What an ugly game that was. Long, cold, and painful. From a fan’s perspective, Garcia seems to self-destruct so completely it’s difficult to believe. Fans are starting to boo him now, and there were a bunch of fans behind me who carped about him for innings after he left — standard stuff, he’s overpaid, see below, but also that he needs to go to the minors to work things out… which may be something to watch, now that I think about it — the Mariners have a long history of abusing the DL and rehab assignments when they need to make someone disappear and in this case, possibly collect juicy insurance money.
Overheard at Safeco: “Yeah, I never liked Friends after I found out how much they make an episode. And Freddy’s getting six million this year… when did our priorities get so out-of-whack?”
Crack of the Night: After the Mariners gave up 10 runs, the PA dude came on somewhat sheepishly and said
“Fans, step into to the Mariner time machine…” to intro a dumb video segment.
Jill: “Are you going to take us back to the top of the second, when we were winning?”
San Antonio Missions win streak update: The Missions were rained out today in Tulsa. No makeup game will be played.
Minor League Highlights for Wednesday, May 7
Colorado Springs 3, Tacoma 1. The Rainiers were held to just one run for the second straight game, though their pitching was good enough this time out to keep the game close. RHP Brian Falkenborg started (6 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K) and took his first loss of the season, but didn’t pitch badly considering the ballpark. Perhaps most encouraging was RHP Allan Simpson (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K), who didn’t pitch well at all to start the season but has managed to lower his ERA to 4.11 and now has 19 strikeouts in 15 2/3 innings. 2B/CF Chad Meyers — yes, he pulled an in-game Craig Biggio — was the top offensive performer with three hits, two steals and a run scored. 1B Andy Barkett also had two hits.
San Antonio 5, Tulsa 4 (10 innings). The Missions finally played a close game and actually trailed 4-2 after six innings, but scored two in the 7th to tie and one more in the 10th to notch their 18th straight win. RHP Josue Matos pitched 3 1/3 innings of one-hit ball to pick up the win (3 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K) in relief of RHP Rett Johnson (5 2/3 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K), and RHP Jared Hoerman worked the bottom of the 10th for his 9th save of the year (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K). C Jim Horner, DH John Lindsey and red-hot LF Jaime Bubela — take that, Chad Tracy! — each had two hits for the Missions, including two doubles for Bubela. RF Elpidio Guzman led off the 10th with a single, moved to third on a Horner single, then scored the winning run on a Lindsey single.
High Desert 1, Inland Empire 0. The 66ers were held to just four hits in the game, making a hard-luck loser of LHP Troy Cate (6 2/3 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K), who certainly pitched well enough to win. RF Shin-soo Choo had two of the club’s four hits, both singles, and also stole his 5th base of the year. 2B/SS Ismael Castro tripled but was stranded at third base, as the 66ers were 1-15 in the game with runners on base including eight strikeouts. LHP Ryan Ketchner — it’s about freaking time! — gets the start today as the two teams square off again.
Lansing 4, Wisconsin 0. Wisconsin has hit the skids ever since their eight-game winning streak, losing five of their last six and falling to 14-16 on the season. LHP Beau Hintz had yet another ineffective start (4 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 K), falling to 0-4 on the year with nearly unfathomable 8.39 ERA. The Timber Rattlers weren’t any better on offense, managing just five hits, all singles. 2B Tim Merritt had two of the five in his four at-bats. RHP Juan Sandoval gets the start for Wisconsin today as the team tries to avoid a four-game sweep.
For the last three years, I’ve been talking up Rafael Soriano’s “stuff” as some of the best in the organization. Currently, I can’t stop raving about how good Clint Nageotte’s “stuff” is. The talk of spring training was the return of Gil Meche’s front-line-starter “stuff”. Watching the game tonight, I’m reminded of something I often forget; stuff isn’t half as important as command at the major league level, and command will be why those pitchers succeed (if they do).
Joel Pineiro has better velocity than Mike Mussina. His curveball has a better break. His 2-seam fastball has more sink. And Mike Mussina is a far superior pitcher because he has impeccable command. Mike Mussina is a pitcher. Joel Pineiro is still a thrower. He’s getting by on Safeco Field, great defense, and a nasty outpitch. For him to be anywhere near the Mike Mussina class of pitcher, he’s going to have to strengthen his command.
Nick Johnson is back, by the way. It isn’t easy to break into the all-star game as an American League first baseman, but Johnson is going to force his way onto the team. This is the kid that posted a .525 OBP in AA as a 20-year-old. By the end of the year, he just may be the best hitter on that team.
Mark McLemore hit .214/.353/.295 in the second half last year. He’s hitting .215/.308/.337 to start this year. He’s 38-years-old. Can we stop believing that this guy is anything more than a 25th man on the roster? And why are people so shocked that this bench isn’t very good?
Despite the issues, we’re still in first place, and thats a happy thought to go to bed with.
This just in: Missions won their 18th game. Tonight’s M’s game is going to be awesome, I’m giving it my must-watch recommendation. Also, I want to say “wie gehts” to our reader(s) in Switzerland, where us Zumstegs came from, long ago. And to Shane Lidman, who’s in Germany right now doing graduate studies on the lost art of diplomacy.
Our only single team member here, Dave, would like to add that he would be happy to date any female M’s fans in Switzerland, or North Carolina for that matter. Jason and I (who are both married) are so impressed with David Cameron, we’ve given him our full endorsement. You can set David up with dates by emailing him at ussmarinerblog@hotmail.com.
Minor League Highlights for Super Tuesday, May 6
Colorado Springs 11, Tacoma 1. RHPs Jeff Heaverlo (2 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 1 K) and J.J. Putz (4 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 K) were each shelled yesterday, allowing five runs in the first inning, one in the second, three in the third and two more in the fourth. Meanwhile, the Rainiers managed just one run on their eight hits, of which 1B Andy Barkett had a pair. He also drove in SS Mickey Lopez for the team’s only run. With the game well out of reach, utilityman Craig Kuzmic was allowed to pitch the 9th inning (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K) and didn’t fare badly.
San Antonio 6, Tulsa 1. I’ve run out of adjectives to describe the Missions, who have now won 17 games in a row. David Cameron tells me that one more win will the franchise record, set way back in 1908 when the club was called the San Antonio Bronchos (yes, that is the correct spelling). LHP Travis Blackley, who struggled mightily with his control in his last start, walked just one hitter in seven innings to pick up the win (7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K) and RHP Craig House (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K) finished things off. LF Jaime Bubela led the offense with three hits in four trips, two runs batted in and a steal, and DH John Lindsey was 2-4 with a homer and also stole a base. The Missions will take their incredible streak to the field today in Tulsa, with RHP Rett Johnson getting the start.
High Desert 8, Inland Empire 5 (11 innings). RHP Kazuhiro Sasaki, with the 66ers on a rehab assignment, got the start but worked only one inning (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K) as he was on a strict pitch count. LHP Russ Morgan, fresh off the disabled list, followed with a scoreless inning but gave way to the day’s regularly scheduled starter, RHP Cha Seung Baek. Perhaps uncomfortable pitching out of the pen, Baek did not fare well (3 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K). 3B Hunter Brown led the offense with two hits, a run scored and one driven in, though the 66ers managed just seven hits in the game despite playing two extra frames. RHP Brian Strelitz (2 2/3 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K) took the loss in relief, surrendering the winning runs in the top of the 11th.
Lansing 12, Wisconsin 7. The Timber Rattlers continue to score a ton of runs, but poor pitching performances have done them in. RHP Tanner Watson (4 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 2 K) struggled, leaving the game while Lansing was in the middle of a 9-run 5th inning. Watson had been spotted a 6-1 lead entering the 5th. RHP Renee Cortez, who had been stellar this season up until yesterday, couldn’t stop the bleeding (1 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 1 K) and saw his ERA jump by nearly three runs. Wisconsin managed to score their seven runs on just eight hits, including two doubles from RF T.J. Bohn and a homer from DH Carlos Arroyo. Bohn scored twice on the day and drove in a pair of runs, while Arroyo knocked in three and scored once.
I don’t think this is anything new to most people, but the official scorer at Safeco is an absolute joke. When a ball hits the fielder in the arm, glove or hand and he’s not making some diving try, score it an error like it darned well should be. Ichiro has not one but two singles tonight that should have been ruled errors — one in the second inning and one in the fourth. The one in the fourth was particularly bad, as Alfonso Soriano moved to his right and tried to backhand the ball, only to have it hit him on the wrist instead of in the glove. That’s an error, Mr. Official Scorer.
By the way, the San Antonio Missions just won their 17th in a row. This is ridiculous.
MLB.com is running a poll on who should receive the most playing time at 3b. The results so far: Cirillo 54%, McLemore 21%, Bloomquist 22%, Mabry 3%. I assume that all 450 ppl who voted for Mabry thought (like I did) that they would see their vote alone when the results were displayed.
I was going to do a quick piece on apx ticket availability for future homestands, but Ticketmaster (no link, I hate them) is so screwey I’ve given up. I hate their anti-automation device where you have to type a generated word EVERY TIME YOU WANT TO SEARCH. Hey, I’d like to go to this game. Are you sure you’re not a robot? No, I’m not. Okay, here’s some possible tickets. Mmm, what about a different section? Are you sure you’re not a robot? No, I have not suddenly become a ticket-trolling automated robot in the last minute. Okay, here’s some possible tickets. Why does it have to be my problem that Ticketmaster can’t figure out if scalpers are trolling? Why can’t I look at a game and tweak my criteria — not even buy a ton of tickets, but just tweak a setting — without having to pass a Turing test? Why not limit HTTP requests to, say, 1/m or something after validation, if you’re afraid people are going to game the system by searching over and over or something? Why can’t Ticketmaster offer an interactive map that, say, greys out areas as they’re sold off, so I could see that it’s not worth searching for field seats, say, because the good ones are all sold, and instead, should look up a deck, or something?
It’s not as if they don’t have the money to develop these things.
And their ticket search functionality is ass. I was looking for best seats for a particular game and said “best available”. Ticketmaster said “hey, you want these two semi-good Avaya Terrace Club seats.” I said “no, not so much, what’s available in the field level–” and there were plentiful tickets off first base by a section, 6 rows back, for much less money.
To sum up: don’t use Ticketmaster. Call the Mariners ticket office directly, or hit up a team store.