Off-Day Rainiers Game Thread

Dave · May 2, 2011 at 5:28 pm · Filed Under Mariners 

The Rainers are at home to take on Tucson tonight at 7:05. Fabio Castro takes the hill for Tacoma, while Franklin Gutierrez will begin his rehab assignment by hitting leadoff and playing DH. The M’s have said that he won’t play the whole game. They’ll work him in slowly, since this is basically his spring training all over again.

You can catch Mike Curto calling the game online or listen to 850 AM in the Seattle area.

Comments

38 Responses to “Off-Day Rainiers Game Thread”

  1. GripS on May 2nd, 2011 5:53 pm

    Can’t wait to have Guti back. CF D hasn’t been the same without him.

  2. joser on May 2nd, 2011 7:09 pm

    Not that it matters, but Guti is batting lead-off because…? Normally, I’d assume it was to try to get him as many ABs as possible (without sending him out in every inning, as they did with Edgar years ago IIRC), but they’ve already said he’s not going to play the whole game. Perhaps they just didn’t want to disrupt the lineup too much, especially when they know they’re going to be substituting anyway. Who normally bats leadoff for the Rainiers?

  3. Chipanese on May 2nd, 2011 7:10 pm

    Joser-
    Ackley

  4. marc w on May 2nd, 2011 7:13 pm

    Phew, kept Anthony Rizzo in the park, but just barely. Rizzo’s one of the guys the Pads got from the Red Sox org in the Adrian Gonzalez deal. He wasn’t as heralded as Casey Kelley, but he’s been great so far.

    That fly ball demonstrated just how much the wind’s blowing out. Not a common situation in Tacoma.

  5. lalo on May 2nd, 2011 7:15 pm

    marc: How many time until Guti´s comeback, i can´t wait…

  6. marc w on May 2nd, 2011 7:18 pm

    God, I’ve missed you, Franklin Gutierrez. Deep drive to the LF alley, double.

  7. marc w on May 2nd, 2011 7:18 pm

    Double and an error in the OF, I’d guess.

  8. shim on May 2nd, 2011 7:19 pm

    Welcome back, Guti! (almost back)

  9. marc w on May 2nd, 2011 7:19 pm

    They give him a triple…uh, OK.

  10. joser on May 2nd, 2011 7:19 pm

    Lead-off triple for Guti. So that’s the hardest quarter of the cycle already taken care of.

  11. marc w on May 2nd, 2011 7:20 pm

    Well-stroked gb for Ackley for a hit and an RBI. Ball goes off the diving 1B’s glove and it goes for a double.

  12. joser on May 2nd, 2011 7:22 pm

    Chipanese — thanks. I haven’t had a chance to get to see an R’s game yet this year (I almost went to this one, actually).

  13. marc w on May 2nd, 2011 7:26 pm

    Think Peguero caught the C with his follow-through, and it looks like he’s got a big gash on his forehead. yikes. They’re taking him off the field.

  14. lalo on May 2nd, 2011 7:26 pm

    Mariners will have 4 good acquisitions in june: Guti, Ackley, Kelley and Aardsma

  15. marc w on May 2nd, 2011 7:26 pm

    Yeah, a new catcher’s coming in. It’s ex-Mariner Guillermo Quiroz.

  16. joser on May 2nd, 2011 7:28 pm

    Who’s the color guy working with Curto? Is that new this year?

    Think Peguero caught the C with his follow-through, and it looks like he’s got a big gash on his forehead. yikes. They’re taking him off the field.

    And Peguero made it safely to 1st on the dropped 3rd strike. Well, that’s one way to improve your OBP when you K a lot.

  17. marc w on May 2nd, 2011 7:28 pm

    Peguero safe on a euphemistic wild pitch. I’d call it a K, safe on assault-with-a-deadly-weapon.

  18. marc w on May 2nd, 2011 7:29 pm

    ALEX LIDDI! Wow, he’s hot right now. After looking awful early on, the PCL can’t get him out. Deep 3-r HR.

  19. lalo on May 2nd, 2011 7:29 pm

    Liddi!!

  20. marc w on May 2nd, 2011 7:37 pm

    Johan Limonta twisted his ankle tagging up from 1st to 2nd on that Sac Fly by Kazmar. Great start for the R’s. Gutierrez gets a 2nd AB in the 1st inning.

  21. joser on May 2nd, 2011 7:39 pm

    Between the new lower fences at Cheney and this conga line of bashers, I’m having Kingdome flashbacks.

    You know, it’s kind of a crafty move to keep all your big bats stashed down in AAA so you can sneak up on the AL West via small ball and then… “I’m not left-handed!

  22. marc w on May 2nd, 2011 7:39 pm

    Guti K’s swinging on a big curve ball.

  23. joser on May 2nd, 2011 8:08 pm

    Curto says Ackley just turned a difficult double play. Good to hear.

  24. marc w on May 2nd, 2011 8:23 pm

    Random thoughts: Alex Liddi looks nothing like the guy I saw in the opening series. He’s pulling pitches (including his HR and 2B tonight), whereas he was waaaay behind everything early. I’m hopeful it was early-season jitters, but it sure looked like a slow, long swing that wouldn’t play at this level.

    Castro’s an intriguing lefty – not a prospect exactly, but someone who might have expected to compete for a LOOGY role with Aaron Laffey. As it turns out, Laffey’s been solid, and Castro’s scuffled, but Castro’s got better velocity, and he’s been a reliever at the MLB level. He’s alternated awful starts with good ones; looks like tonight’s a good one. He’s got 4 Ks so far in 3 1/3 IP.

  25. marc w on May 2nd, 2011 8:37 pm

    Joser:
    “Who’s the color guy working with Curto? Is that new this year?”

    That’s Bob Robertson, whom you may have heard announcing WSU cougar sports. He was the Rainiers/Tigers announcer before Curto got the gig, in the 1980s and 1990s. He was announcing Spokane Indians games, but retired and is doing Monday home games with Curto this year. He’s the guy I grew up listening to.

  26. Westside guy on May 2nd, 2011 8:42 pm

    Bob Robertson! That guy must be about 90! I think he used to do WSU basketball too, back in the days of horse-drawn carriages and gas lights.

    I love that guy!

  27. marc w on May 2nd, 2011 8:44 pm

    Well, it’s not like it was ancient history. WSU basketball and football are broadcast on the same station in the puget sound region, so it’s mostly the dissonance of a really familiar voice in a different context. For me, it was always weird hearing him as the Cougar guy. It’s like if Curto replaced Bob Rondeau or something.

  28. Westside guy on May 2nd, 2011 8:45 pm

    I am fairly sure I remember a story about Bob Robertson from 20-30 years ago. He used to call the Tacoma AAA games – but not from Tacoma! He’d call them from eastern Washington using some sort of scorecard-style report he was being fed. Apparently this was common practice back in the 40s and 50s, but he was the last (or one of the last) practitioner of the art.

  29. marc w on May 2nd, 2011 8:47 pm

    But for true ancient history: Bob Robertson was apparently an announcer for the old Seattle Rainiers and did the odd Tacoma Giants game in the early 60s. He called Notre Dame football for a few years in the 1950s, and has been with WSU for 44 years. Wow.

  30. bookbook on May 2nd, 2011 8:51 pm

    Tonight supports my thesis that Ackley is not a leadoff hitter.

    I wonder if his struggles so far this year have something to do with not being comfortable in that batting position. (He’s also not a basestealer…)

  31. Westside guy on May 2nd, 2011 8:51 pm

    Amazing guy. He’s one of those people that really deserves the “legend” monicker.

  32. marc w on May 2nd, 2011 8:52 pm

    Yeesh, a misplayed double-play ball results in an error… Ackley fielded it, threw a bit low to Kazmar, but a catchable ball.
    And the Padres follow with a double to score one.

  33. marc w on May 2nd, 2011 9:00 pm

    Agreed, westside guy.

  34. Chipanese on May 2nd, 2011 9:01 pm

    This is going to be a REALLY long game.

  35. joser on May 2nd, 2011 9:06 pm

    Tonight supports my thesis that Ackley is not a leadoff hitter.

    It does seem a little odd. Fortunately, there’s no chance he’ll be hitting leadoff when he gets to the majors.

  36. Jack Howland on May 2nd, 2011 9:26 pm

    Anyone know for sure if Felix is pitching on Friday or Saturday?

  37. marc w on May 2nd, 2011 10:00 pm

    Jack – Friday.

  38. marc w on May 2nd, 2011 10:19 pm

    R’s win! R’s win! All 15 fans remaining can go home happy. 12-6 the final.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.