Game 125, Yankees at Mariners
Baek vs Karstens, 7:05 pm
Cha Baek makes his first start in the majors in a couple of years after posting a nice ERA in the PCL this season, but let’s be clear – he’s not a prospect. He throws his mediocre stuff over the plate and lets hitters get themselves out or not. It’s the Ryan Franklin approach to pitching. This is about the worst possible matchup for him, as the Yankees offense rolls into town fresh off a five game weekend sweep of the Red Sox. The Mariners, meanwhile, haven’t won a game since Columbus sailed the ocean blue. It’s the irresistible force against the most movable object of all time. This should be fun. But on the brightside, the line-up:
1. Ichiro, CF (WOO!)
2. Snelling, RF (WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!)
3. Beltre, 3B (WOO – BOO – WOO – BOO – Who knows)
4. Sexson, 1B (See above)
5. Ibanez, LF (Como se dice WOO en espanol?)
6. Lopez, 2B (Just a W, because after a promising start, we’ve gotten very little)
7. Broussard, DH (CHOOOOOO! – oh, wait, wrong team)
8. Betancourt, SS (OOH – he leads the league in plays that make you say ooh)
9. Rivera, C (Uhh, crap)
Minus the whole Rene Rivera thing – and I’m assuming that now that we’re out of it that Johjima will actually get to catch a human workload, which I’m okay with – this is pretty much the best line-up the M’s have put out all year. Hargrove ignores his normal left-right mandate and actually puts Snelling and his on base ways in the #2 hole, which is the lineup spot he was created for. We have Ichiro in center again. Willie is nowhere to be seen.
They might be too little, too late, but we have to admit, the M’s are making the right moves now. We’ve taken Hargrove to task all year long, but this line-up is a good one, and it shows that he’s capable of assembling a quality batting order. Let’s hope it sticks.
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And, like the cherry on top of the sundae, they just had Snelling and his adorable aussie accent on the radio postgame show…
299: Merely Beltre’s second homer that is. Tough to hit two walk-offs in one game.
Wow, we won.
BTW, “Emperor of the North” is on Comcast 149. Terrific movie.
BTW, those of you who have listened to NYY radio broadcasts will appreciate this New Yorker’s take on them. (Warning, adult language, but nothing worse than Snakes on a Plane.)
Robert Aldrich would kick Hargrove’s ass for us.
I love the win but have a disturbing feeling that by the end of the season Mateo will have the most wins of any Mariner… 9 and counting.
I vote WOO.
Mateo is the Emperor of the Vultures.
And every Mariner fan with sarcasm now will say, “the next 11 game losing streak begins tomorrow.”
LOL
Seriously though, this was a good game for the Mariners to win.
Against the Yankees, after falling behind late in the game, needing that clutch hit in the 9th, and we even got 5 walks, which is a little rare for this team (especially under Hargrove).
Obviously all hope for this season is lost, but if the Mariners straighten out their starting staff and get a manager with some common sense and a little bit of fire, then this team could go places in ’07 and especially ’08.
And as a fan that basically went through hell the last 2 weeks, this is the kind of emotion that springs through you after this kind of a game.
Hope.
Simply, hope.
I like the potential of this team, now with a little more growing up, fire, and a few more pieces to the puzzle coming up in ’07, then this defenitely could be a team you may have to respect once again very soon.
ohmigod. have they been having these ‘dance-offs’ on FSN all along? this is horrible. Could I have some Mariner & Moyer highlights, please? please?
Love the win and all, but after Beltre’s second whiff, the fucking FSN signal went out. I had to see the homerun on Gameday. I watch the whole game, and then I don’t get the see the walk-off. Sigh.
and while I’m whining, can we outlaw the word ‘fire’ on this blog unless it relates to Hargrove being unemployed?
Raul must really dislike either Cameron Wong or interviews in general. He practically has his back to the man.
he also looks like he hasn’t slept during the entire losing streak.
Ibanez is about the only person who had no idea the Yankees had beat the Red Sox five in a row coming into this game.
Interesting, useless stat:
Beltre — last homer before tonight was last win before the losing streak.
End of streak – good
Arod strikes out – better
Beltre taking no prisoners – great
Hargrove drives blindfolded through a 4-way and no one gets hurt – be afraid, be very afraid.
315 – Ibanez is about the only person who had no idea the Yankees had beat the Red Sox five in a row coming into this game.
Ibanez undoubtably didn’t run into Rick Rizzs at any time during the day, who has mentioned it 422 times already and still counting.
i’ll second that; it seems like hargrove more or less stumbled upon a line-up that works as a result of a sense of desparation…i would have hoped that it didn’t take an 11 game losing streak to figure something out.
317
What’s scary is that it isn’t hard picturing Grover really doing that
Congrats to the team on a great win.
VICTORY!!!
3. Beltre, 3B (WOO – BOO – WOO – BOO – Who knows)
Looks like it was WOO – WOO – WOOOOOO! tonight….
If Beltre keeps doing things like this my Beltre mancrush will come back.
ohmigod. have they been having these ‘dance-offs’ on FSN all along?
I think so, the past week or so. I’m usually out of the bar or onto another channel by the 9th (particularly on this road trip) so I’m not sure when it started. Really, I don’t know how Angie whatshername can look at herself in the mirror every morning. I host what?
Ibanez is about the only person who had no idea the Yankees had beat the Red Sox five in a row coming into this game.
Actually, from the way Snelling reacted on the postgame I don’t think he knew either. He also seemed pretty oblivious to the losing streak “I don’t know, I just joined the team in Anaheim” — bless him.
Perhaps Rizzs can corner Ibanez and Snelling and tell them about that magical 1995 season and the 5 game division series with the Yankees!
Beltre — last homer before tonight was last win before the losing streak.
Does that count homeruns taken away and called ground rule doubles instead?
w00t! Now I get to make fun of all the yankee fans at work. I mean…seriously…they lost to the Mariners! That’s like losing to KC or TB…ouch!
We know that O’Flaherty knows about “That Magical 1995 season” because yes…HES FROM WALLA WALLA! Thanks Rick, we hadn’t heard.
i’ll second that; it seems like hargrove more or less stumbled upon a line-up that works as a result of a sense of desparation…
Panic moves! Panic moves!
Just got back from the game. The problem with Yankees games at Safeco is listening to obnoxious NYY fans taunting. But they got shut up, and I was ever so polite to each one I encountered on the walk out and the bus ride home.
I was all set to use my Rally towel (tonight’s giveaway at the Safe) in a way unintended: folded white side out, it would make a great surrender flag. But yay, I didn’t have to.
Speaking of the off-season, would someone tell me why the Ms don’t invest more (or most) of their cash in lefties? Clearly Safeco offers them the unique opportunity to build a large home-field advantage. I’m not even sure how they accomplished the Sexson signing. How is he that valuable to the Ms?
gotta love it, ESPN finally got around to the Phillies highlights, and led into it with footage of the Moyer debut with the Cubs these 20 years ago… Moyer was a little skinnier, but pretty much everything looked the same, including the run onto & off of the field….
Just got back from the game. Sat in the third deck behind home plate, and was *surrounded* by Yankees fans, including about 15 women “in love” with Derek Jeter.
So imagine how *good* it felt to be at this game!
Here are a few things in no particular order:
1) Snelling has some of the fastest hands through the strike-zone that I’ve ever seen. Even the Yankees fans sitting next to me (good guys, notwithstanding) were commenting on it.
2) That ball that Abreu hit out was absolutely *crushed*. Same goes for A-Rod’s dinger later, which actually made it into the upper deck.
3) Speaking of A-Rod, I’ve never heard the boos louder for him than tonight.
4) Beltre’s slide to break up that double play brought a standing ovation from my section.
5)I roundly cursed Hargrove for pinch-hitting Bohn for Doyle in the 8th.
6) I roundly cursed Hargrove (again) for putting Matteo in in the 9th. I was pretty shocked that struck out A-Rod like that to get out of that jam.
7) Speaking of A-Rod, man did he seem to be in a funk this evening, in the on-deck circle, out playing defense. He just didn’t seem his same borg/perfection/robot self. I almost felt sorry for him.
Anyway, WHAT A GAME!!!!!
hey, 333, did you have the blue Thornton 53 jersey with the letters all in white? I saw you go down the aisle, if so. Almost considered yelling and asking if I could take a picture of it for amusement value.
Yeah, it was nice seeing Dylan even for a few seconds as he kept going up and down the aisle, too. For some reason I figured that since I was wearing my USSM shirt and yelling “GO DOYLE!!!!!!!!” a lot, I’d have to run into someone from here, but alas.
Also just back from the game, one additional ovservation I didn’t see posted. During the (inconceivable!) Bohn-for-Doyle PH fiasco, none other than Howard Lincoln taking in the action from the rail of the M’s dugout. Better yet, Grover visibly twitchy and standing as far away as humanly possible. We were really hoping Lincoln was on his way out to the field for a mid-game manager change 😉
So those home runs were Adrian’s 9th and 10th at home this year versus only 5 on the road. I’ve got wonder what is going on with him on the road. Anyways, I was also at the game tonight behind home plate and #333 those boos for Arod are nowhere close to what happen in his first return to Seattle when he was with Texas in April 01. And its certainly fine to boo him, but how he gets louder boos than Bonds is beyond me. Also, damn Ichiro looks good in center, but he looks that much better with Doyle standing next to him in right, Doyle! rocks.
I looked a little closer and noticed that Adrian has almost 3 times as many doubles on the road as at home (24-9), so although I’m guessing this is just sample size theater, is Safeco suppressing his gap power ability but not taking away home runs, that seems odd.
334. Yes, Deanna, that was me. I went down to get my friend and I a beer during the top of the 2nd. You should have stopped me. I’d have recognized the USSM gear and of course you could have had a picture. Would you believe I had to get a Matt Thornton jersey special ordered?*gasp*
I love telling people he’s my cousin and watching their faces. (It’s true that I have a cousin named Matt Thornton, but he’s not from Michigan, and he doesn’t pitch for Chicago now)
I think I’m gonna have to pick up a Snelling jersey now.
Maybe next time there’s a USSM gathering you can get your picture with that coveted jersey.
337, Chavez Ravine is usually a major doubles suppressor, as is Safeco. That’s probably a nice chunk of it.
Naturally; he’s getting booed by both the Mariner fans and the Yankee fans.
Why Bonds gets booed and not Jason Giambi — or any of the other players who’ve actually, you know, been caught using substances, instead of just accused — is beyond me.
I can’t believe I missed the end of that game…after ARod hit the homer I turned the tv off and went to bed at 11:00pm EDT, and said to my wife “well this game is over”. I stayed up many nights during the losing streak and had given up at this point. I was shocked this morning when I found out they won!
Beltre’s slide was magnificent. This was totally his best game of the season. The slide, the two home runs… Hmm… was Steinbrenner in the house? Ok… kidding aside…
Pinch hitting for Doyle was the knucklehead move of the game. It ruined the “chemistry” of the night for me and my friends watching the game on tv. Then… you could see in the player’s faces they knew the inevitable was coming. Bohn didn’t even know what was coming. Nothing like putting a young kid out there and throwing him to a Yankee game in a critical situation.
On the Mateo move… my ulcer grew twice it’s size. But look on the bright side, maybe he can get more wins and raise his TRADE value. 🙂
On the brightest side… ding dong, the witch is dead, the witch is dead. Yea, nothing like the Mariners breaking out of a funk against the pinstripes.
It kind of reminds me of August 18th 1995 when I was at the Kingdome. After that horrible stretch of games against the AL west (Oakland). We begin a series against Cy Young hopeful Tim Wakefield and the overpowering Red Sox. Blowers hits 2 dingers to almost the same spot and the M’s 14 game comeback begins. That’s the only game I attended that year. But what a season.
…Well at least I’ll be going to my first game on Thursday. Maybe this is the series where we turn it around and make an insane run and Oakland collapses? I know there’s hardly a chance mathematically…and this isn’t your 1995 Seattle Mariners. But stranger things have happened. And for one day… the dark cloud begins to dissapate and a sliver of hope peaks through. But alas, that sliver of hope is most likely for 2007…
340. Not only did I boo Giambi, I heckled him every at-bat.
I had the Yankees fans sitting around me wincing with comments like:
“Hey Giambi, did you remember to shoot up today?” (first at-bat)
“Hey Giambi, which cheek today, the left or the right? Or was it a cream and clear day today?” (second at-bat).
Then they got a pinch runner for him, still, it was fun while it lasted.