Saturday, June 10, 2006
GAME 63: MARINERS 4, ANGELS 1
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: For once, the outcome of the game turned on Vlad impaling his own team rather than the opposition.
This one featured Jarrod Washburn going up against Kelvim Escobar. The Mariners looked to win their seventh game in nine tries, which would put them five games under .500 for the second time in three days. The last time they were four games under .500, they had won their fifth game out of six on May 24th before losing the next six games. The last time they were three games under .500, they won an 8-2 game in Minnesota on the first day of May to make themselves 12-15. As you might suspect, the low-water mark for the Mariners was after they'd lost their sixth straight game, which put them ten games under .500 on May 30th.
TOP 1ST
Ichiro bounced the first pitch through the right side for a single. Adrian Beltre watched a first-pitch strike as Ichiro nabbed second base, though Ichiro just might have gotten tagged before getting the foot in. Beltre ended up taking a 2-2 pitch over the inside corner. Jose Lopez bounced the second pitch to first, moving Ichiro to third. Raul Ibañez worked a 1-2 count full and nearly dropped a double down the leftfield line, but it went foul. Ibañez ended up flying out to Figgins in deep leftcenter on the ninth pitch of the at-bat. Escobar threw 18 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Chone Figgins whiffed on a full-count pitch. Orlando Cabrera was ahead 2-0 and ended up popping to Ichiro in right. Garret Anderson dumped the second pitch into left, well in front of Ibañez. Vladimir Guerrero tapped a 2-0 pitch back to the mound. Washburn threw 15 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Richie Sexson was jammed a bit and flew out to Figgins just short of the track in center. Carl Everett popped high to center. Kenji Johjima bounced out to Cabrera in the left-side hole on the first pitch. Escobar threw seven pitches and had 25 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Tim Salmon broke his bat on a 2-2 pitch, grounding out to short. Kendry Morales popped the second pitch to Sexson in foul ground on the right side. Mike Napoli walked on four pitches. Robb Quinlan was up 3-1 and knocked a full-count pitch into left for a single. Adam Kennedy rolled a 2-2 pitch to third, where Beltre tried to get Napoli running to third, but Napoli ran around the tag and the bases were loaded. Figgins popped to Lopez in shallow center, who drifted back and bumped into Reed on what might have been some communication issues. Washburn threw 28 pitches and had 43 through two.
TOP 3RD
Jeremy Reed chopped an 0-2 pitch back to the mound. Yuniesky Betancourt smacked the second pitch off of Quinlan's glove at third and into leftfield, and they gave Betancourt a single on it. Ichiro rode a 2-2 pitch off the centerfield wall, and Betancourt came around third and tried to score, but was out by about ten feet as Betancourt got nowhere near the plate and was out standing up. Adrian Beltre took the first pitch for a strike and watched Ichiro nab third. Beltre was up 2-0 and walked on a full count. Lopez was up 2-0 and reached on a low 2-2 fastball, putting it into left for a single, scoring Ichiro, and Beltre made his way around to third, beating the relay.
»» MARINERS 1, ANGELS 0
Ibañez was intentionally walked to load the bases. Sexson softly lined out to center on the first pitch. Escobar threw 24 pitches and had 49 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Cabrera was down 0-2 and roped a 1-2 pitch into left for a single. Anderson got up 2-0 before rolling a 2-2 pitch to Lopez moving to the middle, who double-clutched before throwing to Betancourt covering, enabling Anderson to beat the back end of the double play. Guerrero whiffed badly over a 1-2 offspeed pitch down and away. Salmon grounded hard to Lopez, who tossed to second for the force on Anderson. Washburn threw 19 pitches and had 62 through three.
TOP 4TH
Everett was up 2-0 and walked on a full-count pitch up and away. Johjima flew out to center on the second pitch. Reed punched a single through the right side that was misplayed by Guerrero in rightfield, getting past him and rolling to the wall. Everett scored from first, and Reed was able to run all the way to third.
»» MARINERS 2, ANGELS 0
Betancourt took a 1-2 pitch in the dirt down and away, and it rolled to the backstop, allowing Reed to score.
»» MARINERS 3, ANGELS 0
Betancourt ended up fouling a full-count pitch down and away into the Napoli's glove behind the plate, or so it was called. Mike Hargrove argued that the ball hit the ground before Napoli caught it, and video replay confirmed that, but the call stood. Ichiro lined out to right. Escobar threw 22 pitches and had 71 through four.
BOTTOM 4TH
Morales flew out high to Lopez on a 2-2 pitch. Napoli flew out high to Reed in shallow rightcenter. Quinlan was up 2-0 and shoveled a full-count pitch into shallow center for a single. Kennedy was up 2-0 and whiffed on a 2-2 breaking ball down and away. Washburn threw 21 pitches and had 83 through four.
TOP 5TH
Beltre poked a 1-2 pitch through the left side for a single. Lopez watched as Beltre may have been tagged and/or rolled an ankle on a pickoff attempt. Lopez tapped the next pitch to the mound to start a 1-6-3 double play. Ibañez grounded the first pitch hard to second, where Kennedy stopped it and had to pick it back up before throwing in time to first. Escobar threw nine pitches and had 80 through five.
BOTTOM 5TH
Figgins popped the second pitch to Lopez in shallow right. Cabrera bounced a 2-2 pitch up the middle, and Lopez ranged over to get it, but couldn't do much more with it and didn't get off a throw (Cabrera was given a hit on the play). Anderson watched the first pitch as Cabrera stole second. Anderson ended up rolling an 0-2 pitch to second, moving Cabrera to third. Guerrero hit a one-hopper to the leftfield wall for a double, scoring Cabrera.
»» MARINERS 3, ANGELS 1
Salmon lined the second pitch to second. Washburn threw 13 pitches and had 96 through five.
TOP 6TH
Sexson whiffed on a 2-2 fastball over the outer half. Everett took an 0-2 pitch over the inner half. Johjima fell behind 0-2 and flew out to Figgins at the track in center. Escobar threw 13 pitches and had 93 through six.
BOTTOM 6TH
Morales flew out to deep center on the second pitch. Napoli was down 0-2 and took a 1-2 pitch down the pipe for strike three. Quinlan popped the second pitch to Lopez in shallow right.
Washburn's line: 6 innings, 1 run, 6 hits, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts, 104 pitches (61 strikes)
TOP 7TH
Reed rolled the first pitch to first. Betancourt bounced to Quinlan at the third-base bag, who threw across in time. Ichiro grounded to second on the second pitch. Escobar threw five pitches and had 98 through seven.
BOTTOM 7TH
George Sherrill came in for Washburn. Kennedy was down 0-2 and tapped a 1-2 pitch back to the mound. Figgins worked a 1-2 count full, fouled off four pitches, then flew out to center. Cabrera was up 3-0 but flew out to left on a 3-1 pitch. Sherrill threw 19 pitches.
TOP 8TH
Beltre popped out to Cabrera on the outfield grass. Lopez grounded a 2-2 pitch to first. Ibañez tattooed the second pitch into the rockery beyond the wall in leftcenter. It looked like he got under it a bit, but it carried out.
»» MARINERS 4, ANGELS 1
Sexson rolled out to short on the second pitch.
Escobar's line: 8 innings, 4 runs (2 earned), 7 hits, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts, 111 pitches (69 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Anderson parachuted a single into right.
Rafael Soriano came in for Sherrill. Guerrero whiffed on a 1-2 letter-high fastball. Salmon grounded the second pitch past a diving Betancourt and through the left side for a single, moving Anderson to second. Morales rolled the second pitch to short to start a 6-4-3 double play.
Sherrill's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 22 pitches (14 strikes)
Soriano's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 8 pitches (7 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Brendan Donnelly came in for Escobar. Everett flew out high to center. Johjima rolled a 2-2 pitch to third. Reed was up 2-0 before bouncing out to third.
Donnelly's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 11 pitches (7 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Napoli took a 1-2 fastball down the pipe. Dallas McPherson, hitting for Quinlan, foul-tipped a 1-2 pitch into Johjima's glove. Kennedy was up 2-0 before flying out to left.
Putz' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 14 pitches (9 strikes)
---
Gameball: George Sherrill.
Goat: Richie Sexson.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 49-14 .778 -- L1
2003 42-21 .667 7 L2
2002 39-24 .619 10 W1
2000 35-28 .556 14 W1
2006 29-34 .460 20 W1
2005 28-35 .444 21 W2
2004 25-38 .397 24 L2
Meche. Lackey. Tonight.
/ Click for main page
Friday, June 09, 2006
GAME 62: TWINS 7, MARINERS 3
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: The bad version of Piñeiro showed up again in an extremely slow-moving game.
This one featured Johan Santana going up against Joel Piñeiro. It was Kenji Johjima's birthday. According to the Mariners' in-game DiamondVision game presentation video, it was a birthday or anniversary for Dave Niehaus as well. The Twins don't show up on the schedule for the rest of the season, meaning the Mariner pitchers will not have to deal with Joe Mauer for the rest of 2006 unless for some reason he gets traded or something.
TOP 1ST
Nick Punto walked on four pitches. Lew Ford whiffed on a 1-1 pitch that went off Rivera's glove, enabling Punto to move to second. Ford foul-tipped a 1-2 pitch into Rivera's glove behind the plate. Ford was incensed at the call, thinking he got hit or something. Joe Mauer slapped the second pitch into left for a single, scoring Punto.
»» TWINS 1, MARINERS 0
Mike Cuddyer worked a 1-2 count for a walk, and Rivera had trouble finding a ball at one point in the at-bat, but Punto didn't go anywhere. Jason Kubel grounded to first to start a 3-6-1 double play. Piñeiro threw 20 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Ichiro rolled a 1-2 pitch to second. Adrian Beltre ripped a 2-0 pitch through the left side for a single. Jose Lopez rolled a 2-2 pitch to the right side, where Morneau charged and threw to a covering Santana as Beltre moved to second. Raul Ibañez watched a full-count conference between Redmond and Santana at the mound before drilling a single into center, scoring Beltre.
»» TWINS 1, MARINERS 1
Richie Sexson was up 2-0 and later walked on a full-count pitch down and in, moving Ibañez to second. Mike Morse flew out to left. Santana threw 29 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Mike Redmond flew out to left on the second pitch. Justin Morneau grounded a 1-2 pitch hard past first, where Sexson made a diving stab and tried to backhand flip while prone on the ground, but threw over Piñeiro covering. Tony Batista rolled the second pitch to third, moving Morneau to second. Juan Castro was down 0-2 before doubling off the track and wall in leftcenter, scoring Morneau.
»» TWINS 2, MARINERS 1
Punto rolled the second pitch to short. Piñeiro threw 14 pitches and had 34 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Willie Bloomquist grounded an 0-2 pitch to third, where Batista muffed it on the transfer. Rene Rivera whiffed on an 0-2 pitch in the dirt. Yuniesky Betancourt flew out to Redmond behind the plate. Ichiro was up 3-0 and swung at the next four pitches (one inadvertently), eventually sticking a full-count pitch over a leaping Batista into left, moving Bloomquist and extending his hitting streak to nine games. Beltre popped high to Castro in shallow center. Santana threw 20 pitches and had 49 through two.
TOP 3RD
Ford was down 0-2 and grounded out to short on a 1-2 pitch. Mauer blasted the first pitch off the track and off the wall for a double. Cuddyer took a 1-2 pitch over the inside corner. Kubel rolled the second pitch to second. Piñeiro threw 11 pitches and had 45 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Lopez flew out to shallow right on a 1-2 pitch. Ibañez was up 3-0 before slapping a full-count pitch through the left side for a single. Sexson flew out to center on the second pitch. Morse watched a 1-1 pitch as Ibañez nabbed second on a delayed steal, and the throw got into centerfield, though not far enough for Ibañez to move to third. Morse ended up flying out to Kubel on the leftfield track in front of the manual scoreboard. Santana threw 19 pitches and had 68 through three.
TOP 4TH
Redmond lined a single into left. Morneau flew out on the first pitch, doing so to Bloomquist backpedaling to the centerfield track. Batista worked a 1-2 count for a walk, moving Redmond to second. Castro poked the first pitch off the glove of a leaping Beltre and into left for a single, loading the bases. Punto walked on a 3-1 pitch outside, forcing Redmond across and keeping the bases loaded. Pitching coach Rafael Chaves made his way to the mound immediately.
»» TWINS 3, MARINERS 1
Ford doubled a 2-2 hanging slider off the Twins' logo on the manual scoreboard in left, scoring Batista and Castro, and moving Punto to third. Punto didn't score because he tripped up while running.
»» TWINS 5, MARINERS 1
Mauer was intentionally walked. Cuddyer popped to Lopez in foul ground along the rightfield line on the second pitch. Kubel grounded an 0-2 pitch to second. Piñeiro threw 32 pitches and had 77 through four.
BOTTOM 4TH
Bloomquist was down 0-2 and bounced the 2-2 pitch to third. Rivera whiffed on a 2-2 change. Betancourt was up 3-0 and lined a 3-1 pitch to third. Santana threw 17 pitches and had 85 through four.
TOP 5TH
Redmond fell behind 0-2 and shot a 1-2 pitch through the left side for a single. Morneau flew out to Bloomquist in deep leftcenter on the first pitch, and Redmond managed to tag and advance to second on the play. Batista grounded into the left-side hole, where Betancourt got the ball and underhanded over to Beltre covering third, where he tagged out Redmond. Castro grounded to second for a 4-6 fielder's choice. Piñeiro threw 11 pitches and had 88 through five.
BOTTOM 5TH
Ichiro dumped a 3-1 pitch for a single into leftcenter, where Ford's throw back to second one-hopped past Punto on the infield and got through the backup as well, ending up in foul ground, allowing Ichiro to move to second. Beltre flew out high to left on a 2-2 pitch. Lopez grounded hard to Batista behind the third-base bag. Ibañez rolled a 2-2 pitch to second.
Santana's line: 5 innings, 1 run, 5 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 101 pitches (62 strikes)
TOP 6TH
Punto fouled off three 0-2 pitches, then lined right to Piñeiro, who reached down and caught the ball. Ford was down 0-2 before getting the 1-2 pitch to the back of the left thigh. Mauer was down 0-2 and wound up spraying the 1-2 pitch down the leftfield line for a double, moving Ford to third. Cuddyer was intentionally walked to load the bases.
Jake Woods came in for Piñeiro. Kubel laced the first pitch past a diving Lopez into right for a single, scoring Ford and Mauer and moving Cuddyer to second.
»» TWINS 7, MARINERS 1
Redmond rolled a 1-2 pitch to short to start a 6-4-3 double play. Woods threw five pitches.
Piñeiro's line: 5 1/3 innings, 7 runs (6 earned), 9 hits, 6 walks, 2 strikeouts, 106 pitches (62 strikes)
BOTTOM 6TH
Sexson lined a hard shot off of Guerrier's right thumb which we later found out was broken, though it would require only a soft cast as opposed to a hard one. In the scope of the game, however, Guerrier came out and had the thumb looked at.
Willie Eyre came in for Guerrier. Morse flew out to Punto in shallow right. Bloomquist flew out to right on the first pitch. Eyre threw four pitches.
Guerrier's line: 1/3 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 4 pitches (2 strikes)
TOP 7TH
Morneau flew out to left on a full count. Batista flew out to Lopez on a 2-2 pitch. Castro was up 2-0 before walking on a full-count pitch way outside. Punto took an 0-2 pitch in the dirt, and Rivera tagged him out. Woods threw 24 pitches and had 29 total.
BOTTOM 7TH
Rivera took a 1-2 breaking ball over the outer half and highish. Betancourt grounded a 2-2 pitch to the left-side hole, where Castro got to it but couldn't corral it as Betancourt had the single. Ichiro lined a single through the left side, moving Betancourt to second. Beltre whiffed on an 0-2 breaking ball down over the outer half. Lopez fouled off a 1-1 pitch, and it ricocheted under Redmond behind the plate and rattled an area dangerously close to the undercarriage, and it was enough to attract attention from a trainer. Lopez later whiffed on a 2-2 offspeed pitch. Eyre threw 23 pitches en route to striking out the side and had 27 total.
TOP 8TH
Ford flew out to left. Mauer was ahead 3-0 but ended up flying out to left on a full count. Cuddyer whiffed on an 0-2 breaking ball down and in. Woods threw 12 pitches and had 41 total.
BOTTOM 8TH
Ibañez ripped a 2-0 pitch into right for a single. Sexson whiffed on a 2-2 fastball over the inner half. Morse rode a 2-0 pitch to the base of the wall in rightcenter for a double, moving Ibañez to third. Bloomquist grounded the ball off of Eyre, who threw him out, but Ibañez scored and Morse went to third.
»» TWINS 7, MARINERS 2
Roberto Petagine, hitting for Rivera, worked an 0-2 count full before whiffing.
Eyre's line: 2 2/3 innings, 1 run, 4 hits, 0 walks, 5 strikeouts, 47 pitches (29 strikes)
TOP 9TH 174
Kubel grounded to third on a 2-2 pitch. Redmond bounced the second pitch to short. Morneau took a 1-2 pitch over the outer half.
Woods' line: 3 2/3 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, 53 pitches (36 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Joe Nathan came in for Eyre. Betancourt rolled the second pitch to the wall in rightcenter, and he got the triple standing up. Ichiro took the second pitch down and away, and it got away from Redmond, allowing Betancourt to come across.
»» TWINS 7, MARINERS 3
Ichiro grounded the next pitch to short. Beltre rolled the second pitch to short. Lopez took a 1-2 offspeed pitch over the inside corner.
Nathan's line: 1 inning, 1 run, 1 hit, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 11 pitches (8 strikes)
---
Gameball: Jake Woods.
Goat: Joel Piñeiro.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 49-13 .790 -- W2
2003 42-20 .677 7 L1
2002 38-24 .613 11 L1
2000 34-28 .548 15 L1
2006 28-34 .452 21 L1
2005 27-35 .435 22 W1
2004 25-37 .403 24 L1
Washburn. Escobar. Tonight.
/ Click for main page
Thursday, June 08, 2006
GAME 61: MARINERS 10, TWINS 9 (11 INNINGS)
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: Carl Everett led a power barrage that bailed out Mariner pitching in a game that lasted much too long.
This one featured Boof Bonser going up against Jamie Moyer. A win would lead the Mariners to their third straight and sixth in seven games, which would be their best stretch of the season. The Mariners had a power surge of sorts on a night with the roof open, the wind blowing out, and on the same night where Richie Sexson used a metal bat during batting practice and parked a ball onto Royal Brougham. Also, the Beltre play on the Castillo grounder in the fourth inning was the number-one Web Gem on Baseball Tonight, and rightfully so considering what the other four plays in the top five were, and they weren't even close.
I feel like doing something a bit different for the start here, so I'll put down the Mariners' streaks this season: L1, W3, L4, W2, L1, W1, L3, W1, L4, W1, L1, W1, L1, W3, L4, W1, L1, W2, L2, W2, L3, W4, L1, W1, L6, W3, L1, W3 (current).
Winning streaks (quantity)...
one game (6)
two games (3)
three games (4)
four games (1)
Losing streaks (quantity)...
one game (7)
two games (1)
three games (2)
four games (3)
six games (1)
To the much-too-long game...
TOP 1ST
Luis Castillo worked an 0-2 count full before walking on the seventh pitch. Lew Ford reached for a pitch down and away and lined it to left, where it got Ibañez twisted around and it went over him to the wall for a double, moving Castillo to third. Joe Mauer hit a second-pitch slow roller to the left of the mound to a charging Beltre, who bobbled the transfer and tried to recover and catch Castillo off of third. Torii Hunter flew out to Reed in leftcenter on a 2-0 pitch, scoring Castillo.
»» TWINS 1, MARINERS 0
Mike Cuddyer watched with a 1-1 count as Moyer picked Ford off of second. Cuddyer belted a 2-2 pitch foul into the elevated leftfield bleachers, and bounced the next pitch off the leftcenter track and into the mass of inebriation beyond the wall, scoring Mauer.
»» TWINS 2, MARINERS 0
Jason Kubel rolled the second pitch to second. Moyer threw 23 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Ichiro roped the first pitch into the fourth row of rightfield seats.
»» TWINS 2, MARINERS 1
Adrian Beltre fell behind 0-2 and took a 1-2 curve over the inside corner, clearly baffled as he turned from the ball. Jose Lopez walked on a 3-1 pitch. Raul Ibañez was down 0-2 before whiffing on a full-count pitch, but Lopez took second thanks to Castillo trying to make the tag before catching the ball, and he dropped it. Richie Sexson hit a second-pitch rope five rows above the manual scoreboard in left.
»» MARINERS 3, TWINS 2
Carl Everett fisted a 2-2 pitch to short where Castro had to make an off-balance throw that didn't have a lot on it, but it would have beat Everett if Cuddyer didn't drop it. Kenji Johjima took a first-pitch ball and Bonser got a mound visit from Mauer and his pitching coach, Rick Anderson. Johjima had the hitters' counts before grounding hard to third. Bonser threw 28 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Mike Redmond shot the second pitch through the right side for a single. Terry Tiffee lined a pitch into left that one-hopped Ibañez, who stopped it on a slide as Redmond moved to second. Juan Castro flew out to Lopez near the rightfield line on a 2-0 pitch. Castillo was up 3-1 and popped a full-count pitch to Ibañez in shallow left. Ford flew out high to Ichiro short of the rightfield track. Moyer threw 19 pitches and had 42 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Jeremy Reed had the hitters' counts before walking on a 3-1 pitch. Yuniesky Betancourt hit a hanging 1-2 inside curve, pulling it barely inside the leftfield foul pole, scoring Reed and himself on the eighth pitch of the at-bat.
»» MARINERS 5, TWINS 2
Ichiro looped an 0-2 pitch into left for a flyout. Beltre flew out to Cuddyer in foul ground on the right side. Lopez was up 2-0 and rolled a 2-2 pitch to second. Bonser threw 23 pitches and had 51 through two.
TOP 3RD
Mauer was down 0-2 and dropped a 1-2 pitch into left near the line for a double. Hunter hit a long fly to center that was just past the reach of Reed going back to the track, and Hunter had a double that moved Mauer to third, where he held. Cuddyer was up 3-1 and took a full-count pitch down and in to load the bases. Pitching coach Rafael Chaves visited the mound. Kubel was down 0-2, eventually whiffing on a 1-2 breaking ball down and away. Redmond lined the first pitch into left for a single, scoring Mauer, but Hunter ran through the stop sign and was dead meat on Johjima's tag (throw from Ibañez). Cuddyer went to second on the play.
»» MARINERS 5, TWINS 3
Tiffee rolled out to second on a 2-2 pitch. Moyer threw 23 pitches and had 65 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Ibañez popped a high fly ball that Kubel caught in the leftfield corner. Sexson flew out very high to Ford in rightcenter on the second pitch. Everett whiffed on a 2-2 pitch that got away from Mauer, who threw to first. Bonser threw 12 pitches and had 63 through three.
TOP 4TH
Castro grounded the first pitch to second. Castillo grounded to Beltre, who made a diving stop at the line, and the ball rolled away a bit before he got it and threw from his knees to first, where Sexson stretched for the pick and fell over, but the out was made on a crazy-good play. Ford doubled to the extremely annoying Nikon advertisement in leftcenter. Mauer was down 0-2 before dumping a 2-2 pitch into center for a single, scoring Ford.
»» MARINERS 5, TWINS 4
Hunter dumped the second-pitch into shallow left for a 'tweener single behind Betancourt and in front of Ibañez, moving Mauer to third. Cuddyer flew out to Lopez on the infield grass. Moyer threw 17 pitches and had 82 through four.
BOTTOM 4TH
Johjima rolled the first pitch to short. Reed flew out to Hunter in leftcenter. Betancourt lined the second pitch into center for a single. Ichiro punched a 3-1 pitch into the hole on the right side, where Castillo ranged over and made a diving stop and threw to first, but Ichiro beat it out as Betancourt went to third on the hit-and-run. Beltre had the hitters' counts before walking on a 3-1 pitch low and away. Bonser got a visit again from Anderson. Lopez split his bat on a 2-2 pitch, rolling it up the middle, where it led Castro to the second-base bag, which he stepped on before Beltre got there. Bonser threw 21 pitches and had 84 through four.
TOP 5TH
Kubel was jammed and popped the second pitch to short. Redmond popped the second pitch to shallow center. Tiffee lined out to third. Moyer threw seven pitches and had 89 through five.
Moyer's line: 5 innings, 4 runs (3 earned), 10 hits, 2 walks, 1 strikeout, 89 pitches (53 strikes)
BOTTOM 5TH
Ibañez scorched a 1-2 pitch right to Castro at short (lineout). Sexson roped the first pitch off the Pepsi ad on the leftfield wall in front of the visitors' bullpen canopy for a double. Everett was down 0-2 and bounced a 2-2 pitch to second to start a 4-6 fielder's choice to force Sexson since Everett beat the double play on the back end. Johjima was up 2-0 and later flew out to left on a full count.
Bonser's line: 5 innings, 5 runs, 7 hits, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts, 102 pitches (58 strikes)
TOP 6TH
Sean Green came in for Moyer. Castro took an 0-2 pitch over the outside corner. Castillo took a 1-2 pitch over the outside corner. Ford stuck a 2-2 pitch into right for a single. Mauer was up 3-0 and walked on a 3-1 pitch. Hunter chopped high to third, where Beltre jumped to spear it and throw to second for the force on Mauer. Green threw 21 pitches.
BOTTOM 6TH
Willie Eyre came in for Bonser. Reed tapped a 2-0 pitch back to the mound. Betancourt rolled a 2-2 pitch to short. Ichiro was up 2-0 and dumped a 2-2 pitch into shallow center for a single for his 2500th professional hit, Japan and the Majors combined. Beltre was down 0-2 and drove a 1-2 pitch to the wall in rightcenter for a double, scoring Ichiro from first.
»» MARINERS 6, TWINS 4
Lopez took a 2-2 pitch to the left tricep, luring trainer Rick Griffin to the field.
Dennys Reyes came in for Eyre. Ibañez ripped a rope on the second pitch, reaching the sixth row or so in the rightfield seats, scoring Lopez and Beltre.
»» MARINERS 9, TWINS 4
Sexson blistered a 2-2 pitch past Tiffee and down the leftfield line for a double, putting him a triple from the cycle. Everett bounced a one-hopper to third on the second pitch. Reyes threw nine pitches.
Eyre's line: 2/3 inning, 3 runs, 2 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 22 pitches (13 strikes)
TOP 7TH
Cuddyer grounded back to the mound. Kubel took a 1-2 pitch over the inner half. Redmond bounced the first pitch to short. Green threw nine pitches and had 30 total.
BOTTOM 7TH
Johjima rolled the first pitch to second. Reed bounced the second pitch to first. Betancourt ripped the second pitch through the mound and into center for a single. Ichiro bounced out to third on the second pitch. Reyes threw eight pitches and had 17 total.
Reyes' line: 1 1/3 innings, 1 run, 3 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 17 pitches (11 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Tiffee worked a 1-2 count full before taking strike three over the inside corner. Castro lined the first pitch into the corner in rightfield for a double. Castillo worked a 1-2 count for a walk. Ford rolled the first pitch into right for a single, loading the bases.
George Sherrill came in for Green. Mauer had the hitters' counts and walked on a 3-1 pitch up and away, forcing Castro in from third and keeping the bases loaded.
»» MARINERS 9, TWINS 5
Rafael Soriano came in for Sherrill. Hunter popped the second pitch to Lopez on the edge of the outfield grass. Cuddyer took an 0-2 slider barely off the outside corner before getting a hold of the next pitch, putting the hanging slider over the plate into the leftfield seats above the manual scoreboard, next to the visitors' bullpen in left. Onyx!
»» TWINS 9, MARINERS 9
Kubel took a 2-2 slider for strike three. Soriano threw 14 pitches.
Green's line: 2 1/3 innings, 3 runs, 3 hits, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts, 46 pitches (29 strikes)
Sherrill's line: 0 innings, 1 run, 0 hits, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 5 pitches (1 strike)
BOTTOM 8TH
Juan Rincon came in for Reyes. Beltre popped the second pitch to Ford in deep rightcenter, who collided with Hunter in a low-speed meeting and had a shoe come loose. Lopez flew out to Ford in shallow right. Ibañez whiffed on an 0-2 pitch up and away. Rincon threw seven pitches.
TOP 9TH
Redmond worked a 1-2 count full and rolled a single past a diving Betancourt into center. Luis Rodriguez, hitting for Tiffee, bunted in front to a charging Sexson, who looked to second, but had to go to first. Castrol flew out to center on the first pitch. Castillo was up 2-0 and popped to Beltre in foul ground on the left side. Soriano threw 14 pitches and had 28 total.
Soriano's line: 1 2/3 innings, 1 run, 2 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 28 pitches (19 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Rodriguez stayed in to play third. Sexson popped the second pitch to Cuddyer in foul territory near the bag at first. Everett lined the first pitch right to third. Johjima fell behind 0-2 and cranked a 2-2 pitch down the leftfield line, but it was foul in the upper deck. Johjima ended up whiffing on the next pitch, a breaking ball down and away.
Rincon's line: 2 innings, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 19 pitches (17 strikes)
TOP 10TH
JJ Putz came in for Soriano. Ford grounded a 2-0 pitch to third. Mauer flew out to right on a full count. Hunter was down 0-2 and chopped the 1-2 pitch off the plate and incredibly high, giving Hunter enough time to get to first as Betancourt finally gloved it. Cuddyer was up 3-0 but ended up whiffing on a full-count low splitter.
Putz' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 20 pitches (11 strikes)
BOTTOM 10TH
Jesse Crain came in for Rincon. Reed bunted down the first-pitch down the first-base line, where Crain raced off the mound, bobbled the ball a bit, but backhand flipped over to first in time. Betancourt shot a single past the reach of Rodriguez at third and into left. Ichiro chopped a 2-2 pitch slowly to the left of the mound, where Castro charged to field it, but didn't throw to first and tried to catch Betancourt at second to no avail. Beltre was down 0-2 and whiffed on a low 2-2 fastball. Lopez chopped the first pitch high to third, but Rodriguez was able to come up with it and throw over to first in time. Crain threw 19 pitches.
TOP 11TH
Julio Mateo came in for Putz. Kubel singled through the right side on the second pitch, then Nick Punto came in to run for him. Redmond bunted the first pitch in front, where Mateo fielded it and threw to first as Punto had taken off with the pitch. Rodriguez was intentionally walked. Justin Morneau, hitting for Castro, grounded the first pitch to first, where Sexson started a 3-6-1 double play. Betancourt double-clutched the throw to first as he waited for Mateo to cover first, and one could argue that Morneau may have been safe.
Mateo's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 8 pitches (3 strikes)
BOTTOM 11TH
Punto stayed in to play short, Morneau stayed in to play first, Cuddyer moved to right, and Ford moved to left. Ibañez grounded right to short. Sexson popped a 2-2 pitch very high behind the plate, but Mauer had the ball go off the tip of his glove. Sexson ended up whiffing on a full-count slider down over the outside corner, the ninth pitch of the at-bat. Everett cranked a 2-0 pitch for a rope into the far reaches of the lower deck in rightfield.
»» MARINERS 10, TWINS 9
Crain's line: 1 2/3 innings, 1 run, 3 hits, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 34 pitches (22 strikes)
---
Gameball: Yuniesky Betancourt.
How often is Betancourt going to go 4-for-5 with a homer and two RBIs? I'd probably throw him the gameball every time that happens, though with all the other homers being hit in this game, it makes it less obvious of a gameball, and that's what I try to do here. Anyway, Betancourt's hot-hitting night bumped his batting average up by .013 and it now sits at .288, eclipsed in the starting lineup by the currently white-hot Ichiro (.358). This was the first four-hit game for Betancourt this season. His homer was barely inside the leftfield foul pole, but he did a great job getting to that pitch, a letter-high curve over the inner half on which he got around. Couple this with his usual defense, and it's a good thing. Do I expect Betancourt to finish the year hitting .288? Probably not. Maybe a little lower. But if he did his usual things on defense and hit .288 coming out of the bottom third of the lineup, I'll take that anytime. When he gets on base with Ichiro at the plate when the lineup turns over, it does a lot for this team. Ichiro's a hitter to begin with, but Ichiro with a runner on base puts the pitcher at even more of a disadvantage.
Goat: Jamie Moyer.
The best thing he did was not get completely blown up. If not for the Twins' big inning in the eighth, Moyer pretty much has the win. Instead, Sean Green loads the bases, George Sherrill walks in a run, then Lew Ford cranks one to tie it. Between Boof Bonser and Moyer, the starting pitching in this game was very shaky, and in the fifth inning the game was already approaching the two-hour mark, a stark contrast to Moyer's last start, the two-hit shutout of the Royals. This time, Moyer just didn't have it. He got hit around pretty well, giving up seemingly everything but a homer. He gave up ten hits, which is enough for any outing, and way more than enough for a mere five innings. Consider that five of those hits were doubles, and that's doubly bad, and it spurs me to make really bad puns. All told, Moyer's the number-one guy in this rotation, and although he's 43 years old, the team still needs quality starts out of him, and they definitely got one the last time through. Still, five innings out of Moyer just magnifies itself when you know you have Joel Piñeiro, Gil Meche, and Felix Hernandez also in the rotation and mostly shaky so far this season.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 48-13 .787 -- W1
2003 42-19 .689 6 W2
2002 38-23 .623 10 W1
2000 34-27 .557 14 W4
2006 28-33 .459 20 W3
2005 26-35 .426 22 L3
2004 25-36 .410 23 W3
Santana. Piñeiro. Today.
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Wednesday, June 07, 2006
GAME 60: MARINERS 4, TWINS 2
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: A short game turned long when Mike Hargrove nearly emptied out the bullpen in the eighth.
This one featured Francisco Liriano going up against Felix Hernandez. The Mariners came in having won four of five games, though three of those of course were against the hapless and hopeless Kansas City Royals. How would they fare against more competent competition? It'd come down to the young'uns on the mound starting for both teams.
TOP 1ST
Luis Castillo whiffed on an 0-2 pitch away. Jason Kubel fell behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 curve down and away. `Joe Mauer was ahead 3-0 and bounced a 3-1 pitch up the middle for a single. Torii Hunter shot the second pitch down the leftfield line for a double that went off the protruding area of the leftfield stands, moving Mauer to third. Mike Cuddyer walked on four pitches to load the bases. Pitching coach Rafael Chaves came to the mound for a visit. Justin Morneau rolled the first pitch to first. Hernandez threw 19 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Ichiro had the hitters' counts before chopping a full-count pitch over the mound to Castro coming in from short, whose best possible effort and throw was beaten to the bag at first by Ichiro. Adrian Beltre drilled a 1-2 pitch into left for a single, moving Ichiro to second. Jose Lopez popped high to Liriano near the mound. Raul Ibañez hit a checkswing chopper to third, moving Ichiro to third and Beltre to second. Richie Sexson knocked the second pitch to the mound and off Liriano's pitching hand (not hard though), and it went to Castillo at second, who threw in time to first. Liriano threw 20 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Rondell White was down 0-2 and rolled a 1-2 pitch to short. Tony Batista was ahead 2-0 and ended up bouncing a 2-2 pitch to second. Juan Castro tapped an 0-2 pitch back to the mound. Hernandez threw 13 pitches and had 32 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Kenji Johjima lined the second pitch right to Cuddyer in right. Willie Bloomquist whiffed on a low full-count breaking ball. Mike Morse walked on four pitches. Yuniesky Betancourt rolled a 2-2 pitch to short for the force on Morse (6-4 putout). Liriano threw 17 pitches and had 37 through two.
TOP 3RD
Castillo rolled the first pitch to second. Kubel knocked a single through the right side. Mauer stroked a 1-2 pitch into the rightfield corner for a double, moving Kubel to third, where he was held up by the third-base coach. Hunter was ahead 2-0 and tapped a 2-2 pitch to the mound, where Hernandez threw to first as Kubel held at third. Cuddyer couldn't hold up on an 0-2 pitch down and away. Hernandez threw 18 pitches and had 50 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Ichiro was down 0-2 and rolled a 2-2 slider through the left side for a single. Beltre popped the first pitch to a charging Cuddyer in shallow rightcenter on a hit-and-run. Lopez punched the first pitch to Morneau, who let Lopez run into his tag coming down the line as Ichiro moved to second. Ibañez walked on four pitches. Sexson rolled the first pitch to second. Liriano threw 13 pitches and had 50 through three.
TOP 4TH
Morneau grounded a 2-0 pitch to Betancourt in the hole at short. White grounded the first pitch to first. Batista bounced a 2-2 pitch gently down the third-base line, but Beltre got to it and did the quick plant and sidearmed throw thing. Hernandez threw nine pitches and had 59 through four.
BOTTOM 4TH
Johjima punched an 0-2 pitch up the middle for a single. Bloomquist hit a swinging bunt along the right side, where Mauer pounced on it and threw to first, moving Johjima to second. Morse cranked a high fly ball for which Hunter had to wait a while to come down, and it missed being a homer over the centerfield wall by a foot or so. Nonetheless, Morse had a double and Johjima scored.
»» MARINERS 1, TWINS 0
Betancourt took the first pitch way inside and it went to the backstop, moving Morse to third. Betancourt ended up grounding the second pitch right to Batista at third, making Morse hold at third. Ichiro chopped a 1-2 pitch over the mound that Liriano jumped to reach, and his pitching hand blocked it, but he couldn't come up cleanly with the ball, allowing Morse to score on what went for a single. Castillo has a better chance at a play on the ball and maybe an out if Liriano let it go.
»» MARINERS 2, TWINS 0
Beltre whiffed on a 1-2 breaking ball down and in, which wasn't down and away. Rare. Liriano threw 20 pitches and had 70 through four.
TOP 5TH
Castro had the hitters' counts and grounded behind the bag to Beltre, who threw from foul territory in time to first. Castillo punched a line drive right to Bloomquist in center. Kubel slapped the second pitch the other way (left) for a single. Mauer hit a fly ball that landed way left of Ibañez in left for a double, scoring Kubel.
»» MARINERS 2, TWINS 1
Hunter was up 3-1 but whiffed on a full-count low breaking ball. Hernandez threw 21 pitches and had 80 through five.
BOTTOM 5TH
Lopez popped the second pitch high to third. Ibañez bounced the second pitch to second. Sexson foul-tipped a 2-2 pitch into Mauer's glove behind the plate. Liriano threw nine pitches and had 79 through five.
TOP 6TH
Cuddyer rolled the first pitch to short. Morneau was ahead 3-0 and walked on a 3-1 pitch down and away. White worked a 1-2 count full before taking a breaking ball for the third strike, and Johjima threw over to second, where Lopez put the tag on Morneau trying to steal, and Lopez was in a slow-speed bowl-over collision. Hernandez threw 12 pitches and had 92 through six.
BOTTOM 6TH
Johjima bounced a high pitch onto the leftcenter warning track and bounced into the bullpen for a double. Bloomquist grounded the first pitch right to first, where Morneau threw over to third to catch Johjima, who at least mitigated the mistake by getting in a rundown of sufficient duration to move Bloomquist to second. Morse took the first pitch as Bloomquist nabbed third thanks to Mauer not coming up cleanly with the ball. Morse ended up chopping a 1-2 pitch to third, where Batista had to contort a bit to his left to get it, and threw straight home, where Bloomquist just got under the tag of Mauer at the plate. Morse reached to first.
»» MARINERS 3, TWINS 1
Betancourt took the first pitch as Morse took off for second, but the pitch got away from Mauer and Morse had second without a throw. Liriano got a visit from his pitching coach. Betancourt ended up grounding the second pitch right to third as Morse held at second. Ichiro chopped the second pitch along the third-base line, where Batista got the ball in front of the bag and threw in time to first to beat Ichiro.
Liriano's line: 6 innings, 3 runs, 7 hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, 91 pitches (59 strikes)
TOP 7TH
Batista nubbed an 0-2 pitch to the mound. Castro grounded the first pitch right to short. Castillo was behind 0-2 and rolled a 1-2 pitch to a charging Betancourt from short, who threw in time to first.
Hernandez' line: 7 innings, 1 run, 6 hits, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts, 100 pitches (60 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Matt Guerrier came in for Liriano. Beltre drove the first pitch to the track in center. Lopez walked on a 3-1 pitch up and in. Ibañez drove a second-pitch breaking ball into the gap and to the wall in rightcenter for a double, scoring Lopez from first.
»» MARINERS 4, TWINS 1
Sexson hit a liner into left but was robbed of a double by Kubel on a 3/4-extension diving catch. Johjima walked on four pitches. Bloomquist worked a 1-2 count full before whiffing on a highish fastball. Guerrier threw 23 pitches.
Guerrier's line: 1 inning, 1 run, 1 hit, 2 walks, 1 strikeouts, 23 pitches (11 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Eddie Guardado came in for Hernandez. Kubel cranked a 2-0 pitch about eight rows back into the rightfield seats.
»» MARINERS 4, TWINS 2
Mauer was ahead 3-1 and punched a full-count pitch through the right side.
Julio Mateo came in for Guardado. Hunter took off on a 1-1 pitch way low and away and Mauer nabbed second. Hunter whiffed on a 2-2 pitch. Cuddyer bounced the second pitch through the left side for a single, moving Mauer to third.
George Sherrill came in for Mateo. Morneau was down 0-2 and whiffed on a 1-2 pitch.
JJ Putz came in for Mateo. Terry Tiffee, hitting for White, grounded the second pitch hard to third. Putz threw two pitches.
Guardado's line: 0 innings, 1 run, 2 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 9 pitches (4 strikes)
Mateo's line: 1/3 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 7 pitches (5 strikes)
Sherrill's line: 1/3 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 4 pitches (3 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Jesse Crain came in for Guerrier. Carl Everett, hitting for Morse, fell behind 0-2 and rolled a 1-2 pitch to second. Betancourt shot a 1-2 grounder down the rightfield line for a single and Cuddyer cut it off before it could rattle in the corner. Ichiro grounded the first pitch through the right side for a single, moving Betancourt to second. Beltre grounded to third on a 2-2 pitch, where Batista threw to second for the force on Ichiro (5-4), and Betancourt went to third on the play. Lopez took a 1-2 belt-high fastball over the outside corner. Crain threw 20 pitches.
Crain's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 20 pitches (15 strikes)
TOP 9TH
Luis Rodriguez, hitting for Batista, fell behind 0-2 and flew out to center on a 1-2 pitch. Nick Punto, hitting for Castro, lined the second pitch into left, where Ibañez dove for the ball and was about three feet short of catching it, and it went into the leftfield corner for a double. Castillo bounced out to short, moving Punto to third. Kubel flew out to center on the second pitch.
Putz' line: 1 1/3 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 14 pitches (10 strikes)
---
Gameball: Kenji Johjima.
Goat: Richie Sexson.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 47-13 .783 -- L1
2003 41-19 .683 6 W1
2002 37-23 .617 10 L2
2000 33-27 .550 14 W3
2006 27-33 .450 20 W2
2005 26-34 .433 21 L2
2004 24-36 .400 23 W2
Bonser. Moyer. Tonight.
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Tuesday, June 06, 2006
GAME 59: MARINERS 4, ROYALS 1
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: This one was a scoreless tie for much too long.
This one featured Mike Wood going up against Gil Meche. The Mariners were trying to take three of four from the Royals after a laugher the other way on Sunday. Following this game would be three home meetings with the Twins who swept them in Minnesota when the Mariners had their worst series of the season.
TOP 1ST
David DeJesus fell behind 0-2 before taking a 2-2 curve for strike three that was dropped by Johjima (2-3 putout). Tony Graffanino was down 0-2 and ended up bouncing a 1-2 curve to Beltre at the third-base bag, who threw into the runner and in fact hit Graffanino on the hand (error), who went to second on the play. Doug Mientkiewicz took a 1-1 pitch off the foot, so it nullified a wild pitch that would have put Graffanino on third. Reggie Sanders chopped to short, where Betancourt started a 6-3 double play. Meche threw 15 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Ichiro fell behind 0-2 and wedged the 2-2 pitch for a flyout to center. Adrian Beltre grounded the second pitch to short. Jose Lopez bunted the first pitch back to the mound, and I'm not sure if I'd rather tell myself it was his call or Hargrove's. Wood threw only eight pitches.
TOP 2ND
Matt Stairs chopped a 2-2 pitch off the plate to the right side, where Meche didn't play it cleanly and nobody was covering first since he, Sexson, and Lopez all converged on the ball. Shane Costa split his bat and chopped to Lopez, who started a 4-6-3 double play as Stairs was bewildered by the broken bat and never moved far from first. Mark Teahen was behind 0-2 and whiffed on a 2-2 fastball. Meche threw 16 pitches and had 31 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Raul Ibañez stung a single into shallow center. Richie Sexson was up 3-1 and ended up popping high to first on a full count. Carl Everett tapped an 0-2 pitch along the right side where Wood made the play and tossed to first, moving Ibañez to second. Kenji Johjima bounced the second pitch to third, where Teahen bobbled it (Ibañez ran in front of him) and threw wide and into the runner at first, but Mientkiewicz couldn't get that tag down. Ibañez went to third on the play. Jeremy Reed popped the first pitch to DeJesus a couple steps short of the track. Wood threw 17 pitches and had 25 through two.
TOP 3RD
Angel Berroa grounded the first pitch to Beltre near the mound, where he threw quickly to first for the out. John Buck worked an 0-2 count full before lining out to Beltre, who speared the ball to his backhand side. DeJesus sliced the first pitch to the gap in leftcenter, and he got all the way to third for the triple. Graffanino popped the second pitch high to right. Wood threw 11 pitches and had 42 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Yuniesky Betancourt flew out to right. Ichiro worked a 1-2 count full before poking a single over Berroa at short and into left. Beltre flew out high to shallow center on the second pitch. Lopez fell behind 0-2 before whiffing on a 1-2 breaking ball low over the outer half. Wood threw 16 pitches and had 41 through three.
TOP 4TH
Mientkiewicz was ahead 2-0 before whiffing on a 2-2 breaking ball low and away. Sanders grounded the first pitch to third. Stairs was up 3-0 and walked on a 3-1 pitch. Costa rolled the second pitch to second. Meche threw 15 pitches and had 57 through three.
BOTTOM 4TH
Ibañez had the hitters' counts before poking a full-count pitch into right for a single. Sexson one-hopped right to third for a 5-4-3 double play. Everett was ahead 3-0 and took a full-count pitch over the inside corner. Wood threw 18 pitches and had 59 through four.
TOP 5TH
Teahen popped the second pitch to left. Berroa whiffed wildly on a 1-2 fastball over the inner half. Buck flew out to right. Meche threw nine pitches and had 66 through five.
BOTTOM 5TH
Johjima grounded a 3-1 pitch to short. Reed bunted the first pitch along the third-base line that stayed fair and Wood's throw was wide of first, but the play was nicely backed up, so Reed didn't advance to second. Betancourt tapped an 0-2 pitch back to the mound, where Wood threw to second to force Reed and Betancourt beat out the double play (1-6 fielder's choice). Ichiro took a 2-2 pitch and watched as Betancourt was gunned down trying to steal second. Wood threw 15 pitches and had 74 through five.
TOP 6TH
DeJesus took the first pitch off the right elbow. Graffanino took the second pitch and DeJesus was gunned down by Johjima trying to steal second even though DeJesus looked safe even in real time. Graffanino ended up flying out to right on an 0-2 pitch. Mientkiewicz was up 3-0 before walking on a low 3-1 pitch. Sanders took a 1-2 pitch way up and in on a pitch that knocked Johjima on his seat as he was either crossed up or a pitch got away from Meche. Sanders ended up whiffing on the next pitch, a breaking ball that was low enough. Meche threw 14 pitches and had 80 through six.
BOTTOM 6TH
Ichiro shut the first pitch inside the first-base bag and down the rightfield line for a double. Beltre rolled right to short and Ichiro took off for third anyway and was thrown out, though the ball wasn't hit in front of him. Lopez lasered a double past Teahen and into left, moving Beltre to third.
Jimmy Gobble came in for Wood. Ibañez had the hitters' counts before drilling a 3-1 pitch up the middle for a single, scoring both Beltre and Lopez.
»» MARINERS 2, ROYALS 0
Sexson had a 1-2 count when Ibañez took off on first move and was hopelessly picked off by Gobble, who threw to second for the tag. Sexson ended up whiffing on a 1-2 breaking ball. Gobble threw ten pitches.
Wood's line: 5 1/3 innings, 2 runs, 6 hits, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 81 pitches (48 strikes)
TOP 7TH
Stairs poked a single into center. Costa grounded a 2-2 pitch under a diving Sexson and into right, moving Stairs to third. PItching coach Rafael Chaves came to the mound for a visit. Teahen grounded the second pitch deep into the hole on the right side, where he slid, spun, and threw in time to first. Stairs scored and Stairs went to second on the play.
»» MARINERS 2, ROYALS 1
Berroa flew out to center on the second pitch. Buck took a 1-2 curve over the outer half. Meche threw 16 pitches and had 96 through seven.
Meche's line: 7 innings, 1 run, 4 hits, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts, 96 pitches (60 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Everett whiffed on an 0-2 pitch. Johjima popped to Teahen in foul ground near third. Reed rolled the first pitch to first (3-1 putout). Gobble threw seven pitches and had 17 total.
TOP 8TH
George Sherrill came in for Meche. DeJesus took a high 3-1 pitch for a walk.
Rafael Soriano came in for Sherrill. Graffanino whiffed badly on an 0-2 pitch. Mientkiewicz fell behind 0-2 before whiffing on a 2-2 pitch down and away. Sanders whiffed on a 1-2 slider. Soriano threw 13 pitches en route to striking out the side.
Sherrill's line: 0 innings, 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 5 pitches (1 strike)
Soriano's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts, 13 pitches (10 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Betancourt drove the second pitch into the gap in rightcenter, and Betancourt flew into second with a double. Ichiro looped a 2-2 pitch for a flyout into left.
Joel Peralta came in for Gobble. Beltre foul-tipped a full-count fastball into Buck's glove behind the plate. Lopez hit an up-and-in fastball off the wall in the leftfield corner for a double, scoring Betancourt.
»» MARINERS 3, ROYALS 1
Ibañez was intentionally walked. Sexson lined the second pitch into left for a single, scoring Lopez and moving Ibañez to second.
»» MARINERS 4, ROYALS 1
Everett whiffed badly over a 1-2 breaking ball down and in. Peralta threw 20 pitches.
Gobble's line: 2 innings, 1 run, 2 hits, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 25 pitches (16 strikes)
Peralta's line: 2/3 inning, 1 run, 2 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 20 pitches (9 strikes)
TOP 9TH
JJ Putz came in for Soriano. Stairs took a 2-2 highish fastball for strike three. Costa popped to Ibañez in shallow left. Teahen checkswung but nubbed the second pitch to third.
Putz' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 11 pitches (6 strikes)
---
Gameball: Jose Lopez.
He went 2-for-4 with a couple of doubles in this game. After a half-dozen games hitting in the three-spot in the lineup, the second baseman has 6-for-23 (.261) with three doubles, a homer, and seven RBIs, scoring five times, walking three times and striking out five. In the six games since the lineup overhaul, Lopez is slugging .609. It looks better than the .261, that's for sure. Anyway, the main motive of this whole thing according to what we've been sold is the improvement of Adrian Beltre, who despite having a nine-game hitting streak snapped in this game has hit 8-for-26 (.308) in the second slot in the order with a double, two homers, and five RBIs, walking twice and striking out four times. Tonight, Lopez drove middle infield cohort Yuniesky Betancourt for an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth. It released some tension in the building and made it less of a cliffhanger when JJ Putz went out to the mound in the ninth, though we're getting a bit spoiled lately whenever the Mariners have a lead of three or less going into the last frame of play.
Goat: Carl Everett.
Usually I try to look somewhere else, and he's usually been decent enough to keep him out of the goat entry this season, but tonight the designated hitter didn't hit. He was 0-for-4 and got the hat trick, striking out three times. He had a terrible April, hitting .220 (18-for-82) with six doubles, four homers, and 13 RBIs, walking 15 times and walking 13. In the month of May, he was much better, hitting .291 (30-for-102) with one double, three homers, and 11 RBIs, walking six times and striking out 18 times. However, the month of June is not starting out so great. Everett is 1-for-14 (.071) with a walk and five strikeouts and no extra-base hits. He's scored a run though. I could spend more space here lamenting why on earth Bill Bavasi decided to sign this guy, but it'd be a waste and I've already done that at Sports and B's many times. At least they haven't made him play the outfield or anything hair-brained as that. Random -- remember the Mariner ad where other players started following Ichiro and putting the first names on the backs of their jerseys? "Thaddeuz?"
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 47-12 .797 -- W15
2003 40-19 .678 7 L1
2002 37-22 .627 10 L1
2000 32-27 .542 15 W2
2005 26-33 .441 21 L1
2006 26-33 .441 21 W1
2004 23-36 .390 24 W1
Liriano. Hernandez. Tonight.
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Monday, June 05, 2006
DIFF'RENT POSTS TO MOVE THE WORLD
I don't do anywhere near as many things with Sports and B's as I'd like. Mostly, I crank together those game pieces, and that's pretty much what I'm doing while I'm watching the games. However, there's stuff that I obviously can't write into a game post for the Mariners. I don't get around to this very often, but I've managed to scrape this one together.
-- I follow the Mariners day-to-day, which people might be able to surmise by reading this here weblog. They're terrible. What other baseball-related things would I rather pay attention to? Well, I can tell you what I'm sick of hearing about. Barry Bonds, Yankees/Red Sox, Kerry Wood/Mark Prior, etc. Of course, that kills about 75% of the content on every installment of Baseball Tonight. I don't know whose idea it was over at ESPN, but the Trifecta is the absolute worst thing ever. Never should Baseball Tonight be shown at a length of less than 30 minutes. Every game should get the full-screen partial boxscore graphics. The best thing in the last couple years, however, is that Brian Kenny is no longer the #2 guy behind Karl Ravech. The bad news is that Scott Reiss is. Still, there's no "ONE run will score, TWO runs will score..." over and f#*$ing over. Don't ask me! Ask the PLAYERS!***
-- The Seahawks have minicamp starting up today, with eight practices coming in the next two weeks, as per Sando's blog. I guess the most eyebrow-raising news I've seen over the past few weeks is that Wayne Hunter was cut loose after some off-field problems, and that Bryce Fisher is up for a fourth-degree assault charge after putting an arm bar on his wife. I wasn't too surprised about Hunter, since he'd had a previous record, but I didn't expect to see Fisher get into the police blotter. The additional information doesn't sound like much, but it's still a fourth-degree assault charge and there was a struggle involved. None of this is Leonard Little-type stuff, sure (and let's hope it never is), but I'd rather the Seahawks kept this stuff to a minimum.
-- Neither team between the Spurs and Pistons got into the NBA Finals this year, so I've gotten all I've wanted out of the playoffs. What I really wanted to talk about was KJR's David Locke being handed the radio play-by-play reins for the Seattle SuperSonics, taking over for Kevin Calabro. The other thing I didn't realize was that the Sonics are moving from KJR to KTTH. I used to love that Kevin Calabro could pull off the radio/television simulcast, and he was really good at it. What changed? When the Sonics got the cable deal with FSN, it got a bit less and less radio-friendly when they did the simulcast. When they started having Brian Davis come in from the commercial breaks with the sideline/crowd reports, that's when it got better on the television side, but on the radio, you'd hear Davis talking about various things and wouldn't know that ten seconds or so had been elapsed off the clock after the ball had been inbounded. Thus, something had to give. It started getting weird on the radio too, since they would set up the commercial break and would cut off Calabro abruptly before he'd say "you're watching Sonics basketball on FSN." About Locke, though, he's done his time manning the microphone for the Storm, and he's wanted to do this all his life. Not only will his voice be three octaves higher than Calabro's, the broadcasts will be chock full of so many advanced stats your head will spin. You'll know so much about plus-minus, five-man units, and effective field-goal percentage, your head will spin.
-- The Stanley Cup finals start today, with the Edmonton Oilers in Raleigh to face the Carolina Hurricanes. You could root for a Canadian team to finally take the Cup up north for the first time since Montréal in 1993, or you could root for Carolina because they used to be the Whalers or because the Carolina pro sports fanbase may still be shaken from having the Seahawks beat the Panthers so badly back in January's NFC title game. Carolina is a very deep team with a rookie goalie, Cam Ward, who is currently standing on his head every night in net. Add your Rod Brind'Amour, Eric Staal, and midseason acquisition Doug Weight. As for Edmonton, you've got Chris Pronger in his first Stanley Cup final after all those years with the Blues where they made the playoffs every year and never got anywhere. I know they gave the Canucks fits this season -- they beat the Canucks in each of the first five meetings and ended up winning six of eight. The thing that chaps me, though, is goalie Dwayne Roloson. His inability to win games down the stretch was the one thing that kept the dead-in-the-water Canucks clinging to a morsel of playoff hope. The Canucks lost six of their final eight games, and it seemed every night the Canucks had control of their own destiny coming in and would lose it with every loss, but the Oilers would bail them out every night because Roloson couldn't win. What little luck the Canucks had finally ran out in San Jose in the second-to-last game of the season. Edmonton got the eighth seed in the Western Conference, and look at them now. Sigh...
-- Jeremy and I know two things: Jerome Bettis is from Detroit and Tara Kirk is from Bremerton. I got an email on Friday from Charlie Snyder at the USOC telling me that he put together a Tara Kirk photo gallery at USOlympicTeam.com. If for some reason it gets pushed from the front page, I think this link should work, though you don't get the conveniently sized browser window and you'll get a full-sized window with a bunch of empty space. Nonetheless, thanks to Charlie for taking the time to put that together and for bringing that to our attention. Tara rules. Beijing is two years away.
And with that, it's well wishes on the week ahead for all our readers, be they from the Northwest or in various places on the continent and around the world. Thanks to those of you who are still reading.
[***Piniella outburst reference]
-- I follow the Mariners day-to-day, which people might be able to surmise by reading this here weblog. They're terrible. What other baseball-related things would I rather pay attention to? Well, I can tell you what I'm sick of hearing about. Barry Bonds, Yankees/Red Sox, Kerry Wood/Mark Prior, etc. Of course, that kills about 75% of the content on every installment of Baseball Tonight. I don't know whose idea it was over at ESPN, but the Trifecta is the absolute worst thing ever. Never should Baseball Tonight be shown at a length of less than 30 minutes. Every game should get the full-screen partial boxscore graphics. The best thing in the last couple years, however, is that Brian Kenny is no longer the #2 guy behind Karl Ravech. The bad news is that Scott Reiss is. Still, there's no "ONE run will score, TWO runs will score..." over and f#*$ing over. Don't ask me! Ask the PLAYERS!***
-- The Seahawks have minicamp starting up today, with eight practices coming in the next two weeks, as per Sando's blog. I guess the most eyebrow-raising news I've seen over the past few weeks is that Wayne Hunter was cut loose after some off-field problems, and that Bryce Fisher is up for a fourth-degree assault charge after putting an arm bar on his wife. I wasn't too surprised about Hunter, since he'd had a previous record, but I didn't expect to see Fisher get into the police blotter. The additional information doesn't sound like much, but it's still a fourth-degree assault charge and there was a struggle involved. None of this is Leonard Little-type stuff, sure (and let's hope it never is), but I'd rather the Seahawks kept this stuff to a minimum.
-- Neither team between the Spurs and Pistons got into the NBA Finals this year, so I've gotten all I've wanted out of the playoffs. What I really wanted to talk about was KJR's David Locke being handed the radio play-by-play reins for the Seattle SuperSonics, taking over for Kevin Calabro. The other thing I didn't realize was that the Sonics are moving from KJR to KTTH. I used to love that Kevin Calabro could pull off the radio/television simulcast, and he was really good at it. What changed? When the Sonics got the cable deal with FSN, it got a bit less and less radio-friendly when they did the simulcast. When they started having Brian Davis come in from the commercial breaks with the sideline/crowd reports, that's when it got better on the television side, but on the radio, you'd hear Davis talking about various things and wouldn't know that ten seconds or so had been elapsed off the clock after the ball had been inbounded. Thus, something had to give. It started getting weird on the radio too, since they would set up the commercial break and would cut off Calabro abruptly before he'd say "you're watching Sonics basketball on FSN." About Locke, though, he's done his time manning the microphone for the Storm, and he's wanted to do this all his life. Not only will his voice be three octaves higher than Calabro's, the broadcasts will be chock full of so many advanced stats your head will spin. You'll know so much about plus-minus, five-man units, and effective field-goal percentage, your head will spin.
-- The Stanley Cup finals start today, with the Edmonton Oilers in Raleigh to face the Carolina Hurricanes. You could root for a Canadian team to finally take the Cup up north for the first time since Montréal in 1993, or you could root for Carolina because they used to be the Whalers or because the Carolina pro sports fanbase may still be shaken from having the Seahawks beat the Panthers so badly back in January's NFC title game. Carolina is a very deep team with a rookie goalie, Cam Ward, who is currently standing on his head every night in net. Add your Rod Brind'Amour, Eric Staal, and midseason acquisition Doug Weight. As for Edmonton, you've got Chris Pronger in his first Stanley Cup final after all those years with the Blues where they made the playoffs every year and never got anywhere. I know they gave the Canucks fits this season -- they beat the Canucks in each of the first five meetings and ended up winning six of eight. The thing that chaps me, though, is goalie Dwayne Roloson. His inability to win games down the stretch was the one thing that kept the dead-in-the-water Canucks clinging to a morsel of playoff hope. The Canucks lost six of their final eight games, and it seemed every night the Canucks had control of their own destiny coming in and would lose it with every loss, but the Oilers would bail them out every night because Roloson couldn't win. What little luck the Canucks had finally ran out in San Jose in the second-to-last game of the season. Edmonton got the eighth seed in the Western Conference, and look at them now. Sigh...
-- Jeremy and I know two things: Jerome Bettis is from Detroit and Tara Kirk is from Bremerton. I got an email on Friday from Charlie Snyder at the USOC telling me that he put together a Tara Kirk photo gallery at USOlympicTeam.com. If for some reason it gets pushed from the front page, I think this link should work, though you don't get the conveniently sized browser window and you'll get a full-sized window with a bunch of empty space. Nonetheless, thanks to Charlie for taking the time to put that together and for bringing that to our attention. Tara rules. Beijing is two years away.
And with that, it's well wishes on the week ahead for all our readers, be they from the Northwest or in various places on the continent and around the world. Thanks to those of you who are still reading.
[***Piniella outburst reference]
/ Click for main page
Sunday, June 04, 2006
GAME 58: ROYALS 9, MARINERS 4
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: Before deadline day of 2001, Mark Redman was traded for Todd Jones. Today, he beat the Mariners. Yes, that trade tidbit was irrelevant.
This one featured Mark Redman going up against Jarrod Washburn. Unsurprisingly, there was no Jeremy Reed in the lineup. To further infuriate me, Mike Morse started in left. Raul Ibañez was a bit under the weather, and Mike Hargrove put him in at DH originally, but he was a last-minute scratch and Carl Everett was put into the DH slot. In other news, the roof was extended and Washburn is a flyball pitcher.
TOP 1ST
David DeJesus fell behind 0-2 and got under a hanging breaking ball, flying out to right. Tony Graffanino foul-tipped a belly-high fastball into Johjima's glove. Mark Grudzielanek took a 2-2 pitch over the outside corner. Washburn threw 14 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Ichiro slapped a single into shallow left. Adrian Beltre fell behind 0-2 before taking three pitches in the dirt, then ended up pulling a way outside pitch over the manual scoreboard in left.
»» MARINERS 2, ROYALS 0
Jose Lopez drove a 2-0 pitch a few feet short of the track in left. Richie Sexson was down 0-2 and rolled an outside 2-2 pitch to short. Carl Everett rolled out to short as well. Redman threw 21 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Reggie Sanders worked a 1-2 count full before whiffing on a full-count belt-high fastball. Emil Brown yanked the second pitch over the centerfield wall to the hitters' backdrop.
»» MARINERS 2, ROYALS 1
Angel Berroa popped foul to Sexson on the right side. Mark Teahen bounced a full-count pitch over the first-base bag and toward the rightfield corner for a double. John Buck foul-tipped a 2-2 pitch into Johjima's glove. Washburn threw 25 pitches and had 39 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Kenji Johjima was down 0-2 and tapped the 1-2 pitch back to the mound. Willie Bloomquist popped the second pitch to shallow right. Mike Morse rolled a 2-0 pitch out to second. Redman threw nine pitches and had 30 through two.
TOP 3RD
Esteban German scorched a ball off of the glove of a diving Sexson and it died in rightfield, but Lopez raced to get it and hold German to a single. DeJesus lined the first pitch right to short, but German got back to first in time. Tony Graffanino hit a fly ball to right on the first pitch, and it got by a running Bloomquist, but German beat the relay home. Graffanino went to second on the throw.
»» ROYALS 2, MARINERS 2
Grudzielanek poked a 2-2 pitch into rightfield that one-hopped in front of Ichiro, moving Graffanino to third. Pitching coach Rafael Chaves visited the mound. Sanders popped a 2-0 pitch to Ichiro drifting back to the rightfield track, and Graffanino tagged and scored easily.
»» ROYALS 3, MARINERS 2
Brown was up 2-0 and later bounced to short for a 6-4 force. Washburn threw 18 pitches and had 57 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Yuniesky Betancourt took a 3-1 pitch down and in for a walk. Ichiro lined a first-pitch breaking ball on a hit-and-run right to Redman on the mound, who tossed over to first for the easy double play. Beltre one-hopped the second pitch off the track and into the rightfield seats, where it went off the jaw of a middle-aged fan in the front row (that was a double). Lopez had the hitters' counts before taking a 3-1 pitch outside. Sexson was up 3-0 and rolled a full-count pitch through the right side on a hit-and-run, scoring Beltre and moving Lopez to third.
»» ROYALS 3, MARINERS 3
Everett popped the first pitch to fairly deep rightfield. Redman threw 20 pitches and had 50 through three.
TOP 4TH
Berroa clubbed a high second pitch into the gap and to the leftcenter wall for a double. Teahen bunted the second pitch along the third-base line, where Beltre charged and was able to get Teahen out at first as Berroa moved to third. Buck cranked an outer-half full-count pitch into the Mariners' bullpen.
»» ROYALS 5, MARINERS 3
German flew out to right. DeJesus had the hitters' counts and walked on a full count. Mike Hargrove didn't come out to the mound, but did advance to the dugout railing. Graffanino was behind 0-2 before taking a 2-2 pitch over the outside corner. Washburn threw 25 pitches and had 82 through four.
BOTTOM 4TH
Johjima popped the first pitch to DeJesus in shallow leftcenter. Bloomquist worked a 1-2 count for a walk. Morse watched the first pitch as Bloomquist was snuffed out on a delayed steal (2-6-3-6). Morse was up 2-0 and dumped a 2-2 pitch into center for a single. Betancourt singled the first pitch under Graffanino's glove and into rightfield (error), moving Morse to third. Ichiro flew out to left on a 2-2 pitch. Redman threw 18 pitches and had 68 through four.
TOP 5TH
Grudzielanek knocked a full-count pitch that was picked up on the short hop and backhanded by Sexson, who ran it to the bag. Sanders split his bat on a bloop single to shallow left that was nearly caught by a leaping Betancourt. Brown worked an 0-2 count for a walk.
Julio Mateo came in for Washburn. Berroa took the first pitch and Johjima tried to snuff out Sanders trying to steal third, but threw high and wide past Beltre, and Sanders coasted in. Brown went to second and wasn't running with the pitch and wasn't credited with a steal as a result.
»» ROYALS 6, MARINERS 3
Berroa tapped along the first-base line, and Mateo moved to get it and throw to first as Brown went to third. Teahen was down 0-2 and smoked a high 1-2 pitch into rightfield for a single, scoring Brown.
»» ROYALS 7, MARINERS 3
Buck rolled out to third to mercifully end the inning. Mateo threw 11 pitches.
Washburn's line: 4 1/3 innings, 7 runs, 8 hits, 3 walks, 0 strikeouts, 100 pitches (62 strikes)
BOTTOM 5TH
Beltre popped a full-count pitch high to Graffanino near the mound. Lopez popped the first pitch to right . Sexson popped a 2-0 pitch to Graffanino just in front of the stands in foul ground down the rightfield line. Redman threw ten pitches and had 78 through five.
TOP 6TH
German grounded hard right to Betancourt, who didn't get the ball cleanly and it rolled through his legs (error). DeJesus punched the first pitch through the right side for a single, moving German to second. Graffanino bunted the first pitch in front, where Mateo got it and threw to a covering Lopez at first as German and DeJesus moved to third and second. Grudzielanek was intentionally walked to load the bases. Sanders singled the second pitch into left, scoring German as well as DeJesus thanks to a badly-offline Morse throw home. Also, Mateo stayed on the mound and didn't back up home on the play.
»» ROYALS 9, MARINERS 3
Brown scorched the first pitch to Betancourt, who had it go off his glove, and he had no play, though he tried a late backhand flip to second which was futile (no error given on the play); anyway, the bases were loaded. Berroa grounded an 0-2 pitch to short for a 6-4-3 double play to mercifully end the inning. Mateo threw 17 pitches and had 28 total.
BOTTOM 6TH
Everett waved at a high 0-2 pitch. Johjima whiffed badly on a full-count breaking ball low and away. Bloomquist bounced a 1-2 pitch off the track and wall in center for a triple. Morse was up 2-0 and ended up doubling off the track and wall in right, scoring Bloomquist.
»» ROYALS 9, MARINERS 4
Elmer Dessens came in for Redman. Betancourt popped the second pitch to shallow right. Dessens threw two pitches.
Redman's line: 5 2/3 innings, 4 runs, 8 hits, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts, 96 pitches (54 strikes)
TOP 7TH
Teahen flew out to the leftfield track on the second pitch. Buck flew out to center when Bloomquist took a couple of steps back, then had to sprint back in to dive and make the catch. German popped a 2-0 pitch to deep center. Mateo threw six pitches and had 34 total.
Mateo's line: 2 2/3 innings, 2 runs (1 earned), 4 hits, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 34 pitches (21 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Ichiro rolled out to short. Beltre popped a full-count pitch to Brown in leftcenter. Lopez grounded to third on a full count, but the throw by Teahen was high and ended up in foul territory, enabling Lopez to scoot to second. Sexson grounded out to third. Dessens threw 21 pitches and had 23 total.
TOP 8TH
Rafael Soriano came in for Mateo. DeJesus dumped an 0-2 'tweener of a single into shallow leftcenter in front of Morse and Bloomquist, the former of which booted the ball away, though DeJesus stayed at first. Doug Mientkiewicz, hitting for Graffanino, nubbed the second pitch to the mound, where Soriano charged to get it but overran it and everyone was safe. Grudzielanek dumped a single into shallow center, loading the bases. Sanders whiffed on a 1-2 fastball. Brown grounded to short, where Betancourt started a 6-2-3 double play, forcing out DeJesus at the plate as well as Brown at first. Soriano threw 19 pitches.
Soriano's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 3 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 19 pitches (14 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Everett was behind 0-2 and grounded the 1-2 pitch to second. Johjima bounced the first pitch to second. Bloomquist took a 2-2 pitch over the inside corner. Dessens threw nine pitches and had 32 total.
TOP 9TH
Eddie Guardado came in for Soriano. Berroa popped the first pitch to Sexson in front of the tarp in foul ground down the rightfield line. Teahen flew out to a running Bloomquist in rightfield on a 2-0 pitch. Buck popped out to shallow right. Guardado threw eight pitches.
Guardado's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 8 pitches (4 strikes)
BOTTOM 9TH
Jeremy Reed, hitting for Morse, flew out to center on a 1-2 pitch. Roberto Petagine, hitting for Betancourt, rolled the first pitch to third. Ichiro lined out right to short, and the ball knocked Berroa on his seat.
Dessens' line: 3 1/3 innings, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 40 pitches (26 strikes)
---
Gameball: Adrian Beltre.
He homered in consecutive games and doubled his season home-run output in the process. That's cause for celebration. Beltre is currently on a nine-game hitting streak. He is 14-for-38 (.368) with two doubles, two homers, and three RBIs in that span. The streak raised his batting average from .207 to a less horrific .236. It raised his slugging marks from .282 to .335. Any of this is a far reach from Beltre hitting .189 and slugging .233 in April, and frankly, that's the way it should be. Maybe this whole thing where he hits second in the lineup will work after all. If so, I wish Hargrove would have doine this a week or two sooner. Anyway, it'll be great if Beltre hits .500 the rest of the season and hits 35 more homers. Realistic? Absolutely not. Can a fan dream? Of course. In yet another season in whcih the Mariners probably won't be going anywhere, dreams are all that some fans like me have. You have to have them when you're seeing the Angels pulverize the bejeezus out of Cleveland on Sunday Night Baseball when you're typing up Beltre's gameball piece.
Goat: Jarrod Washburn.
He didn't just didn't have it. He was leaving pitches up, and he was getting knocked around. Eight hits might not be too much unless you consider that Washburn yielded that many hits and didn't get out of the fifth inning. Five of the eight hits he gave up were for extra bases -- two were homers and three were doubles. That's generally a recipe for all-out badness. It's also bad when you have Mike Morse in leftfield and Willie Bloomquist in center with a flyball pitcher on the mound, but that's no fault of Washburn's since all he's supposed to do is pitch, not manage. You'd like your four-game sweep of the Royals, sure, but a four-game sweep against any team is tough, especially when your team is the Mariners. Still, you have to figure a start like this was long overdue from Washburn, who had survived the fifth inning in each of his first eleven starts of the season, this start being his twelfth. Thusly, his ERA stands at 4.50, ballooning 0.61 from before this game. As we know, Washburn and Jamie Moyer have been the only consistent members of the starting rotation so far this year, and the Mariners need that to remain constant and for Gil Meche, Joel Piñeiro, and Felix Hernandez to improve so that the region can somewhat give a crap about this team again. So, the goals -- (1) make people care again, (2) get to .500, (3) be in a pennant race, (4) make the playoffs. I'll be content with the season if they accomplish the first two since I didn't expect much from this team anyway.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 46-12 .793 -- W14
2003 40-18 .690 6 W9
2002 37-21 .638 9 W1
2000 31-27 .534 15 W1
2005 26-32 .448 20 W1
2006 25-33 .431 21 L1
2004 22-36 .379 24 L2
Wood. Meche. Tomorrow.
/ Click for main page
GAME 57: MARINERS 12, ROYALS 1
[initial partial post]
In 25 words or less: Homers from both Sexson and Beltre as well as a good start from Piñeiro? The Royals must be in town.
This one featured Seth Etherton going up against Joel Piñeiro. The Mariners looked to make it three straight victories coming off of a six-game losing streak. Sure, they were facing the Royals, but it was still Piñeiro taking the mound for them. Would we see Bad Piñeiro or Player of the Week Piñeiro? Also, it was Trading Card Day at the ballpark.
TOP 1ST
David DeJesus one-hopped a 3-1 pitch to short, where Betancourt made a nice backhanded stop. Mark Grudzielanek bounced an 0-2 pitch high to third. Doug Mientkiewicz nubbed the second pitch in front of the plate, where Piñeiro got it and threw to first. Piñeiro threw 11 pitches.
BOTTOM 1ST
Ichiro lined an inside second pitch into the rightfield corner for a double. Adrian Beltre fisted a 2-2 pitch right to Mientkiewicz on the fly as Ichiro held at second. Jose Lopez had the hitters' counts before taking the 3-1 pitch way outside for a walk. Raul Ibañez took a 1-2 pitch way inside that went off Bako's glove behind the plate, allowing Ichiro and Lopez to move to third and second. Ibañez got under a 2-2 pitch, flying out to Costa in somewhat shallow rightcenter, but Ichiro tagged and scored anyway. Lopez held at second on the play.
»» MARINERS 1, ROYALS 0
Richie Sexson was ahead 3-0 before crushing the 3-1 pitch over the National League scoreboard above the bullpens in leftcenter.
»» MARINERS 3, ROYALS 0
Carl Everett took ball one before pitching coach Bob McClure came out to visit the mound. Everett ended up taking strike three over the outside corner. Etherton threw 29 pitches.
TOP 2ND
Emil Brown popped the second pitch to Sexson in front of the tarp on the right side. Matt Stairs walked on a 3-1 pitch up and away. Shane Costa grounded a 2-0 pitch to Lopez to start a 4-6-3 double play. Piñeiro threw ten pitches and had 21 through two.
BOTTOM 2ND
Kenji Johjima grounded to second on a 2-2 pitch. Jeremy Reed flew out to Costa on the rightfield track on the second pitch. Yuniesky Betancourt flew out to center on the second pitch. Etherton threw nine pitches and had 38 through two.
TOP 3RD
Mark Teahen was ahead 2-0 and fouled a 2-2 pitch into Johjima's glove behind the plate. Angel Berroa one-hopped the second pitch to short. Paul Bako walked on four pitches. DeJesus lined the first pitch into left that dropped in front of Ibañez (stopped with his chest) for a single, moving Bako to second. Grudzielanek lined the first pitch into left and Ibañez gunned a throw wide of the plate to the first-base line, but Johjima moved over to get it and was able to retreat back to the plate in time to tag Bako trying to score. Replays showed Bako got the left hand across just before Johjima came over with the glove. Bako was argued a bit with the home plate umpire, as did third-base coach Luis Silverio. Manager Buddy Bell emerged from the dugout and came unglued, though not enough for an ejection. Piñeiro threw 13 pitches and had 34 through three.
BOTTOM 3RD
Ichiro had the hitters' counts and fouled off three pitches with a full count before taking a full-count change over the inside corner. Beltre cranked a 1-2 thigh-high hanging breaking ball outside over the centerfield wall into the patch of grass, which is cause for celebration.
»» MARINERS 4, ROYALS 0
Lopez had the hitters' counts and walked on a 3-1 pitch. With Ibañez up, Bako tried to throw to first to pick off Lopez, but it went way wide and foul down the rightfield line as Lopez scooted all the way to third. With a drawn-in infield, Ibañez took a 3-1 pitch up and away for a walk. McClure came out to talk to Etherton once again. Sexson flew out high to fairly deep right on an 0-2 pitch and Lopez tagged and scored, but the throw went to second, where Ibañez beat it out.
»» MARINERS 5, ROYALS 0
Everett walked on a full-count pitch up and away. Johjima lined a double down the leftfield line to score Ibañez, and the relay throw missed the cutoff man, allowing Everett to score as well.
»» MARINERS 7, ROYALS 0
Andrew Sisco came in for Etherton. Reed, who miraculously wasn't lifted for a pinch-hitter on the second straight day when a lefty was brought in, was up 2-0 before flying out to fairly deep leftcenter. Sisco threw four pitches.
Etherton's line: 2 2/3 innings, 7 runs, 4 hits, 4 walks, 2 strikeouts, 75 pitches (39 strikes)
TOP 4TH
Mientkiewicz dumped a fair ball into the leftfield crowd near Ibañez for a double. Brown was down 0-2 and dropped a 2-2 pitch into right to move Mientkiewicz to third. Stairs grounded the second pitch past Lopez on the right side, scoring Mientkiewicz and moving Brown to second.
»» MARINERS 7, ROYALS 1
Costa popped out to right and Brown held at second, not wanting to test Ichiro's arm. Teahen grounded to Lopez moving into shallow right to move Stairs to second and Brown to third. Berroa grounded out to short on the second pitch. Piñeiro threw 17 pitches and had 51 through four.
BOTTOM 4TH
Betancourt walked on four pitches. Ichiro was ahead 3-0 and took a 3-1 pitch in the dirt for a walk, moving Betancourt to second. Beltre had the hitters' counts and Betancourt and Ichiro took off on the 3-1 pitch on a successful double steal, which was rendered moot on the next pitch when Beltre walked to load the bases. Ibañez flew out on the second pitch to right, deep enough to score Betancourt and move Ichiro to third.
»» MARINERS 8, ROYALS 1
Ibañez rolled slowly to short, where Berroa went to second for the force as Ichiro scored and the double play wasn't completed due to Beltre's brilliant takeout slide at second.
»» MARINERS 9, ROYALS 1
Sexson was had the hitters' counts before crushing a 3-1 pitch about ten rows into the rightfield seats. Huh???
»» MARINERS 11, ROYALS 1
Everett singled into rightfield on a 1-2 pitch. Johjima rolled a 2-0 pitch up the middle for a single, moving Everett to second. Reed lined out right to DeJesus on a 2-0 pitch. Sisco threw 37 pitches and had 41 total.
Sisco's line: 1 1/3 innings, 4 runs, 3 hits, 3 walks, 0 strikeouts, 41 pitches (17 strikes)
TOP 5TH
Bako whiffed on a 2-2 change. DeJesus fell behind 0-2 and took a 2-2 pitch at the knees for strike three. Esteban German, hitting for Grudzielanek, whiffed on a full-count pitch. Piñeiro threw 23 pitches en route to striking out the side and had 74 through five.
BOTTOM 5TH
Elmer Dessens came in for Sisco and German took over at second. Betancourt was down 0-2 and ended up flying out to center on a 1-2 pitch. Ichiro lashed an 0-2 pitch for a liner into the gap in rightcenter and coasted in with a stand-up triple. Beltre grounded the first pitch right to short as Ichiro held at third. Lopez took a 2-2 pitch for strike three. Dessens threw 14 pitches.
Dessens' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 16 pitches (11 strikes)
TOP 6TH
Mientkiewicz rolled out to short. Brown lined out right to Ibañez in right. Stairs drilled a hanging full-count curve into right for a single. Costa flew out to fairly deep right. Piñeiro threw 12 pitches and had 86 through six.
BOTTOM 6TH
Joel Peralta came in for Dessens. Ibañez knocked an 0-2 pitch into the rightcenter gap, but stayed on first with a single. Sexson grounded right to short for a 6-4-3 double play on the first pitch. Everett grounded a 2-0 pitch to second. Peralta threw seven pitches.
Peralta's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts, 7 pitches (5 strikes)
TOP 7TH
Teahen flew out to right on a 1-2 pitch. Berroa popped the first pitch to Lopez in shallow center. Bako drilled the first pitch to center for a single. DeJesus grounded a 1-2 pitch to Lopez, who backhand flipped to second for the force on Bako. Piñeiro threw 15 pitches and had 101 through seven.
Piñeiro's line: 7 innings, 1 run, 7 hits, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts, 101 pitches (66 strikes)
BOTTOM 7TH
Ambiorix Burgos came in for Peralta. Johjima flew out to right on the second pitch. Reed grounded the first pitch up the middle for a single. Betancourt nubbed to the right side, where Burgos picked up and threw to first as Reed went to second. Ichiro singled to rightfield on a 2-2 pitch and was a homer away from the cycle. Reed scored on the play.
»» MARINERS 12, ROYALS 1
Beltre was ahead 3-0 and wound up taking strike three.
Burgos' line: 1 inning, 1 run, 2 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 20 pitches (14 strikes)
TOP 8TH
Jake Woods came in for Piñeiro, and Willie Bloomquist came in to play rightfield. German grounded to short. Mientkiewicz was ahead 2-0 and walked on a full-count pitch. Brown had the hitters' counts and grounded right to Lopez on a full count to start a 4-6-3 double play. Woods threw 15 pitches.
Woods' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 15 pitches (7 strikes)
BOTTOM 8TH
Jimmy Gobble came in for Burgos. Lopez and whiffed on a 2-2 breaking ball in the dirt. Ibañez popped to center on a 3-1 pitch. Roberto Petagine, hitting for Sexson, whiffed on a 2-2 pitch. Gobble threw 17 pitches.
Gobble's line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts, 17 pitches (10 strikes)
TOP 9TH
JJ Putz came in for Woods. Stairs whiffed on a 2-2 splitter. Costa grounded a 2-2 pitch to second. Teahen flew out to center on the second pitch.
Putz' line: 1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 strikeout, 13 pitches (9 strikes)
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Gameball: Ichiro.
He was a homer away from the cycle in this one. In May, he had the 18-game hitting streak. Right now, he's got a four-game hitting streak going. The catch? All four games have been multi-hit games. He went 2-for-4 and 3-for-5 in the final two games of the Texas series and has started the Kansas City series by going 2-for-4 and 3-for-4. This of course adds up to a 10-for-17 (.588) tear over the last four games. In fact, including the game where his hitting streak ended, Ichiro has hit 17-for-37 for a hardly pedestrian .459 clip. I remember some past years where Ichiro would start out with a torrid April and then tail off as the season went on. So far, even though there's a lot of season so far, it looks like the reverse has been the case. He hit .287 in April, bottoming out at .176 after eight games, or .177 after 15 games (more at-bats). After that .177 start (11-for-62), Ichiro has hit 71-for-178 (.399), and the 178 at-bats are over a span of 42 games. Of course, the only knock is the lack of extra-base hits. He had five each in April and May, but he had two in this game. We'll say he's on pace for 30 or so. He had 50 extra-base hits in 2001, 43 in 2002, 50 in 2003, 37 in 2004, and 48 in 2005.
Goat: Jose Lopez.
Only because it has to be somebody. How has he done since getting moved to the third slot in the lineup? He's 4-for-16 (.250) with a double and homer (both in the same game) and six RBIs, scoring four times himself. I know the lineup was long due to be shaken up, and Mike Hargrove has gotten endless flak from just about everywhere for not doing it sooner, but I'm not sure putting Lopez third, even though he was hitting as good as you'd want out of a number-three hitter, is being fair to Lopez. It might be putting too much pressure on him, but I think the biggest thing is that he was really getting pitches to hit and was doing pretty well in the second slot. Of course, the grand scheme of things appears to involve getting Adrian Beltre to warm up, in which case it's for the good of the team. Though it's a hockey analogy and barely any of our readers will probably get it, this to me is kind of like the Pittsburgh Penguins thinking about putting the A on the jersey of Sidney Crosby despite his being all of 19 years old. It means more in hockey than hitting third does in baseball, sure, but there's a bit of responsibility that goes along with hitting third, and I don't know if Lopez is ready for that yet. I think it needs more time before I make a concrete decision on it though.
Yr W-L Pct GB Stk
2001 45-12 .789 -- W13
2003 39-18 .684 6 W8
2002 36-21 .632 9 L1
2000 30-27 .526 15 L2
2005 25-32 .439 20 L1
2006 25-32 .439 20 W3
2004 22-35 .386 23 L1
Redman. Washburn. Today.
