Game 45, Giants at Mariners
DMZ · May 24, 2009 at 12:09 pm · Filed Under Mariners
Order up! One favorable matchup for the M’s and it’s Felix Day against a lineup he should carve through, on a beautiful day in Seattle. Wooo!
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Yuni is batting second? Huh? Good god…this is gonna be a long day.
from Divish: “We’ve tried everything, we’re still trying to find that mix,” Wakamatsu said. “With Yuni, he’s gotten the message over the last couple days. His last game he had poor pitch selection. It’s similar to Beltre, moving him up got him a little more patient approach. We’ve always said that this guy can hit, hand-eye coordination, and he should believe he can hit with two strikes. We’re kind of floating around that No. 2 hole of who is that guy and we really haven’t found that guy yet.”
Wow, Blowers just mentioned “small sample” on the Roundtable.
I won’t invoke the name, but look who’s been kind of successful batting second in Baltimore…
Lincecum?
At this point with Felix doing the rollercoaster with his season, should they call the game from the dugout? Leave the thinking to a coach? The king’s ego just might be tripping him up a bit. I do not see any real progression with felix in the last 3 seasons. It is all establish the FB. That kid has one of the best hammer curves I have ever seen. Pitch backwards once in a while. Quite being so dam predictable. Am I wrong?
Heh, yeah. Dude can do everything. Bats for an AL team four days out of five when he’s not pitching for the Giants. You’d think all the extra flights from being a bicoastal player would wear him out, but he is a freak.
I don’t think anyone knows what’s going on in his head, especially when things start going badly for him on the mound, and I’m reluctant to jump to conclusions because we don’t know precisely what the coaches have been saying to him. Obviously we know what should be happening, and it isn’t, but I’m certainly not going to presume I know why.
Felix is on, what, his 3rd pitching coach since debuting with the M’s? I wonder if he’s instinctively falling back on what he internalized in the minors, even though it’s not applicable in his current circumstances.
MSB: challenging the USSM gods, eh? (or maybe just Derek…Eh, same thing =)
Wak to Yuni: you WILL take two strikes with Ichiro! on to give him a chance to steal.
Wak to Ichiro!: you WILL not steal until Yuni has two strikes to teach him how to hit down in the count.
Five straight fastballs according to Gameday.
Okay, eight straight fastballs to start off the game before the first slider today. Progress?
Eight is better than sixteen. And it helps the Giants aren’t an especially good fastball-hitting team.
Unbelievable. Brad Lidge just blew a save against the Yankees for the second day in a row.
Also unbelievable: Yuni walks!
I still can’t get used to seeing Yuni take a walk. Are we sure he doesn’t have a twin brother?
If Felix can’t win against the Giants lineup, he should take that as a wake up call.
Good Yuni!
GRIFFEY!
OFF A LEFTY!
YES!
Yuni with a walk.. It’s so maddening.. When he’s told to take pitches and actually listens you can see he has the ability and has a good eye.
Oooooh yeah Griffey!!
Just before Griffey’s homerun Dave Niehaus was saying that Griffey was starting according to Wakamatsu because that was a good matchup. Indeed, Zito has a slight reverse platoon split. Isn’t it cool to have a manager who is aware of these things and puts them to use.
Wow, a Flying Fortress. Thanks, camera guys!
Fun fact from the radio, Griffy’s home run breaks a string a 31 singles from the Mariners.
Hahahaha….at the stoopid diving in the outfield.
I just realized I have no idea how long it has been since I saw Zito last pitch.
Two XBH in three PA, after going 155 PA in between them before the Griffey HR.
Zito’s been lost in the wilderness that is the NL West, msb.
Damn, Rowland heard me mocking me.
It’s never nice to mock yourself…
You can go away now, Rob Johnson.
Even within the Giants Zito has been a bit lost the last couple of years. Snowed in my drifts of squandered money, apparently. And then struggling in the shadow of He Whom Only MSB Can Name.
Pleeeeeeaaaaase!
Does Far Far Away need a catcher?
You know, just about every year I read the balk rules, and every year I can’t make any sense of them.
I dunno, joser, the last bits of analysis I heard while in CA last season was that the new rockstar pitcher was good for him because it took the pressure off to be the ace.
But of course, that part of the larger attempts at wish fulfillment with Zito. “THIS year he’ll get it together!”
According to Gameday:
Felix Hernandez (through 3 innings)
Fastballs: 31
Sliders: 7
Curveballs: 2
Sinkers: 2
I don’t like Rowand. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but he just bugs me.
Is that a toad falling past my window?
I just don’t know what to do with myself when Yuni walks twice. Do I buy extra house insurance?
Dave Niehaus and Blowers lamenting over the answer to the Aflac trivia question. They said it was probably the worst they have ever had. The question was, what was Billy Martin fired from on this date in 1986? The answer, co-host of SNL.
He has a whiney face.
Baseball being a constant game of adjustments, how long before the scouting gets around that Yuni will actually take a walk, he starts striking out, panics and we’re back to flailing at the first pitch?
JerBear, it’s the facial hair. What exactly is he going for there?
At least with that crappy ground out/DP, I don’t have to hear how hard Beltre stung the ball without a hit.
Wow – Yuni’s second walk!!!
Ok, that’s enough to wake me from my contemplation of Aaron Rowand.
A long time ago a Galaxy did. But I think they got one from the Ewok prison league.
Yeah, I think the facial hair probably has something to do with it.
Also, his horrible acting last night when he tried to claim he was hit by a pitch didn’t help his case.
I think it was one of these.
Get your ‘Bogus Bat’ Beltre Bobbleheads now! Includes Overwound Spring which guarantees hitting into DP’s and pulling everything
A question about mlb.tv: it is lagging behind gameday quite significantly. Do others have the same problem?
Can someone explain to me why Griffey and Branyan are showing bunt? Ever?
Yeah – it’s often like that. A lot of times I see comments here about something before I see it on mlb.tv. Today you can even see things on the “Summary” tab in the mlb.tv player before the video shows it. It’s frustrating.
Actually, he’s pretty good at getting a bat on the ball when it’s actually in the strike zone. Which is why being able to hold off swinging at pitches outside the zone (and therefore taking walks) is so effective. If pitchers can’t get him to chase pitches, he might get more outs on balls in play, and also more hits, but I doubt his K rate will go up a lot.
And now a Lopez walk? I just don’t know any more.
I’ve noticed that FSN is about 10 seconds behind the radio.
MINDGAMES
The Nexdef stream is usually a couple minute behind the actual game. Switching it to normal mode puts it even with the actual TV telecast.
That was a really poor at bat by Rob. A center cut FB, a Batting practice pitch. That is some huge suck.
Did Felix just throw a change for a first pitch?
Three straight fastballs to Rowand right there.
Well, I don’t know about today, but back on Friday when Branyan showed bunt I’m pretty sure no one in the stadium was expecting to see that. The Giants certainly weren’t. If he was actually able to get it down, he had a good shot at getting a hit out of it.
But you can’t do it often, and you have to be able to actually do it. Because I don’t think the infield is going to start playing in no matter what Griffey or Branyan show.
In other developments… crap, Felix, c’mon!
What a tragedy
3 FB to Rowand in a row? Of course he hit the 3rd one. WTF, do they not understand pitching? Half the battle is to keep the hitter guessing.
I am really not liking Wak lately. So predictable. So short sighted.
C’mon Beltre Hit it in the gap…
That was a terrible bunt but at least it got the job done.
So the M’s are playing for a tie? In the 5th inning?
MINDGAMES
ADRIAN!
Even better!
Woo Beltre funk blast!
BELTRE’D!
Wooooooo Beltre! He’s coming around..
Alright, I won’t play armchair manager anymore…
Go Beltre!
King Awesome!!!
In general I’m not a fan of AL teams bunting in interleague play, just because NL teams have a lot more practice fielding them. And then there’s the whole “giving away outs” thing.
All the same, I have to credit Yuni — for a guy who wasn’t at all comfortable bunting coming into this season, he’s made a lot of progress.
And in other developments…. Beltre!
So you’re saying Wakamatsu was calling those pitches from the dugout?
Adrian Baby!!!
Man I wish Zito was still in Oakland.
I just want to say “Boom goes the Dynamite”…about the whole Beltre thing.
If you were coaching, And there is a pattern that your pitcher continues to fall into, Would you not put a stop to it? Everything on the field scheme wise is on Wak..
Nice thing about “regression to the mean”: when you’ve been really sucking, but there’s nothing physically wrong with you, you tend to get better.
Rick Rizzs and Dave Niehaus on the radio absolutely butchering the pronounciation of “crème fraîche” — they somehow decided it should be said “frosh”
Fair enough. There certainly is a problem. But has Felix been shaking off Johnson? Ultimately the pitcher throws what he wants, but was that sequence called by Johnson and agreed to by Felix, or did Johnson try to mix it up and Felix went ahead with his fastballs? I wonder how much effort Felix puts into studying the opposing lineup and figuring out what he should throw (or avoid throwing) to each batter?
How does crème fraîche even arise?
crème fraîche always arises to the top.
that sentence is just wrong on so many levels. Dave & Rick might want to stick to just baseball…
What in the blue hell was THAT?
Those guys from the Match 4 commercials are now doing live jingles about the Mariners during the game. ugh.
Chef from the Hit It Here Cafe sent up some apple pie to the booth.
I’ve been permanently scarred after seeing those four weird people sing. Nevermind what person would actually approve such a jarring advertisement…I want to know what person (no matter how desperate for fame) would allow themselves to be shown on TV acting in such a manner.
My eyes…………….my ears………make it stop
Point well taken, That reasoning deepens my concern. If Rob Was prepaired with a game plan of FBing Rowand to sleep, There are even worse troubles about.
Oh man! I know generally you want knock the starter out and get in to the bullpen. However, in the case of Zito…
There they are again, signing the copyright 2009 jingle, “may not be disseminated without expressed written consent…”
And that’s why you should just keep the bat on your shoulder, Yuni.
This guy’s name is really Merkin?
throw a $%^$$%^ change already, Finaly! He heard me!
Wow I think I’ve single-handedly cursed the M’s today. I tune in, they’re up 2-0, then the Giants score 3 and I get to where I’m going so I have to turn off the radio. Come back later, they’re up 5-3 then again I get home so I turn off the radio, come inside, turn on the radio again and moments later Lewis is hitting a home run to make it 5-4.
Don’t worry gang, I’m not listening any more today.
Should be another one run 9th inning nailbiter..
And the Curve, Walla! Is that so hard to put together?
With Felix likely out of the game, the final tally:
Fastballs: 78
Sliders: 16
Sinkers: 9
Curveballs: 7
Changeups: 2
Total: 112
I see the M’s are back in their “1-run comfort zone”.
Felix: Your fastball is too delicious for lefties, so, don’t throw it to them.
Okay gang, it’s pucker time!
Come on, Aardsma, get that ball down.
Rowand has a batting stance that looks like he’s stoned.
Happy Felix Day!
Hell. Yes.
The Good: M’s win the series
The Bad: They were outscored in the series 10-8
The Ugly: Crème Fraîche
I know. Just one more reason not to like him.
Also, what a nice way to end a game!
Well that was a nice change.
Amazing they had a 5-5 home stand considering how bad the offense has been, thank goodness Griffey and Beltre both delivered some power today!
Apparently the Hit It Here Cafe has a new pastry chef, or new offerings from their pastry chef, one of which is an Apple Tart with a lavender crème fraîche topping (presumably this is a locovoric dessert, featuring Washington ingredients). Samples of these were sent up to the booth, where the aforesaid announcers rhapsodized about it before trainwrecking themselves in a tangle of butchered française.
The Ugly: Crème Fraîche
Samples of these were sent up to the booth, where the aforesaid announcers rhapsodized about it before trainwrecking themselves in a tangle of butchered française.
Leave it to joser to state things about as perfectly as can be.
Aardsma: proof you don’t have to spend money on a closer. Or a very high draft choice.
Was at the game today…beautiful day for an M’s win!
The answer to the question as to why Griffey (and, to some degree, Branyan) was showing bunt was simply due to defensive alignment against them.
For Branyan, the Giants were simply deep…but Griffey had a major shift put on him and a decent bunt against that might have gone for a double–not to say Junior was doing anything more than trying to lure the 3rd baseman a bit closer in.
Felix looked good, mostly. Dead bullpen or not, I was surprised to see him come out for the eighth.
Merkin Valdez, for the Giants, through 9 pitches…all of them strikes…and none of them anything the M’s bats could handle. Glad we got what we did off of snake-y arm Zito.
Merkin Valdez…possibly the worst name for a relief pitcher since JJ Putz.
Or, rather “Valdez, for the Giants, THREW 9 pitches, all of the strikes”.
Edit button or not, that’s a messed up name.
JJ Putz wears a merkin on his face.
How did Felix only get charged with 1 ER? There was no error as far as I could tell in the 5th. Or was there a scoring change that hasn’t caught up with the box scores/recaps yet?
TJ: I believe that the ball that Branyan misfielded was originally ruled a hit…but was changed to an error right around the time of the next Giants hit (that scored their first run.)
Who were those singing idiots? Get off my show!
On the CBS Sports store they are selling a1978 turn back the clock JJ Putz Jersey. WTF…. I swear the marketing geniuses there need their head examined…
Last i checked, Ichiro’s turn back the clock night jersey was up to $10,000…
Currently there is a game used ball from Ichiro’s 3,000th professional hit game, yes, a game used ball. lol
fyi: not cbs store. mariners auction.
Aardsma should be our closer. The guy is a closer. Look at his history/make-up. The problem is that too many teams saw his abilities and thought he was too good to be relegated to a ‘garbage role’ (based on organization) and thought his value was as a starter or reliever. The only reason the Sox didn’t keep him is that they have Justin Masterson. USS Mariner admins and posters shit-talk the guy left and right and seem surprised that he can pitch. The goal will be sticking with him if he has a less than effective outing or don’t throw him into relieve too often due to a drought in save opportunities. I anticipate a huge post echoed with “I told you so’s…”, should he blow a save. Y’all are ready to throw him to the wolves. Whatever. Stick with the guy.
Riiiight.
People around here questioned his command coming out of spring training, and given his history, that was a legitimate concern. And, if you haven’t been paying attention to some of his high-wire outings, it remains a concern — as his 13BB in 20.2 IP shows. That’s as close to “shit-talking the guy” I’ve seen here.
Here’s a thought: stop making things up. I don’t know why you feel the need to set yourself up as some kind lone genius who alone can grasp the secrets no one else can see. But that problem is yours, not the posters or “admins” here. You’ll find your opinions taken far more seriously if you abstain from criticizing people for things they haven’t said. Otherwise you just come across like a delusional, belligerent crank.
“Who pitches the 9th? Aardsma? He’s a fastball pitcher with questionable control, just like Morrow. I’m not convinced a season of him closing would end up all that different. Remember, for all the walks he gave up, Morrow was 6 for 6 in save opportunities before last night.”
Bang up evaluation…
His career BB/9 is 5.57
His 2009 BB/9 is 5.40
In what way is “questionable control” an unfair description of him? He’s pitched well recently (one thing that stands out in his 2009 statistics is that his GB% has dropped by 2/3rds while his FB% is way up from last year. If this is an indication that he is pitching a particular way to take advantage of Safeco and the outfield defense while avoiding the infield defense, Aardsma deserves credit for it. I am sure there is a way to know, but I admit I don’t.)
All stats courtesy of Fangraphs.
You consider that “shit talking”? I guess I’ll have to raise my virtual pinky in the future when discussing pitchers.
Yes I wrote that, and I stand by it. It may not be a complete evaluation, but it’s entirely accurate as far as it goes. He’s a talented pitcher; no one is “surprised he can pitch.” But when you walk as many batters as he does there’s no way to characterize his control as anything but “questionable.” He’s been lucky, with ridiculous (and unsustainable) strand rate, but that doesn’t make him better than he is. He can still be an effective closer, but he’s not going to be as effective over a full season as he has been until now. Unless he gets the walk rate down, he’s not the next Mariano Rivera and he’s unlikely to be any better than Morrow.
“USS Mariner admins and posters shit-talk the guy left and right and seem surprised that he can pitch. ” No they don’t and no they aren’t; there’s plenty of evidence that contradicts your assertion. That doesn’t stop you from making things up, though, does it? Clearly you’ve fallen in love with the guy for some reason and are overreacting to any reasonable criticism.
“Y’all are ready to throw him to the wolves. ” There’s no evidence of that either. Mere evidence is not going to stop your delusional ravings though, is it?
“Whatever. ”
My sentiments exactly. When you’ve cured yourself of your trollish imaginings, get back to us.