Game 23, Rangers at Mariners
Lee vs Lewis, 7:10 pm.
Cliff Lee makes his much anticipated debut tonight against a somewhat depleted Rangers team. Nelson Cruz is on the DL, and due to the struggles of their two young catchers, they are going with career backup Matt Treanor behind the plate. They do get Ian Kinsler back tonight though, and he’s hitting clean-up in his first game of the season.
As for the Mariners line-up, well, you already know what it looks like. Can’t wait to see Lopez and Griffey try to drive in the top of the order, only followed by the excitement of Adam Moore and Jack Wilson trying to drive in the other two guys on the team that can get on base. At this point, it’s anyone’s guess as to when Wak pulls the plug on Lopez hitting clean-up – three weeks of him hitting like a pitcher haven’t done it, yet five games of Milton Bradley struggling were enough to get him moved down in the order. It’s almost like a dare – how long can the team keep winning with no bench and a line-up that makes no sense?
I guess we’ll find out. It doesn’t look like we’ll see the obvious changes until the team starts losing. Which, with Tampa Bay rolling into town on Tuesday, may happen sooner than we’d like to see.
Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Gutierrez, CF
Lopez, 3B
Griffey, DH
Bradley, LF
Kotchman, 1B
Moore, C
Wilson, SS
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I still can’t quite believe you just wrote
“Lee vs Lewis, 7:10 pm”
Cliff Lee is a Mariner…
Cliff Lee! I’m not even fretting about Wak putting out the typical vs. RHP lineup again because I’m so psyched for Lee’s debut.
If the Rangers are going to score any runs tonight (of course I’d like to believe they won’t), I hope that they are all the result of Ryan Garko HR(s).
I read that lineup over and over again looking for a logical explanation or an excuse for Wak. But alas, I just couldn’t do it. That lineup is crap, plain and simple.
Death to Wak’s lineups
“Tampa Bay Rays” and “juggernaut”…two things I’d never before thought to put together. During the past 15 games TB has outscored their opponents something like 1,502 to 19. Eek.
Here is a video I took of Bedard’s bullpen session. iPhone won’t let me paste it into a tag for whatever reason, so please excuse the long link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7QCdY_XgWk&feature=youtube_gdata
Lee to come.
I know I’m a “optimize everything” and “obsess over matchups and roster construction” guy, and that there are factors outside lineup that might make a sub-optimal one worth using.
And I know we debate the value of lineup optimization from best to normal, and that the value of going from worst plausible to best might only be 20 runs in a season.
But the team as constructed feels like it’s desperately trying to scratch out runs, and they’re already under the 8-ball compared to their likely playoff-contending competition.
This is when bad lineup construction is so infuriating, because even if it’s only a tenth of a run a game, it feels like the team is dying for want of that tenth of a run.
Smoltz was on ESPN earlier today, talking about how Bobby Cox changes the line-up to reflect who is actually hitting ….
A win tonight puts us in first by ourselves!
Did Dave Sims just say that Vlad Guerrero is playing in the outfield for Texas tonight?
I’m OK with belief systems…but why does it always have to be Wak’s belief system?
In honor of Lee’s first start, couldn’t we just let him make out his own lineup…and see what HE believes?
YES! woooooooooooo!
hes on the mound as of now!
Vlad in RF, Garko at DH. Wild!
How has Garko been this season?
yup, right field
K numero uno
Derek I have to assure you no team in the history of baseball has lost a single game by a 1/10 of a run.
Maybe a pennant, but not a single game.
That was an enjoyable half-inning.
He did say that. Everybody aim for left field! (His arm is still decent though, so beware once he actually reaches the ball… assuming you’re slow enough to still be on the base paths at that point)
I kind of like the idea of letting the starting pitcher pick the lineup (to go along with the jersey choice). There might be less whining about “run support” in that case. Of course, if you do that with a manager like Wak who doesn’t like to pinch hit (and carries a bench to prove it), what’s left for the manager to actually do?
Maybe Wak thinks it’s like resistance training — like taking swings with the donut on the bat. Just wait: when he finally starts putting out sensible lineups, the team will find scoring runs to be relatively effortless!
So want to nitpick about that first? It took a few extra pitches to put away Hamilton. That’s all I got.
I’d also like to say, I am likely the only the only graduate of the University of Arkansas who is a regular commenter on this blog.
Cliff Lee and I have special bond that none of rest of you will ever be able to understand.
I am not sure Cliff Lee understands it either.
‘Bout as sharp as a japanese steak knife’ God I love Niehaus. GO LEE GO Ms!!!!!!!!
The Rangers are playing Chuck Knoblauch at short?
That was international air mail right there.
NASTY last strike/out by Lee. Love it.
What I don’t love is Figgins swing at first pitch!! UGHHHHHHHH
Franklin and Lopez out as quick as I could log in to my computer…
Does the SEC West count? War Damn Eagle.
Really? No outs with Ichiro on second and the M’s cant at least end the inning with him on third?
No runs, but everybody is making good contact so far. That doesn’t bode well for Mr. Lewis.
You know how Ichiro always has a bad April? Well, he’s .330 / .378 / .396 this April, compared to his career April average of .297 / .349 / .397
Of course, it would be cool if that was a bad month for him this year.
Garko has only had 17 PA so far this year, so extreme SSS, but: .133 / .235 / .133
You know, Kazinski, those of us who have seen “Deliverance” have a pretty good idea….
Joser,
That was Georgia. Not Arkansas. Not that would make much of difference,
I love it that the Yankees have a .682 winning percentage and are a game and a half out of first. Tampa Bay juggernaut indeed.
Lee doing better than good. I would say what is better than good, but people might say I’m jinxing him.
Lots and lots of fastballs, but Lee looks fantastic so far. Throwing strikes and only allowing weak contact at best.
Deliverance takes place in Georgia. If you’re going to ignorantly make fun of the south, at least do it well.
Another quality AB for Jr.
Neihaus:
I hope you’re wrong about that, Dave. I hope you’re wrong.
I’m from Canada. You’re all crazy southerners (and this is the Pacific Southwest).
Since we’re not seeing KC tonight we have to look elsewhere for ex-Mariner news. I was pleased to see RA Dickey retired 27 straight batters (he gave up a lead-off hit and then threw a perfect game) for the Mets’ AAA affiliate in Buffalo. (Warning: photo in link may scare small children)
nice to hear
Nice one, RA!
Two innings, tow left in scoring position.
And thumb right left at first .
Lee looking awesome.
Lee’s last strikeout–> wicked curve.
Did u see that hammer against Smoak? Welcome to the bigs son!
Top of the order. Three of our top five hitters due up.
I’m not sure if anyone noticed this or not, but Cliff Lee is really good…
SSS, but Lee is the best Mariner pitcher of all time.
Baseball is fascinating for its wealth of meaningless statistics. Such as that George Brett holds the record for most hits against Texas.
At this rate, I don’t care who they send to make room for Lee…it’s worth it.
And just like that, Ichiro’s batting a team-leading .344.
So far, this is undisputeably true.
….it’s a shame……Rob Johnson should be behind the dish…..
Sorry about the offense Cliff… You’ll get used to it though..
Maybe Z can pull off a deal with the MLB where if Ichiro can hit 4 singles in a game, it counts as a run for us.
Here’s a game we play at my house: When Lopez comes up to bat will he 1. ground out 2. flyout or 3. strike out. If he does anything other than everyone drinks!
Let me also say something about Arkansas. I am a native Californian. I grew up in the Napa Valley, and then I lived in Santa Barbara as an adult until I went to Arkansas when I was 28.
I still go to Arkansas every chance I get, there is a level of relaxation and comfort that those of us on the west coast just have no idea of. I have spent 49 of my 55 years on the west coast, but Arkansas and the rest of the south are absolutely fantastic places to live and visit.
Of course that is why Cliff Lee still lives there in the off season. My father in law, who came over from Japan in 1954, came to Arkansas and never left. He had his Phd., and could have gone everywhere, and did, but always came back.
Yikes. Lee has thrown over 50 pitches so far.
Dave Sims, “trying to close the roof. second time today (rarararhahararrarr.”
End of perfect game.
Damn, this guy’s a bum! He let up a hit!
Pretty sober gatherings, I assume.
hahaha
Sweeney is most likely showing his value today, in the clubhouse with the rest of the pitching staff.
“Oh, come on, guys. He’s not THAT much better than you. Hug?”
Someone finally decided to put the shift on Jr.
How was that popup not caught?
I would really, really, really hate to see Griffey go. But he looks far worse this year than last year, and last year was a pale shadow of his former greatness. He has definitely stayed too long at the fair. Do you think he will realize this and go gently into that good night?
Jr looks worse every game…
Is Colby Lewis actually good? Or is it our weak line-up making him look good?
Griffey’s leash just got shoter with my girlfriend.
Assimilation in progress.
Damn, I thought the offense was gonna come into the game tonight AMPED about Cliff Lee’s first start. Boy was I wrong.
We look terrible. Colby Lewis is one of the best this year though right?
This game is going 100 innings.
Colby Lewis just through 5 pitches to get 3 outs.
This line-up can’t get any worse. Wak needs to do something.
Wak won’t. Not until later in the season at least.
This is a clinic.
Man, I love watching Cliff Lee!
What must Lee be thinking watching this lineup bat for him?
Like being on a blind date, only she’s got spinach in her teeth and talks about how many babies you’re having to go, and he’s working his cell phone under the table to pretend he’s gotten a call saying that his mother’s just died.
In the last two years in Japan, he had an ERA below 3 and a WHIP of less than 1.
Lee has to be thinking: “I need to pitch very good this year and get my fat contract elsewhere”.
That shouldn’t be too hard for him…
Some one needs to explain to Lopez that you only take pitches OUTSIDE the strike zone…
Lee is not long for this game, but it has been a great pleasure watching his debut.
After watching that, Lee may think that maybe it isn’t so bad pitching here after all.
I think Cliff Lee is done for tonight. He may not win the game but his ERA is intact.
Cliff Lee good. Offense bad.
Pitching against the 2010 Mariner offense: So easy, a caveman could do it.
Our offense is terrible, but this guy is clearly good. He’s mixing up his speeds and location really well.
Pathetique.
Fill in the blanks.
Career trajectories that are similar (using BR similarity scores:
Frank Robinson, age 39: .237-.385-.508
KGJ, age 39: .214-.324-.411
Willie Mays, age 41: .250-.400-.402
Frank Robinson, age 40 .224-.328-.358
KGJ, age 40: ___-___-___
.295-.223-.245 so far)
Willie Mays, age 42: .211-.303-.344
Frank Robinson, OOB, age 41
KGJ, OOB, age ___?
Willie Mays, OOB age 43
Dear God,
Help Kotchman put one in the seats.
Hahaha, so good.
Sad but true.
34,000 tonight. Not great.
I thought so at first glance.
Bull whackey.
I mistyped KGJ numbers for age 40 (this year). Should have been .226 – .293 – .245
What a terrible, terrible call.
Wow, what bullshit.
That, baseball fans, was abject garbage umpiring right there.
As if we have enough trouble scoring runs..
Well, won’t his face be red when he watches the replay after the game.
What was the call? I don’t listen to the sound… might have to rewind.
Except it’s the right call.
I would have to read the exact rule on this. Sure it was a bad throw, but if Kotch was inside the line, as I think he has to be if the ball is anywhere near home plate, then the 1Bman might have caught it.
But Wak should know the rule, so figure he’s smarter than me, eh?
Such bullshit… it would have taken 30 seconds to look at a video replay and get that call right. Bullshit.
I did rewind and yeah, weak call.
What psquared said.
What is Lowe doing?
Is Jay Buhner sitting in on any of the broadcasts today? We could really use one of those Bradley home run predictions tonight.
No, it was a bad throw by Treanor. He could have had a clear shot at Smoak, but he threw into the runner. It’s hard to convincingly argue that’s interference by Kotchman.
I posted the exact rule above. Except I forgot the part that says “the batter is out when:”
If Kotchman runs in foul territory, he’d be safe. Granted, the umpires rarely make that call and in this case it was a horrible throw, but it’s still well within the rules to call him out.
Way to get ahead of your guy 0-2 and then throw 4 straight balls in the dirt.
Mark Lowe trying to ruin this game?!!?
He might have been slightly inside the line (and even that’s questionable), but he didn’t interfere with the fielder due to being out of the baseline. The throw was into foul territory.
If he’d succeeded, you’d have to say he had plenty of help from the line-up. But, hey: 6 more at bats! anything can happen!
Leave Lowe in the game, Wak. No Sean White at this point please.
it’s time for an Ichiro home run.
It’s interesting watching the difference between Lee and Lowe. When you have a lot of tools in your arsenal you make hitters look like fools; when you don’t you freak out your fans
Aardsma in a time game?
It’s the end of April, but:
Is it time to make a trade for some offense?
The thing is Kotch had his back to the play the whole time, and was simply booking down the baseline and straight through the bag. He can’t even know where the throw is, much less run into foul territory when he’s only a step away from the bag. A good throw would have gotten him – a bad, offline throw didn’t.
The fact that the ump could call him out under a possible interpretation of the rule doesn’t make it a “good” call. It doesn’t support the intent of the rule.
Paul, YES!!!!!!!!!
End of April, at this moment in time were ZERO games back.
Why not add some offense when we’re right there with the boys in first, instead of when we’re 5 games back?!
The A’s and Angels both lost. If we win this game, we’ll be in first place.
The Mariners offense is ruining Cliffmas!
Nice AB there by Lopey.
NICE AB LOPEZ! FUUUUUUUU*@#!
First pitch Jose, way to go buddy.
This is very very bad.
And here I thought that the swinging at pitches above your head went out of fashion in Seattle when Beltre signed with Boston…
That was a great inning by League. 7 pitches.
Why not pinch hit with Sweeney here?
Okay, Wak brought in a Lefty to face Junior. Where is Mascot in this situation?
Yea, what Rick L said.
Another powerful swing by Junior.
Junior infield single. Interesting.
One of Junior’s hardest hit balls all year.
Yeah, if we win tonight we are in first place, if we lose we are 1/2 game back. That is indeed the time to panic.
Just when everybody thinks Junior is done. Infield hit!!!!
Make Seattle fall in love with you Milton!
Good enough!
Milton!!!! Kicking ass!!!! Redemption!
Please don’t run on contact, please don’t run on contact…
Kotchman HR to win it.
How is trading for offense panicking? Are you saying it’s still early, and we might actually have an offense that will get us to the playoffs?
Uncle Milton!
If it ends up being being the winning run, I’ll take it, infield hit or no.
Damnit!
Omg. We might actually not score here. It just occurred to me that we might not score.
Can Moore bunt? Johnson can, as I recall.
WHAT!?!?!?! MIKE SWEENEY! ARE YOU SERIOUS???
NOOOO… please no Wak
What would we trade? Pitching? Defense?
Adam Moore, first IBB of his career? Better get that ball.
Setting up the DP nicely, Texas.
well there’s your double play wrapped and ribboned for you texas.
Hmmm, Wilson is not your DP candidate …..oh, no, not the Mascot! I’d rather have Wilson.
Can Sweeney bunt?
Prove me wrong Sweeney, I have made my predictions at home.
This is going to be epic. Perhaps an epic fail, but epic nonetheless.
Mascot is pinch hitting… and now the pitching change.
Sweeney is a good choice here, at least we need someone that can take a walk.
A walk wins it.
The pitching change was foreseeable though with Mascot pinch hitting. Now if Mascot hits into a DP, Tui is the SS.
I’m sorry, but this just seems reckless to me. Jack Wilson’s no great hitter, but they’re pulling the only good shortstop on the team in an extra-innings game? For a guy who hasn’t gotten a hit since the 8th grade picnic?
Tell me why this isn’t dumb.
Sweeney loves to swing at first pitches. 3rd pitch DP.
I agree this is epic. If Sweeny GIDP’s there will be riots.
Men on second and third no outs, there are at least four ways to score:
1. Slow ground ball.
2. Squeeze play.
3. Sacrifice fly.
4. Hit.
We have Mike Sweeney pinch hitting for Jack Wilson in the middle of a discussion about whether we need to add offense.
Cue the riots.
Jesus christ….
Crap.
NO!!!!!1
I CALLED 3RD PITCH, DAMN
This is Mike Sweeney’s chance to be a hero! Or not.
Son of a bitch.
GIDP Sweeney. Predictable. BAD managerial strategy.
I hate Mike Sweeney
I’m torn here. I want to win, but I want Sweeney to fail as hard as possible so that they realize this isn’t a good and sustainable roster. Can we get a fourth out this inning so that Ichiro still gets to bat?
That didn’t just happen.
Well that sucked. Was predictable, but sucked.
AGGGHHHHHHHHHH…. *&^%$UTYR&^$*&^%$TYR^%$
are.you.kidding.me.
RETIRE!!!!!
I hate this offense with a passion.
It’s hard not to lose patience with this bunch.
What a crafty, veteran at-bat!
Epic fail doesn’t even begin to cover that…
1st pitch too…nice.
Bradley should have let it hit him.
I’ll bring the pitchforks.
Terrible. Just terrible.
$%@&*$%&@*($^&*(@$%^*(@%^$*&(@$%^*(@$^*(@^$*@($^%*@(%$^*@(^$*(@)$^%*(@^%*(@^%*(@
Now I’m sure Texas will score the winning run on slow roller that “SS” Tuiasosopo won’t be able to handle…
We deserve to lose, both for the decision to pinch-hit Sweeney and the fail that Sweeney hath wrought.
If we lose this game with the way Lee pitched, I really hope Wak re-evaluates his belief system.
The team deserves to lose this game.
Un F-ing believable.
now watch a Tui error lead to the loss.
Why take out wilson…
Now we don’t even have our best defense out there…
I don’t see any way that made sense.
If you didn’t see that coming, there is no hope for you…
I hope we win, of course, but I also hope these failures call for change…
Embarrasing and pathetic…
Jake Taylor ran faster than Sweeney right there.
marinersunbird: I was thinking the same thing.
To be honest, I can’t really see how we’re 11-11. Start playing the Yankees, Rays and Red Sox and we’re going to get smoked.
I wish I had GMZ’s phone number… I need to talk to him.
Wakamatsu too..
Mike Sweeney – -.328 WPA in one pitch
I raise your hate and add in a touch of disdain.
Wak just turned his hand. It was an all-or-nothing move pinch hitting with Mascot.
I have to say, even though Sweeney might have been a good choice to bat over Wilson, if you had to put Tuiasosopo in anyway, why not put him it to hit.
Survive this half inning and hope Ichiro bangs out one of his FU home runs.
Sweeney was not a good choice to bat over Wilson.
We’re really starting to see how inconsistant our offence is. Sad.
Good thing League is pretty good.
Good play by Tui.
I would have prefered we just leave Wilson in and squeeze. He is a great bunter… no chance for a double play if we do that either.
This is too funny. I actually was more let down that Sweeney swung on the first pitch instead of the third to make my prediction correct.
Sweeney is a bust, and I hate that Z will keep his ass on this team for a while.
Good thing it was hit right at Tui. Part of me thinks that Sweeney should have had to play SS as punishment for that AB.
Can’t Ichiro just hit one out here? And not let the rest of the offense mess everything up.
That was wilson that made the last out right? How is he still in the game if it was him if not I just wasn’t paying attention.
I hope we see more of this Brandon League though…
Boy that makes him look like a bit of a rookie manager. I don’t ever remember seeing a manager get fleeced at the major league level that badly. He made every wrong call to get a run in.
Yeah, I’m hoping Ichiro! can just end this. I’ll be looking forward to a congratulatory “Suck on it” celebration at home plate…
Come on Z, make a trade for some offense already.
Someone please tell Angie to button up.
Even if this team staggers into the play-offs, it’s not going to be a lovable team. Can’t give your fans this amount of agita on a regular basis and be loved.
Yeah, Wak looking bush league this year.
In Ichiro we trust.
Save the Mariners from themselves, Ichi.
I don’t always agree with this site, but come on. Sweeney and Griffey are atrocious. Where are the 2 big bats we needed to acquire Z? Z? Are the M’s finances THAT bad?
I-CHI-RO!
Hush your mouth. Plus, she’s an Italian mama — deserves some slack on the zaftig.
Oh right, anything but a double play would mean either have meant a win or Ichiro would have gotten to come up with the bases loaded.
At least we have someone that can hit.
and that’s why ichiro’s awesome and sweeney sucks
Angie is the only thing worth watching now that Lee is out…
Angie,
Nobody wants to look at what you are offering.
Don’t bunt please, no, no — oh, nice!
Wow, that was pretty sad on the Rangers behalf..
Did the ball have the Swine Flu? Nobody wanted to grab it.
What did I miss from Angie?!
Damnit!
Now that was a bunt!
Now that is truly pathetic on the Rangers part. They are expecting a bunt and they let him beat it out?
I guess Pinella was wrong, you can bunt a left handed hitter.
I’m getting deja vu here. He’s not allowed to pinch hit Mike Sweeney again is he? He can’t just inflict that crap on every rally, right?
The goal is to score a run before the “clean-up” hitters come up to bat.
Darned nice bunt.
I would say maybe bunt with Guti considering how this game is going, but then I remember Lopez and Byrnes are next.
Come on… 4 hits in extra innings better turn into something…
My wife has been saying that since week 1.
I guess we’ve resorted to Plan B: bunt until they can stop it.
Hey don’t get your hopes up…1st and 2nd no outs? Well find a way to F it up.
Screw this up, and the field will be littered with Felix bobblehead dolls.
Let’s hope the Mariners don’t figure out another creative way to screw up a potential game-winning opportunity.
Does “clean-up” hitter refer to cleaning the bases with a double play?
Everyone who has seen this team has been saying that since week 1.
Strike out!
With Jose Lopez up.
I’m sure Lopez will take a couple of pitches.
ha ha. I made a funny.
The problem of the batting order is especially amplified in this game…Lopez will hit in to a DP!
nows time for lopez to hit an unlikely homerun
Why wouldn’t you pinch hit Johnson for Lopez here?
Nevermind.
Did Lopez actually take the 1st pitch or am I reading this wrong?
This is why Bradley should be above Lopez and Griffey!!!!
UGH!!
If Eric Byrnes wins this game for us, I will wet my pants.
lopez walked. lol
3-1. Give Lopey the take sign.
Walk. Huge.
WHOA! What was that Lopez? Who tought you that?
Thank you for proving me wrong Lopey!
Is this JOSE Lopez? Did we bring up or trade for another Lopez? Because I don’t remember Jose Lopez ever working a 3-ball count.
Byrnes & Bradley. I’m actually optimistic.
Byrnes don’t folow in that chump Sweeney’s footsteps!!
Wait what?
Now here is a chance for the squeeze play. They aren’t going to double up Byrnes.
Bases loaded one out? Where is Sweeney when we need him?
Just hit a fly Ball. Please?
Let’s pinch hit Ryan Lang…nevermind.
OMG.
Lopez walks.
The Apocalypse is nigh.
David B – HAHAHAHAHAHA
Maybe Ichiro should just steal home to end it.
Byrnes needs to stand closer to the plate.. He looks like a little kid thats afraid to hit.
Just strike out Byrnes. Please?
lol… this is ridiculous
Wow
HAHAHAHAHAHA WOW!!!!
Or not.
Damn.
WTF!!!!!!!!
PATHETIC!
Come on Ichiro you have to plow the man over!
What the heck was that?
Didn’t look like a squeeze
Pathetic.
Bad basics by Byrnes. He pulled his bat back when Ichiro was committed.
OH NO LOL
I saw the 3B coach flashing a bunch of signs, and I was thinking that might be it.
Byrnes HAS TO STICK HIS BAT DOWN THERE!
Really?
now a sac fly is out of the picture…
ugh.
Fail
Lets make this even more interesting.
Boy that looked like little league.
Mariner baserunning comes to the rescue … of the Rangers.
This is a circus!
See Wak…that’s how you get tossed…
Ownd! Good bye Wash!
So Byrnes pulled the bat back on a suicide squeeze?
Ichiro effed up
LOL this is the funniest game ever. It’s so pathetic its funny.
Worst.Offense.Ever.
Washington must have a date for dinner.
Well, they’re claiming it’s a botched squeeze, so I take back the Ichiro comment.
3.
My optimism was misplaced.
Oh my god.. Really.
Kill me now. I may not watch another game for awhile. This is offense?
FML
So much for making a good impression for Lee. He works back from an injury and pitches his ass off, and we can’t score a run in over 11 innings?
of course. bases loaded one out easily turns into no runs.
of course.
All I can think of is Byrnes thought it was going by the catcher.
They just INVENTED an out. That’s not creating an out on the base paths, that’s finding a new and exciting way to produce outs.
Only for the M’s.
This is great. I’m more entertained at how funny(sad) this offense is.
I’m actually excited to see what Dave posts. This is garbage baseball.
If it was a suicide squeeze, Byrnes effed up by pulling his bat back and leaving Ichiro to die.
I’m going to bed.
so, what is the run expectancy with bases loaded and one out?
it’s greater than zero right? times two?
Ranger solo HR to win?
c’mon, a bunch of first graders could’ve scored in that situation. wow that was pathetic
How did ichiro eff up? He is told to go its Byrnes job to get a bat on that ball. Bad job by Mr. Byrnes.
162 games of this **** is gonna put me in the ground. Can an offense be ANY worse?
Byrnes and Sweeney should be cut…right now…tell them to pack their bags and go home…this is just pathetic…
“Thats why you go to the ballpark, because your gonna see something new everyday.”
If I wanted to see that, I would go to the local little league park.
Win or lose I’m still gonna be pissed after the game.
Well lets see how well League can do.
For those who are at the game, they’re sure getting their moneys worth! King Felix bobblehead, Cliff $#*% Lee pitching and a (currently) 12 inning game.
At least the Thunder were eliminated tonight
If League can pitch 12 more innings like this, we’ll win it in 23.
With the way Wak managed this game, the M’s deserve to lose.
There’s your winning run on first…
it’s freak’n after midnight here in dallas. for the love of god can I please go to sleep! Pathetic is the only word to describe this. Ugh. It’s gonna be a loooooong season.
-=cysco
God, our offense sucks.
This is it for League. After that we are depending on Sean White. not a good scenario.
Game over.
There it is.
God…
Tui error to win it!
That’s going to be the ballgame.
I wonder how many times he’s had to rewrite his recap post.
Well, once more for that error, I imagine.
Lets see if the Rangers can play some Mariner ball right here.
so why do we have a 7 man bullpen if we dont even use it?
This is completely ridiculous
This is the part of the game where we lose.
That’s going to be the ballgame.
Hahaha this is unbelievable. Actually it’s not,my bad.
Well, why not?
or, to quote Ichiro, of course you did.
We’ve been trying to hand it to them, and there it is.
WTF is the matter with this team….
Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2010 Seattle Mariners.
Sweeney DFA
Byrnes DFA
Tui Sent to Minors
Something needs to be done !
This is the beautiful thing about the Mariner offense.
They give fans new and inventive ways NOT to score runs!
I am laughing hysterically. . . .M’s do not have an offense at all. Beyond pathetic. I won’t watch another for awhile. What a waste of pitching.
When do the Seafair clowns show up?
Wow, what a way to lose.
why do we bother watching?
Is this game rigged? We can’t be THAT bad. It has to be a thrown game… Oh wait, we really are that bad.
Why is Z sitting on his hands when this team obviously has no offense? This isn’t a one time occurrence.
Boo 11-12!
Believe Big
You can’t really complain about the attendance. The fans are wise to this act, and they’re not going to come back until the Ms can prove they’re legit.
I don’t understand how they choose who makes the team at all.
Apparently they need guys in the bullpen to just sit there, and you dont need to be able to hit a baseball to be in the lineup.
This is completely pathetic to watch. So much for a good year.
I’m actually glad we are about to lose…IF change is coming…
2-0… game is out of reach.
Oh! That’s how you score a runner on third! Hope guys in the dugout were watching.
Well, thank goodness we took Wilson out of the game.
This one is on Wak, what a pathetic job of managing. From the stupid call to pinch hit Sweeney and take away Wilson’s defense, to the decision to squeeze with a hitter with 0 confidence to leaving League hanging out there to dry, this is inexcusable for a major league manager to make decisions that even the average fan questions. Tell me Wak, how does your belief system taste now?
I hate watching this team.
This is why people don’t go watch this team
If you want people to come out to the park, put out a team people are going to want to watch.
I don’t want to watch this, and I WILL NOT go to a game until there is something worth my time.
TV=off
Top of the 1st.
One more time: That’s going to be the ballgame.
However on the optimistic side, we are/will be tied with Texas 1/2 game out of 1st, with Felix on the mound tomorrow.
That’s my sign to go to bed. It would be comical if it weren’t our team. Please GMZ, fix this!
Inept offence leads to another loss. Really nothing else to say. Mr. Z can we fix the offense please? Is this too much to ask?
How is that supposed to be optimistic? We had Cliff frigging Lee on the mound today and lost because we couldn’t get 1 stinking run.
Byrnes blows, Sweeney blows, and Tui is a career AAA/AA player. Not sure what Tui does well – can’t hit and can’t field, yet gets to be with the big club. Why bother pinch hitting for Wilson when Sweeney can’t hit and Tui will kill us in the field if we don’t score.
Why would Lee want to stay in Seattle after watching this? And with this line-up there will be much much more of the same. Worst offense in baseball. Yay us.
Per Dave’s Twitter, no recap tonight.
Really, it’s not just ‘the offense’. Wak managed himself out of this game.
And let’s not pretend that he has no influence on Sweeney being on the roster in the first place.
We do need to do something to get a couple guys that can hit, this is getting a little ridiculous. We’ve got half the lineup that are lucky to make solid contact 2/3 of the time.
Milton looked pissed catching that fly ball. Maybe that’s a good sign for the bottom half of the inning.
He’s the new WFB. Local Kid done good.
Two times our “offense” fails to win this game. Check swing pop up by Kotchman, ground out by Sweeney(it happens). But a FAILED bunt by Byrnes… are you kidding me?! Now Sean White is in!
Amazing the ways they find to both lose games and destroy our hopes.
If Sweeney wasn’t in the lineup, Garko would be and he sucks, too. We needed someone else in camp that can mash a little. Not much, just a little.
Run prevention team is right.
How’s that pitchy defense stuff workin’ out for ya?
Exactly. We’re supposed to win with our ace’s on the mound. Lee pitched one hell of a game all for nothing. Now I understand why my father-in-law has said that it hurts to be a M’s fan.
This is sickening!!!
Dave breaks the news to me on Twitter, no recap.
Was really looking forward to one tonight.
It’s not just bad managing – the offense is putrid and is easily the worst in baseball. They hit 9 HRs in April as a team!! This is not an MLB-level offense, nope.
Mr. Lee,
This is what you get for pitching 7 innnings of shut out baseball. Want to stick around for a few more years? No? But WHY?
The M’s are mailing it in this inning.
If Wak and Z do not make a move in the next 48 hours, I am not buying another M’s ticket for the rest of the year. My money isn’t going towards this crap product.
My best advice to Cliff Lee:
Pitch well and get yourself out of Seattle as soon as possible. You will go nowhere with this team.
You truly deserve a better team then this.
We as fan’s are sorry we can’t help you out.
The pitching is good enough to warrant opening the pocket book and getting some hitting if we can hang in there for a couple more months. Lets hope it happens.
Putrid is too nice. Anyone have any ideas on a better word for this offense?
Why can’t we get a catcher to hit .200? Is it really that difficult?
No, we’re not “easily the worst,” we’re not even the worst. The Astros also hit 9 HRs, and while our wOBA is an anemic .300, theirs was .278. Easily the worst. The Orioles have a .300 wOBA as well, despite twice as many homers. Our offense is terrible, but we’re not the only ones.
This is a game when I was really looking forward to Dave’s recap. But its absence speaks volumes.
Yes, but they are not appropriate for this blog.
On a scale of 1-10 the offense is about a… -10
and thats being generous
dictionary.com says: See the all Seattle Sports Teams. //sigh//
Did the crowd boo on the last strikeout??? I hope they did…they should of.
We may be just a half game back, but it feels like we are on the edge of the “cliff” vs. the other teams.
F$%king pathetic offense.
I never thought I would say this… but, I miss Johjima.
typo on my last post
theFrom @d_a_cameron: Summing up the night: Screw team chemistry – give me a team that can play baseball.
I think I hear the sound of Cliff Lee signing an FA contract somewhere else…
So true.
That was pathetic.
With the pitching and run prevention we have, it wouldn’t even be all that hard to improve… Find a reason to DL Sweeney, call up Langerhans and platoon him in LF with Byrnes, Stick Bradley at DH and send Griffey to the bench, and the instant Hannahan is ready to return, DFA Colome and call him up. And stop batting Lopez in the freaking 4 hole. That’s not that drastic, but even those things would help.
JerBear,
That only moves around the problems. Doesn’t fix the offense.
Josh Wilson up, Tui down, now.
Langerhans up, byrnes gone, now.
Sweeney gone, Jermaine Dye in, now.
This. This right here. Perfectly said.
Jermaine Dye is not going to fix one single problem this team has.
Dye is better than Sweeney, which is an improvement. Sweeney needs to go, he doesn’t have it anymore. Getting players that are better than the current ones, even if only a little bit, is a start.
Stop. Please Stop with the Langerhans talk. He is not the answer. It is like taking our current DHs’ bats and putting them in the field.
Yes! More run prevention! We will start winning games -1 to 0!
The problem isn’t just “the offense,” it’s roster construction. Nobody expected the M’s to have a good offense, and the truth is they don’t necessarily need a good offense. But they could get at least a better offense through better roster construction.
Would I like to see them make some major changes and bring in some big bats? Sure, but on a team like this, even minor changes go a long way to preventing losses like last night.
Langerhans may not have much of a bat (though for comparison, Langerhans put up a .299 wOBA last year, so far this year Griffey’s at .252 and Sweeney’s at .231), but unlike our DH combo he’s also above average in the field and can run the bases. If Langerhans had gotten a base hit last night instead of Griffey, they wouldn’t have had to pinch run for him, thereby losing their only backup outfielder and forcing Byrnes to face a righty with the bases loaded later in the game. Having Langerhans in the field would mean some better defense than Bradley, but mostly it would help by keeping Bradley healthy. When you only have a few guys that can hit, you’ve got to keep them in the lineup – you saw how ugly it gets when Bradley’s out. Also, Bradley > Lopez. If you put him in the 4 spot instead of Lopez (esp. against a righty) you’ve got a much better chance of driving in some runs. If you have a backup infielder who can actually field, you don’t have Tui throwing the ball away and putting the winning run on third with no outs in extra innings.
Yeah, none of those things make this a “good offense,” but any one of them probably would have led to a win last night instead of a loss. This team is going to play a lot of games like this, and they need every win they can get. I’d rather see incremental change than no change at all.