Game 3: Angels at Mariners
To paraphrase Bill Bavasi at the most recent USSM feed, “free agent pitchers scare the hell out of me.”
Today’s thrill ride features the respective debuts of Jarrod Washburn and Jeff Weaver with their new clubs. Watch closely to be sure they don’t try to swap in Jered Weaver for his richer brother, since the resulting confluence of misspelled names could cause headaches for years to come. In me, anyway.
And in case you weren’t already frightened by Washburn’s contract, beware — he’s out for revenge on the Angels, who let him go without so much as a phone call.
Revenge of the Wash. This time, it’s personal.
Winning two out of three before the A’s come to town would be an inspiring, nerve-calming way to start the season. Game time is 3:35.
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Borchard in center, but not because of any problem with Reed according to the Skip– everyone will get a day off the first week or so, he claims. we’ll see.
Hmm. According to the Seattle Times, I should be able to get this game on Fox Sports NorthWest. But when I tune into FSN, I get “The program is not available in your area”. Did they decide to arbitrarily blackout this game at the last minute?
Does that mean Petagine will get a start at DH?
The one thing I want to see in this game is Beltre getting a couple of hits. Confidence is key and I don’t want him to start scuffling this early.
Also, the mlb.com gameday audio feed is TERRIBLE.
Its J-Wash time….I’m expecting a nice 6-2/3 2 runs…good enough for a win….and I don’t care how many strike outs he gets on his way to 15 wins
Safeco is empty.
Ugh…I’ve been in the hospital (with my son) for 8 days now and the only programmin gI have to look forward to is the baseball games. I just turned on their FSN channel an dI’m getting a “progran not available in your area” note on the screen. They have satellite obviously and the game last night and Monday came in fine. AARGH.
Borchard in CF for Reed, hitting 8th.
direct tv or cable? I’m on the phone with Direct TV right now.
Actually Jeff, I think that’s a direct quote.
At least we can follow the action on Gameday, right? That’s all I’ve got anyway being stuck here in Atlanta. I wonder if they still have that deal where you can get the mlb.tv feed for cheap is you sign up for MSN or something? Anyone knows?
#8 – I have DirecTV. Usually, I have no issues with them, so this is kind of odd.
I figure if it’s cable also, I can let them off the hook. If it’s just DTV, I’m going to yell more.
I like the new ESPN GameCast. I don’t get much work done because I keep watching for the ball-in-play graphic!
Game prediction: Ichiro gets on base a bunch today and causes trouble. 3-4 with an IBB.
Game is on FSN here in Alaska
Ichiro! doubles!
Yeah you can follow it on gameday, but its slow and the audio feed is even slower.
Can someone watching tell me how Washburn (and his velocity) looks?
I have cable to my office and I’m getting the game on FSN. I’m not sure who the provider is, but the picture is Comcastic!
Ichiro!
My prediction is looking good already!
Off to a great start.
Now, if Lopez wanted to bunt here, I don’t have a problem with that.
Ok, they’re dealing with it now.
They were unaware of the problem before my call.
Infield single works too.
I, a DirecTV subscriber in Spokane, have the same issue. It is a shame I missed two Washburn strikeouts. He will only have about 18 more the rest of the season.
They said it should be fixed within the next 30 minutes. Bleah.
They lost the Yanks/A’s game with runners on in the top of the 9th too.
2-0 M’s! Sexson doubles!
Sexson with a 2-run double!!
We scored I see…good start this.
And Beltre lays off the low outisde pitch. That’s good news, too.
Sexson is paying instant dividends for my fantasy team.
Who was Weaver playing for last season?
That was a nice play by Weaver, but poor baserunning by Big Sexy
LA Dodgers
He tried to take third on a groundball to the pitcher? That’s awful.
Weaver was a Dodger last year, wasn’t he?
More of that horrible Angels defense.
Defensive lapse on the steal by Beltre. Beltre’s running a lot more this year.
Am I hearing things or did Beltre just try to STEAL???
Mathis threw it into CF, Beltre took 3rd, Everett walked. Johjima up with 2 on.
He did steal. That’s more of Grover’s aggressive baserunning.
But it already cost us Richie this inning.
Weaver, you walked Everett? Of course you’ll get a visit after that.
He stole second immediatly after the tv guys commented that Weavers long delivery should allow the M’s to run a lot today.
He’s still only thrown 20 pitches this inning. He’s sucking efficiently.
Just a couple of comments here….
I am listening to the radio broadcast and just love hearing the game. As I was listening, I couldn’t help but think back to last year blogs of “Evil Rick”.
When can we expect more of the above?
Huh. Maybe there is something to this “revenge” thing!
3.20 or bust!
So much for the low strikeout rate I guess.
Washburn looks good to me. Painting the edges usually low in the zone.
Low in the zone? Fairly claims he must keep the ball up!
I thought Washburn was a flyball pitcher? Seems like he’s getting a lot of groundballs today. Hopefully this continues.
Not only is he getting groundouts but the balls are pretty weakly hit.
Snootch to the nooch for the Borch!
Why must I, a poor DirecTV viewer, be denied Washburn K’s. By the way, DirecTV told me that Comcast and/or MLB is blacking the game out on satellite.
Borchard singles in his first Mariner AB.
Oh, wow, it is REALLY empty there…
I’m certainly glad I made the switch at home to Comcast…it does me no good here at Swedish medical center, however.
I’d also like to know why Borchard is in CF with an extreme flyball guy. I mean I like the Borchard and it’s good to see him get some ABs, but why today, why not against a lefty to get Reed’s lefty bat out of there?
Reed’s got some health concerns right now. I’m not gonna argue against sitting him every once in a while.
#52 It is not being blacked out on Satellite as I am getting through the dish.
And now, the SafeCo Insurance Sophistication Society proudly brings you, “Small Sample Size Theatre”:
2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 3 Groundball outs, 0 Flyball outs.
I didn’t watch a ton of Angel’s games last year, but I don’t recall Washburn being over 90MPH on his fastball ever. He started out arond 89MPH but pumped up to about 93MPH on a pitch that Cabrera fouled off. And I’ll tell you who he reminds me of at the moment:
Eddie Guardado.
He’s painting the outside and low corner almost at will and appears to be hiding the ball well enough that the Angels can’t pick up on the velocity easily. When Vlad Guerrero is badly waving at your fastball on the outside edge, you’re doing something right.
This has been the SafeCo Insurance Sophistication Society’s presentation of “Small Sample Size Theatre”.
I’d also like to know why Borchard is in CF with an extreme flyball guy. I mean I like the Borchard and it’s good to see him get some ABs, but why today, why not against a lefty to get Reed’s lefty bat out of there?
Borchard is a much better hitter from the left side. It makes sense to give him his first start from his better side.
Wow Anderson… just wow.
Locking down the #2 spot early…!
I was just about to say, “This Lopez kid is good”, but I’m guessing Anderson didn’t play that particularly well.
Yay, Lopez!
A couple years ago, I was really high on Lopez. I thought he could be as good as Miguel Tejada. I don’t know if that’s still his ceiling, but I’m glad that he’s not going to be written off like he was last season.
Lopez hitting .500 now with 4 RBI quite early. Hasn’t walked yet, only K’d once.
Love to see the contact.
Ha. Aggressive lead?
Weaver doesn’t seem to be getting behind the hitters much. They’re just fouling off lots of pitches.
So is Lopez the worse baserunner on the team or what?
Napping. He wasn’t that far off base. I don’t think he thought Weaver would bother making moves to first base with two strikes on Ibanez. Hell, I didn’t think he would either. Go after the hitter with 2 outs and 2 strikes.
Meh, whatever. Now he has to pitch to a good OBP% Ibanez again with a fresh count.
The two headed monster that is Captain Obvious did say that Weaver has a good move to first…
It is a close contest between Lopez and Sexson, but one could give Lopez the nod.
OT – Jimmy Rollins just extended his streak.
Sexson’s “slide” yesterday was pretty awful though, and he got nailed at 3rd today.
Direct tv in Moscow, ID is having problems broadcasting the game too.
Wow..Sexson is tearing the ball to shreads so far..good sign.
Woohoo on Rollins!
man, just got out of a meeting, loaded up Gameday, it’s nice to be greeted by a 3-0 score in our favor rather than the other way around.
Small Sample Size Theatre continued:
3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 4 Groundball outs, 2 Flyball outs (1 huge line out assist to all 6′8″ of Richie Sexson).
Starting to balance out a bit. Did I see that correctly, or did he throw a 66mph somethingorather to Jeff Mathis?
Is Hernandez and Washburn going to move up in the rotation? And is Beltre ever moving to 3?
77- That was a bad reading or something cause I am pretty sure that was a fastball.
I imagine they don’t pitch Sexson inside for the rest of the game. Nothing could be scarier than having a 6′8 guy charge the mound.
Ouch. Well that’ll help the OBP%.
So, other than the one guy above who says his DTV is woeking fine, has anyone else resolve dthe issue?
Was that a solid hit the other way by Beltre or was it something weak?
That was an authoratative basehit by Beltre.
Ok, the game’s on now for all directtv people.
nevermind, mine is working now,,,,just as I hit the send button.
Carl did an Everett again.
Game just came on in the Moscow ID area!
Johjima sure likes to swing at the first pitch.
Rally Dino!!!!
Hey, it works for Ichiro…
Man…I didn’t realize how much I miss baseball. Wish I had the dough to get the tv feed.
Does anyone think there are more than 15K fans there?
I’m not there, but I’d love to be there, that’s for sure.
Small Sample Size Theatre continued:
4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 5 Groundball Outs, 4 Flyball outs (assist to Sexson).
Flyballs are catching up to the groundballs, but the biggest thing so far is no walks.
This game is moving.
Don’t mind a solo HR much.
Rick Rizzs does.
Holy crap, Tim Salmon is really pulling a Petagine these last two games!
So much for the shutout for J-Rod the Washburninator.
Wait, I just realized Zach Duke is starting for the Pirates in about 20 minutes. I hope the Mariners can tack on a few runs soon so I can stop paying attention to this game.
Tim Salmon making this Angel somewhat weaker lineup more of a power threat. That’s a surprise to me.
Great effort by Lopez.
Sorry about that last comment, added the word Angel into the wrong place, hah.
5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO, 5 Groundball Outs, 5 Flyball outs (assist to Sexson), 1 HR.
Starting to look a little more like the Jarrod Washburn we know and didn’t want to pay 7 million a year for. Washburn has also lost a ton of zip on his fastball. The adrenaline he had earlier pushing his fastball into the low 90s has disappeared I think. He’s hardly around 90mph now.
Loooooooove to see that. I don’t remember a strike out throw out double play at all last year, at least at a critical juncture like this one.
Phew!
El Louisa Sanchez is hot.
All Hail Jose! All Hail Jose!
Jose Can You See, By the Dawn’s Early Light….!
71 pitches through 5. I think Washburn will be lucky to make it through the 7th.
Though I’m pretty sure Grover will let him try.
3 games into the season and we have yet to see Bloomquist play. Also, management turned down Vina, Morse and Dobbs on the opening day roster. Some of our off-season fears are being allayed so far by management. Add to this the decision to play Lopez every inning, give Petagine a pinch hit opportunity, and start Borchard today and I detect a little more performance-based decision making going on.
Dang, Lopez is hotter than a 48 cent pistol!
Production at second base? That’s unpossible!
You can tell that there aren’t many people there on the radio feed. They have the crowd noise mics turned up pretty loud and you can hear individual voices (and the umpire).
Thank you Raul. I was a bit worried that the 2006 Mariners would have left a leadoff triple stranded at third.
Man on third, no outs, and we actually got something done! Wish that could have happened last year….
So far, my 16th round pickup of Jose Lopez in the AL-only fantasy league draft has been brilliant.
Drafting Jeff Weaver in round 15? NSM.
Man he barely missed taking that one yard. I think he was surprised how goo of pitch he got.
103 – I saw the Mariners pull of the best strikeout double play ever last year, but unfortunately it was against the Phillies. Mike Lieberthal struck out, but the third strike got away from the catcher. Lieberthal is sorta slow, so he got tagged out at first. In the meantime, Chase Utley, who had started the play at second base, rounded third, headed home, and Richie Sexson relayed the ball back to the pitcher covering the plate to get him out too. A strikeout 2-3-1 double play. It was pretty cool.
Deanna, now that you mention it, I remember that. Being from the Philadelphia area I actually got to see that game. Now with the power of the internet and a load of money, I finally get to see all of them!
You can tell that there aren’t many people there on the radio feed. They have the crowd noise mics turned up pretty loud and you can hear individual voices (and the umpire).
Yeah, sounds like a Royals game, that same sort of hollow crowd noise. Like 19,000 people crammed into a space meant for 46,000.
Watching this on TV, I’d say there’s about 20k there. But no more then that. It’s not under 20,000, but it is spaced out quite a bit.
So does it look to you guys like Beltre is swinging with too much uppercut? I was noticing that on opening day, but I thought it might just be opening day jitters.
If it looks like it’s 20K, then it’s 22-23K. Usually.
He’s certainly not catching and throwing with too much uppercut.
Or a Devil Rays game, but there’s that one heckler there that you can always here.
I have a hard time believing they’re going to draw more today than they did for the first night game of the year.
6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO, 6 Groundball outs (big time defensive assist to Beltre), 5 Flyball outs (Thank you Richie), 1 HR.
Velocity still holding 89-90mph on fastball. His best pitch I’ve seen so far has been a sweeping changeup or curve that really fools the left handed batters. Drops in anywhere between 76-79mph and bends late. Garret Anderson saw three of them.
Borchard doesn’t have the pretty swing that Dobbs has but I like it better nonetheless.
Wow. No win scenario for Jojima there.
Neihaus just announced 21,000ish fans today.
21,394 today.
This new ESPN Gamecast is pretty cool, not sure if Ill be using this or MLB Gameday now. Was that another baserunning gaffe or just an attempt to get someone in scoring position for Ichiro?
Tell me again why we didn’t make a harder push for Vlad??!
Re: 128
Just a straight steal.
Were those catchable by a speedier/better left fielder?
Re: 131,
No. The first was a smoked linedrive off the wall by Guerrero, the second was lined over Beltre’s reach.
I guess he doesn’t have a brick wall behind him after all.
Griffey hit hr#537 today to pass Mantle at number 12 all time.
Don’t forget that 3 of Washy’s “FB” are popouts to INFers. Pretty good so far.
Heh. Y’all can kvetch about the announcers. I come home, and my wife (the professional pianist) is playing, so I have to listen to her instead of the game audio. This fails to suck.
Nicely done Washburn.
100 pitches for Washburn? Right around his career average for a game.
Not a bad little staunch of the bleeding right there.
7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 SO, 8 Groundball outs, 5 Flyball outs, 1 HR, on 100 pitches.
If he could do this consistently, he’d be much closer to being worth that contract. I don’t think he can, of course, but it’ll be interesting to see how he does the next time he runs out there.
BTW, Kotchman got owned by that same devastating off speed pitch that got Anderson. I don’t know why he wasn’t throwing that more often to lefties earlier in the game, but when he decided to pull it out it was hardly ever not a strike.
Y’know, Washburn had a great start. He’s thrown exactly 100 pitches to get through seven innings, so one would think he’s done for the day. He also put up 7 Ks. Let’s hope it continues.
Seriously, we just had a starter besides Felix actually go 7 innings. That in itself pretty good. Do we have an over/under for how long Meche lasts tomorrow?
I’d take that start out of Washburn any day. But I also have my doubts as to whether he can pull that off over a full season, let alone four of them.
Financial considerations aside, though, sure was a lot more fun to listen to than a Franklin start.
Go Ibanez!
Raul just violated one of the cardinal rules of baserunning. Never take off from second when the ball is hit in front of you. He got away with it because the ball was hit so softly, but that’s usually a very bad move.
Now that at bat made Beltre look terrible.
145- ehh, if you can see the 3b charging after the ball it would be a huge mistake to not get to third.
Beltre is trying to pull outside pitches. He just doesn’t look relaxed.
Gotta wonder if they are gonna stretch out Mateo for 2 innings here if all goes well. Guardado threw a ton of pitches last night.
No walks, seven strikeouts, and more grounders than fly balls? Forget justifying the contract; if he can keep that up, he’s a cy young contender.
Of course, his entire career says he can’t keep this up. But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy it while it lasts. Nice job, Jarrod.
#136 My 8 year old is practicing the piano, drowning out the audio and it still sounds sweet compared to Rico.
Oh man. This bullpen.
Craptastic!
Man, the pen sure does like to make it interesting this year.
“But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy it while it lasts.”
Hey, how about a little optimism around here? The M’s have gotten three solid starting pitching performances in a row, and none of them included a pitcher named “F. Hernandez.” That’s an unequivocal positive.
Of course, the bullpen has been shaky, at best. Witness: One recent homerun off of one Julio Mateo. Oops. Come on, guys, let’s lock this one down.
Didn’t we say the bullpen was gonna be one of the good thing about this team before the season started?
Its a little early in the year to change from that opinion as well Fanoliv.
Not everything can go right. Welcome to Mariners baseball.
It’s like the late 90’s all over again!
Middle in fastball and Cabrera did this to Putz last night too, cept he pulled it foul. Since when has Orlando Cabrera been a major pull power hitter?
Good Lord. I have the feeling this team is going to toy with my emotions a lot this season. Is that better or worse than the dumb malaise they inspired in the last two?
151: My wife’s an excellent player, but even I tire of the same piece, played twelve times in a row. Right now it’s accompaniments for voice students at the local University. I keep hearing the hard parts over and over and over.
But when it’s good, it’s a joy. And there’s got to be a certain joy to listening to an eight year old. Maybe I’ll get a little more of that in the next few years as my wife takes on more students.
Well, at least Garret Anderson is still on his way to the Bret Boone School of How to Not Age Gracefully.
Julio Mateo giving up homers shouldn’t be a big surprise. He’s something like the most extreme flyball pitcher in major league baseball. That, combined with his complete inability to keep runners from stealing at will, is why he’ll never succeed in high leverage situations.
Sounds like he needs to be dealt while his value is at his highest!
Watching Vlad foul a pitch straight back is terrifying. I’d throw the next one in the dirt, too.
I love Johjima behind the plate.
Mateo is losing it.
I guess that’s one way to keep him in the yard… >
Dave, it is still depressing how many homeruns have been hit off our pitching so far this year.
Whoa! Off the top of the helmet. Okay, that terrifies me more than watching him foul it straight back.
Mateo is doing everything Johjima is asking for…..but to the extreme, Joh asks for it low and he bounces it. Joh asks for it up and in and he plunks Vlad.
robbbbb,
Big Black Cat going on the fifth time. Thankfully we moved away from Three Blind nice.
I think hitting Vlad is the safest way to pitch to him!
Thank you Reed.
172. I agree. Better to plunk him before he plunks us.
Anyone warming up in the bullpen?
I wonder who they go with in the 9th now, Eddie threw too many pitches yesterday, Mateo didn’t look good that inning but do they stick with him anyways. Please please don’t bring in Putz again!
Do you think that up and in on Vlad had anything to do with Richie getting plunked earlier?
176. Who does that leave? George Sherrill? I have no confidence in any of them.
Well, lets look at the guy who are giving up homers; Moyer, Pineiro, Putz, Mateo, Guardado. All of them have a history of being strike-throwing guys with homer problems. If Soriano or Felix were getting bombed, I’d be worried.
What’s with the 8th inning? Yikes!
Still, I’m liking this team much better than last year.
177 I don’t think you plunk Vlad on purpose after getting two strikes on him.
Wonder how long it is before Johjima hits before Everett.
How long till Petagine is the DH if Jurassic Carl keeps batting like this? Hopefully soon.
Ryan Franklin just came into the game in Philly.
182 – I read that as “wonder how long before Johjima hits Everett” which is just as valid a question.
Sherill is up in the pen, he should be the guy to come in in the 9th.
patnmic,
I’d like to say the repetition goes away, but it doesn’t. The music does improve as they get better, however.
Hey guys, can we squeeze another run or two. (And who’s available in the bullpen? One would think that Soriano and Guardado aren’t there for today. Who is?)
185 – I’d put money on Crazy Carl laying one down on Japanese Joe before the other way around.
Hey at least we don’t have the Cubs pitching. They gave up homeruns to Bronson Arroyo and Rich Aurilla today.
Nice bunt by Reedie.
Wouldn’t mind a bunt here by Betancourt, or pinch hitting!
Petagine! Let’s see it!
That was a great bunt, as far as bunts go.
Please don’t call Mr. Everett Jurassic Carl. Cretaceous Carl is much more appropriate.
I do so love to see a perfectly executed bunt base hit. Reed caught ‘em with their pants down.
Does anyone have David Bells numbers with the M’s? In other words, I wonder if Beltre is just Bell…just more expensive.
Isn’t Bronson Arroyo a pitcher? And he homered?
196: In Soviet Russia, home run hits YOU!
Good hustle by Betancourt. That’s terrible defense by Kotchman. And you walk Ichiro, here, to get to the guy who’s 3-4 with a triple on the day? What’s Sciosica smoking?
Lets go Jose, bases loaded 2 outs.
Here’s a chance for Lopie to really win over some fans.
That call makes up for the two times yesterday we got a break on the calls.
Come on Jose!
Wow! I never realized that Carl Everett’s swing looks almost exactly like Ken Griffey Jr’s swing. Based on this alone I think he was a good signing. It feels like old times in Seattle!
Wow, and Franklin got three straight ground-outs. Amazing.
I’m catching a bus to go home from work now. Someone tell the Mariners to not lose the game before I get home, okay?
Intentional walk to load the bases for Lopez who’s on fire?
I’ll take it.
I’d be fin with it if Jose ruined the save opportunity with 3+ RBI here…
Let’s see some of that bases-loaded Mariners Magic.
Er, uh, Scioscia. I can spell.
Or that could happen…! WP ftw!
Well, that paid of quickly.
195 Beltre is a bit better with the bat and a lot better in the field.
Willie Dynamite probably would have hit a 3 run jack instead of weekly grounding out!
/sarcasm
Speaking of David Bell, just tied the game for the Phillies.
211 Wasn’t sure. Just seemed like they were similar,, 250, 18 hr’s etc.
ahhhh………. sweet breathing room ( well a little).
BTW, I concur with the earlier posters, this ESPN gamecast is pretty cool.
I like the Yahoo! Gamecast better actually. Maybe just because it works well in conjunction with their Fantasy Sports.
How many times does Sherrill have to strike out Rivera?
I’ll have to check it out. Don’t get to see too many games out here in Colorado. Sure do miss Seattl ethis time of year and being able to walk down to games.
That scared me for a second, lets go George on more out!
close call
The only other pitcher available is Jake Wood
Harris too, but here’s to hoping it doesn’t come down to it.
Gotta get in front of the ball George. Actually I’m glad that missed him. Man that was close!
We may need to put the ignitor in to pitch
We’ve sure come a long ways from 2001’s bullpen, whose motto was “No runs, no hits, no shit.”
This is a long way from even last years bullpen
Third 3-2 count in this inning.
It’s early… they’ll be fine… have faith…
After being 1-2
M’s WIN M’S WIN!!!!(BTW do we need to make every win this year a nailbiter?)
2-1 to open the season, nicely done M’s
I’d rather have faith than ulcers. Geez. I sure hope they get better as they get their work in.
That was a Jose Mesa kind of save. But better than no save at all
Ballgame.
I’m stunned
All right! Congrats on your first big league save George! The mariners lead the AL West for another day!
Here’s to keeping the streak alive! 2006: 161-1
Wow! This bull pen is going to put me in an early grave. At least they got it done.
Better a nervewracking win than a lethargic loss, I’ll take one of these every day of the week, and twice on Sunday
That clip of Kenji congratulating George on the save made him look pretty comfortable with english.
I turned away from the Pear just in time to see Franky walk two straight and hear the PhilliePhans began to get really restless…
turning back in time for the pop-up, and may I say that post-game, I want Cara Capuano back. Heck, I’d have given her Matt Morrison/Brad Adams job last year….
It’s only April 5 and we’ve already won more games than we did in all of 2004! Well, almost. I’m getting more optimistic about this season, even if this is just the Angels.
it’s free MLB extra inning week, and I switched over to the Texas/Sox game in time to hear that JT Snow has taken number 84 this season to honor his dad, and Cameron Loe has been mowing doen the BoSox. oh, and they are having a hot dog eating contest in the outfield seats…
They broke away from the game to show the end of the hot dog contest. You think we have it bad?
How long was it last year before the M’s won a series from an AL West team? I can’t remember the last time that happened. Based on our very small sample size (very very small) I’d guess the M’s might finish 3rd behind Oakland and Texas ahead of Anahiem. The LAAOA’s just look lost out there aside from Vlad and Cabrera.
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Had great seats for the game today, 1st row behind the Angels dugout. Some impressions from there…Vlad is a monster. He’s much larger than I ever thought he was. Salmon is huge too.
Lopez showed speed and quickness today. He made a nice run to catch a pop foul behind 1st. Richie was in the process of corkscrewing himself into the ground and never would have made it close to the ball. Jose also showed some nice speed on his triple.
Washburn looked good. If he continues to bring a 90 mph fastball and complement it with the 80 mph changeup and spot the curve he’ll do just fine. Great outing today. Mateo looked like…well Mateo. WHen he mixes up his pitches he’s fine, he’s never going to throw the ball past anyone with his easy to pick up delivery and lack of omph. Same thing with Sherrill.
LAA looks really old. Players and coaches both. They’re going to need to address some issues if they want to contend.
It was great to win the first series of the year.
We got the Good Washburn today, but remember he’s been a may to veer to extremes of performance. The comment by the LA-LAs GM that “he just walked away laughing” when asked whether he’d re-sign Washburn last year would motivate a fireplug, and facing that team in his first (new) home start we’ve seen the best game that Good Washburn can throw—which was pretty damn solid, yeah. I’ll clap and say hey for J-Rod whenever he throws a game like this one. 25+ more o’ the same would be great.
I know its crazy early but that is the J-Wash I expect to see all season long….at least in Safeco…if Moyer and Sele thrived here I don’t see why J-Wash wouldn’t….check out that prediction i made early, as I pat myself on the back
I know its crazy early but that is the J-Wash I expect to see all season long….at least in Safeco…if Moyer and Sele thrived here I don’t see why J-Wash wouldn’t….check out that prediction i made early, as I pat myself on the back
Washburn K’d 7 men, induced 8 groundballs, and walked nobody, in 7 strong innings. 15 of the 21 outs were the direct result of positive peripheral skills. It wouldn’t have mattered what ball park he was in, he pitched just flat out above his norm. I don’t think he can keep this up. Last season, if you look at Washburn’s starts from July to the end of the season, they’re mostly okay in the strikeouts department, and few runs given up, but he walked way too many guys.
So the onus really is on Washburn to maintain his control. If he can do that, he should be a reliable starter.
Mediocre pitcher – nice outing.
So if, as Baseball Between the Numbers illustrates, there is actually some statistical backing to the contract year phenomenon, how wildly outrageous is it to hypothesize that there may be something to the “laughed out of town by former team and then resigned within same division” phenomenon? And how likely is that to last for four years? And how tainted would that question be by a fan’s desire to look for a silver lining in his team’s big-name FA signing, no matter how ridiculous it may seem from any objective standing?
In the “who would have ever believed it” category, after 3 games:
Team Quality Starts
SEA 3
TEX 2
OAK 0
LAA 0