Game 6, Mariners at Orioles
Felix Day!
Nothing quite turns my spirits around after a game like last night’s than to know that Felix is going to be taking the mound, even if it’s ahead of schedule to pick up for Bedard.
Felix faces Guthrie, a pitcher whose notable characteristics include not being Felix. Which must suck.
M’s run out their standard Sunday day lineup. It’d be nice if they thought about, say, subbing out more than just the catcher, but this is the Mariners we’re talking about. I remember back in the day, when Lou would throw all his subs in on Sundays, and I’d complain that he’d be better off using them as appropriate rather than just punting one game a week. Ah, those were the days, when the bench got used at all.
The Orioles respond in kind, subbing Quiroz in at catcher, and Hernandez in at short.
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Here’s to hoping for more inside heat by the King, like he delivered to Ian Kinsler. Felix needs to back these guys off the plate to be better.
Here’s to establishing the curveball, slider, and two-seam fastball.
Felix should saw through this line-up.
I hope Felix can just end these guys after he’s up 0-2 today. He must have gone to 3-2 after being 0-2 three or four times in his first start.
Last year, all of his really frustrating games were against the Orioles. Remember Gibbons’s homerun when Felix was trying to walk him? And that wasn’t the only time. So how hurt is Bedard? With him hurt and Putz’s injury making the bullpen look desperate for George Sherrill, that trade is sure starting to look bad quickly. I’m guessing Kam Mickolio becomes Baltimore’s main setup man in a couple weeks and Chris Tillman and Tony Butler both throw no-hitters by the end of the month just to really drive the point home.
I just heard Bill Krueger call Vidro “a professional hitter” again. Isn’t everyone on the team a “professional hitter”, literally speaking? I still don’t understand what makes Vidro so special.
Let’s just hope Felix can bring us all out of this funk. Here’s hoping for a complete game shutout.
The M’s insist on carrying 11 pitcher. This causes Mac to bitch about the bullpen being spent, even though half of his bullpen (Lowe, 2R-S, and Baek) have barely seen any action. The M’s wanted a five man bench (without a single left-handed bat), yet refuse to use any of the subs. At least Grover had the sense to shrink his bench to four (sometimes three) players knowing that he wasn’t going to use them.
6-But Vidro has a heading in Wikipedia that says he’s a professional hitter. Doesn’t that make it an official title?
Oh, and McLaren just said that “we take pride in being a very good defensive ball club.” Yep. Best corner outfielders in the game today. Plus, how about that glove at first. Awesome.
I understand trying to stay positive, but how about realistic? My 4-year-old daughter could pick it at first better than Richie.
9 – I listening to Dibble and Kennedy the other day on XM and Kennedy was calling the Mariners one of the best defensive teams in the American League. I about choked on my Mt. Dew.
Heh. Blowers thinks defense is one of the team’s strengths, and it’ll come around. Blowers = Dibble
I like how all of a sudden every is noticing that the M’s defense sucks. Everyone could predict that going into the season, but apparently it has to hit crisis levels for them to do anything – like having 2x the number of errors as any other AL team. Awesome work Bavasi & Co.
I guess we don’t know what Blowers and Dibs know. Maybe it’s just a matter of time before Wilkerson and Ibanez start flashing their true leather. And I bet Raul is just keeping that cannon of an arm he’s got a secret.
Underway. Let’s go Ichiro!!!
No AJ in Center?
Well, at least they’re making Guthrie work.
If you bet me $20 that Sexson would get a five pitch walk and not swing at a single pitch, I’d be $20 poorer right now.
None of those pitches was a strike.
Sounds like Bedard was ready to go today…… Hmmmmmmm.
Isn’t there a graph on fangraphs that shows how a hitter generally approaches at bats? I’m trying to see if Sexson takes as many first pitches as I think.
If someone could point me to the right spot, I’ll let you have a free kingfelixhernandez.com membership.
I predict a felix no-hitter!
K
Very nice start, King Felix made my Sunday better in one batter.
Yeah, I want Jones.
I predict
a felix no hittera mariner’s gameHe damn near made another good defensive play there.
So much for the no-no.
KK
Our home run leader is up.
The Battle Of Roseburg:
Round 1 goes to Burke.
All Burke does is hit. Why aren’t the Morse lovers all over him? (Seriously, ever since that insane at-head-level squeeze bunt last year I’ve loved the guy, and even though having him be replaced by Clement would be a good sign I’ll miss him).
31 – One of the bright spots of this club.
KKK
That’s just dirty.
Felix looking good…
Go Felix – That third K should be backwards.
he’s a gritty gamer.
my, it would be nice if the Mariner offense would actually be more offensive, and not so offensive.
35:
My computer skills are lacking.
mlb.com headline: “Ken Griffey Jr.’s march to 500 homers resumed with career blast No. 594″
It’s Enrico Polazzo!
Huff scares me. And Felix pitching like that against him thrills me.
Back when I was watching Felix in Tacoma I noticed he would kind of zone out, lose focus, and let a guy or two get on, then wake up and bear down and make guys look stupid. That was against AAA hitters, and I thought he was just bored, but I wonder if that tendency still shows up sometimes.
Of course, it doesn’t help when his defense allows groundball outs to go by. He may have to be the one-man defense, too. (All this idiocy about the M’s being such a good defensive team seems like it must be a rep they grabbed five or six years ago when it was actually true, and haven’t shaken since nobody in the national media ever watches them).
DP!!!
Did anyone here think he wouldn’t get that DP against the backup catcher?
Nice DP. Would have sucked to have someone score off two weenie hits with Felix pitching pretty well.
Felix doesn’t let a little thing like two tough singles get him down…
joser – I almost choked on my Pepsi the other night when Steve Phillips said the Mariners have the best defense in the AL.
I wonder if Phillips wonders why no one wants him to run their team anymore.
Yay, Ichiro.
Does anyone know if the archived gameday XML data is available zipped anywhere?
Another AB, another Ichiball
WTF! Thats 2 Ichiro AB’s in a row my MLB.tv just blacked out, it is a conspiracy!
Lopez’s hips open up really early on his swing.
wouldn’t be nice if JoLo could keep this up all year
Alright Ibanez, lets make something happen.
Go Felix – That third K should be backwards.
Amazingly, I don’t think there’s a unicode codepoint for that glyph. I mean, they have room for freaking Klingon but we can’t find one spot for the called strikeout?
Nice sac double play
OMG!! Richie with a meaningful XBH!
Take a picture!
What a bail out swing by Ibanez. I have no problem with guys protecting the strike zone, but with men on first and second and no outs? Take the damn pitch.
Finally, a Richie clutch hit.
That Sexson double looked like a real hit.
Well, that just bought Sexson another month in the lineup.
Comeback player of the year? I think so!
Nice… Sexson getting RBIs
Nice 1-0 count swing Ral, what was he going to do with that pitch besides ground out?
And Sexson defies us all again. Do you suck or not Richie? Make up your mind.
Good contact for Beltre, too bad it was right at someone.
KKKK
Looking good!
Wow, that inside pitch for the K was just filthy.
Players who suck are not going to bat .000/.000/.000.
Woooo Hoooo, nice 7 pitch inning.
That was a sweet inning, 7 pitches I believe, 1K 2GB.
“Now coming to the plate, Mr. Professional Hitter”
Okay. Can we stop with the putting the game in motion crap now? Please?
Hit-n-run with two of the slowest guys on the team? :eyeroll:
F U McLaren! What are you doing??
We have so many base runners in scoring position that losing a few stealing hardly matters.
Seriously, what the fuck?
Essentially that was a double play, thanks to Vidro.
We’re going to lead the league in CS and outs at second base, aren’t we?
whence comes this misbegotten idea that Wilkinson should run? or even that he can run?
Everyone says hitters don’t have their timing early and need to find their swings. To McLaren that means hit and run with slow guys in the first week.
I like the idea of having the runners move but when they’re trying to move the slowest #@!king players on the team, I see no point in that.
Mac obviously came into the season with the idea that hitting and running with Vidro at the plate and a runner on first would be a good idea. He will not deviate from that plan.
KKKKK
At least one thing is going right in this game.
Was that a slower curve I just saw Felix throw twice or is the gun off.
DPDP
1K DP, Felix is cruising.
McClaren’s definitely making me pine for Grover. On the other hand he’s really got me curious about who his replacement is going to be.
and free baseball tv is also bringing us Smoltz vs Santana.
Gameday says his curve is hitting 79 MPH.
75: we already lead the league in errors, so why not?
What’s the difference between a fan holding up a sign asking for Rally Fries and a dog begging for table scraps?
85:
Thanks!
The fan won’t roll in the rally fries after they pass through the digestive system?
why do we have to watch kids eating fries? Seriously, that is not part of the game.
84 According to one of the writers at ESPN the Yanks will be firing Joe Girardi during the season. So if it is true that you can depend upon ESPN for insightful analysis, then we can hope!
Isn’t it refreshing to have Felix come out and have such a good day?
Sheez, the Ms had Guthrie on the ropes. They were piling pitches on him. Then they go out in the 5th and they all swing at the first pitch ? What happened to game planning. Just stupid.
- The dog has some pride
- The dog isn’t judged by Mike Blowers (unless owned by Blowers)
- The dog has a collar for its fleas
6 pitch inning and a dazzling play for the third out!!!
Felix for Gold Glove in ’08!
Good Felix at his best, this is exactly what he should be doing against a lineup like Baltimore’s.
Another great inning from Felix, gold glove here he comes!
What’s the record for 7-pitch innings in one game?
The Mariners can not let Guthrie exscape this inning. We need to beat down their pen to make tomorrow better. We need a better Manager.
50 pitches through five. Maybe Felix will have enough juice left after the game is over to pitch an exhibition?
Rauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuul
Rauuul!
Have your U back Ral!
Rauuuuul! That one’s not a cheap HR.
Eventually these guys are going to get it going!
Man, I hope so Lauren!
- A dog doesn’t beg for three hours
Hey, it’s a Sunday, and Lauren’s out of bed before noon!
(I kid, I kid)
Dogs don’t spend hours ahead of time creating costumes featuring table scraps.
It seems like everyone wants to make it a quick game.
So…FSN gun just had that fastball at 99, and Gameday shows it at 95.4. Is the discrepancy usually that high?
The dogs still have their pride and dignity.
Hey! No fair remembering my behavior from past years!
Honestly, I’m really having trouble summoning up any kind of consistent interest in this season. If it wasn’t for you guys…
If Felix weren’t pitching, I would still be in bed, that’s for sure.
Dogs don’t wear pink Mariners hats
Felix apparently feels like pitching to the Orioles without a handicap is insufficiently challenging.
FSN sure does like telling me about FSN programming.
I don’t know if it quite as bad as Fox during the playoffs every year. It seems like Buck and McCarver always have about 4 or 5 new Fox shows that they will be watching…
This picture seems appropriate.
vwhooosh! and another half-inning goes by
Am I the only person who, if they received rally fries for some reason, would dump them on the ground?
123:
I’m right there with you.
They’re playing “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” for the seventh innning stretch? Yeesh.
I was watching that Sleep Country ad where they ask “what are the three words everyone wants to hear?” and I thought
got me through the commercial break.
Guthrie hasn’t thrown more than 12 pitches in an inning since the 2nd.
I have no interest in attempting to win them, but I’d eat them if given to me. That’s like I have no interest in purchasing tickets to a game this year, but if my parents want to give me some diamond club tickets, I’m not going to turn them down.
Baltimore’s been playing that song for the seventh-inning stretch for as long as I can remember.
Perhaps we should make signs that say “Hey Blowers, you can keep your Rally Fries if you’ll just stop saying ‘There’s no question about it’!”
Guthrie is at 101 pitches. I wonder if we will be in their bullpen next inning.
Wilkerson managed a positively Ibanesque series of moves on that ball.
Adam Jones wouldn’t have caught that, but he wouldn’t have flailed around after it.
Ichiro ends up fielding a ball hit to a corner outfielder. Part n in a season-long series.
Wow. Wilkerson looks horrible out there.
I like how badly Wilkerson played that ball then he just points to the ball so Ichiro can pick it up.
It hurts to long for the defense of Jose Guillen.
I’m looking at gameday. Was that the return of the Felix Mystery Meatball?
“The accounts of this game may not be disseminated without the…”
Does that mean we are all breaking the law when we talk about the game?
Nah, he hung a curve.
Maybe it’s time to consider putting in a defensive replacement in right.
KKKKKK
6 pack!
Felix is so, so good
If we had five Felixs we’d win 130 games– even with this lineup.
141 – At least if they put Morse out there we would get a better bat and a smarter fielder.
Kenny Rogers Live on his “Hey look I can blink my ears” Tour.
Kenny Rogers Live on his “Hey look I can blink my ears” Tour.
Wow, anyone catching the O’s feed of the game? Their sideline reporter is a real babe.
Randor Bierd? What a great name!
Maybe they got Wilkerson to distract people from booing Sexson.
145 – I wouldn’t consider Morse a defensive upgrade over Wilkerson at all.
Sims: “How much do gloves help?”
Blowers: “A lot.”
(brief silence)
Big thanks to the MLB Extra Innings for choosing to show the JWash and Batista starts, and give me nothing on Felix Day. Seriously. Thank you.
You know who would be a great defensive upgrade? A guy like Jimerson.
Great new Mariner promotional slogan: “Get free Rally Fries! (And also watch the Ms do things.)”
Ibanez would make a fine DH.
Sexson looks over for the sign. The coach is pointing to Ibanez, which means “why can’t you age like that guy, you numbskull?”
Nice at bat for Ricardo
Mark it down. This is likely to be Sexson’s best game of the season.
154 Or Willie.
At least Felix got a little rest that inning.
That’s a horrible comparison. I’d take my dogs over anybody that’s ever even thought about making a rally fry sign.
Felix is at 88 pitches.
I don’t have a lot of confidence in O’Flaherty going for the save.
Yay, the magic cock ring commercial!
“Would allow men to do amazing things…”
165:
You almost made me spit out beer, awesome.
Just watching that now and thinking about them talking about cock rings was just hilarious.
“…the magic rings are available to all who would have one…”
Yes. Yes they are.
Could someone explain what those of us without video of the game are missing from this discussion?
Please, just let Felix finish.
There’s an obnoxious Firestone commercial they air pretty frequently that waxes endlessly about the wonder of “magic rings” and if you imagine they’re talking about cock rings instead of tires, it’s funny instead of grating.
Who’s coming in?
170: they are discussing the unspeakable, unbearable Firestone ads in which a solemnly sonorous announcer recounts the ‘legend of the magic rings’ — which turns out to be the story of fucking care tires.
Cock rings are better.
“car tires” — the commercial so shatters my nerves I can’t even spell.
And here we go….
Mark Lowe, hasn’t pitched since 4/1, btw. O’Flaherty threw 29 last night.
You know another lefty McLaren could have used? RRS, last used 4/4, threw 7 pitches in the only time he’s been used this year.
OK, this is kind of a tough call. You don’t want to blow up Felix early, and half of your one-two punch is already hurting. But he was cruising, he was still under 100 pitches, and he was looking good. If the birds rally here this decision is going to be endlessly debated.
Why in the world don’t you put the defensive subs in up 2-0 on the road with O’Flaherty coming in for relief? Is McLaren that worried that they’re going to extra innings?
Also, what is the point of having Jimerson and Bloomquist if you don’t use them as defensive replacements at a time like this?
I hate John McLaren so much.
Hargrove and McLaren have set back the cause of “managers don’t matter that much” for a whole generation of young Seattle baseball fans.
181 – but isn’t it nice to have a brand-new guy to hate this year, instead of Grover?
Oh crap. I thought Lopez had a good glove…
You can blame Lowe, but Lopez should have ended it.
That was horrible (preaching to the choir, right?). I say you should have kept Felix in there. If he starts to struggle, you can go to your bullpen. But don’t put in guys who don’t need the work or haven’t pitched in days because oh, gee, Felix will go over 100 pitches. Did McLaren somehow forget that J.J. wasn’t in the bullpen?
I don’t think that it is really accurate to say that Baltimore rallied to win in the 9th, so much as they were given a gift of the 9th.
Rizzs got as pissy as he ever gets, saying “you just can’t waste pitching performances like that, and the Mariners have done it twice now”
Felix may refuse to leave the mound from here on out.
And the record for the earliest I’ve given up on the team is…
So, should you really expect to win if you only score 2 against the O’s? Regardless of what your bullpen does?
This season is already deteriorating rapidly. The only thing to look forward to is the quick dismissal of Bavasi and McLaren.
That ball Hernandez hit should have been caught. There was no reason to move the outfield in. By giving the team a better chance of throwing out a runner at home in the event of a hit, McLaren increased the chances of the Orioles getting a hit!
Can someone win the Cy Young going 0-0, 0.00 ERA?
George Sherril IS smiling inside right now. What a shame. We would be 4-1 right now with just sherril. Not including Adam Jone.
What a waste. Getting swept by the team many predicted to be the worst in the AL this year only adds fuel to the fire. McClaren has again show his incompetence in running a major league club, and yet again Felix’s dominating performance is wasted.
I can somewhat understand pulling Felix before he hit 100 pitches, as he’s pitching a day early and Bedard may miss another start, but the lack of managerial expertise McClaren continues to show is exhausting.
why in the world would you pull felix? 97 pitches? maybe you pull him if you have a good closer, but not a committee of guys. ugh
What is the point in having pitch counts if you pay no attention to them?
This might have been the most obvious game in history to let a pitcher pitch the ninth inning!
The Mariers are a reeling team with a reeling bullpen, and then, like a gift from God, Felix single-handedly rises up to stop the slump. Not only that, but he’s doing it with a minmum number of pitches…..
But No!!!!
By golly it says right here in Managing 101 that you go to the bullpen in this situation, so Mr. Cliche baseball manager pulls Hernandez!!!!
John McLaren — You are overmatched!
The funny thing is, I’ve read so many times on this website that managers don’t figure into the wins and losses of a ballclub.
Nonsense! Sexson and Wilkerson are disasters, to be sure, but this one falls on the greenhorn cub of a manager in the M’s dugout.
So let me get this straight, last year we were 75-0 when leading after 8 innings, and this year we’ve already lost 2 in that situation through our first 6 games? I can’t wait to see what happens when we play some supposedly good teams.
The game was blown by a convergence of four mistakes: pulling Felix, Jose’s lack of range on the grounder, failing to put Jimerson in right field in the 9th and bringing the outfield in with 2 outs. You need all 4 mistakes to lose the game. The last mistake may be the most glaring: there is no way any outfielder is going to throw out Payton with 2 outs. If the outfield is at normal depth, the Hernandez fly ball is probably caught.
187–couldn’t agree more..the Ms just don’t look an order of magnitude better than the Rangers or the Os, two teams that were supposed to be the dregs of the league.
It’s official.
Bill Bavasi and John McLaren are on the clock and on the hot seat.
post game show points out (to today’s ‘why isn’t Morse in the game’ caller) that is Mac sticks with his platoon, Wilkerson will be planted out there the next four days, with four righties in a row.
Wait, does this mean it takes more then a “one-two punch” to win ball games?
185: Geez, if Rizzs is saying something even that critical, that tells you something.
Games like this kinda make me long for the management style of the ’60′s and ’70′s — when managers weren’t so paranoid that those extra 10-15 pitches which their starter might throw in the ninth would completely destroy his career.
Ms just don’t look an order of magnitude better than the Rangers or the Os…
Hmmm. Considering they’ve dropped three of three to the Baltimorioles, you could have a point. Frankly, right now I’d settle for “not an order of magniture worse than…”
Wait, does this mean it takes more then a “one-two punch†to win ball games?
Dunno. Maybe we’ll find out some day.
Sorry, this is my first ever posting and I hate to start off on a negative note. I love this team so I want to be positive. Not today. How many out there were screaming NOOOOOOO! when Felix was pulled. Further proof that Mclaren is a minor league manager at best. Lowe has a 96mph fastball and nibbles the outside corner i.e. wild pitch in the dirt outside. The closer is the most important player on this team because they don’t score many runs. Better luck tomorrow.
Ahhh. The end of a meaningless game between two also-ran teams.
From now on, I will feel:
ashamed when we are shut out
pathetic when we score 1 run
slighlty bummed for 2 runs
apathetic for 3 runs
happy when we score 4 runs
elated when the M’s score 5 or more!
I think they will be in the bottom of the league in runs (again) if they don’t fix the middle of the lineup. Sexson and Wilkerson are going to K 200 plus times if it stays this way.
The funny thing is, I’ve read so many times on this website that managers don’t figure into the wins and losses of a ballclub.
No you haven’t. We’ve written that the importance of managers is generally overstated, that there’s not a huge difference between most managers, but we’ve never said that managers don’t figure into the wins and losses of a team.
I concur.
If McLaren just gets out of the way this team will be okay.
Felix says he didn’t feel 100% to go out for the ninth and he said “bring in the lefty”. Don’t you think if he doesn’t even know the relievers name maybe he should rethink that one. Killer instinct please.
a) How is Felix supposed to know who’s warming up while he’s pitching? Listen for a stadium PA announcement?
b) Do you really think that he doesn’t know O’Flaherty’s name?
Give him a break.
Relax, everybody. It’s not the Mariners. We just had the bad luck to play the two teams who’ll be battling it out for the AL title, you know, Texas and Baltimore.
To DMZ: Thanks for the clarification (No. 208). Indeed I did a poor job of paraphrasing your thoughts/attitudes of managing.
I should add that I’m rooting for McLaren. He seems like a solid guy who certainly has paid his dues. It’s just hard to like what he’s doing with this team right now, that’s all. He’s compounding injuries with poor decisions.
I’d be delighted to admit I was wrong about this guy. I’d love to write that in fact he is one outstanding major league baseball manager.
I hate to draw analogies between hockey and baseball, but Guy Carbonneau was skewered in the press in Montreal early this season, and now everyone is eating their words in Quebec….
Quebec? Doesn’t our injured ace lefty hail from there?
Baker’s summary:
“It seems that Stottlemyre asked Hernandez after the eighth whether he wanted to continue, given his pitch count being at only 97. Hernandez usually insists on going back in. This time, he did not. He told them he wasn’t feeling 100 percent and thought Eric O’Flaherty could better handle things with three lefties due up among the first four batters. Hernandez threw his bullpen session two days ago instead of the normal three days he would take before a game. Remember, Hernandez was pressed into service because of Erik Bedard pulling up lame. Hernandez says the one fewer day of rest after his bullpen session made a difference today, enough that he wasn’t fully ready to tackle the ninth and did not want to put his team in a bind. Very unusual for Hernandez to say that.”
I don’t support McLaren at all, and how nice a guy or how hard he’s trying has no impact on my feeling.
Rooting for him to succeed, even though he has proven beyond all doubt that he has no understanding of how baseball actually works, is rooting for the bad habits of today to be perpetuated. It’s exactly the same as hoping to lose weight while eating ten Big Macs a day. Until the M’s have it RUBBED IN THEIR FACES that they are following an outmoded and incorrect model for evaluating needs and talent, they will never, ever change.
PS: it is NOT the decisions that are wrong. It’s the thinking behind the decisions. What move you make in Situation X does not matter. If McLaren made all the “right “moves in the game, he would still suck just as horribly as a manager, and the M’s would be just as dysfunctional as an organization and as a team.
Why do people insist that pulling Felix was the wrong move? He was throwing a day early, was already at 100 pitches, was hurt last year, and is now saying he told he wasn’t 100% to throw the 9th.
It was the right move to pull him. Yes a 9 inning shutout would have been wonderful, but look elsewhere for your complaints.
So, whats the over under on Bavasi and McLaren panicking and shipping off Triunfel and Aumont for some veteran relievers before the M’s brass cans them?
I wonder how much of that is true, and how much is Felix — or, more likely, Stottlemyre — covering McLaren’s ass?
Quebec? Doesn’t our injured ace lefty hail from there?
Actually, no. He’s from the Ottawa area on the Ontario side of the river. Not a big deal, but it is a bit like getting a Hispanic from Texas confused with one from the other side of the Rio Grande.
213: And then, a lot of people were scratching their heads when the Habs’ front office moved their starting goalie (Huet) at the trade deadline. Don’t know if anyone in Hab Nation is now, though — I believe they wound up winning their division regardless.
Which only goes to prove…anything (well, almost) can happen over the course of a long season.
Unfortunately for Mariner Nation, however, ours is not starting out any too promising.
Ugh. I’m kinda glad I worked today and missed this game. I know it’s only been a week, but dropping 3 straight to the O’s is embarrassing. This is shaping up to be a long summer.
When does Seahawks training camp open again?