Game 78, Red Sox at Mariners, Danny Hultzen’s Cheney Debut, General Excitement
Felix Hernandez vs. Franklin Morales, 7:10pm
Danny Hultzen vs. Jamie Moyer, 7:05pm
Happy Felix?hultzen day, yet again! Let’s hope it goes slightly better than last time, when Hultzen couldn’t find the plate in Colorado Springs. There are obviously a lot of excuses for that – from nerves to altitude to the fact that the city was on fire – but he won’t have them (and hopefully won’t need them) tonight. The Las Vegas 51s start a familiar face, the incomparable Jamie Moyer, who was just picked up by the Blue Jays organization this week. John McGrath’s got a good column pointing out that Jamie Moyer called one of Hultzen’s College World Series games when he worked at ESPN during his Tommy John rehab, and everyone everywhere is trotting out those “Jamie Moyer is older than X” factoids.
Felix Hernandez is coming off a very encouraging start against the Padres at Petco Park, striking out 10 in 7 innings. He’s going to be facing a tougher offense tonight; the Red Sox have the 3rd best wOBA while the Padres are 2nd worst. He’ll be opposed by Franklin Morales, another hard-throwing Venezuelan. Morales came up in the Rockies organization, where he was renowned for a plus fastball that occasionally hit the upper 90s, or even 100mph. Fellow fireballer Juan Morillo, a young Dominican, was coming up at the same time, and they were both about one year behind Ubaldo Jimenez; for a month or so in 2006, it really looked like the Rockies were going to deal with playing at altitude by cornering the market on guys who threw ridiculously fast. The problem was that neither Morales nor Morillo knew where the ball was going. This proved fatal for Morillo’s MLB career, and it forced Morales to the bullpen, where he’s been pretty effective as he’s finally found some control. With injuries in their rotation, the Sox have had Morales make a few starts, and he’s been lights out. He’s still got a very good FB for a lefty, averaging around 95, and he’s got a curve and change-up that he uses against lefties and righties, respectively. As a starter, his control’s been impeccable, so the M’s need to get a good pitch and drive it. He rather memorably gave up a long home run to Mike Carp last year when he was working in relief.
Line-up:
1: Ichiro
2: Gutierrez
3: Seager
4: Montero (DH)
5: Wells
6: Smoak
7: Olivo (C)
8: Ackley
9: Ryan
SP: King Felix
Larry Stone’s going to live-blog the Hultzen start (which means I don’t have to!), but I’ll be spouting off about it all night on twitter, so check out one or both of those things!
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194 Responses to “Game 78, Red Sox at Mariners, Danny Hultzen’s Cheney Debut, General Excitement”
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I think I’d rather watch the Hultzen-Moyer game! Hopefully they’ll at least give us frequent cut-aways to know how it’s progressing.
BTW just what we need right now – to face a lefty who’s doing well, and at Safeco.
Would be cool if ROOT could provide video updates during the M’s game. Wishful thinking.
6-9 scares the poop out of me. No news-flash there. A hard throwing lefty vs. Smoak. Are we looking at a possible sombrero? Why would Wells see a single fast ball in the strike zone? It’s hard to find a silver lining these days. One run? Two? Hope Felix gets them through seven innings.
Hell, a hard-throwing Righty vs. Smoak, is scary. The good news, is that a couple runs should be all we need, with Felix pitching. Never know, though.
“A couple runs should be all we need”
Hasn’t that been a problem lately?
I still feel like a ball on a tee with Smoak in the batters box is scary.
M’s offense at home as “improved” to .202. Ouch!
Hope this doesn’t turn into a scoreless game that requires extra innings.
What were you saying, Steve?
I wonder if the team has ever made Smoak watch the tape of Pedroia taking one deep to right center at Safeco – last season.
Pedroia: 5’7″
Oppo!
Man, this lefty “brings it”
Ackley made solid contact. Just right at somebody. He went with the pitch perfectly.
Looks like Ackley is covering the plate a lot better. Starting to look a little like he did last summer.
Ryan is at least still taking walks.
Wow! Adam Moore homered in the Tacoma game!
I had no idea he was back.
Alex Liddi, on the other hand, is 0-2 with two strikeouts against Jamie Moyer.
Hultzen’s given up one run, walked three, k’d four. Still in the third.
Moyer feasts on guys like Liddi. Not surprised.
Moore has been back for approx 3 weeks now. Not really hitting. Had no rehab assignment, though. Started right up in AAA after surgery rehab
If this is 0-0 after nine, it is totally going to be Steve’s fault.
I feel bad for Adam Moore – the guy seems to be snake bit, and it’s pretty obvious the org doesn’t see a role for him anymore.
Hultzen’s given up 3 more BB’s so far in 3 innings – but he’s also got 5 K’s to go with them.
I would like to see Moore take over the Miggy role within the next three weeks.
Guti breaks up the no-no!
Hultzen’s thrown 67 pitches through 3. He has 5 k’s, but it sounds like he’s having some control issues.
Oh crap.
Let’s manufacture a fucking. Yes, cussing in the 4th inning.
Oh for fuck sake. Someone get an anti voodoo doll
The most cursed player to evah play.
SFGD. Hope to God Guti’s ok.
So, is Gonzales going to get plunked by Felix? Someone is probably going to wear one.
That was a freak accident. No retaliation and hopefully Guti is ok.
Hopefully that just rang Guti’s bell a bit, and he’s otherwise okay.
I didnt say it was rational. I just think its going to happen. Guti Is Felix’ buddy, after all.
Hultzen – 90 pitches through 4.
As much as I would like someone to get plunked (as irrational as it is) if you watch Gonzalez during the whole ordeal, he obviously felt terrible.
So, do I get a prize, if this does go scoreless through 9?
Are we insinuating that Gonzales missed the ball intentionally? I’m thinking it’s pretty flukey for a fielder of his caliber to miss that throw completely, but thrte’s no reason whatsoever to believe he would deliberately do that. The shot of Pedroia looking at them work on Guti was interesting. He was really sorry it had happened. What a tough break!
I’m stuck at work so I can’t see the game. What happened with Guti? I figured he got plunked, but it sounds like Gonzales just completely missed a throw to first?
I don’t think anyone’s insinuating it was intentional, just that there could have been an irrational reaction.
It was a pickoff to 1st and the throw was a little wild, hit Guti right in the face.
How many more AB’s until Smoak reaches Mendoza? Three, four?
Let’s see Ackley square one up right here.
No, I did not insinuate that Gonzales did anything on purpose. It does not mean he won’t be dancing in the box his next time up.
Hultzen’s out. Four innings. Nice that he only gave up one run, but he has some things to work on. Threw wall too many balls.
At least Ackley leads the team in walks
Hultzen has that exaggerated cross body throwing motion and I imagine it causes control issues unless his timing is perfect. It hides the ball well, but he steps toward the 1B side of the plate instead of straight downhill when he throws. It’s just the way he does it.
This guy is filthy. Locates a 95 mph fast ball, then breaks off that frickin curve. Felix can’t afford a single mistake. I don’t think Morales has missed a single pitch. Never even heard of him.
Steve, if it is scoreless after 9, Westy is sending you to South America on his dime.
That’ll work!
I’m short on dimes, so he’s only getting to Tijuana.
No deal. I’d rather have a handful of dimes, than a ticket to Tijuana.
Start a pool?
(Obviously a riveting baseball game).
Nobody said the trip was optional, Steve.
Ew, Las Vegas just put up 6 runs – they lead 7-3.
Felix is dealing!
Wells
homerpop-up right here.haha Westy
Smoak checks in!
Miggy can punish mistakes – but Morales isn’t making many. (in the strike zone anyway)
Ackley this time.i
How the hell does the ump miss that? As if the dust wasn’t proof enough.
That was a bad call – but we all know Miggy would’ve struck out on the next pitch anyway.
Man, that curve/slider/whatever is nasty.
YES!!
Best start of Morales’ career.
In a game like this, if you can’t take advantage of mistakes then you pretty much deserve to lose.
The 51s with two more in the sixth – they lead 9-3.
Moyer went five, and is in line for the win.
I gotta admit I’m still rooting for Moyer to make it back to the majors.
Nice play by Wells there.
Wells!!! Nicely done!
Hell. Of. A. Play!!!
YEAH!! WELLS!!
No comment on Wells this time, boys?
Huh, what?
I see a lot of comments, genius. Nobody every said they didn’t like Wells.
Best start of the year for any pitcher against the M’s, coach
What a catch! Felix is ridiculous tonight, just give me one run please.
I’m just glad Wells is okay – the way he went into the wall worried me a bit.
I never said I didn’t like him either.
(There’s some UZR)
Oh, different pitcher. Thank goodness.
Man, we’re just not hitting BoSox lefties at all tonight.
Are you serious coach? Don’t be a prick. Rational discussion backed up by facts, that’s all we want.
Good god our hitting is terrible.
Fred, refering to it as “hitting” is being generous.
Haha, Westy. I thought it was a league wide rule the M’s had to face Cy Young every night
Brian Moran now pitching for the Rainiers – I don’t know him, but looking at his picture I’m betting his nickname is “Country”.
Thought I sensed some satire back there on the “pop-up” comment, that’s all. Sorry if I offended.
Felix throwing the night train tonight!
Satire? I predicted a home run, he popped it up, and I changed it before anyone added a comment. It was a joke, pretty obviously.
Given that no one is hitting, it’d be silly to single out Wells.
Ortiz can still punish a ball.
BTW when I regularly type my “BRING IN THE FENCES!” comment after yet another weak fly out – that’s not a serious comment either.
Were you serious about Tijuana, Westy?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
BTW the Mariners haven’t given me much of a chance to even to the “Bring in the fences” thing – they’re not even getting it out of the infield on the few times they’ve made contact.
Roll a DP, here.
The non satirical kind.
Come on guys, Felix has done it all night. You need to have his back now.
Imagine if that trade had went through, and Gonzalez was a Mariner? I can’t remember the names involved, but San Diego was reportedly asking for 6 players. The M’s were offering 5.
Can our offense be bothered to score tonight, or are they too enamored with Felix?
On a side note – according to COTs, Boston’s 2012 payroll is something like 175 million. That’s almost 100 million more than the Mariners.
Am I remembering that correctly?
Saunders!!!!
Wow, what a battle that was. Nice play Saundy!
I don’t remember the details Steve. I do remember we were all drooling over the possibility though.
Saunders is fast.
Now time for the craptastic offense to do something…..
Did anyone else worry for a moment about a collision there in shallow center?
I was certainly drooling.
Let’s go get this guy a win!
The non-whimsical kind. Just a regular win.
Our offense can’t be bothered to do anything at all apparently.
Pleeeeeze. Score a friggin run for this guy. One friggin run.
So no moral victory tonight Mike? You want an acutal “W”. Now you’re just being greedy.
It was good to see the defense pick it up for Felix. Now let’s score a run.
Just one run!
Man that Atchinson dude looks old.
Casper!!
Wells!!!
Okay, Smoak, don’t suck this time.
Atta baby – thats a start! Just need a bloop, now. And this is definitely the guy for that.
Oh, Lordy, Olivo is up next.
Pinch hit Jaso, pinch hit Jaso, PINCH HIT JASO
YEAH!
WEDGE!! WAY TO GO!!
Oh crap, the lineup is gonna get us here…I hope Wells don’t waste that double!
Sweet – Jaso!
Come on, man … Get it done
Oh, THANK THE GODS. If even Hendu is telling you to do it, don’t send Olivio out.
yeah! YEAH! YEAH!!!
WOWWWW!!!!!
Woohoo!
JASO!!!! Hell yeah!
JASOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Jaso!!!
JASO!!!!!! finally, a Wedge decision paid off!
Jesus, Wells was out by nearly 20 feet.
Here I come to save the day!!!
(perfect timing… TV on… Win.)
Good result, but I don’t know that sending Wells with no outs was a smart move.
One out, Westy.
What a crazy, great ending!
Westy/Mike/Anyone…
So as a late comer– how bad is Guty, was there an update on him?
Oh! Okay, then never mind.
Well Mike, you got what you wanted…..an actual win. Go M’s!
Where’s the pie?
What a game!
I’m willing to send the Ghost at this point. Good way to pick up Felix, and 126 pitches!
No update yet, Z.
MrZ, I don’t think they’ve said anything about Guti yet.
Bad process (Datz) but good (lucky) result.
Enjoy it Westy. I would rather be lucky than good.
So sad on the radio side. Crowd reaction sounded like an away game. What was the head count tonight?
Speaking of questionable decisions, what’s up with intentionally walking Smoak at this point? What is Valentine thinking there?
Juneau, the listed attendance was about 20,700
Jaso should have a pie delivered shortly.
Every time Jaso gets a big hit, I wonder – once again – why we don’t see more of him.
20,692 juneau
Maybe Valentine was thinking that there was no chance that Wedge would pinch hit Jaso there.
djw- DP. Valentine probably figured it was a safe bet, that Wedge would stick with Olivo.
I’d hope 20K people could yell louder than that. Oh well, I was yelling here alone at home. Great game.
haha, we were thinking the same thing, Ray!
I must say I am quite happy with Wedge’s management of the ninth inning for once.
And I’d say that even if Jaso had struck out. It was the right call.
MrZ – for context, Guti got cracked a lot harder than Wells did last yer pre-vertigo symptoms. Wells only git nicked. Guti git Hit Square and hard. Looked like somewhere between the cheekbone and the ear. Getting hit in the ear hole of the helmet really rings your bell. I can’t imagine how much it rings without the plastic helmet protecting you. Pick off throw probably traveling around 80mph.
I was researching the proposed trade of Gonzalez. There were a few, actually. The worst, was a three-way deal, that would have sent Felix to Boston. Worth noting, Boston proposed it, Z shot it down.
95% of the noise you heard was Kings Court
I like good, close games. 5-4; 4-3 is the perfect type of game IMO. I sure wish we could see some of those. This one run shit (vice Felix pitching) blows.
Yes, that rhymes
Good Lord, listening to Hendu on the radio side can be brutal.
Listening to Sims is far worse!!
Crazy ray: it is hard for me to believe that Hendu gets paid to speak.
You are not alone
Update on Guti is a mild concussion. He’ll be re-evaluated tomorrow
msfanmike: THANK YOU! I hear people complain about Sims all the time and I do agree that he can be tough to handle, but I want to throw my radio through a wall when Hendu is on. I never thought I’d say that I’d rather listen to “Red” over anybody, but I’d rather listen to him any day over Hendu.
I think you’re both crazy! I’d take Hendu over Sims any day. Worth noting, I’d vote ‘none of the above’ if those were options on a ballot.
Fair enough Steve. For me, I only watch games on TV once in a while so I don’t have to put up with Sims all the time.
I like the radio because of Rizzs. He makes it easier digest. Blowers is a bit dry, so the crap we’re fed from Sims, goes down real rough.
That would be interesting though. I wonder if I’d like listening to Hendu or just dead air with nothing but the sounds of the stadium more. Hmm
Given the possibilities, “mild concussion” doesn’t sound too bad. But we’ll have to see.
Poor Guti can’t buy luck.
I agree Westside. I finally saw a replay of the throw that got Guti and that didn’t look good at all. I was actually worried he might have broken his jaw, or something like that. Mild concussion is actually a pretty good result to a horrible looking accident.
I’ve killed the volume plenty of times. Also opted for radio and dealt with the delay.
Really funny hearing this ROOT cast discuss ear-flaps on helmets.
Hey, Geoff Baker mentioned something interesting.
Apparently MLB has a new 7-day DL that is specifically targeted at concussions. Had you guys heard about that?
It’s actually real hard to break your jaw. One of the toughest bones in your body (maybe the toughest, actually). I attempted to do just that with a skinhead. Broke my hand instead. I’m sure Guti will be fine. He’ll probably need the better part of a week to recover, though.
To be fair, Steve… Skinheads have exceptionally thick skulls.
There’s not much brain in there, so the bone naturally grows thicker. Nature abhors a vaccuum, as they say. Something has to fill all that empty space.
Interesting, Westy. I remember something being mentioned about it, didn’t know there was a 7 day DL for that. Wonder how they make that determination. Is a mild-concussion still classified as a concussion?
They don’t call them ‘boneheads’ for nothing!
Dammit, Steve. I’m a webmaster, not a doctor!
(Props to Leonard “Bones” McCoy)
I know it isn’t easy to break your jaw. Just where the ball hit him and his exceptionally bad luck, I was fearing the worst.
Sorry to hear about your hand. You at least won the fight right?
That 7 day DL is a good idea. A great idea, actually. I do not know why it is 15 days or bust for everything else, though. The minor leagues have had a 7 day DL for a very long time regardless of the specific injury.
With that said, I think it will be good luck for us if Guti is only out for 7 days. The swelling alone will make it painful during the jarring associated with running for at least a few if not several – days.
Dont sell youself short: A webmaster, a baseball statistical savant, ‘Nostrawesty,’ the pied piper of gardening, a joker, a smoker and a midnight … blogger.
Why not a doctor, too?,
No, I didn’t. It looked like I did, because I sent him backwards. The doctor’s bill(s) made it a loss.
Nostrawesty got the Wells home run prediction wrong… I mean the Wells pop-up prediction right!
In all seriousness, I am glad the various pro sports organizations are finally taking concussions seriously.
If they place Guti on a 7 day DL, I wonder who takes his place on the roster?
Totally agree, Westy. Especially in the NFL. Careers are short enough as they are, the last thing I wanna see, is someone injured for life.
Oh Steve … You know that somebody has just been Jonesing to have a reason to call up Peggy.
I would go with Ford, personally. He can cover CF and the dude can motor. He only just recently came off his own DL, though. Probably not ready. They have proven they need four legitimate OF’s, so if a move has to be made, I hope they add someone who can field their position. Roster move would be required though.
Liddi doesn’t seem to have solved his strikeout problem, so it probably won’t be him.
I was looking at Ford’s line today, earlier in the game. Not bad. Didn’t look at his splits though.
When is Carp coming off the DL?
Not that I want to see him anywhere near left field – I’m enjoying watching an actual competent trio of fielders!
Wells can play center, too, but Ford would still make more sense than Peguero. Wilson was named PCL player of the week, and hit well tonight, so maybe he gets the call?
There was something on the Mariners site the other day, suggesting Carp would be out a while yet.
Carp is going to go out in a rehab assignment after he heals his injury. I assume he won’t be back until after the all star break. Maybe even late July. Just a guess, though
“That 7 day DL is a good idea. A great idea, actually. I do not know why it is 15 days or bust for everything else, though. The minor leagues have had a 7 day DL for a very long time regardless of the specific injury.”
I’m sure it’s to prevent roster shenanigans. If you had an off day coming up you could consistently “DL” one of your starting pitchers to give yourself an extra bench bat or reliever in between starts. I would assume they don’t do this in the minors because it’s understood that organizations are more concerned with developing talent than maneuvering for minor league victories.
The concussion exemption is a good rule.
The Gutierrez play at first looked sick watching it live.
Was wondering about something as it happened and perhaps they said something on TV or radio. Why wasn’t he tagged out? He fell off the base, the ball was live, you can’t call time out with him off the base (can you?). If I’m the Red Sox, I feel bad but I’m trying to win a baseball game. Is this another one of those unwritten rules? I’m pretty sure I’ve seen injured players tagged out before.
Adam, I had the same question. Having watched the replay a few times, I”m pretty sure it was just a classy move on Gonzalez’s part. It’s possible the ump called time, but that seems unlikely.
I don’t think it’s an unwritten rule. Just a nice gesture. My guess is if Guti just pulled up lame with a pulled hammy Gonzo tags him out, but since he felt partially (perhaps fully) responsible for the injury he let it go.
Obviously, I’m assuming a lot here, but that’s how it appeared to me.
That’s an interesting question, Adam. I don’t recall hearing the broadcast crew talk about it though.
Okay, rule 5.10(c) says the umpire shall call time and the ball is dead “when an accident incapacitates a player or an umpire”.
Not that this is news to most of you, but you can download a PDF of the current rules of baseball from mlb.com (I didn’t know that until now).
@dnc: your reasoning is sound, so no arguments there, but I believe it would be difficult and/or self defeating for teams to manipulate the 7 day DL for a pitching staff when routine rest is 4 days (5 with a game day off). If teams did find a way to manipulate it to their benefit, I think the league could adequately administer and control/prevent it to a large extent.
Maybe a minimum could be 10 days for pitchers to allay the potential for manipulation.
I hate seeing teams have to play short handed with positional talent when they are uncertain how long a guy might be out. You see it all the time. A player is held out for a few to several days while the team contemplates a decision. It means they played at a disadvantage for several more games than they needed to. There are likely a lot of guys that are ready to get back after it with 7-10 days on the DL. With pitching staffs comprising 40% of a roster these days, it can really put a team in a bind.
I would like to see the 7 day DL be a universal option and administered properly by the league