2-0 before whiffing on a 2-2 pitch off the plate outside. Ichiro got ahead 2-0 and nubbed a 2-2 pitch to third.
E Gonzalez' line: 7 innings, 3 runs, 7 hits, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts, 103 pitches (72 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Andy Shawn Green, hitting for E Gonzalez, bounced the second pitch to second. Counsell popped to Reed in leftcenter on a 2-2 pitch. DaVanon had four fastballs en route to a 2-2 count before taking a curve for strike three over the outside corner, which is just evil. Hernandez threw 12 pitches and had 95 through seven.
Hernandez' line: 7 innings, 2 runs, 7 hits, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts, 95 pitches (62 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Luis Vizcaino came in for E Gonzalez. Beltre put the barrel on an outside 0-2 pitch and drove it to the wall in rightfield for a stand-up triple. Lopez drove a fly ball that landed near the track in rightcenter in front of the pool for a triple, easily scoring Beltre.
»» MARINERS 4, DIAMONDBACKS 2
Ibañez scorched a full-count pitch past a diving Jackson at first for a single, scoring Lopez easily. Estrada came to the mound for a visit.
»» MARINERS 5, DIAMONDBACKS 2
Sexson popped an 0-2 pitch high to Jackson near the mound. Johjima was up 3-0 before walking on a 3-1 pitch outside.
Greg Aquino came in for Vizcaino. Reed stroked a single into center, scoring Ibañez and moving Johjima to second.
»» MARINERS 6, DIAMONDBACKS 2
Betancourt rolled the second pitch to second to start a 4-6-3 double play.
Vizcaino's line: 1/3 inning, 3 runs, 3 hits, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 22 pitches (14 strikes)
Aquino's line: 2/3 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 6 pitches (3 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
George Sherrill came in for Hernandez. Tracy looped the second pitch into center for a single. Jackson was up 3-0 and walked on a full-count pitch outside, moving Tracy to second.
Rafael Soriano came in for Sherrill. L Gonzalez took an 0-2 pitch barely up and away before fishing a bit and popping to Ichiro on the track in rightcenter, moving Tracy to third. Shawn Green drove a 2-0 pitch to Reed a few strides short of the track in center, scoring Tracy.
»» MARINERS 6, DIAMONDBACKS 3
Estrada flew out high to left on the second pitch.
Sherrill's line: 0 innings, 1 run, 1 hit, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 8 pitches (4 strikes)
Soriano's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 10 pitches (6 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Jose Valverde came in for Aquino. Carl Everett, hitting for Soriano, whiffed on a 1-2 fastball. Ichiro whiffed on a 1-2 pitch down and in that got away from Estrada (2-3 putout). Beltre took the first pitch to the arse. Lopez had the hit-and-run on and reached for a low-and-away 1-2 pitch and tucked it into right for a single, moving Beltre to third, i.e., perfectly executed hit-and-run. Ibañez walked on a 3-1 pitch low and away, loading the bases. Pitching coach Bryan Price came to the mound for a visit. Sexson rocked a down-and-in 1-2 pitch to the base of the wall in center for a double to clear the bases.
»» MARINERS 9, DIAMONDBACKS 3
Johjima lasered the second pitch off the base of the leftfield wall to score Sexson.
»» MARINERS 10, DIAMONDBACKS 3
Reed rode the first pitch to deep rightcenter for a flyout, about 20 feet shorter from where he hit the homer earlier.
Valverde's line: 1 inning, 4 runs, 3 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 26 pitches (16 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Sean Green came in for Soriano. Hudson was up 3-0 and walked on a full-count pitch down and in. Tony Clark, hitting for Valverde, rolled the second pitch to second for a 4-6-3 fairly nifty double play. Counsell grounded a 1-2 pitch hard to first.
Sean Green's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 12 pitches (7 strikes)
---
Gameball: Jeremy Reed.
I root hard for this guy, and it's worth it for nights like this one. Aside from his first at-bat of the night, Reed hit the ball really hard. Other than the homer that went a surprisingly long way and the RBI single, he also lined out to right on a ball that could have gone over Shawn Green's head, and he nearly hit another homer in the area of where he had successfully hit a homer earlier in the game. I think he's due for another diving catch in centerfield to remind us that he's great defensively out there, but he was pretty due for this offensive output as well. Reed hit .273 last month, but is hitting only .234 this month. His on-base average is .003 better this month than last. That month of May raised Reed's batting average from .188 to .227, but the month of June hasn't done much to it, as it's now at .230. By the same token, he's gotten more at-bats this month than in any of the previous months. So, to recap, Reed's percentage numbers are down in June, but most of the other numbers for this month are up from May, though more at-bats might have something to do with it. The good news is that it's his most prolific home-run month, and only one of those was in Anaheim.
Goat: George Sherrill.
If a guy comes in to face two hitters and gets nobody out, he's always a candidate for this spot if none of the hitters go 0-for-5 and strike out three times or something. In short, Sherrill came out to the mound with a 6-2 lead and made things way too interesting for anyone's liking other than Arizona. Of course, Sherrill is used in such a fashion where he usually never throws to more than one or two batters anyways, so sometimes Sherrill is susceptible to outings like this one. Sherrill has had 11 appearances this month and has given up five runs. However, those 11 appearances only add up to five innings. Thus, his ERA in June isn't exactly a sparkling one since it's an even 9.00. Still, he's given up runs in only four of the 11 outings this month. His strikeout numbers have dropped off in June compared to April and May. What gives a good scope of just how many times he gets out there and how many batters he faces, he's given up four hits in June, and that's more than he had in either April or May.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 58-21 .734 -- W2
2003 52-27 .658 6 L1
2002 50-29 .633 8 W4
2000 47-32 .595 11 W2
2006 40-39 .506 18 W4
2005 33-46 .418 25 L7
2004 32-47 .405 26 L2
LINEUP SINCE THE TWEAK (May 30th)
Ichiro 49-for-115 (.426), 3 doubles, 1 triple, 3 homers, 12 RBIs, 11 walks, 9 strikeouts
Beltre 36-for-112 (.321), 11 doubles, 1 triple, 5 homers, 20 RBIs, 9 walks, 19 strikeouts
Lopez 28-for-101 (.277), 10 doubles, 2 triples, 1 homer, 16 RBIs, 6 walks, 15 strikeouts
Ibañez 32-for-94 (.340), 6 doubles, 1 triple, 9 homers, 30 RBIs, 14 walks, 15 strikeouts
Sexson 26-for-101 (.257), 3 doubles, 8 homers, 28 RBIs, 11 walks, 24 strikeouts
Everett 14-for-64 (.219), 2 homers, 5 RBIs, 5 walks, 15 strikeouts
Johjima 30-for-87 (.345), 8 doubles, 5 homers, 16 RBIs, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts
Reed 20-for-81 (.247), 2 doubles, 4 homers, 7 RBIs, 4 walks, 9 strikeouts
Betancourt 26-for-90 (.289), 3 doubles, 2 triples, 2 homers, 8 RBIs, 5 walks, 8 strikeouts
Meche. (Another) Gonzalez. Tonight.
/ Click for main page
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
GAME 78: MARINERS 11, DIAMONDBACKS 7
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: The team finally got back to .500. I hope it's not another 66 games until they climb any higher.
This one featured Jarrod Washburn going up against Brandon Webb. A win by the Mariners would finally get them back to .500, a place where they haven't been since they had a 6-6 record. A win would also give the Mariners seventeen wins in twenty-four tries.
TOP 1ST
Ichiro got ahead 2-0 and ended up walking on a full-count pitch off the plate inside. Adrian Beltre ripped a single through the left side to move Ichiro to second. Jose Lopez drove a 2-2 pitch the other way toward the rightfield corner, and Lopez skated into third with a triple after having plated Ichiro and Beltre.
»» MARINERS 2, DIAMONDBACKS 0
Raul Ibañez chopped up the middle off of Counsell's glove and into center, scoring Lopez.
»» MARINERS 3, DIAMONDBACKS 0
Richie Sexson took a 1-2 pitch over the inside corner, possibly a bit inside. Kenji Johjima fell behind 0-2 before cranking a 1-2 pitch into the third row of leftfield seats, scoring Ibañez.
»» MARINERS 5, DIAMONDBACKS 0
Jeremy Reed took a high strike on an 0-2 pitch. Yuniesky Betancourt whiffed on a 2-2 breaking ball over the inside corner. Webb threw 35 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Craig Counsell fell behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 breaking ball low and away. Eric Byrnes whiffed on a high 1-2 fastball. Chad Tracy fell behind 0-2 before doubling over Ibañez' head in left and off the wall on a 2-2 pitch. Conor Jackson got ahead 2-0 and ended up taking a full-count fastball inside. Luis Gonzalez crushed the second pitch into the pool in rightcenter, his first homer in 204 at-bats, scoring Tracy and Jackson.
»» MARINERS 5, DIAMONDBACKS 3
Johnny Estrada rolled the first pitch to short. Washburn threw 23 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Jarrod Washburn fell behind 0-2 and ended up whiffing on a 1-2 pitch up and away. Ichiro lifted the second pitch to shallow leftcenter, and it ended up dropping, giving Ichiro second base. Beltre took a first-pitch breaking ball for a strike, but Ichiro nabbed second without a throw. Beltre rolled the second pitch to third. Lopez was ahead 2-0 and ended up grounding hard to third. Webb threw 14 pitches and had 49 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Shawn Green walloped a homer about twelve rows back into the rightfield seats. Quite the shot.
»» MARINERS 5, DIAMONDBACKS 4
Orlando Hudson popped high to first. Brandon Webb knocked a fastball up the middle into centerfield. Counsell grounded the second pitch hard to first, where Sexson didn't come up with it cleanly and quickly, but threw to second for the force. Betancourt's throw back to first wasn't in time. Byrnes was up 2-0 before flying out to Sexson on the infield grass. Washburn threw 15 pitches and had 38 through two.
TOP 3RD
Ibañez whiffed on a 2-2 breaking ball down and in. Sexson bounced the 2-0 pitch to short. Johjima worked a 1-2 count for a walk (eight pitches). Reed slapped the first pitch through the left side for a single, moving Johjima to second. Betancourt bounced the second pitch to short, where Counsell tossed to second for the force. Webb threw 18 pitches and had 67 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Tracy fell behind 0-2 and poked a 1-2 pitch, lining out to second. Jackson punched a single through the left side. Gonzalez flew out to center on a hanging 2-0 breaking ball. Estrada flew out to shallow right on the first pitch. Washburn threw 11 pitches and had 49 through three.
TOP 4TH
Washburn chopped out to second on the second pitch. Ichiro flew out to right. Beltre reached and rolled a 2-2 pitch to short. Webb threw ten pitches and had 77 through four.
BOTTOM 4TH
Green took a 2-2 pitch over the outside corner. Hudson rolled the first pitch to short. Webb bounced the second pitch to Betancourt, who fielded the ball on the outfield grass. Washburn threw nine pitches and had 58 through four.
TOP 5TH
Lopez smacked a ball to third that Tracy dove for and stopped, then made the long toss to first in time. Ibañez slowly bounced a full-count pitch near the middle, where Hudson had a long way to go to get it, and it went as a single (no throw). Sexson bounced a 2-2 pitch to short to start a 6-4-3 double play. Webb threw 14 pitches and had 91 through five.
BOTTOM 5TH
Counsell was up 2-0 and bounced a 2-2 pitch to short, where Betancourt had to stay back and make a throw (high), which was picked by the vertically-inclined Sexson at first. Byrnes fell behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 2-2 breaking ball away to end an eight-pitch at-bat. Tracy worked a 1-2 count full before taking a pitch over the outside corner. Washburn threw 20 pitches and had 78 through five.
TOP 6TH
Johjima popped a 1-2 pitch to center. Reed popped the first pitch high to deep left. Betancourt bounced the second pitch to Hudson moving back into shallow right. Webb threw eight pitches and had 99 through six.
BOTTOM 6TH
Jackson popped high to shallow center on a 2-2 pitch. Gonzalez popped a 2-0 pitch high to Betancourt in front of the second-base bag. Estrada grounded out to short.
Washburn's line: 6 innings, 4 runs, 5 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts, 89 pitches (58 strikes)
TOP 7TH
Roberto Petagine, hitting for Washburn, roped the second pitch into the rightfield corner for a double. Ichiro bounced high to second, where Hudson thought he had a play on Petagine at third, and he threw somewhere past the third-base bag, scoring Petagine and moving Ichiro to second.
»» MARINERS 6, DIAMONDBACKS 4
Beltre punched the second pitch for a double near the rightfield line, scoring Ichiro. Pitching coach Bryan Price came out to the mound for a visit.
»» MARINERS 7, DIAMONDBACKS 4
Lopez tapped the second pitch back to the mound, where Webb put a glove on it and stopped it, but threw to first as Beltre held at second. Ibañez shot a full-count grounder to the right side which was stopped by a diving Jackson (3-1 putout) as Beltre moved to third. Sexson split his bat on the first pitch, grounding out to third as Tracy had to dodge the bat barrel flying over his head. Webb threw 16 pitches and had 115 through seven.
Webb's line: 7 innings, 7 runs, 9 hits, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts, 115 pitches (74 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
George Sherrill came in for Washburn. Green bounced a 1-2 pitch slowly along the right side, where Lopez charged and tried the glove-flip to first and nearly got Green at first. Hudson walked on a 3-1 pitch down and in. Damion Easley, hitting for Webb, took the first pitch off of Johjima's glove (passed ball), moving both runners into scoring position. Pitching coach Rafael Chaves visited the mound. Easley ended up taking a 2-2 pitch across the knees over the inside corner. Counsell took an 0-2 fastball over the outside corner.
Julio Mateo came in for Sherrill. Byrnes worked an 0-2 count full before doubling the eighth pitch of the at-bat to the wall in the leftfield corner, scoring Green and Hudson.
»» MARINERS 7, DIAMONDBACKS 6
Tracy took the first pitch, and it went off Johjima's glove and behind the plate, but Byrnes didn't take off for third. Tracy rode the 2-2 pitch to the rightfield wall, nearly missing a homer, scoring Byrnes easily.
»» DIAMONDBACKS 7, MARINERS 7
Jackson took a 1-1 pitch way inside that hit him.
Eddie Guardado came in for Mateo, a.k.a., a no-win situation. Gonzalez couldn't hold a checkswing on a 1-2 pitch way outside. Guardado threw four pitches.
Sherrill's line: 2/3 inning, 2 runs, 1 hit, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 17 pitches (10 strikes)
Mateo's line: 0 innings, 1 run, 2 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 16 pitches (9 strikes)
Guardado's line: 1/3 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 4 pitches (3 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Brandon Medders came in for Webb. Johjima tapped back to the mound. Reed got ahead 2-0 and rolled out to second. Betancourt got ahead 3-0 and wound up taking a full-count breaking ball in the dirt and way outside. Carl Everett, hitting for Guardado, flew out to Byrnes running into rightcenter.
Medders' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 17 pitches (8 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Jake Woods came in for Guardado. Estrada flew out to shallow right on the second pitch. Green crushed a 3-1 fastball high off the centerfield wall for a double. Hudson rolled the second pitch to short, where Betancourt threw to third and Beltre ran down Green running toward second for a huge out. Jeff DaVanon, hitting for Medders, took a 1-1 pitch barely low before bouncing to short for a 6-4 force at second. Woods threw 13 pitches.
TOP 9TH
Brandon Lyon came in for Medders. Ichiro lined a 2-0 pitch to Green just short of the rightfield track. Beltre rocketed the second pitch to the wall in rightcenter for a double. Lopez looped a fly ball to shallow center, where Byrnes called off the middle infielders for the catch. Ibañez was intentionally walked. Price visited the mound. Sexson lashed the first-pitch breaking ball along the leftfield line for a double, scoring Beltre and moving Ibañez to third.
»» MARINERS 8, DIAMONDBACKS 7
Johjima crushed the second pitch about twelve rows back into the leftfield seats to sorta make up for that passed ball and other issues behind the plate. It also scored Ibañez and Sexson.
»» MARINERS 11, DIAMONDBACKS 7
Reed bounced the first pitch to second. Lyon threw 17 pitches.
BOTTOM 9TH
Counsell flew out to Reed in leftcenter on the second pitch. Byrnes was ahead 3-0 and bashed a 3-1 pitch off the base of the wall in leftfield, where Ibañez gunned over to second and was called safe and may have been out (hand on the bag before tag on the face). Tracy bounced a 2-2 pitch to second, moving Byrnes to third. Jackson took a 3-1 pitch way inside.
JJ Putz came in for Woods. Gonzalez flew out to Ibañez in left.
Woods' line: 1 2/3 innings, 0 runs, 2 hits, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 30 pitches (15 strikes)
Putz' line: 1/3 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 4 pitches (2 strikes)
---
Gameball: Adrian Beltre.
Sure, Kenji Johjima hit two homers and drove in five runs, but he'd be too obvious a choice of a gameball. Plus, Johjima had a particularly untimely passed ball in the seventh which was instrumental in helping the Diamondbacks to tie the game. That was also very instrumental in screwing Jarrod Washburn out of a win after he settled down bigtime after the first couple innings. Still, this is supposed to be about Beltre. In just nine games, he has raised his season batting average from .231 to .255 thanks to this .306 June. Even more amazingly, his slugging percentage has jumped from .300 coming into the month to its present .386 thanks to his .561-slugging June. Granted, .386 for a slugging percentage isn't exactly mindblowing since his career slugging percentage is .451. Needless to say, the 2004 mark was nuts (.629). June has been the only month in which Beltre has hit more than one homer. His five this month are accompanied by ten doubles for a combined fifteen extra-base hits, accounting for half of his base hits this month. This comes after seven extra-base hits in the month of May. Can you guess how many extra-base knocks Beltre had in April off the top of your head? Try two. One homer, one double. Not that we have to remember just how bad his April was.
Goat: Julio Mateo.
I came into this year thinking Mateo would be able to do roughly the same job as in recent years, but now it seems like we might have another Guardado in our midst. The worst thing George Sherrill did in the seventh was walk Orlando Hudson with Shawn Green already on first. Sherrill got the ground ball from Green that he wanted, so the infield hit was passable. Also, with Damion Easley up, Kenji Johjima let the passed ball by. Then Sherrill struck out Easley and Craig Counsell. Mateo only needed one out. He faced three hitters. He had an 0-2 count on Eric Byrnes and a 1-2 count on Chad Tracy. Byrnes worked his count full and doubled, and Tracy doubled on a 2-2 pitch. The game was already tied, but Mateo took it one step further and hit Conor Jackson with a way-inside pitch. To rub it in, Mateo was tagged with a blown save as a result of this outing. At least Mateo can't hide behind a phony guise of effective wildness. Mateo has given up runs in four of ten games this month. He's walked four batters, struck out two, and given up fourteen hits in 8 1/3 innings. Using simple math, he gives up 0.48 walks per inning and 1.68 hits per inning. Folks, that's bad.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 57-21 .731 -- W1
2003 52-26 .667 5 W2
2002 49-29 .628 8 W3
2000 46-32 .590 11 W1
2006 39-39 .500 18 W3
2005 33-45 .423 24 L6
2004 32-46 .410 25 L1
LINEUP SINCE THE TWEAK (May 30th)
Ichiro 47-for-110 (.427), 3 doubles, 1 triple, 3 homers, 12 RBIs, 11 walks, 8 strikeouts
Beltre 34-for-108 (.315), 10 doubles, 5 homers, 19 RBIs, 9 walks, 18 strikeouts
Lopez 25-for-96 (.260), 9 doubles, 1 triple, 1 homer, 15 RBIs, 6 walks, 15 strikeouts
Ibañez 31-for-91 (.341), 6 doubles, 1 triple, 9 homers, 29 RBIs, 14 walks, 15 strikeouts
Sexson 25-for-96 (.260), 3 doubles, 8 homers, 25 RBIs, 11 walks, 22 strikeouts
Everett 14-for-63 (.222), 2 homers, 5 RBIs, 5 walks, 13 strikeouts
Johjima 28-for-83 (.337), 8 doubles, 5 homers, 14 RBIs, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts
Reed 18-for-76 (.237), 2 doubles, 3 homers, 5 RBIs, 4 walks, 9 strikeouts
Betancourt 25-for-86 (.291), 3 doubles, 2 triples, 2 homers, 8 RBIs, 5 walks, 8 strikeouts
Hernandez. Gonzalez. Tonight.
/ Click for main page
Monday, June 26, 2006
VULCANIZED RUBBER
It was a big week in hockey and in Canuckville. Very big.
-- Not exactly Canuck-related, but I had a playoff beard growing that I vowed not to shave off until the Stanley Cup was awarded. I was miffed when Carolina didn't take Game 6, and I had to wait until Monday to finally hack it off because it was getting a little bit crazy. Still, I wanted to grow the playoff beard just once so I know what I'll be dealing with if/when the Canucks win the Stanley Cup. I did it as well in 2003-04, but the Canucks didn't get past Game 7 of the first round, so that beard only lasted about two weeks.
-- Speaking of Monday's Game 7, there should be some sort of law on the books mandating that any network that shows the Stanley Cup being awarded has to show every player hoisting the Cup in the postgame celebration. The fact that NBC ended the broadcast before I got the chance to see Erik Cole lift up the Cup is absolute blasphemy. The dude came back from broken neck vertebrae to play in the Finals, for goodness' sake. The crowd probably erupted, but hell if I know since NBC didn't show it.
-- The Canucks canned coach Marc Crawford right after the season and finally filled the vacancy on Tuesday by promoting Manitoba Moose (AHL) coach Alain Vigneault to the big club. The Moose went 44-24-7 this past season and lost Game 7 of the second round to the Grand Rapids Griffins (Detroit). In the lockout season, the Moose were swept in the conference finals by the Chicago Wolves (Atlanta) and the incredible goalie Kari Lehtonen (side note: Chicago was swept by the incredible Antero Niittymaki and the Philadelphia Phantoms for the Calder Cup). The point is, the coach of that team was Randy Carlyle. After Brian Burke was hired as GM of the Anaheim then-Mighty Ducks, he brought Carlyle along to coach the Anaheim team that got to the Western Conference finals. I guess my point is that if whoever coaches the Moose next year gets hired to be an NHL head coach the year after, that would be very crazy. I know about as much as Vigneault that the press release tells me.
-- The unquestionably huge news came on Friday. Yes, 'twas a big trade. The core was finally shaken up one year after I thought it'd be. The Canucks got goalie Roberto Luongo, defenseman Lukas Krajicek, and a sixth-round pick in Saturday's draft for defenseman Bryan Allen, goalie Alex Auld, and much-maligned hulking right-winger Todd Bertuzzi. Funny how after the season ended, some people were saying that one of either Marc Crawford or Bertuzzi had to go in the offseason. Now they're both gone. What sticks out about the move, of course, is that the Canucks after years of shaky goaltending now have an undisputed #1 goalie, though he's never played in an NHL playoff game. However, this game in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey was a pretty big one for Luongo. The other end of bringing on Luongo is that it's all about over for Dan Cloutier in Vancouver. Cloutier won thirty games for three straight seasons in the three full seasons he played as a Canuck, but ultimately it was about the playoffs, or namely the long softie that Nicklas Lidstrom got past him. As for Auld, he deserves a starting job in the NHL after last year, and it appears Florida will give him one. I don't know much about Krajicek, other than that they're pretty high on him. Even if it's a straight swap of Allen for Krajicek, though, Nonis has to get way more on defense, so he'd better get some blueline help in exchange for Cloutier. It looks as if last year's deadline goalie acquisition, Mika Noronen, will be the backup. Still, the Canucks have to figure out who plays right wing on the top line. That's unless they re-sign Anson Carter (which I hope like hell they do) and move him and the Sedins to the top line. There's lots of questions still left to be answered between now and opening night in October when the next installment of the Canucks takes the ice.
-- I no longer have to get that weird feeling I had when I realize I'm rooting for a team with Todd Bertuzzi on it. I've said it before, but it felt like I was rooting for a team with Ray Lewis or, God forbid, Leonard Little on it.
-- The Canucks drafted five times in Saturday's draft, including the sixth-rounder that came in the Luongo/Bertuzzi trade. They took Austrian Michael Grabner of the Spokane Chiefs at 14th of the first round, Daniel Rahimi from Sweden at 82nd (third round), Sergei Shirokov of Russia with the 163rd pick (sixth round), Slovakian-born Juraj Simek who played with a Swiss team last year at 167 (sixth round), and Evan Fuller of the Prince George Cougars at 197th (seventh round). OLN amazingly piped in the TSN feed of the NHL Draft, at least for most of the first round. Hey, it's better than nothing.
-- The draft was the first time I learned that the Anaheim Ducks now have their new logo and duds out. It took me a few seconds to realize that the letter D is the webbed foot of a duck instead of a stingray or a comet. Still, not a bad color scheme, and I was waiting for the day that the team finally cut the final tie with their Disney past. Since I'm picky about uniforms, I'm surprised they'll actually go with the word "Ducks" across the front as opposed to just a logo, which seems like the usual these days. I personally would prefer just the D on the front, but oh well.
Yes, it was a busy week in hockey.
[as with most hockey posts I do here, this one was fed through the HockeyDB.com Player Encoder]
/ Click for main page
Sunday, June 25, 2006
GAME 77: MARINERS 9, PADRES 4
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: Five homers followed eight from the night before in San Diego. Also, someone was busy hitting balls a country mile.
This one featured Joel Piñeiro going up against Mike Thompson. Fresh off a victory the night before to stop their two-game losing streak, the Mariners hoped to put together another winning streak to head into their off-day before hopping a flight to Phoenix, where Jason Grimsley has left an icky taste in the mouths of the Diamondbacks, though not quite a Rick Neuheisel-type bad taste. I don't think the Diamondbacks will be facing bowl bans and probation. A win in this game would make it sixteen wins in twenty-three tries for the Mariners. With the win, they would also have won six of their last seven series, the outlier being the sweep in Oakland. Yes, a win and a series win would be very good things. As if that's not enough, a win would put them back within a game of .500. In an odd note, the Mariners' last ten homers have been solo shots.
TOP 1ST
Ichiro was ahead 3-0 and walked on a 3-1 pitch outside. Adrian Beltre fell behind 0-2 and chopped a 1-2 pitch to short, but it was hit slowly enough so Beltre wasn't doubled off at first. Jose Lopez fouled the 1-2 pitch straight off his left shin and took a while to walk it off. Lopez ended up one-hopping the next pitch over the leftfield fence in the corner for a double. Raul Ibañez was intentionally walked to load the bases. Richie Sexson fought off a pitch, getting jammed and dumping a single into shallow center, scoring Beltre and keeping the bases loaded.
»» MARINERS 1, PADRES 0
Jeremy Reed popped the first pitch to Johnson in left, but it wasn't deep enough to score Lopez. Rene Rivera hit the second pitch for a nice swinging bunt along the third-base line, but Rivera's a catcher and doesn't run fast, so he was thrown out. Thompson threw 24 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Mike Cameron popped the first pitch to Sexson treacherously under the sun in foul ground near first. Mark Bellhorn popped the second pitch to center. Brian Giles grounded out to second on the second pitch. Piñeiro threw only six pitches.
TOP 2ND
Willie Bloomquist popped an 0-2 pitch to center. Joel Piñeiro foul-tipped a 1-2 breaking ball into Bard's glove behind the plate. Ichiro whiffed horribly on an 0-2 pitch outside. Thompson threw ten pitches and had 34 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Josh Bard was ahead 2-0 and ripped a 2-1 pitch barely foul past first base. Bard ended up taking a full-count pitch down and in that nearly hit him. Adrian Gonzalez bounced the second pitch along the right side, where Piñeiro got it and had Gonzalez run into him as Bard went to second. Khalil Greene lined the second pitch to Ichiro running toward the fence in rightcenter, moving Bard to third. Ben Johnson fell behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 2-2 breaking ball down and away. Piñeiro threw 17 pitches and had 23 through two.
TOP 3RD
Beltre rolled out to short. Lopez worked a 1-2 count for a walk. Ibañez was ahead 2-0 but later rolled to second to start a 4-6-3 double play. Thompson threw 14 pitches and had 48 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Geoff Blum worked an 0-2 count before rolling it to Beltre on the left side, who threw high (Sexson is tall). Mike Thompson bounced an 0-2 pitch to second. Cameron cranked a liner that got over the wall in centerfield, giving him homers in all three games of the series.
»» PADRES 1, MARINERS 1
Bellhorn whiffed on a full-count breaking ball down and in. Piñeiro threw 20 pitches and had 43 through three.
TOP 4TH
Sexson blasted one into the second deck in leftcenter.
»» MARINERS 2, PADRES 1
Reed lined a low 1-2 pitch to Bellhorn in the hole on the right side. Rivera roped a 1-2 pitch down the leftfield line, but the ballgirl played the live ball and gave it to a child in the stands, resulting in a ground-rule double, which it probably would have been anyway. In any event, tip your beverage of choice to the ballgirl because she'll get a lot of heat for that. Bloomquist whiffed on a 3-1 pitch up and in before walking on a full-count pitch down and in. Piñeiro bunted an 0-2 pitch to the mound, where Thompson got it and would have had Rivera at third, but Thompson threw it wide and into left, scoring Rivera and moving Bloomquist to third as Piñeiro also got to second on the play.
»» MARINERS 3, PADRES 1
Ichiro bounced the first pitch to first, where Gonzalez bobbled it and had to race Ichiro to first, a race he barely won. Bloomquist scored from third on the play and Piñeiro went to third.
»» MARINERS 4, PADRES 1
Beltre popped an 0-2 pitch to Bellhorn on the infield grass. Thompson threw 25 pitches and had 73 through four.
BOTTOM 4TH
Giles took a mother of a 2-2 curve for strike three. Bard fell behind 0-2 and flew out to left on a 1-2 pitch. Gonzalez bounced a 2-2 pitch to first (3-1 putout). Piñeiro threw 18 pitches and had 61 through four.
TOP 5TH
Lopez rolled a 2-2 pitch to short. Ibañez rolled a 3-0 pitch to second. Sexson punched a single into center. Reed bounced the second pitch to second. Thompson threw 14 pitches and had 87 through five.
BOTTOM 5TH
Greene lined a 2-2 pitch into the second row of seats beyond the leftfield wall, his first homer in a month.
»» MARINERS 4, PADRES 2
Johnson crushed the next pitch into the fourth row of seats beyond the leftfield wall. Piñeiro is terrible. In related news, the Padres hit back-to-back homers on consecutive days.
»» MARINERS 4, PADRES 3
Blum popped the first pitch to short. Thompson fell behind 0-2 and took a 2-2 pitch over the outside corner. Cameron was ahead 2-0 and later lined a single into center. Bellhorn blistered the first pitch to the wall in leftcenter for a triple, scoring Cameron easily. Again, Piñeiro is terrible. Pitching coach Rafael Chaves, knowing this, visited the mound.
»» PADRES 4, MARINERS 4
Giles grounded the second pitch hard to first. Piñeiro threw 20 pitches and had 81 through five.
TOP 6TH
Rivera fell behind 0-2 and foul-tipped a 1-2 change into Bard's glove behind the plate. Bloomquist flew out to Cameron in rightcenter. Piñeiro grounded the first pitch hard to third. Thompson threw ten pitches and had 97 through six.
BOTTOM 6TH
Bard shot a 1-2 pitch up the middle for a single. Gonzalez rode a fly ball to the track in left, narrowly missing a homer. Rivera visited the mound. Greene flew out high to left on a 2-2 pitch. Johnson fell behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 2-2 breaking ball away.
Piñeiro's line: 6 innings, 4 runs, 6 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts, 99 pitches (65 strikes)
TOP 7TH
Ichiro lined out to left. Beltre smoked a line drive right to a running Johnson in left. Lopez split his bat on the first pitch and grounded to third.
Thompson's line: 7 innings, 4 runs (2 earned), 5 hits, 4 walks, 3 strikeouts, 105 pitches (67 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
George Sherrill came in for Piñeiro. Vinny Castilla, hitting for Blum, rolled up the middle to Lopez. Eric Young, hitting for Thompson, flew out to Reed in leftcenter on a 2-2 pitch. Cameron foul-tipped a 1-2 pitch into Rivera's glove behind the plate.
Sherrill's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 16 pitches (12 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Alan Embree came in for Thompson. Ibañez waved at an 0-2 fastball outside. Sexson bashed the second pitch just over the in-wall video board in rightcenter, breaking the tie. Them's good stuff.
»» MARINERS 5, PADRES 4
Reed rolled a 2-2 pitch up the middle to Bellhorn, who ranged to his backhand side and made the off-balance throw in time.
Jon Adkins came in for Embree. Rivera dumped a single into shallow center. Bloomquist fell behind 0-2 and dumped a 1-2 pitch along the rightfield line for a single, moving Rivera to third. Carl Everett, hitting for Sherrill, got ahead 3-1 and ended up taking a full-count pitch barely low, according to the umpire (Adkins was squeezed, no question), loading the bases. Bard came out to chat with Adkins. Ichiro dumped the second pitch into shallow leftcenter for a single, scoring Rivera and Bloomquist.
»» MARINERS 7, PADRES 4
Beltre drilled a neck-high 0-2 pitch, but managed to land it in center for a single, scoring Everett. Ichiro was hung up between third and second on the relay to the infield, ending the inning.
»» MARINERS 8, PADRES 4
Embree's line: 2/3 inning, 1 run, 1 hit, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 12 pitches (10 strikes)
Adkins' line: 1/3 inning, 3 runs, 4 hits, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 18 pitches (12 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Rafael Soriano came in for Sherrill. Bellhorn worked a 1-2 count full before whiffing on a full-count pitch. Giles popped high to second. Bard took a 2-2 fastball over the outside corner, turned around and jawed at plate umpire Paul Nauert and was tossed immediately, possibly arguing that Adkins didn't get the call on the same pitch the half-inning before on Everett, after which three runs scored. Soriano threw 13 pitches.
TOP 9TH
Brian Sikorski came in for Adkins and Bowen came in to catch for the ejected Bard. Lopez flew out to first on a 2-0 pitch. Ibañez whiffed on a 1-2 pitch. Sexson knocked a double into the rightfield corner to cap off his crazy day. Reed fell behind 0-2 and took a 1-2 pitch high off Bowen's glove and to the backstop, moving Sexson to third. Reed ended up punching the next pitch (2-2) through the left side for a single for his first hit of the day, scoring Sexson.
»» MARINERS 9, PADRES 4
Rivera popped the second pitch to shallow right.
Sikorski's line: 1 inning, 1 run, 2 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 19 pitches (12 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Gonzalez popped a 1-2 pitch to shallow center. Greene rolled a 1-2 pitch out to short. Johnson doubled the first pitch into the leftfield corner. Castilla fell behind 0-2 and ended up taking a 1-2 pitch up and quite inside on the eighth pitch, probably not a strike, but that's Nauert for you.
Soriano's line: 2 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts, 31 pitches (23 strikes)
---
Gameball: Richie Sexson.
For Saturday's game, I picked Kenji Johjima for the gameball because he did something I expect to see either rarely or never again for the rest of the season. The same applies to Sexson here, who went 5-for-5 for the first time in his career, hitting a double and two homers along the way to pad his slugging numbers. The nutty day bumped his batting average from .211 to .225, his on-base percentage from .288 to .299, and his slugging percentage from .386 to .421. For the month of June, Sexson is hitting .271, getting on base at a .344 clip, and slugging .576. He's hit eight homers this month, two more than his combined total for April and May. His 23 hits for June are more than what he put up in either April or May, and the Mariners still have four games left to play this month. Also, we've come to know that Sexson strikes out. A lot. Again, there are four games left in the month. He struck out 28 times in April and 36 times in May. He has only struck out 18 times this month. He'll have to go on a strikeout binge to surpass his April or May totals. The scary thing is that I don't think Sexson is all the way back yet. He's making strides, but I don't think he's really opened up yet.
Goat: Joel Piñeiro.
The bug-a-boo big inning appeared yet again. The main solace here is that said inning didn't cost the Mariners the game, though it did cost Piñeiro the win. At the time, though, it did tie the game, and it was incredibly upsetting. Piñeiro one-upped Eddie Guardado's Saturday night performance by not just giving up back-to-back homers, but by giving up back-to-back homers on consecutive pitches. Yes, Piñeiro's a pretty competitive guy. Even with how hard the Padres had hit him in the fifth inning, manager Mike Hargrove left him in for the sixth, and Piñeiro got through that without incident other than a leadoff single by Josh Bard and what was almost a two-run homer by Adrian Gonzalez. Also of note was that this was a start by a Mariner starting pitcher that was caught by Rene Rivera. Piñeiro's line is further up in the post, but the main thing is that he didn't get hit around other than in the fifth, and he only walked one guy in the game. Rivera has caught twelve starts by Mariner pitchers this year, and their ERA is 3.04. The average starting pitching line when Rivera catches is this: 7 innings, 2.7 runs (2.3 earned), 5.8 hits, 1.7 walks, 5.6 strikeouts, 104 pitches (68 strikes).
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 56-21 .727 -- L2
2003 51-26 .662 5 W1
2002 48-29 .623 8 W2
2000 45-32 .584 11 L1
2006 38-39 .494 18 W2
2005 33-44 .429 23 L5
2004 32-45 .416 24 W1
LINEUP SINCE THE TWEAK (May 30th)
Ichiro 46-for-106 (.434), 3 doubles, 1 triple, 3 homers, 12 RBIs, 10 walks, 8 strikeouts
Beltre 31-for-103 (.301), 8 doubles, 5 homers, 18 RBIs, 9 walks, 18 strikeouts
Lopez 24-for-91 (.264), 9 doubles, 1 homer, 13 RBIs, 6 walks, 15 strikeouts
Ibañez 29-for-87 (.333), 6 doubles, 1 triple, 9 homers, 28 RBIs, 13 walks, 14 strikeouts
Sexson 24-for-91 (.264), 2 doubles, 8 homers, 24 RBIs, 11 walks, 21 strikeouts
Everett 14-for-62 (.226), 2 homers, 5 RBIs, 5 walks, 13 strikeouts
Johjima 26-for-79 (.329), 8 doubles, 3 homers, 9 RBIs, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts
Reed 17-for-71 (.239), 2 doubles, 3 homers, 5 RBIs, 4 walks, 8 strikeouts
Betancourt 25-for-83 (.301), 3 doubles, 2 triples, 2 homers, 8 RBIs, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
Washburn. Webb. Tuesday.
/ Click for main page
GAME 76: MARINERS 9, PADRES 5
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: Where were you when Petco Park turned into a launching pad and Jamie Moyer won on the road on the same night?
This one featured Jamie Moyer going up against Chan Ho Park. Moyer, as we know, is terrible on the road. However, Petco Park is considered more pitcher-friendly than the ol' ballyard in Seattle. The Mariners hoped to halt a two-game losing streak. If they did so, the current stretch would turn into fifteen wins in twenty-two tries. Coming into this game, Richie Sexson was the only Mariner with a multi-homer game this season.
TOP 1ST
Ichiro singled into left on a 2-2 pitch. Adrian Beltre took a 1-2 pitch that took his helmet off, moving Ichiro to second. Jose Lopez looped the first pitch for a flyout to left. Raul Ibañez foul-tipped a high 1-2 pitch into Piazza's glove. Richie Sexson rolled the first pitch to short. Park threw 16 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Mike Cameron lined out to third. Ben Johnson whiffed over a full-count change over the outer half. Brian Giles worked a 1-2 count full before flying out to a running Ichiro in rightcenter. Moyer threw 18 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Kenji Johjima flew out to center on the first pitch. Jeremy Reed fell behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 breaking ball down and in. Yuniesky Betancourt got up 2-0 before looping out to Giles in shallow right on a 2-2 pitch. Park threw ten pitches and had 26 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Mike Piazza crushed the belt-high second pitch, reaching the third patio on the Western Supply Co. building just inside the leftfield foul pole. That homer tied himself with Duke Snider on the all-time list. It was measured at 401 feet, basically leaving Matt Vasgersian to scream blasphemy until being told by Mark Grant that the tape-measure numbers apply to where the ball touched anything and not where it would have landed assuming flat earth and no buildings.
»» PADRES 1, MARINERS 0
Khalil Greene rolled a 2-2 pitch up the middle for a single. Adrian Gonzalez flew out to fairly deep center on a 3-1 pitch. Vinny Castilla drove a 1-2 pitch to a running Reed in rightcenter, who made the catch as Greene had to touch second and move back to first. Josh Barfield flew out to center on the second pitch. Moyer threw 19 pitches and had 37 through two.
TOP 3RD
Jamie Moyer bounced a 1-2 pitch to second as the Cox 4 team unveiled Sam the Cooking Guy, who brought some salmon into the booth. Ichiro bounced a 3-1 pitch to Barfield on the rightfield grass. Beltre worked a 1-2 count full before smashing a double off the track and wall in left. Lopez grounded the second pitch to a diving Greene in the hole at short, where he threw to first but Gonzalez couldn't pick it and it got through, moving Lopez to second as Beltre scored.
»» PADRES 1, MARINERS 1
Ibañez popped out to Johnson near the stands along the leftfield line in the corner. Park threw 24 pitches and had 50 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Chan Ho Park grounded hard to third on a 1-2 pitch. Cameron whiffed on a 2-2 change down and away. Johnson grounded the first pitch hard to third, where Beltre dug it out and threw to first. Moyer threw 12 pitches and had 49 through three.
TOP 4TH
Sexson fell behind 0-2 and popped a 2-2 pitch to fairly deep center. Johjima blasted the belly-high first pitch into the upper deck of seats in left.
»» MARINERS 2, PADRES 1
Reed walked on four pitches. Betancourt chopped the second pitch to a charging Greene at short, who threw to first as Reed moved to second. Moyer fell behind 0-2 before rolling a 1-2 pitch through the right side for a single, scoring Reed from second.
»» MARINERS 3, PADRES 1
Ichiro was up 3-0 and walked on an outside 3-1 pitch, moving Moyer to second. Beltre was ahead 2-0 and whiffed on a neck-high 2-2 fastball. Park threw 26 pitches and had 76 through four.
BOTTOM 4TH
Giles flew out to Ibañez in shallow left on a 3-1 pitch. Piazza popped the first pitch very high to Johjima, who caught the ball inside the first-base camera well railing. Greene had the hitters' counts before walking on a low 3-1 pitch. Gonzalez punched a first-pitch single into right, moving Greene to third. Castilla slowly nubbed a 2-2 pitch along the left side that was an out thanks only to Beltre's penchant for the charge-and-barehand-throw maneuver he's perfected. Moyer threw 17 pitches and had 66 through four.
TOP 5TH
Lopez popped a 2-2 pitch that Gonzalez caught in the first row of seats on the first-base side. Ibañez blistered the ball over the wall in leftcenter and into the Padre bullpen. Laser shot, that was.
»» MARINERS 4, PADRES 1
Sexson fell behind 0-2 and whiffed on a full-count low slider. Johjima blistered almost an identical first pitch as his last at-bat, homering this time somewhere near the first patio on the Western Metal Supply Co. building.
»» MARINERS 5, PADRES 1
Reed whiffed on a 1-2 pitch.
Park's line: 5 innings, 5 runs (4 earned), 7 hits, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts, 96 pitches (58 strikes)
BOTTOM 5TH
Barfield rolled a 2-0 pitch to short. Mark Bellhorn, hitting for Park, took an 0-2 fastball over the inside corner. Cameron whiffed on a 2-2 change down and away. Moyer threw 11 pitches and had 77 through five.
TOP 6TH
Brian Sikorski came in for Park. Betancourt bounced to second on the second pitch. Moyer whiffed on a 2-2 fastball. Ichiro bounced a 2-0 pitch to Barfield on the rightfield grass, who threw to first for the out. Sikorski threw ten pitches.
BOTTOM 6TH
Johnson unloaded on a pitch, rattling it off the first patio on the Western Metal Supply Co. building.
»» MARINERS 5, PADRES 2
Giles fell behind 0-2 and flew out to left on a 2-2 pitch. Piazza bounced out to third. Greene was ahead 2-0 and rolled a 2-2 pitch along the right side and Moyer picked it up and threw to first. Moyer threw 16 pitches and had 93 through six.
TOP 7TH
Beltre whiffed on a high 1-2 fastball. Lopez looped the first pitch in front of a running Cameron, who had it hop off of him but it didn't get far and Lopez only got a single out of it. Ibañez watched as Sikorski picked Lopez off of first (he went into first base standing up). Ibañez then drilled the second pitch over the in-wall video board in rightcenter, which is quite a shot.
»» MARINERS 6, PADRES 2
Sexson popped out to left.
Sikorski's line: 2 innings, 1 run, 2 hits, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 21 pitches (13 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Gonzalez one-hopped the second pitch to second. Castilla lined out to third on a full count. Barfield drove the first pitch to Ibañez in left, who had an adventure getting to it but reached up and made the catch.
Moyer's line: 7 innings, 2 runs, 4 hits, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts, 102 pitches (62 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Scott Cassidy came in for Sikorski. Johjima was up 2-0 and dropped a full-count pitch in front of Johnson in left for a single. Reed air-bunted the second pitch to first. Betancourt stuck an 0-2 pitch into right for a single, moving Johjima to second. Carl Everett, hitting for Moyer, corkscrewed himself into the ground on the 2-0 pitch before rolling the next pitch up the middle, where Barfield got it, tagged second, and threw off-balance and in time to first for the double play.
Cassidy's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 15 pitches (10 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Eric Young, hitting for Cassidy, mashed the first pitch and hit the facade of the second patio/basket on the Western Metal Supply Co. building, just inside the foul pole.
»» MARINERS 6, PADRES 3
Cameron covered a pitch, putting it somewhere beneath the first basket/patio in left.
»» MARINERS 6, PADRES 4
Johnson rode a ball to Reed in leftcenter, who had a way to go to make the catch. Giles fell behind 0-2 and popped a 2-2 pitch to right. Piazza was behind 0-2 and tapped a 2-2 pitch out in front, where Johjima pounced on it and threw to first.
Guardado's line: 1 inning, 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 17 pitches (11 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Brian Sweeney came in for Cassidy and Josh Bard came in for Piazza. Ichiro shot a single through Sweeney's legs and into center. Beltre was ahead 3-1 and rode a full-count pitch to Cameron on the centerfield track. Lopez smacked a single into left on a 2-2 pitch, moving Ichiro to second.
Alan Embree came in for Sweeney. Ibañez swung at a high second pitch and Ichiro stole third without a throw. Ibañez fell behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 pitch. Sexson wrapped the first pitch into rightfield for a single, scoring Ichiro easily and moving Lopez to second.
»» MARINERS 7, PADRES 4
Johjima drove the second pitch into the leftcenter gap just past Cameron for a double, scoring Lopez and even Sexson from first.
»» MARINERS 9, PADRES 4
Reed grounded the second pitch hard to the left-side hole, but Greene plugged it and threw in time to first.
Sweeney's line: 1/3 inning, 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 15 pitches (9 strikes)
Embree's line: 2/3 inning, 1 run, 2 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 11 pitches (10 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
JJ Putz came in for Guardado. Greene spanked the second pitch just under Beltre for a single into left. Gonzalez slapped the first pitch into left for a single, moving Greene to second. Castilla dumped the second pitch for a single into shallow right along the foul line, loading the bases. Barfield lined the first pitch into leftcenter for a single, easily scoring Greene.
»» MARINERS 9, PADRES 5
Bard worked a 1-2 count full before taking a full-count pitch over the inside corner on the lower edge of the zone and he didn't like it. Cameron whiffed on a 1-2 fastball over the outside corner. Johnson fouled off a 1-2 pitch and Johjima took it hard, taking it off the left knee between the pads. Johnson ended up whiffing on the next pitch, a breaking ball down and away.
Putz' line: 1 inning, 1 run, 4 hits, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts, 24 pitches (18 strikes)
---
Gameball: Kenji Johjima.
When I pick a gameball, usually I try to give it to a non-obvious candidate. If more than one Mariner has a great day, then I have less trouble picking one. If everyone sucks, it's hard to pick one. Another qualifier is a truly surprising a stellar night by any certain Mariner that I'm not sure will be repeated anytime soon. This is where Johjima's night in San Diego fits. As great at the plate as he has been this season, he may never go 4-for-5, homer twice, and drive in four runs in any single game for the rest of the season. This was a hell of a night he had. He hit the ball hard on the first three pitches he saw, and he homered on the second and third pitches he saw. Of course, that does mean he swung at the first pitch in each of his first three at-bats. He worked the count a little more in his fourth at-bat and ended up with a single. He also doubled to drive in two more runs in the ninth. Just an incredible night for Johjima. If Felix Hernandez wouldn't suck when Johjima was catching for him, I would have absolutely no problem with Johjima.
Goat: Eddie Guardado.
Sigh... I don't know what possibly could be left to say, but I'll try to conjure up something. It's hard to know why it's all gone Jeff Cirillo/Rick Ankiel for Guardado on us. Okay, he doesn't seem like a complete headcase or anything, he's just doing brutal on the field. I guess the deja vu feeling I have is that I feel like they're losing Guardado in a way reminiscent of the tail-off of Shigetoshi Hasegawa. It's magnified more since Guardado was the closer, though, so it's worse now than it was with Hasegawa. It's sad what's happening here, though. I sit here every time Eddie goes out to the mound, and I just hope like hell that it goes smoothly. Then something happens like it did in this game, and I just wonder what could possibly be next. Where is this going? How will this end? Granted, I don't think there's any way in hell this team wins the division, but as long as they're close to .500 now and if they're within striking distance after the break, can they afford to keep Guardado on the roster and in the bullpen without giving up games in the standings? I guess I just don't see this getting better. I wish I did.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 56-20 .737 -- L1
2003 50-26 .658 6 L1
2002 47-29 .618 9 W1
2000 45-31 .592 11 W1
2006 37-39 .487 19 W1
2005 33-43 .434 23 L4
2004 31-45 .408 25 L1
LINEUP SINCE THE TWEAK (May 30th)
Ichiro 45-for-102 (.441), 3 doubles, 1 triple, 3 homers, 9 RBIs, 9 walks, 7 strikeouts
Beltre 30-for-98 (.306), 8 doubles, 5 homers, 17 RBIs, 9 walks, 18 strikeouts
Lopez 23-for-87 (.264), 8 doubles, 1 homer, 13 RBIs, 5 walks, 15 strikeouts
Ibañez 29-for-83 (.349), 6 doubles, 1 triple, 9 homers, 28 RBIs, 12 walks, 12 strikeouts
Sexson 19-for-86 (.221), 1 double, 6 homers, 21 RBIs, 11 walks, 21 strikeouts
Everett 14-for-62 (.226), 2 homers, 5 RBIs, 4 walks, 13 strikeouts
Johjima 26-for-79 (.329), 8 doubles, 3 homers, 9 RBIs, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts
Reed 16-for-66 (.242), 2 doubles, 3 homers, 4 RBIs, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
Betancourt 25-for-83 (.301), 3 doubles, 2 triples, 2 homers, 8 RBIs, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
Piñeiro. Thompson. Today.
/ Click for main page
