Game 20, Mariners at White Sox
DMZ · April 28, 2009 at 12:53 pm · Filed Under Mariners
Double-header! Woooo! 2:05 our time.
Jakubauskas v Colon in the first, and I’ll probably try to throw a second game thread up later for #21.
Also, read Dave’s post below if you haven’t already.
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Double header seems like a nice time to be carrying 12 pitchers.
Shannon talked about it over at the Drayer Blog:
“We have flexibility with the pitching and we needed all 12 in Anaheim. This team is built on starting pitching and pitching in general and this is the direction we are going to go in for now. As long as we can piece together the position players we will be okay.” – from Waka Waka.
I seriously doubt we needed 12 pitchers. It’s not as if there were a bunch of extra inning games in the Anaheim series.
Free [position players and/or left handed power hitters]!
Wow, I see Freddy Garcia just got released by the Mets. Has he really fallen that far off the cliff?
Six straight hours of Mariners baseball? YES, PLEASE.
Is the first game on TV?
Yep! At least on FSN… Both games are on.
Sounds like Garcia is hurt.
I was expecting us to just continue with the already existing “Game 20″ thread. Is there going to be a separate “Game 21″ thread, or will this do for both? Not that it matters, just climbing inside the minutia….
The Chief…hurt? How could a guy who could tear a huge hydrotherapy control panel out of the floor and heave it through a window get hurt?
Joser, up in the original post he says he’ll probably throw up a game #21 blog later…
*points up*
What’s up with the lack of MLB.tv?
We may have more guys in our bullpen than there are in the stands of US Cellular Field.
Note to MLB schedule maker: Please do not schedule single visits to cold-weather cities that do not have domes during the month of April. Otherwise, Ichiro will come after you with a ceremonial sword. You did this in 2007 to great disaster with Cleveland and this Chicago visit is only moderately better.
C’mon, Grinchy!
Some slackers at home should put this game on ustream, so that us workers can slack at work, and watch the game.
Ceremonial Swords would be a great promotion night at an M’s game– maybe Nintendo can tie it in with some new video game?
I’m willing to bet every close call on the field by the umps that day would go our way!
Ah, ok, nevermind.
Yay, Jakabauskas isn’t overthrowing his fastball this time out and it has that nice little late tail/jump to it I was admiring in Spring. (He’s probably benefiting from the fact that butterflies don’t come out to play in 39 degree weather… *laugh*)
Per my MLB text messages: The entire MLB draft will be on MLB.com on June 9 beginning at 3 p.m. West Coast time! (I’m little less excited about that after noticing its on MLB.com of which I’m not a subscriber.) YES!
Listening to Rizzs is painful.
In Chicago, at that temperature with the wind blowing that hard, just THINKING about the ball hitting the bat is making my hands hurt. Felix should be able to benefit in the 2nd game if he can stay warm himself.
He’s probably got fewer butterflies, too, because he’s pitching in front of an independent-league sized crowd. I was at a game in Chicago in 2005 with a long rain delay and no place feels emptier than US Cellular with a thousand or so people scattered around it.
So, is this one of those windy days where no one scores because they are too darned cold to hit?
The M’s seem to be taking more pitches than usual. We should play in cold weather all the time!
…except for Yuni, I’m guessing.
It’s wacky watching the win percentage change on ESPN GameCast.
Apparently Yuni didn’t get the memo.
Edit: Ichiro! didn’t get the memo either.
That makes 14 innings without scoring. Let’s end this soon, please.
Colon is, once again, an ace!
At least against the Mariners. In sub-freezing weather.
For those of you waiting on MLB.tv, the links for this game are finally up. *sigh*
Lillibridge looks like he’s about 15 years old.
He hits like it, too.
Sims: “Griffey digging hard.”
Image on TV: Griffey coasting.
So I’m guessing the “patient” approach was limited to our first time through the batting order (minus Yuni). So, offense as usual then.
I know – he lofted that ball into the gap, and it looked like he was just rounding first when it landed…
“A Thanksgiving feast of baseball, and it feels like Thanksgiving…38 degrees and dropping. If we get any precipitation, it’s likely to fall as snow.”
Man, I always think of Seattle as a terrible place for outdoor baseball in April (Cleveland blizzards aside) but that’s just nasty.
Ok, I’m watching with no sound – what were they saying when they showed that weird replay of Betancourt mimicking Beltre’s throw?
Oh, and damn, Jaku has his hook working!
Jer-
Just talking about how funny it was ’cause Yuni did a perfect impersonation of Beltre fielding and throwing.
He was doing fine until you said that!
Thanks. I was just wondering if I was missing anything… cause that certainly was pretty funny.
Jer-
Yeah, take back the thing about “Jaku has his hook working” ’cause everyone has gotten on base since then…
Dammit – I’ve got to learn to keep my mouth shut.
Jaku puts on a short clinic of what it’s like to pitch from behind in the count in the majors… Chicago 2, Seattle 0. (I was hoping he finished that clinic last week…)
Maybe we can get Yuni to impersonate Beltre when he fields his own position?
Scott-
Yeah, instead of Beltre impersonating Yuni. Beltre already has 4 errors this year, tied with– ______. (One guess) That’s the biggest surprise of the season so far to me.
Scott – no kidding.
Oh, and to be fair, I think most of the hits Jak gave up were on his fastball. His curve still looks like it has a ridiculous amount of break.
(see, I never learn. I probably just jinxed him again…)
Is it just me, or has Big Bart always owned the M’s?
Jer-
Wha? Did you just specifically jinx his curveball now? On PURPOSE? *laughs* (Kidding)
Not really. ~.500 record with a 4.30 ERA. He has dominated other teams (for example, the Rangers) a lot more.
This would be an excellent game for Wak to use as a demonstration of why being patient, and working some walks, is important…
Jak has given up 2 hits, but the walk he gave up led to 2 runs (at least 1 anyways, but you can’t undervalue a guy with a no hitter going having to change to the stretch when he’s pitching lights out).
Come on, it’s not all my fault – AssumedName just jinxed the entire M’s offense!
Also, if it’s 38 degrees there, why are there people in the stands wearing shorts?
Assumed,
I’ve always thought Colon had a great pitch for left-handed hitters though… That tailing fastball that starts out at their belt buckle and ends up comfortably over the inside corner. (ie- that Ichiro! just struck out on as I was typing…)
I’m confused about Colon, actually. He’s only had 3 starts, so it’s SSS, but so far he has a fine FIP and an atrocious ERA, which suggests he’s getting screwed over by his defense, but his O-Swing% is way down and his contact rates are up, which suggests he’s making that defense work harder and he’s not the pitcher he once was. So how good is he really? (Particularly when facing a lineup with more punch than this frozen M’s offense)
If at first you don’t succeed… bunt again! Go Endy…
Someone could be filthy stinking rich if they invented a device that can detect the “mini sirloin burgers” ad before it comes on and shut off the TV for the next 30 seconds… *argh!*
This is a pathetic effort against Bart. Dear lord, our offense has to be among the worst in the game.
On a cold day like this we should really try to get Colon to throw a lot of pitche… Nice first pitch, first out… (sigh)
First pitch swinging.. again! Argh!
It’s Chicago. These are people who go shirtless to watch Bears games in January. (They also go shirtless to attack visiting coaches, though I think that’s just the “COPS” white trash aesthetic in action. Though it might tell you something about White Sox “fans” all the same).
Well, they’d have to be teeny, tiny swords like the “bats” they hand out, just in case fans like the Ligue family show up. Maybe foam swords, like the giant “#1″ hands?
I was going for the reverse jinx…apparently failed.
Whoa, where’s he going…? What happens with ball four? Why’s he going to first base… What’s THAT called? Weird!
See that wasn’t that hard. Seems only Branyan and Griffey are familiar with taking pitches.
UpOrDown: Actually, that device already exists… check it out.
USING THE ERROR TO OUR ADVANTAGE!!! Nice, boys!
Apparently worked.
Yes! Finally some luck!
The RoJo love is in full blossom in Rizzs. After a long dark winter without his beloved ignitor, I think he’s settled on a new mancrush.
And Rob Johnson delivers the M’s offense from 17 innings of futility.
Lauren-
That was mean… making me watch it, when I MEANT a device that makes it so I never have to see that commerical again!!!!! *slits wrists* (blood…)
Oh crap, Yuni’s on deck.
They sell hard liquor in the stands at US Cellular.
UpOrDown: Bwahahaha! I KNOW!
Guty-
With a HUGE pop out… That was a big let down.
Reading at work (quite possibly the best thing I do here) and laughing about the thought of Sean Connery on SNL saying “Teeny Ceremonial (S)words for $200, Alex”
F*&@! (Yuni’s near miss…)
Good work M’s. Couple of GREAT pop ups.
This offense is SO F’ING FRUSTRATING.
wow, gutierrez is terrible at hitting. way to screw up the perfect opportunity guys
What a wasted oppurtunity. Nice job gut and yuni.
NOW That commerical is funny! (The Sir-Mix-A-Lot Burger King ad– especially ’cause we just got the “Booty is Booty” line at the end, which they edit out normally.)
Hilarious stuff.
He makes me cringe everytime he steps up to the plate…
Damn you Yuni…
Also, when RRS comes back I think we should move Silva to the bullpen and make Jak our number three guy…
Jak looks good this game, it’d be really nice to get him some runs. Let’s get back up to the plate and get to a tired Colon before they take him out.
Beltre: You can’t rush Cool.
I think big bart is still upset about his 2nd career start, April 9, 1997 in the Kingdome.
Billy-
Yeah, but we were all 3 feet away from loving him on that long fly just outside the foulpole.
Yuni: 6 pitches seen, 5 swings, 3 outs. At least that’s what CBS.Sportsline.com tells me.
Two well-executed plays by our infield. I didn’t think Jose was going to get to that one.
Yuni’s not as bad as gutierrez. even though he swings at everything, at least he makes decent contact a lot. Gut can’t hit for crap. Is his defense really worth it if he continues hitting .200?
Figures Lauren would have that link handy — I’ll bet that’s how she starts her work day. When she’s not watching this.
UW-
Guty’s always hit .240 or better, if he could get to that mark, I’d be happy, but below .200 is hard to take.
I still find it hilarious how Yuni doesn’t have a single walk all season. He really needs to get more patience. The bottom of our order is pretty bad
LOL at Joser-
I own that movie– one of the best westerns ever! (Seriously, it’s a classic.)
anyone else watching thornton whip it in at 99?? man, we could use a lefty power arm like that in the ‘pen… bavasi strikes again, sigh
Damn you Thornton. Damn you! (NOOOOOOOooooo… F’in Sirloin Burgers, I’m in hell…)
Griffey didnt have a chance that at bat.
UW10: Bluntly, yes. Look at Gutierrez’s value. On the season, he’s -4.1 runs with the bat, and +4.2 runs with the glove.
That makes him a league-average player. League-average players do not grow on trees. Keep running him out there.
Besides, the hitting will come. He’s 50 points off his career BABIP.
robbbbbbb-
(re: Guty) I agree… There are actually some reasons to be optimistic the offense will get better, in my mind… Guty, Griffey, Beltre, Lopez and even Yuni are all way below their norms so far.
If the bats can warm up, this is gonna get fun this year.
Can we hit Jenks?
1. Batting average is a terrible way to evaluate a player
2. Guttierez ia a lifetime .254 hitter. The M’s knew exactly what they were getting when they traded for him, and he was judged (by them, and by many of us) to be totally worth it. He’ll likely have some streaks where he hits above .300, too, and if he’d started the season that way (the way Endy has) everybody would be raving about him (just as they have with Endy). Guttierez will likely have a streak over .300, just like Endy likely will have a streak where he can’t hit a thing, and they’ll both end up near their career averages.
And yes, their defense really will be worth it. Or have you not been watching Washburn’s starts? He’d probably still be looking for his first win without them.
He’s a big target, I’m sure someone could hit him.
One bad walk for Jak, that’s it… 2 hits, 8 innings, nobody on base since the 4th inning… nice work, young man (and he might even be out there for the 9th).
Anyone know the time of the shortest Mariners game ever?
Update: 1:40 against the Blue Jays on 7/16/80?
Ignoring batting average and any stat, Gut just looks lost at the plate though. I guess this is just my backwards way of saying we should’ve kept Jones so we could have plus hitting AND fielding. That said, Bedard has looked great so far
Especially when they can play center field.
I think it’s time for Beltre to hit his first hr of the year.
Jaku’s had a pretty amazing game. Two hits over eight innings? I’ll take it.
Great start by Jak. And he’s gonna lose again. Ugh.
As you can see I have no confidence in our offense coming back.
I can’t take his facial hair seriously. PLEASE Mariners, find a way to rally.
Great time for an error, Sox! Thanks, Josh…
Pheeewww another error… maybe this one will make the difference?
Same as a bunt– not bad.
Jenks hasn’t blown a save yet this year. He blows about 1 in 7. This would be a good place for his first.
If Lopez makes an out now, do they walk Johnson intentionally?
Rob Johnson, RBI Machine, to be replaced by Mike Sweeney, professional hitter.
Pitching around Lopez… To get to Johnson. Manager vs Manager time…
Yes – sit the guy with the best hit of the day.
Whatthe… that wasn’t intentional, was it?
You know, I’m not sure how much to take from this game. Considering how this game has gone at light speed, and that this is a back-to-back doubleheader, and that it’s freaking cold over there, I’m thinking both teams are thinking:
“Let’s just get this game over with as soon as possible. We have to play another one, so let’s get the first one out of the way.”
*shrugs* Just a thought.
This would be a good spot for Clement.
Betancourt watching Lopez from the dugout, giant imaginary “?” over his head. “He’s on first? Without hitting the ball? ¿Que?”
Bull! Bases loaded… Nice faux strike. (Oops, I had the count wrong– I mean, “Nice swing, Sweeney!” *at ball four*)
Hard to make me laugh down 1 in the 9th, but this did.
Franklin and Buehlre hooked up for a 99 minute masterpiece a few years back on the south side.
sweeney almost swung at that? WOW
well, the home plate ump is sure thinking that.
I could have struck out on that pitch, too.
cant believe he hit sweeney for johnson
pitching coach to danks: “just throw breaking balls, he’ll swing at everything”
The ump certainly thinks we need to speed up the game (way inside)…
Don’t hurt yourself Balentien! *geesh*
Balentien is a homer threat at all times.
Damnit. On a warmer day….
Damn. Hate to see a great performance by Jak go to waste. Oh well. Rack em for game two.
if we can’t hit colon, we’re screwed against danks
Does Jak get credit for a CG? Hard luck, losing when your team got twice as many hits as the other club.
Final pissed off thoughts:
1. I hate closers with douche’y “I’m scary” facial hair
2. Home plate umpiring has been REALLY terrible this year
3. That EQC tracer/tracker thing is the biggest POS known to man
AssumedName –
Yes.
Fortunately, those of us with computers and internet connections can ignore it because we have something much better.
That feeble effort vs. Thornton in the eighth is exactly why Wak needs to break up his LH triumverate at the top of the order.
If they can’t hit Jakabauskas, they’re screwed against Felix. So who gets to the bullpen first?
I think we lost this game when Lopez didn’t try to score on the Johnson double.
Felix will take care of things! Remember his last start….
First complete game by a Mariners’ rookie pitcher since Bobby Madritsch on Sept 29, 2004 (against Rich Harden).