Friday, June 19, 2009
GAME 66: PADRES 4, MARINERS 3 (10 INNINGS)
The Mariners were one out away from having Franklin Gutierrez (who hit two homers on the day) and Yuniesky Betancourt (who hit a double) leading off the 11th inning to try and break a 3-3 tie. Instead, the Padres got two hits and the ballgame was over. The Mariners wouldn't be climbing back to .500, at least not on this day. The next kick at that can would be Saturday if they can win tonight. The roster shuffling continued as Jose Lopez hit the bereavement list, Carlos Silva was moved to the 60-day disabled list (how about a permanent disabled list?), and Chris Woodward was called up from Tacoma, making him immediately a better hitter than Ronny Cedeno. This game also featured Brandon Morrow trying to get stretched out again, and luckily that went more to plan this time and without incident. It also went more according to plan when considering who came out of the bullpen and how long they had to work. Until the extra inning.
At the 66-game mark, the 2009 Mariners are 32-34. This puts them three wins behind the 2007 team, but one ahead of the 2006 team, two ahead of the 2005 team, four ahead of the 2004 team, and eight ahead of last year. Thirty-two wins is five behind the 2000 pace, nine behind the 2002 pace, 12 behind the 2003 pace, and 20 behind the 2001 pace.
Mariner hitting went a combined 8-for-38 in the game, walking once and striking out 11 times (way too many again). Ken Griffey Jr. and Franklin Gutierrez had two hits apiece and were the multi-hit Mariners on the night. Griffey and Yuniesky Betancourt doubled, and Gutierrez homered twice to account for the Mariners' extra-base hits. The team went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position (three hitters went away 1-2-3 after Betancourt doubled to lead off the second inning) and stranded seven runners. Adrian Beltre went hitless in consecutive games for the first time since his 0-for-23 slump (his last two hitless games were May 19th and 20th). Ichiro managed another one-hit game but has gone 2-for-13 in his last three games, causing his batting average to tumble from .360 all the way down to a pedestrian .349. Lastly, Ronny Cedeno and Jamie Burke made worthwhile contributions with twin 0-for-4s and twin hat tricks for striking out three times apiece. Kenji Johjima can't come back soon enough, and as for Cedeno, well, he got one of the below paragraphs.
Seattle pitching didn't get any of the below entries, so here we go. Brandon Morrow was stretched out a bit more, throwing 74 pitches this time, ten more than in his previous start. He lasted four innings and got four strikeouts over his final two innings. The first inning felt like it was going to be same ol' struggling Morrow, but he got back on the horse a bit and his final line shows that. This wasn't a four-walk bonanza, this time Morrow walked one hitter and struck out six, which is worlds better than what he did five days earlier. He gave up two runs on five hits, got two groundouts with four flyouts, and faced 18 hitters to get 12 outs. Chris Jakubauskas again was the first man out of the bullpen, and the only blemish on his 2 2/3 innings is the Adrian Gonzalez home run ball that Franklin Gutierrez nearly grabbed from over the centerfield wall. It would have been a mind-blowingly incredible catch and could have meant a Mariner sweep of the series, but alas, it was not to be. I would have thought about listing Gutierrez first, second, and third in the gameballs if that would have happened. Roy Corcoran walked two of the four guys he faced but came away unscathed with the help of Mark Lowe, who cleaned up his mess and ended the eighth. Sean White threw a 1-2-3 ninth inning. Miguel Batista got the first two hitters out in the ninth but no Mariner pitcher could stop Adrian Gonzalez in this game, who doubled and scored the winning run on the subsequent Kevin Kouzmanoff base hit.
Gameballs
1) Franklin Gutierrez
I'm okay with him hitting the odd home run, but a two-homer came is almost too much of a carrot for the Mariner fan who is dying to see more power hitting from this team. In a way it's almost fitting that Jose Lopez leaves the team (bereavement list) and someone else steps up in terms of power hitting. Needless to say, Gutierrez isn't the first guy you think of when it comes to stepping up with power hitting. Gutierrez reached the sand pit over the fence in rightcenter, which was quite a shot. The second homer reached the lower basket on the Western Metal Supply Co. building inside the leftfield foul pole. Gutierrez also made the almost-catch on the Adrian Gonzalez game-tying homer in the sixth inning. In May, Gutierrez had a 20-game extra-base hit drought, sinking his slugging percentage from .461 to .353. He snapped that drought with two doubles in Oakland on May 27th. Starting with that game, Gutierrez has hit two doubles, a triple, and three homers (those coming all in the last three games), resulting in a slugging percentage of .463 over the last 17 games and a .383 slugging mark for the year. He picked up .034 on his slugging percentage with just this game.
2) Ken Griffey Jr.
I gave the FSNW Mariners Live telecast some crap after Wednesday's game since they rolled a highlight package with a graphic that pointed out Griffey was 2-for-7 over two games, which isn't much to scream about. He went 2-for-5 with a double in this game, so at least the graphic on the highlight montage could be 4-for-14 and be a little bit less ridiculous. Still, Griffey with a hit in his next game would tie a season high with a four-game hitting streak. He didn't register a walk and is therefore still only two behind Russell Branyan. Griffey has homered only once this month, on June 2nd against the Orioles, but he hasn't homered since. That said, he's hitting .239 in June, along with a .352 on-base percentage and a .413 slugging percentage, all of which will be season-bests for a month this season if the numbers hold. Probably the nicest single thing about this year is that he's walked 32 times and struck out only 33 times. That means an on-base percentage that's .045 higher than Adrian Beltre's on-base percentage.
3) Mike Carp
The call-up first baseman went 1-for-3 with a walk in his first Major League start. First thing's first -- the guy has a face that looks about ten years older than his actual age. Second thing is that he's wearing number 59, which Felix Hernandez wore when he first came up. It's so obviously a pitcher's number that hopefully he manages to get a decent number soon or the next time he gets the call. Ditto the numbers thing for Guillermo Quiroz as well, though I think Quiroz wore 27 in his first go-around with the Mariners. Anyway, though he's only been up for all of two days, I really want to see Carp's power stroke, since this team really needs power and everything. His only problem is that he's lefthanded and plays first base, and the Mariners already have that unless they're willing to trade Branyan. As I've said quite a few times, I'd be okay with anyone but Felix and Ichiro being traded, and that includes Branyan, whose trade value is probably the best it's going to be right now. Erik Bedard's trade value was big a few weeks ago, but now...ugh. I think they waited too long.
Goat
Ronny Cedeno
Just to make it clear to anyone that hasn't figured this out already -- Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno is hitting .132 (10-for-76) on the season with a double, a triple, and two homers, now all a distant memory.
It's a night fit to get Washburned. Burning snakes.
At the 66-game mark, the 2009 Mariners are 32-34. This puts them three wins behind the 2007 team, but one ahead of the 2006 team, two ahead of the 2005 team, four ahead of the 2004 team, and eight ahead of last year. Thirty-two wins is five behind the 2000 pace, nine behind the 2002 pace, 12 behind the 2003 pace, and 20 behind the 2001 pace.
Mariner hitting went a combined 8-for-38 in the game, walking once and striking out 11 times (way too many again). Ken Griffey Jr. and Franklin Gutierrez had two hits apiece and were the multi-hit Mariners on the night. Griffey and Yuniesky Betancourt doubled, and Gutierrez homered twice to account for the Mariners' extra-base hits. The team went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position (three hitters went away 1-2-3 after Betancourt doubled to lead off the second inning) and stranded seven runners. Adrian Beltre went hitless in consecutive games for the first time since his 0-for-23 slump (his last two hitless games were May 19th and 20th). Ichiro managed another one-hit game but has gone 2-for-13 in his last three games, causing his batting average to tumble from .360 all the way down to a pedestrian .349. Lastly, Ronny Cedeno and Jamie Burke made worthwhile contributions with twin 0-for-4s and twin hat tricks for striking out three times apiece. Kenji Johjima can't come back soon enough, and as for Cedeno, well, he got one of the below paragraphs.
Seattle pitching didn't get any of the below entries, so here we go. Brandon Morrow was stretched out a bit more, throwing 74 pitches this time, ten more than in his previous start. He lasted four innings and got four strikeouts over his final two innings. The first inning felt like it was going to be same ol' struggling Morrow, but he got back on the horse a bit and his final line shows that. This wasn't a four-walk bonanza, this time Morrow walked one hitter and struck out six, which is worlds better than what he did five days earlier. He gave up two runs on five hits, got two groundouts with four flyouts, and faced 18 hitters to get 12 outs. Chris Jakubauskas again was the first man out of the bullpen, and the only blemish on his 2 2/3 innings is the Adrian Gonzalez home run ball that Franklin Gutierrez nearly grabbed from over the centerfield wall. It would have been a mind-blowingly incredible catch and could have meant a Mariner sweep of the series, but alas, it was not to be. I would have thought about listing Gutierrez first, second, and third in the gameballs if that would have happened. Roy Corcoran walked two of the four guys he faced but came away unscathed with the help of Mark Lowe, who cleaned up his mess and ended the eighth. Sean White threw a 1-2-3 ninth inning. Miguel Batista got the first two hitters out in the ninth but no Mariner pitcher could stop Adrian Gonzalez in this game, who doubled and scored the winning run on the subsequent Kevin Kouzmanoff base hit.
Gameballs
1) Franklin Gutierrez
I'm okay with him hitting the odd home run, but a two-homer came is almost too much of a carrot for the Mariner fan who is dying to see more power hitting from this team. In a way it's almost fitting that Jose Lopez leaves the team (bereavement list) and someone else steps up in terms of power hitting. Needless to say, Gutierrez isn't the first guy you think of when it comes to stepping up with power hitting. Gutierrez reached the sand pit over the fence in rightcenter, which was quite a shot. The second homer reached the lower basket on the Western Metal Supply Co. building inside the leftfield foul pole. Gutierrez also made the almost-catch on the Adrian Gonzalez game-tying homer in the sixth inning. In May, Gutierrez had a 20-game extra-base hit drought, sinking his slugging percentage from .461 to .353. He snapped that drought with two doubles in Oakland on May 27th. Starting with that game, Gutierrez has hit two doubles, a triple, and three homers (those coming all in the last three games), resulting in a slugging percentage of .463 over the last 17 games and a .383 slugging mark for the year. He picked up .034 on his slugging percentage with just this game.
2) Ken Griffey Jr.
I gave the FSNW Mariners Live telecast some crap after Wednesday's game since they rolled a highlight package with a graphic that pointed out Griffey was 2-for-7 over two games, which isn't much to scream about. He went 2-for-5 with a double in this game, so at least the graphic on the highlight montage could be 4-for-14 and be a little bit less ridiculous. Still, Griffey with a hit in his next game would tie a season high with a four-game hitting streak. He didn't register a walk and is therefore still only two behind Russell Branyan. Griffey has homered only once this month, on June 2nd against the Orioles, but he hasn't homered since. That said, he's hitting .239 in June, along with a .352 on-base percentage and a .413 slugging percentage, all of which will be season-bests for a month this season if the numbers hold. Probably the nicest single thing about this year is that he's walked 32 times and struck out only 33 times. That means an on-base percentage that's .045 higher than Adrian Beltre's on-base percentage.
3) Mike Carp
The call-up first baseman went 1-for-3 with a walk in his first Major League start. First thing's first -- the guy has a face that looks about ten years older than his actual age. Second thing is that he's wearing number 59, which Felix Hernandez wore when he first came up. It's so obviously a pitcher's number that hopefully he manages to get a decent number soon or the next time he gets the call. Ditto the numbers thing for Guillermo Quiroz as well, though I think Quiroz wore 27 in his first go-around with the Mariners. Anyway, though he's only been up for all of two days, I really want to see Carp's power stroke, since this team really needs power and everything. His only problem is that he's lefthanded and plays first base, and the Mariners already have that unless they're willing to trade Branyan. As I've said quite a few times, I'd be okay with anyone but Felix and Ichiro being traded, and that includes Branyan, whose trade value is probably the best it's going to be right now. Erik Bedard's trade value was big a few weeks ago, but now...ugh. I think they waited too long.
Goat
Ronny Cedeno
Just to make it clear to anyone that hasn't figured this out already -- Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno cannot hit Major League pitching. Ronny Cedeno is hitting .132 (10-for-76) on the season with a double, a triple, and two homers, now all a distant memory.
It's a night fit to get Washburned. Burning snakes.
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