Game 2, Rangers at Mariners
Hernandez vs Padilla, 7:05 pm.
Every night, baseball has the chance to entertain, to bring joy, and make us all happy, even if we don’t have anything to do with the game on the field. On certain nights, however, baseball possesses the ability to also be magical – to give us a memory that we’ll never forget, a story we can tell our grandkids, and an experience that will go down as one of the best of our lives.
Every single time Felix Hernandez takes the hill, that potential magic comes alive. It’s not just a baseball game, but instead, a chance to watch our 21-year-old Venezuelan phenom make history. There’s no ceiling for Felix – he literally could strike out all 27 batters he faced and I’d just say “yep, that’s Felix.”
It’s not just another day – it’s Felix Day. Happy Felix Day.
Rangers
2B-R Kinsler
SS-R Young
CF-L Hamilton
3B-L Blalock
DH-B Bradley
RF-L Catalanotto
LF-L Murphy
C-R Laird
1B-L Broussard
Mariners
CF-L Ichiro!
2B-R Lopez
LF-L Ibanez
1B-R Sexson
3B-R Beltre
RF-L Wilkerson
DH-B Vidro
C-R Johjima
SS-R Betancourt
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264 Responses to “Game 2, Rangers at Mariners”
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Yea, let’s lay down a sac bunt so that they can walk Ibanez and we can rely on Sexson hitting a flyball to give the team the lead… sounds brilliant…
What a dumb bunt play there. Ugh.
Uhh, fixing the clock during the game thread probably wasn’t the best idea.
SQUEEZE RICHIE SQUEEZE
First of all, WOOOHOOOO!
But in regards to the Bedard discussion:
In fairness to the Seattle media, they’re very forgiving and willing to give a guy a break. I don’t think they’re asking for a media darling or someone who WANTS to talk. They just want to be treated like human beings. When a guy’s a dick, a guy’s a dick.
I would love to have a real 4th hitter up here….we need to change the order..Sexson should be in the 8 hole.
You suck Richie.
Felix day…at 11 am in Japan with nothing to do. Watching Gameday never felt quite so good.
Because mlb.tv blacks out all mlb games in Japan. Awesome.
This is an ideal Vidro situation.
Why are the quotes going away?
Dave, astride a pony, chasing away the trolls of negativity.
I meant comments.
well I guess not..somehow my Sexson post didn’t make it…..Why is he batting 4th…Can’t Kenji move up in the order.
Haha, the graphic that opened the pre-show showed Texas at 1-0 and the Ms at 0-1.
I can’t decide if it would awful or awesome if the M’s announced they were scratching Felix and starting Horacio Ramirez instead, as an April Fools gag. Probably awful.
mlb tv can lick my balls.
Sexson’s an established middle-of-the-order hitter. Come on, the team’s been quite clear about that.
It would be nice if the Mariners could get some sponsors that sell products other than casinos, men that can’t get erections, joining the military, needing advances on paychecks, car insurance or car ads. The lineup of ads is almost as annoying as the lineup McLaren puts together…
Sorry, that was totally immature and inappropriate of me, but if they make me miss Felix Day after paying $120 for this I am going to kill somebody.
Yay for the Pirates of the Caribbean music…heh. Ladies and Gentlemen, Master Sgt. Don White!
#5, FSNW had a gag where they were telling folks outside of the Safe that Ichiro had been traded to the Yanks for Giambi, Melky Cabrera and another Yankee that I can’t remember. At least Ichiro thought it was funny…
See, you can’t get that kind of fly out if you pinch-run for Vidro
9: What is your trouble with the service? Last night they were convinced I was in a blackout region in ~Cleveland~. Same trouble for you?
Sweet, according to another graphic… Wilkerson is playing both in right and in center.
There’s going to be a job opening tomorrow at FSNW.
I get a message that says they are undergoing maintnance….
Dave just said Felix should throw more fastballs.
I miss seeing the guy with a with red hair and beard that seemed to always be sitting behind home plate (visible when left-handed batters were up). He was a Beltre fan (had a big Beltre bobblehead and was given a bat by Adrian). He’s sort of the Mariners own, “Sideshow Bob”.
15. Bill Krueger said during the pre-show that Felix needs to throw more curves. haha
Did Blowers really wait for 7:14 to say “no question about it”?
Looks like Good Felix so far.
17. Ain’t no ’bout a doubt it. (Graham Central Station reference) haha
he looks really good…how about a 90 mph slider?
We don’t need no stinking fastballs!
Unfortunately, the Angels leading the Twins by four runs in the 7th is no joke.
Felix smiling and laughing as he walks off the mound gives me a lot of confidence already.
Did I just miss Felix pitching because I was too busy posting? Doh.
Wow, the MLB.tv 800k feed is about a minute behind the 1.2M feed…
How did the M’s get the second out? I jumped from a groundout to strikeout for out #3…?
Hola from Texas- watching the FSN South-West feed.
25 – Groundout to Yuni.
how did you get a feed at all?
Ok, what’s up with this? Yesterday, Victor Martinez left the game with a strained left hamstring. Today Pedro Martinez left the mound in the 4th inning with a strained left hamstring. It’s a good thing Edgar retired. And Tino.
I am at a loss. I can’t decide if I am more upset about the bunt or Sexson’s at bat. Is it too early to pull the plug on his comeback?
Phan, you talking about Red (I think that was his nickname)? Yeah, he was pretty cool. I thought that was really classy when Beltre gave him the bat.
By the way, anyone else notice that Putz seems to be throwing a few mph less than last year? His average fastball was around 92-93 and his splitter was 81-83. Maybe his arm just isn’t in mid-season form (his control sure wasn’t)?
The TX anouncers seem to really respect Felix.
26. Hola. Do you have any TP?
That’s 8 walks in 2 days.
My heart, she can’t take it!
Wow with Padilla pitching like this we could be in for a 5 hour game tonight!
I had no idea Steven Bauer was pitching now for the Rangers.
I really wish I felt better with runners on first and second, no outs, and the heart of our order due up. Sigh.
Small sample size disclaimer – but in 1.1 games this year the Ms seem to be showing some patience at the plate, I wonder what that’s about. Also, could Padilla work any slower?
,,this ain’t the old Lou slugging team, the’ll have to hunt and peck for runs this whole season…”
35 – BE POSITIVE.
Richie Sexson is up! He has a lot of power!
Honestly, being here on the EST time zone, I’ll be up until 2 on this game at the rate Padilla pitches :/
Nice big hack at a bad pitch by Ritchie…
Richie Rich everybody!!!
What happened with Ibanez? Gameday is already frazzled …
Wow, didn’t take long to hear some boos for Richie.
That was a painful at-bat.
Goodness Richie sucks. Can’t he just have a career-ending injury or something to end this? He’s got his money, I’d be happy just to lose him for good.
Riche + 95+ mph fastballs = fail.
Do we know that Richie Sexson has working eyes? Has anyone actually checked? That’s a standard part of a major league check-up right? Right?
#40 shallow popout to left.
40:
Meatball, thigh high, 94mph, missed it. Flyout to left.
Thanks
Did I just see an enormous cardboard Beltre face? Looked like the opposite side of home plate where Red sat last year. Did he move?
A gift for Padilla.
45- See how ugly those swings are? It wouldn’t matter if he had 15/20 vision.
49,
Red moves around quite often. The seats on the 1st base side were season tickets that belonged to a friend of his, I believe.
Jeez, I’m going to feel like a broken record saying this by the end of the year, but having somebody like Beltre batting after Ritchie really does a good job showing how awful big Sexy really is.
That’s ok, Adrian. Smoking line drives will find holes eventually.
2 on, nobody out going into the heart of the order and no joy. Time to put the game in motion I guess.
Luckily I took a screen shot before it was too late.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v427/Jcb54680/Misc/marinersfirst.jpg
I wanted to remember what this looked like when October gets here.
Mike Morse has to be shaking his head watching Richie play after the spring he had.
If the Orioles can release Jay Gibbons… what exactly am I missing about the M’s?
I’m all for giving him at least a little while but they better not let this go on again for half a season.
Groundball
Groundball
Strikeout
Groundball
Felix is fine.
The really sad thing is how weak our bats look against Texaspitching. Just wait until we get to face a team with a decent rotation.
Groundball
Groundball
Strikeout
Groundball
Groundball.
Man. Felix isn’t on like he was in Boston last year, but he’s had a couple really wicked pitches thus far.
He’s missing in decent spots it looks like, too.
60. Come on, all of those complete games the Rangers had last year by their starting pitchers? They have one of the top 4 pitching staffs in the AL West!
Catalanotto shouldn’t get two more chances after that first swing. That pitch was sick.
5 wormburners, 1 strikeout, 24 pitches through 2.
No really, you’re allowed to hit it out of the infield Texas. Yay Felix Day!!
Glad I paid $120 to listen to MLB audio and watch gameday on opening Felix Day….
Whoop, 25 pitches.
His change is really dropping tonight. Doesn’t have great control of the curve or fastball, but they’re moving down so much that it might not matter.
67: Call them up at the 866 line…it’ll probably take an hour, but it worked for me last night.
Decent numbers so far for Felix tonight.
Two innings of good Felix. I’m happy baseball is back.
Felix is trying to work through a half inning faster than Bedard works through a postgame interview…
If I am blacked out of an awesome Felix game because I live in Texas, I might cry. After breaking my computer.
ocelot, I have been on hold since the first pitch.
Padilla is pitching like he’s Mike Hargrove — the Human Rain Delay.
Gift hit for Turbo!
That is the textbook definition of a seeing-eye single.
Liking how Felix is pitching tonight, except for the wild fastballs.
Vidro gets a single on a groundball with eyes. Then again, Texas’ infield isn’t stellar.
Vidro gets a hit? The official scorer must be playing an April Fool’s prank on Turbo.
Heh, now Gameday is taking a dump…
OH MY GOD!
TURBO!
Turbo strikes again! Teams never expect it!
But… but that’s impossible.
Everyone was talking about the Giants as being the suckiest team in baseball, but so far the Rangers are looking like they’ll be competing for the crown.
Well, we lucked into the lead and ended up losing it. I was concerned with Putz last night, he didn’t look sharp at all except for one splitter that I thought looked pretty fantastic. Tonight he looked pretty average. Hamilton was sitting on that pitch and knew it was coming, just as we all did. I’ve always had an uneasy problem with Putz’s predictability, and if he continues to mis-locate it could really be bad! I have confidence he’ll do well though.
Turbo must have helped the homeless every day in a previous life. Good karma.
Wha-?
Unpossible! Vidro stolen base?!
Good jorb Kenji.
“Watching” it on Gameday, but damn wish I saw that Vidro run on TV. That + Lopez walk = Texas sucks.
Turbo strikes again! Unbelievable.
For those who don’t have TV access:
Vidro was out by 10 feet (hit and run), but Kinsler just flat out dropped the ball and it rolled into CF. Because he took an extra base, they scored it a Stolen Base and an error on Kinsler.
Should have been a two base error.
veni.. vidi.. Ichi!
I can’t believe that Turbo didn’t break the severs.
Maybe we’re seeing why the M’s didn’t hold on to Broussard.
So being agressive is having guys Vidro and Kenji running? This version of “Mac small ball” is going to run into a lot of outs and end up hurting the team big time down the road.
I’m feeling better about getting rid of Broussard.
The crowd is either incredibly bored with the pitching, or Safeco is giving away free beers.
93
I tried to refresh my screen right after that and it did shut down on me for a few minutes.
Hopefully we can knock Padilla out early and speed up this game a little bit. I don’t want Felix having to wait 25 minutes between innings.
seems to me that Broussard’s looking at all non-suckazoidal last year was more a function of his proximity to Sexson that a result of anything he was doing..
Thanks for the update TIF.
Super small sample, but boy am I impressed with Lopez’s at bats so far. Those borderline pitches he swung at last year without thinking.
Lets hope something clicked.
Through two innings, we’ve seen 2 walks, 4 hits for the M’s and a big error by Texas…and out of it we have…1 run. Wow.
I’d still take Ben over Richie
Angels won today…
Yay for Dave talking to his friend the Aflac duck.
I wanted to name our daughter Katie Casey. It was vehemently vetoed by my wife.
rats, the perfect game is broken up.
Thud.
E-1, Felix. Sigh.
What a lousy throw…
Whoops.
99 I bet thats the plan the Rangers have tonight as a way to get to Felix. They probably figure they will pitch super slow and hope the cold and the sitting around gets to him…… It kinda looks this inning like it may be.
113 – really? ground ball, error on sac bunt, and another ground ball means the cold is getting to Felix?
Bye Kinsler, you overrated pile of crap.
Felix is making the Rangers look like fools.
I talked to MLB Tech support and they basically said there servers crashed yesterday and jacked up everything, some peoples accounts still need to be restored and they think they will be done by 6pm tomorrow.
That was more of a strike then what you gave Padilla on the 3-0 count on Beltre, blue.
Jackass.
howsabout a nice easy pop-up here.
Nellie said the same thing, pre-game. Gotta key all those other pitches off the fastball.
Felix minimizes the damage.
Second and third, nobody out. Groundball to Yuni, strikeout on Kinsler, walk to Young, strikeout on Hamilton. Only 1 run scores.
Nicely done. Felix is mixing his pitches VERY well.
75 & 99: Could you imagine Padilla starting against Steve Trachsel? They’re both so glacially slow, it would probably take six hours to play a nine-inning game!
aaaand Richie once again checks with the ump: “Did I just miss another pitch to hit?”
I’m sorry to have to be so trite, crude and juvenile, but [violation of button terms, in addition to being trite, crude, and juvenile]
Hmm… borderline pitch to Sexson, but Felix just got one to punch out Hamilton, so I wont complain.
9 walks in 2 days!
Wilkerson’s looked pretty bad in his first 6 or so at bats.
Wilkerson has looked really bad at the plate so far. I don’t know if it’s just Texas knowing where to pitch to him, or if it’s just him.
Sexson’s looked pretty bad in his last 600 or so at bats.
That’s the first flyball off Felix. 6:1 so far.
Egad Felix, don’t do that!
BTW, I love seeing that. After the play’s done, Betancourt comes over and gives Felix a little checkup. Lopez then comes over to do the same. Last, but not least, Beltre comes over and says a couple of things to the big kid. Those four have become quite the clique.
FB
FB
FB
FB
This is a great AB so far…
Kinda looks like Felix knows he has Ichiro in center and knows its cold so he serves up a fastball with enough movement that the Rangers can’t get good wood on it, easy F-8.
Meh. Frank Catalanotto sucks and isn’t worth Felix’s best material.
I predict Vidro goes yard – the “stolen base” is the first step to cats and dogs living together.
D’oh
Vidro, let me explain to you the idea of “luck”.
Your seeing-eye single and stolen base required a ton of luck. So much so, that the Gods of Luck demanded a sacrifice. Thus, your legit line drive that should have been a hit, found a glove and turned into an out.
Do not think off of fate, destiny, or luck, Pepe. It gives and takes as it wishes.
Ichiro’s got his swing. Beware, American League.
Ichiro! does it again. 6 hits in 9 innings anyone?
Bad situational hitting there. What you want to do is hit a double. Didn’t they go over this in spring training?
Oh for Christ’s sake, Richie…
Enough with the fastballs Felix!
TWICE!
Good GOD!
Sexson is sure winning fans tonight.
Good job, Richie! >:(
Wow, Richie… your not worth shit on either side of the game.
Don’t worry, Richie will make up for it with a hi.. oh. Yeah.
Anyone who’s the least bit squeamish is advised to avert their eyes from the defense at first base tonight.
Richie Fucking Sexson
Can RFS be the new term for when Sexson displays his range of 1 sq ft?
Oh, goodie.
I was just about to post what a joke Ian Kinsler is against bendy pitches…. then he walks.
NICE!
Felix is Good. Sweet double play to get out of trouble.
Good thing Felix didn’t actually touch that!
Lopez!
Much betta! Perfect DP.
At least we have Felix to bail out Richie every fifth day.
Y’know what would be fun? Just throwing it out here:
A FUCKING EXTRA BASE HIT.
Felixidades to all of us on that one!
Perfect time for the “pitcher’s best friend”!
Did Felix think about grabbing that with his bare hand?
Well it’s a start Richie.
156
That is just asking to much at this point. Besides it’s cold. ugh
H! H H H!
I think Richie looked surprised he hit the ball!
Didn’t it take Richie like 100 AB’s last year to get a single? This season is now once again full of hope.
Nuts, Adrian. You got a meatball to crush.
NO RALLY FRIES NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Rally Poutine!
=(
I hate those damn rally fries!!!
Oh Gods, it’s the rally fries. We’re still doing that, Sims and Blowers? Please don’t.
I’m going to go see the M’s play the Tribe at the end of the month…should I bring a Rally Fries sign?
Just one of the many examples of excellent defense we’ll see this year… from our opponents.
That was a doosey of a catch. Tough day for Wilk so far.
It might not look that hard because he didn’t have to travel all that far, but that’s really, really hard to do. Hell of a play by Hamilton.
Fantastic catch. Someone should let Hamilton know that it’s safe to take the shades off his hat now, though.
Wilkerson as the alien guy from Robot Chicken:
DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMMMMIIT!
In the Dodger/Giants game Larry Bowa just got tossed by Ed Montague for not being in the coach’s box at 3B.
Stange.
Felix is working the corners really well according to the “Joe’s Tracer.”
How does it look on F/X? Or, is the data from the same place?
178,
Gameday shows it on the black and belt high.
hey, Jim Joyce is back…
so long from Texas.
STOP THROWING THE DAMNED FASTBALL
Well that sucked. Should have let that inside pitch hit you Brad.
Ahhh…recycling the oil on the rally fries for another season, I see.
WOW! Felix!
WOW! I can’t believe they got him there.
Brilliant Felix. Fantastic.
In the Dodger/Giants game Larry Bowa just got tossed by Ed Montague for not being in the coach’s box at 3B.
They’re enforcing that more this year since Coolbaugh died last year after being hit by the ball while coaching.
Holy Shit!!!! Great call for us.
Holy crap…. I think Blalock’s safe…
gulp!
He very well might have even really been out.
177: That’s interesting…since when did they start enforcing that rule?
I think the call was good on that…but honestly, don’t care.
So it was just a bad slide that did it.
Oh no! Blowers is right! Blalock missed the plate until after Kenji caught it.
Good call!
191
But with an offense like ours, that out was HUGE. I think that one could have gone either way.
It’s fun to see the King that excited.
Looks like Kenji’s right foot could end up being the difference. I’ll take it, go M’s!
This really shouldn’t be a close game right now…
193:
Probably about the same time Bowa told Montague that his mother reminded him of that old, used up blow up doll he has stashed in his bungalow.
Hay guise! That’s what a double looks like!
If Felix were a gato he’d be perilously close to out of lives at this point.
Yuuuuuniiiii!
whispering you’re still kind of my favorite. don’t tell.
There’s the extra base hit, to bad it’s with two outs.
Great job, Felix!
188: Thanks for the clarification on that, MS!
IIRC, Coolbaugh was actually IN the coaches box when hit.
C’mon Jose – don’t make it 6 LOB
Now, is this when you hit a double or a homer? Situational hitting is so confusing.
ugh
gosh it would be nice to see the M’s get a 2-out RBI. Sometime today.
I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure that was not good situational hitting.
Nothing I hate seeing more then a middle in fastball get popped up to the RIGHT of the hitter…
Great, let’s put him back out there. let him melt down, and ruin his psyche for the year.
No one bunts on the King!
IIRC, Coolbaugh was actually IN the coaches box when hit.
Well, when people react to a tragedy with “we gotta do something!” it doesn’t mean that “something” will actually follow from logical premises.
Ouch. Kinsler got tagged on the fingers. But that’s not a HBP.
Gold Glove King Felix!
Man, Felix is doing half the fielding on ths team tonight.
Jeez Felix.
Oh that was fun to listen to.
Felix getting out of the inning with his glove!
Maybe Felix could play first for Richie when he doesn’t pitch?
Perhaps Felix has been reading you guys talk about how poor the team is defensively and is taking matters into his own hands.
Why is Raul batting against a lefty?
Why is Raul batting against a lefty?
Why is Raul batting against a lefty?
Why is Raul batting against a lefty?
Why is Raul batting against a lefty?
Why is Raul batting against a lefty?
Why is Raul batting against a lefty?
Why is Raul batting against a lefty?
Why is Raul batting against a lefty?
So who are we bringing in. Knowing MacLaren’s style, I predict EVERYBODY.
Red was at the game today -and yesterday. He was sitting right next to me. Row 8, section 136. He had a giant picture of Beltre’s head. The guy’s funny and he was genuinely devastated when Mariners lost today. Oh and he loves Brouissard.
Adrian… you’re weird…
I’m happy Adrian made contact with a low/outside breaking ball. I’m unhappy that he swung at a low/outside breaking ball.
I know Wilkerson doesn’t have a platoon split need… but…
What’s the point of having a 5 man bench if you’re not going to use it?
God O’Flaherty’s got some sick movement on that slider.
Hamilton obviously didn’t get the memo to step on Sexson’s hand. Hard.
What a frustrating sequence of events. Just as Felix had been lucky all night, O’Flaherty gets unlucky with a bullshit plate chopper single that results in a run.
This game is weird.
Looks like Eric is going to need a letter sent to him about mixing up his pitches too. I don’t have a problem with mixing in breaking balls and off speed stuff, but 14 pitches and 12 sliders is not mixing up jack.
d00d, the USSM clock is still off. I think this is affecting our batters’ timing.
Welcome to the Ichiro Zone Defense, Wilkerson.
Felix to Richie: “Watch and learn!”
So does anybody know what Bedard said that upset people? I really want to know.
Speaking of good luck/bad luck — who brokered the sale of Vidro’s soul? That guy is increasingly just eerie.
What the hell did Turbo do to please the baseball Gods today?
Merry freaking Christmas.
Anyone want to enlighten me as to why Vidro isn’t being pinchrun for?
Why is Turbo on second base?? You’ve got plenty of pinch runners on the bench!!!!
’cause he’s a professional hitter who knows how to hit in the middle of the lineup. You think you’re just going to throw that away for a ‘platoon split’?
Michael Young is atrocious at shortstop. I can’t imagine watching him try to play defense every day.
Bedard, according to some Baltimore blogs I’ve read, has little patience for the typical stupid questions that post game media guys ask. His “4 questions and that’s it” thing from earlier in the spring was an obvious continuation of that.
Basically, Bedard is Seattle’s Barry Bonds. The media isn’t going to be favorable to him if he’s not favorable to them. As such, since the media basically controls what we see and hear, Bedard will be labeled “The Bastard” for his entire tenure.
And guess what? That wont help the team in signing him to an extension. Whether you like that idea or not of re-signing Bedard, the media and their treatment of him shouldn’t be an issue.
YUuuuuuuuuuuU! Man, do I smell the rancid oil of rally?
239 – Vidro is too valuable, in case the game goes to extras…though we needed to pinch run for our catcher…I don’t know.
Squeeze! Squeeze!
Michael Young is atrocious at shortstop. I can’t imagine watching him try to play defense every day.
Oh, I don’t know. I’m sure it’s pretty much the same as watching our 1B and LF every day.