Game 62, Phillies at Mariners
Last year, before we implemented comments, I did several running game diaries that were fairly popular. This year, we’ve usually ended up just adding into the comments if we’re watching along, but a few people have said they missed the in-post running diaries, so we get one again tonight.
Jon Lieber vs Gil Meche. Liebery, by the way, has given up 18 home runs already, on pace for allowing 45 on the season. Even weirder? He’s a groundball pitcher, and has allowed just 94 fly balls this year. Safeco and the M’s offense could be just what the doctor ordered for Mr. Lieber.
Oh, and Dave Hansen’s starting for Beltre at third tonight.
7:00 pm pacific “You can’t believe how great it is to get out of the heat and the humidity of the east coast and get back to Seattle…”
Screw you, Dave.
7:01 “Gil Meche is going to have to keep the ball down…”
I’m now convinced that Ron Fairly is dead. He’s been replaced by a hologram, and they’re simply playing a loop of his five favorite phrases.
7:08 Jimmy Rollins, the Phillies leadoff hitter, just got a 5 year, $40 million contract. When he’s at at his best, he’s league average. I know its not easy to find a shortstop, but man, that’s a bad deal.
7:10 “They don’t want to have play with 24 men much longer…”
I would argue they’ve been playing with about a 21 man roster all year.
7:11 “There’s a scout… who thinks that Bobby Abreu is the best player in the game.”
Bobby Abreu is a great, underappreciated player, but anyone who thinks he’s the best player in baseball needs to find a new line of work.
7:20 1,000 hits for Ichiro in the majors. I remember when Alvin Davis got his 1,000 career hit as a Mariner, and how big a deal that was.
7:25 Gil Meche with a strikeout! In other life occurrances, hell hath frozen over.
7:27 When he was coming up through the minors, I told everyone that would listen that Chase Utley was overrated, that he had holes in his swing, and that he’d be lucky to have a career like Todd Walkers. Whoops. Utley’s one of the better young players in the game.
7:30 The M’s have their #5, #6, and #7 hitters coming up. Their slugging percentages are .368, .378, and .154 respectively.
7:32 “Everybody goes through slumps… but eventually, he’s going to come out of it.”
Why is it so hard for people to admit that Bret Boone is just finished as a productive player. He’s 36 years old at a position where hall of famers are done at 32 or 33. Boone’s in a slump the same way Mike Tyson is in a slump. He’s not coming out of it.
7:38 M’s up 2-0 thanks to a single, a bloop double, an error, and a flyout. Not exactly stinging the baseball, but they’ll take the runs.
7:45 I’m not saying that attendance is sparce, but Reed runs the ball down in right center field, then flips the ball into the stands, where both fans fought for the ball.
7:50 Ooh, an in game managerial interview. Those are fun…
7:59 It only took him an hour, but Fairly busts out the “four runs or more” logic. I’m telling you, it’s a hologram, and he’s a tape.
8:02 In case we didn’t hear him the first time he was batting, Thome wants to hit the fastball, according to Ron. I’d imagine we’ll hear this every time he comes to the plate, all series long.
8:10 Whats the point of stopping when trying to steal? Ever?
8:19 It’s pretty rare to see that many called third strikes, especially on breaking balls. The Phillies are taking their patient approach a bit too far.
8:23 Ron Fairly leaves, Dave Henderson replaces him. That’s like passing kidney stones and then being told that you need a colonoscopy.
8:25 Argh! Ichiro shows a bunt on the first pitch with a runner at second and one out. He should be fined 100,000,000 yen every time he bunts with a runner in scoring position. I hate that play.
8:34 Not including the hits tonight, Raul Ibanez is hitting .310/.385/.535 against right-handed pitching this year.
8:35 Fine, it worked, but I still hate bunting with runners in scoring position.
8:46 It might not be a beautiful swing, but maybe that home run will get Hansen elevated past Greg Dobbs on the totem poll of bad bench players.
8:56 It was nice to see Meche throw strikes and get ahead of hitters for 8 innings. But, despite what the papers and announcers will tell you, he didn’t flash the kind of dominating potential everyone claims he has. Just four strikeouts, and a lot of flyball outs. That’s not a recipe for long term success.
9:04 I’d just like to point out that, if Eddie Guardado can get 3 outs in the 9th, the Mariners will fail to score four runs and still win.
9:10 A win! And a two hour win at that. Nice job fellas.
Comments
90 Responses to “Game 62, Phillies at Mariners”
In addition to wanting a fastball, I heard Thome likes the ball out over the plate. Preferably, he likes a fastball out over the plate.
jason
Anyone near the water? Better go to higher ground; there’s a tsunami warning out….Big quake in California.
OMG, the ball didn’t get past Boonie.
Meche! Lookin good buddy.
The M’s should look into signing a stud 3Bman this winter. This Hansen guy just isn’t cutting it.
edgarfan–a Tsunami warning in Seattle? Are you serious? I chose a good week to be in COlorado, apparently…
Go Dave Hansen! Maybe this’ll push him ahead of Dobbs for PH opportunities.
8 innings, 119 pitches, three hits, one run. I’ll take it.
The earthquake was a 7.0 90 miles off the coast of CA by Crescent City; no tsunami has been reported, but the warning is just in case. Even if there was one, the warning is for the west coast; it’d never make it in to Puget Sound and Seattle. Seattle’s only really at risk from a local earthquake, or maybe one in Alaska that would send a wave straight down the Juan de Fuca (even then…quite a bit of topography before you get to Seattle).
This outing may not be a recipe for long term success, but it can help Meche build confidence and become the pitcher he has the ability to be.
Looks like Lieber needs a little work on his release point. . . throwing to first, anyway.
Winn didn’t seem to be running out that ground ball very hard. He was almost out, even though Lieber did his best to bury the throw underground.
Gil Meche hasn’t been a dominating pitcher since A ball. This mythical top of the rotation “ability” has been sighted about as often as Sasquatch.
I don’t think he’s an ace, but he could certainly be a solid #3
How would you define a No. 3?
Yay, a win.
With this rotation, you won’t heqr me complaining about Meche. Well, at least not for awhile. OK, maybe next month.
Have to agree with Dave. After watching/listening to the tension-and-pressure-wrought Super Regional games involving Oregon State, a two-hour Mariner win is….. refreshing.
!? The dugout interviewer asks Reed if his bunt single was a drag bunt… was that a serious question??
Nice ballgame. Nothing like a crisp, well-pitched 2-hour win.
And, re: the tsunami. Nope, no worries in the Puget Sound region (or anywhere, apparently). I just remember the big report the Times ran after the Sri Lanka earthquake about what would happen if a big quake hit on the Seattle fault. Could literally lift one end of Elliot Bay and dump all the water to the other side.
That shot of Ichiro false-starting toward second is not exactly highlight reel material.
Check out the play at second in the Orioles/Astros game, though.
9-4 when Borders starts.
Matt “Goof” Morrison just erroneously reported that tonight’s HR was Dave Hansen’s first in a Mariners uniform.
Hargrove on the importance of Hansen’s extra run going into the 9th inning: “Comfort versus pucker factor was up at least 20 points.”
This is, of course, something of a paraphrase.
We are always facing teams that are at their hottest, for instance, not one of the NL east teams are below .500. Tampa Bay is the only break that we have had so far. This victory does wonders in washing the bad taste of this weekend’s games out of my mouth.
#71,
By the way, the Matt Morrison, “get the job done” count = 5.
Now rest Ichiro Grover. He needs it.
The only useful thing that Matt Morrison might do to impress me, would be to rugby-tackle Grover to the ground and slap him repeatedly while yelling:
“Why did you let Dobbs pinch hit last Friday? Why Dobbs? Why? Why? Why?!!”
The last time Meche flashed #1 potential was the first half of 2003.
Not THAT long ago.
Gil Meche, pre all star break, 2003:
112 innings, 3.61 ERA, 107 H, 17 HR, 35 BB, 78 K
You have a very liberal definition of #1 starter if that line, in Safeco Field, qualifies as a top of the rotation starter.
My wife is my favorite Mariners fan ever. When Steddie Eddie was in the bullpen, and the guy was blithering on about his mental preparation and focusing exercises, she says “oh, c’mon, he’s thinking about doughnuts”.
When they showed the crowd all decked out in their floppy hats, she says “look, it’s Acid House Night at Safeco” (all acid housers back in the baggie era wore those hats, for those of you who don’t get it).
Hey, it’s funnier than anything I’ve got.
If you take his bad last start before the all-star break he had a 3.14 earned run average.
And all I said was “flashed” if you take a hard look into how he was pitching, it was pretty damn amazing….he didn’t have a 20+ inning scoreless streak by accident.
His total first half-of-work does not Constitute a #1 starter label, but through that stretch he was as good as anyone could ever expect from him.
Hell, I remember Derek Jeter being psyched out after one of the games because he was throwing 95+….He said something like, “I thought he could only throw lower 90’s” in one of the post-game interviews.
Obviously, he isn’t that pitcher anymore….mentally or mechanically…but he did “flash” #1 starter potential for a decent stretch of the first half of 2003.
Go watch the tape, I know it seems impossible…but I used to watch those games over and over almost in awe. Sadly, I don’t think we’ll see that pitcher again.
I’ve always compared it to the Freddy Garcia collapse 01 vs 03-04 Freddy….
First half, 03, ratios:
K/9: 6.26
BB/9: 2.81
HR/9: 1.36
K/BB: 2.22
That’s not the performance of a number one starter. No way, no how.
He might have looked like a #1 starter, but he didn’t pitch like one.
I’m just going to show up and cheer for the Phillies all week, like I did today. That should guarantee two more wins for the Mariners.
Dave Hansen’s batting average is higher than his OBP, still, which is kind of amusing.
I’m not claiming that his TOTAL first-half 03, ratio would come out as a #1 starting pitcher’s would.
He had a nice stretch from basically April 17th to June 20th that he was making opposing hitters look silly.
Sprinkled through these 12 starts he had mid 90’s fastball he could locate early in the count..and a low 90’s 2-seam fastball he could put on the corners. Two different curveballs for different times in the count. And a change up he could put wherever he wanted.
This is about 1/3 of a successful top-starter type season.
I’m not really arguing with you, other than I think it’s a bit of an overstatment to say that he hasn’t shown #1 type stuff at ALL in his major league career…However brief this period was.
He had a few starts where he upper 90’s mph at times, with a good curveball and a nice changeup.
That is where the #1 starter stuff comes from. And if you break down the ratio from those 12 starts they may even say he didn’t just look like a #1.
Oh, and one question.
Would you consider 2000 playoffs-2001 Freddy Garcia a #1 starter?
M’s notes from the off. website:
Also on the shelf: Hargrove said utility man Scott Spiezio had a bone scan and an MRI on the sore back, an injury sustained while rehabing an oblique strain, and that everything checked out OK. He said the injury is considered “relatively minor” and that the team was looking to “get it quieted down” so Spiezio can resume his rehab with Triple-A Tacoma soon.
Funny. Based on the last reports, it was his groin. Guess they really are making up injures to keep him out of the lineup.
Debating Gil Meche is a trap. The end result always depends on if we get the Dr. or the Mr.
Mr. can pitch in the Major’s effectively. He can keep a team in the game so long as the offense scores 4 runs. (#’s provided by Fairly, Ron; see notes from any game this season)
Dr. tosses HR Derby stuff with enough walks thrown in to simulate an actual game.
I’m still waiting for the Pseudo-Fairly to come along and say, “this team is a curveball hitting team” or “this guy likes it up over his head and can’t handle it out over the plate.”
#85– Mords said: “Funny. Based on the last reports, it was his groin. Guess they really are making up injures to keep him out of the lineup.”
and as I had heard ‘back’, I was surprised when one of the papers said groin….
Although it is perhaps too stupid to waste time on, David Locke’s idiotic column in this morning’s PI would generate a lively discussion thread.
Re: (# 89) DAVID LOCKE’S COLUMN – He argued this very thing the night before on the radio. Elise and some callers tried to show him that his position was wrong, but he persisted. (Guess the column was already in the works.)
Amazing that the P-I finds room for his drivel, but can’t find room for Derek’s thoughtful analysis.