Game 44, Mariners at Orioles
RHP Pineiro v LHP Chen. 4:05, KSTW. We get to see the original, and possibly greatest, of the new wave of baseball stadiums. Oriole Park at Camden Yards also manages to be distinctively part of Baltimore in a way Safeco Field is not (what unique feature of Safeco Field would not be possible in any other city?).
Interesting pitching matchup — Pineiro’s coming off his “minor league assignment” (cough) so we’ll all be watching closely to see if he’s made the improvements in his mechanics that the time off was supposed to get him. And we’ll be watching Bruce Chen, who for once may evade the second of his twice-a-year trades by being too effective to trade. Dave mentioned that D’Angelo Jiminez has left two teams under strained circumstances, but if you want bridge-burning goodness, check out Chen’s career. Team after team bites on the promise and spits out on taste.
I predict that the Ricoh scouting report will be as generic as ever. Both pitchers need to get ahead in the count early and avoid (the big inning and/or the home run), which can come if both keep the ball down in the strike zone.
How hard would it be to put together a couple of interesting, short tidbits on pitchers to make the game more interesting? Here’s the USSM scouting report:
Pineiro: Watch for a more fluid, consistent delivery and release. He’s been working on moving the ball around the plate, so look for him to throw a lot of strikes. If he’s succesful, we should see some strikeouts and also a lot of balls in play.
Chen: He’s been mixing his curve and his fastball when he’s effective. He’s supposedly paying attention to scouting reports now, so watch him try and work Mariner hitters by the book.
Comments
286 Responses to “Game 44, Mariners at Orioles”
No one really thought we were going to beat the O’s with 2 runs in Camden Yards did they? The real culprit? The offense that didn’t take advantage of Chen (who was running up some deep counts)
Yes, biking on Chuckanut can be nuts. In places, there’s not much room off the road  you’re either hugging a steep hillside on one side or wobbling on the edge of an equally steep plunge to the rocks and water below. The drivers give little quarter because they often have little quarter to give.
That was an absolute gun by Valdez.
three up three down in the ninth
#253 – Cmon. A little optimism. We might get a runner on and strand them 🙂
Its not that bad. If you go on a weekday its much nicer (chuckanut on a bike)
yep, no chance here: ibanez is terrible against lefties, olivo is well olivo, and by the time reed comes up it won’t matter, cuz even if he gets on base dobbs will pinch hit for valdez
Someone please explain why we are pinch-hitting for Reed with BLOOMQUIST and didn’t pinch-hit for Olivo at all?!
well now there’s really no shot…
Ha Mr. Hustle got a hit.
willie for Reed WTF!!!
nevermind he got hit, but still very questionable PHer regardless.
I seriously wonder why I bother watching this team.
Where is Dave Hansen? (I wanted to use all caps, but I know it would have gotten deleted)
how does that phrase go…50,000 monkeys with 50,000 typewriters…
and bloomy promptly singles. Go figure
#257 – Olivio is good against lefties.
Ahhh crap. If we come back and win this game, the media will give Willie all the credit.
Next thing you know, they’ll be calling him ‘scrappy’, like David Eckstein.
#257 — was thinking the same thing (Bloomquist for Reed??), but then . . .
Alright, WFB!
Sometimes being an M’s fan is just too painful. This wasn’t a bad loss. I could digest it if we were above .500.
oh welll
Of course, the fact that Grover didn’t pinch hit for Olivo, and apparently had nobody on his bench he felt was a better choice to hit than Valdez, says a lot about both our manager and our bench….
And thus does Bloomquist edge back in front of Wiki for “most hits in 2005 by a Mariner bench player,” 7 to 6 (followed by Dobbs and Wilson with 5 each).
# 264 –
Well Olivo, prior to that at-bat, has hit both righties and lefties at exactly .150 each thus far on the year…
That Bloomquist pinch-hit for Reed is by far the worst thing about this game.
(that and my fantasy pitcher went up against the M’s, didn’t get the win, and the M’s still lost. There’s just no angle here)
Or maybe I missed sarcasm.
Hargrove deserves the Loss on this one. I’m officially throwing in the towel with this loser. I’m ready to take a melvin over this numb nuts.
#274,
Here you go
#275 hahaha wow that kinda cheered me up after that boneheaded mangerial move. Although you know we are off to a bad season when the site already has a prerendered graphic with the white flag on it!!!
Almost any 3-2 game is a good game. Well pitched and well defended on both sides. There were good dramatic moments throughout when anything could have busted loose. Even in such a game, however, we find a recurring Major League Truth: He who hits the most homers wins. Despite all the ‘good’ entertaining baseball that took place in this contest the play that decided it was a home run. If you ask me, thats a shame.
Bring Back the Dead Ball !! =P
I’m not gay or anything (not that there’s anything wrong with that) but Marzano is definitely the most telegenic of the M’s announcers.
W/R/T Safeco…agree on the train statements vis a vis their uniqueness, though they also present a safety problem. It’s been controlled well to date though. The Sounder on weekends is a nice train-related bonus (yes, I know other stadiums have good public transit). Why anyone would want to drive to the game so they can have the privelige of paying $20 or more to park, plus gas, when it costs $3-$5 roundtrip to take a bus and $6-$8 to take a train, is beyond me. I also think there are some nice views when the roof’s open. What can you see from Kauffman Stadium in KC? The freeway. That’s all.
Bloomquist for Reed? The same Bloomquist who’s hitting an even .100 against lefties? I–I have no words.
RE #204: Don’t know why, but “turrets” was the funniest one of all. I think I pulled something laughing.
Brian I agree on Marzano. I liked his style… it was informative, knowledgeable and clearly stated. He had fun too. I also like Dave Henderson even though he is more sizzle than steak he comes across with some good insight too. Henderson qualifies as a favorite because he injects fun into the broadcast. The offenders are, in order of severity worst to least: Ron Fairly, Dave Valle, Rick Rizzs, Dave Niehaus. I always enjoy Jay Buhner when he’s on which isn’t very much. I don’t enjoy Fairly or Valle at all. Niehaus makes the crap list because he and Fairly are such buddy-buddies. I wonder if thats how Fairly manages to stay on… by being Dave’s friend. Thats low. But I’m provoked to say it because Ron is such a nincompoop. Bah! I just hope that when Niehaus goes to that Great Broadcast Booth in the sky that Fairly is summarily fired and does not inherit Dave’s mic.
280 – Is that “no doubt” Jay Buhner?
No doubt! =)
#281 Dead Ball Tim said “I always enjoy Jay Buhner when he’s on which isn’t very much.”
You won’t see Buhner at all this year. Although media reports claim that Buhner is not doing broadcasts so he can “spend more time with his family” the real story is that management was unhappy with some criticism of the team when he was on in ’04 and didn’t ask him to come back this year…
“former catcher John Marzano is handling color commentary in Baltimore and former third baseman Darnell Coles will do the same job from Tampa Bay. Why? Dave Valle didn’t make the trip because of family obligations.”
and re: Buhner:
“Buhner’s only connection with baseball right now is coaching first base on the kids’ teams. “Do I feel guilty, about not being in Peoria? You bet I do,” he said. “I have talked to Howard (Lincoln) and Chuck (Armstrong) and as always they’ve been great. They understand while I owe something to my team, it is the time in my life to pay back a big debt to Leah and my kids for all the years they supported me in my career.”
But still, he added regretfully, he’s not coming down to camp.
Then, the former warhorse, the man who backboned Mariners lineups for so many seasons, paused. “OK, I might be able to come down for a day or two during the week sometime.”
He also has some mixed emotions about the TV color gig, which he has shared with Dave Valle and Dave Henderson in recent seasons.
Last year, with the Mariners playing too much of the kind of baseball that leads to 99 losses, Buhner had some less-than-pretty things to say about it. Fox Sports Northwest apparently heard from viewers, and the club got some feedback, too. When this was passed on to Buhner, he simply decided that he would think long and hard before he did any more games.
“I’ve been 14 years in Seattle, people know by now I do things my way,” he said. “I understand where the TV people are coming from. So I think it’s in the best interests of everyone not to do it anymore.”
Buhner added that it’s not a definite no at this point.
“Right now my mind is not made up,” he said. “I told the Fox people and the Mariners, this has nothing to do with you, this is about family.”
The public transit options for anyone living outside of Seattle suck. I live in Tacoma and it would be nice to take the Sounder since it is only about a 5 minute drive from my house, but its 8 dollars per person and since we have 4 season tickets that’s a 32 dollar roundtrip which is way more than parking and gas except for the few sellout days when parking prices are ratcheted up. Its just not an economical option and to take the bus you have to leave about an hour and a half early and then get home an hour and a half after the game.