Game 99, Mariners at Rangers
Batista vs McCarthy, 5:35 pm.
The M’s try to salvage one game out of the debacle of the last week before returning home tomorrow. Feel the excitement of pennant race baseball.
McLaren changes the line-up again, and if you can figure out the logic behinid this, you win a prize. Beltre now hitting 2nd, Vidro drops to 5th. Ibanez still hitting 3rd, of course. God forbid we mess with his awesomeness.
Adrian Beltre is the team’s best power hitter. The only players hitting for less power than Jose Vidro in the major leagues this year are Luis Castillo, Jason Kendall, Reggie Willits, and Nick Punto. That’s a 2B/leadoff hitter, a C/9th hitter, a LF/leadoff hiter, and the Twins version of Willie Bloomquist. Every other major league hitter is hitting for more power than Turbo. Regardless, Vidro now hits 5th.
I’ll always be grateful that John McLaren’s presence helped the team keep Ichiro, but man, his line-ups and bullpen usage have been pretty terrible. That might be an understatement, actually. This line-up defies logic and reason – it’s the baseball version of throwing crap at a wall and hoping something sticks. Every day, this team gives me new reasons to think that the people in charge should be doing something else with their lives.
Also, for those who want to hear me talk way too fast again, I’m doing another radio interview 10 minutes before the game starts – this time, it’s Fox Sports Radio 790 in Spokane. They have an online stream, but it requires registration, so it will take some work on your part to hear me hyperventilate today. If that’s too tough for you, you can wait until the KJR gig with Grosby on Friday afternoon.
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Go Mariners. I think I’ll have to tune in to Dave’s interview and forego the KOMO Keys to the game tonight.
Turbo hitting 5th. Beltre up to the 2 hole.
Beltre in the 2 hole, Vidro smacking singles in the 5 spot. Ral hitting 3rd and Adam Jones still being awesome in Tacoma.
Adam Jones is still in Tacoma, everybody read a book or go outside tonight.
Remember how we used to deride Hargrove for his overly consistent lineups? Hard to believe MacLaren is even more steadfast in his refusal to change things.
Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like they usually wait until a series is over to do any big roster moves. Do we see Jones on this upcoming homestand?
Let’s see…Beltre’s a fastball hitter, so he’ll get a lot of pitches to hit in the number 2 spot (ahead of ever-threatening Raul Ibanez), and Vidro hitting 5th acts like a second lead-off man because he’s such a great contact hitter.
Do I win the prize?
Jones and Balentien both K in 3 pitches, ouch.
If I had to guess at McLaren’s “reasoning”, it would be that Vidro has two of his three home runs this year against McCarthy, so he thinks that equals “Vidro hits this guy well”, and wants to get him in a spot to drive in runs.
It’s absurd and exactly the kind of thinking that makes so many fans believe they know more about baseball strategy than these clowns, but it’s the small-sample-crap that passes for statistical analysis among managers.
Dave, don’t be hard on yourself. You sounded great on Friday-knowledgeable, well-prepared and confident in you opinions. I’m sure being on the radio is nerve-wracking, but you didn’t come across that way at all.
McLaren does seem utterly clueless in how to put together a lineup and I have to wonder how long the M’s are going to give him to figure it out.
jefff: Do you feel like there are people in charge who actually powerfully disagree with McLaren’s lineups?
#11: Probably until Joe Girardi is officially hired by the Yankees.
Vidro Sexson Johjima, there is a DP waiting to happen.
#13: Or check that, probably until they REALIZE that they might have a chance to lure Joe Girardi in as manager.
Dave
Master of Bluntness.
#14
Hell, we might hit into the vaunted 5-4-3 triple play tonight.
I actually think having Beltre hit second is a good idea. If Ichiro gets on base they will try and hit fastballs to prevent Ichiro from getting easy steals. Since Beltre is a fastball hitter this is a good move. Now with Beltre and Ichiro on Ibanez will probably sacrifice (which will make him happy because it won’t raise any stats). Guillen is hitting fourth he is hot lately so that wont be bad. Vidro comes up, drives in a run or two, and then leaves it to Sexon to hit into a double play and end the rally.
Not a bad first inning.
17, isn’t that going to require Sexson to get on base? That’s a huge leap.
I agree. I like Beltre in the 2 spot. But Raul has no business hitting 3rd at this point.
has anyone seen the new haircuts yet ?
There is zero evidence that a player sees a tangible positive effect from hitting 2nd in the order. It’s a myth.
Great interview. Really fun to listen to.
#19
You’re right. Ral hits the 5-4-3. The others get the garden variety 6-4-3 DP.
good job on the radio Dave.
Much better job Dave this time. I could understand what you said. It is quite a treat to hear your answers right away instead of posting and waiting for them.
I also completely agree with McLaren’s poor managing. Hargrove was growing on me for sure right before he left.
McLaren status: Feeling justified
Baker writes that most of the team had their heads shaved today. I didn’t think this team could look worse…
Ugh Raul
Gritty Willie shaved his chest apparently.
Rangers announcers, “Ibanez is a pretty good hitter…” Want him? Please?
Little help – my gameday is screwed up. What happened in Ibanez AB?
It starts with a “K”
32- Chased a ball bout 2 feet out of the zone for a K.
Random idea time! Let’s not waste another good outing by a starter.
happy brain birthday everyone….
Dave if you get a chance, could you put a percentage chance, per your best guess, that the M’s give up Adam Jones for Willis?
I’m getting very nervous reading about our scouts showing up to watch him pitch.
Should we hope for a strikeout? Or is Sexson destined to GIDP?
The race is neck and neck between Vidro’s SLG and OBP…. at least the human stature gets on base.
wow, I’m sure glad to see Sekkkkson is still batting sixth
Congrats, Johjima you now lead the team in DP! What are you going to do now?
especially since Kenji is batting behind him, way to waste a decent bat Mac
14: Well done. Although you should have been able to predict the K in the middle.
Joh snatches the GIDP lead away from Turbo.
Kenji is projected to play 146 games this season. Even God rested on the seventh day.
Dave- Would AJ have made that play in left?
The Ms staff is ranked 4th in the AL by FIP…
Adam Jones makes the catch and the inning is over. Coming up in the top of the 3rd for the Mar… wait Adam Jones isn’t in left? Where is he? TACOMA?!?!?! WTF!!!
“Ibanez can’t get to it.” Would Jone have made that play? I am listening on Radio.
I see 48.
Seriously: how many times are we going to hear “Would AJ have made that play in left?” or “Adam Jones makes the catch and the inning is over” before they f*cking call him up already?!?!?! There aren’t enough interrobangs in the world to express my frustration.
Great, we lost.
The 84 year old grandma in left costs us another run.
Something needs to happen here, all teams have to do now is hit it to left, and its auto double/triple and people know it. Raul has a bum knee and Bat.
Can the announcers tell the difference between a swinging strike and a foul ball?
Well it was fun while it lasted. Not long until the Seahawks season. At least the M’s kept us entertained into late July.
Am I pretending to see something that’s not there, or did Ichiro just slow down his bat on purpose to slow that ball down? Crazy.
#56
It’s not even that the season is over either, its just the fact you basically know the M’s are not going to do any of the things Dave suggests to make themselves legitimate contenders.
One of the best defensive catchers in the league throws the ball into center .
At least Beltre can hit. Now into the black hole of the middle of our line-up starting with Raul, who absolutely stinks this season.
Masterful lineup!
Good job base coaches Ichiro should have been on 3rd. Didn’t matter but it could have.
Ichiro with his 149th infield hit on the season…
BTW, if a 1-run deficit in the 3rd is enough to get someone to give up on the season, then, well, cool….it was great knowing you.
Crap, Ichiro scores, so i guess the season is back on again….
Oh the genius of McLaren!
Ichiro scores!
I’m going to go away now, the inning is over.
62- He slid, there was no way to get to third.
I bet Ichiro could grow to like having someone bat behind him that hits the occasional double to drive him home.
Oh the genius of McLaren!
How did we just know that Raul was NOT going to keep the rally going?…
#63
Fair enough but the handwriting is on the wall if last season is any indication. Hope I am wrong but I just don’t expect the M’s to do the things Dave suggests and if they don’t they just have to do a lot of hoping.
Raul. Ibanez. Cannot. Hit. Major. League. Pitching.
66- The throw was no where close, they should have been ready to yell before it got there and he could have easily popped up and ran. The throw got in to right center almost. IMO of course.
I would suggest making Raul the #9 hitter, but then Ichiro woould have a sudden cutoff in RBI production.
Not FAIR!!!!!!
Just imagine how the fellows at USSRainiers feel: they’ve been waiting for Ibanez to be sent down for weeks to improve the team, and it just hasn’t happened. Meanwhile, they have this Jones guy who’s doing way too well, but they can’t get rid of him.
#75
Yeah that is where I started my blog commenting career.
#70: Cheer up. Dave’s wrong alot.
Well, so much for the buzz cuts…
Kenny Lofton: More HRs than Raul.
Regression to the mean for Batista too
And Kenny Lofton adds to my drinking habit again, time for a liquor store run.
Lofton pretty much bunted that thing over the wall.
[deleted, excessive use of exclamation marks]
Geez, if have to be stuck with an old geezer, er “experienced veteran” in the line-up, can we have Kenny Lofton?
I think Sexson should grow his hair long and grow a beard like Damon had with the Red Sox.
[deleted, excessive use of exclamation marks]?
I wish I knew where we stood in regards to AJ.
Maybe Bavasi will wander by and can answer this:
1. How many games in a row would it take before you would bring AJ up just to shake things up? 5? 10?
Will we have to be mathematically eliminated before you will make a move?
2. Altrenatly, how bad would Vidro or Sexson or Ibanez have to hit before you made a change? Under .200? Well, no. .150?
Help me out, what level of crap do we have to descend to for you to move?
And I’m just gonna put it out there that if you trade AJ for a crappy pitcher, I am done with this team again until you are fired.
Rizzs: “And manager John McLaren is shuffling up the line-up tonight.”
Really? Funny AJ’s still not in it yet.
Your Seattle Mariners.
Making Bad Pitching Look Good.
How many games in a row would it take before you would bring AJ up just to shake things up? 5? 10?
Well, there’s already this bad precedent set with listening to those folks on the interweb, what with their meddling with Felix’s pitch selection. Hell, even Supergenius Tony Larussa called the M’s out for that. So if they bring him up now Bavasi will be dis-invited from the chew and spit circle at the next winter meetings.
They are going to sink or swim with the team as its composed. What is Bavasi going to do? All the moves involve the players he’s made the biggest commitments to – Sexson, Ibanez, Vidro, HoRam, and Weaver. If he makes a move involving any of those players his admitting that he screwed up royally and all those people who thought he should be fired were right. He clearly thinks that is worse than the increased odds of winning that AJones would bring or more Broussard.
89: Good point — since I thought our alleged line-up might make McCarthy look like the Second Coming of Clemens tonight.
#90
“dis-invited from the chew and spit circle at the winter meetings.”
Gotta admit that was funny.
It might be a bit of a stretch, but it seems like our LOB’s in this series number in the hundreds.
Man the Padres made up this afternoon….I wonder what the Brewers would give the Ms for Mateo…
not to mention he’s no bigger than your thumb…
They’re really pushing the “team haircut” angle. Really selling the “team is alright” vibe back to the homeland (again, check the Baker blog)
95: Yeah, the Brew Crew must’ve wanted Linebrink awfully bad.
[deleted, useless]
96: Punto & Eckstein would make a great tag team in Luchidor (sp) wrestling!
Yeah if the Mariners brought A.J. up and essentially admitted they were making their decisions by following the advice of a weblog it could bring down the whole baseball hierarchy. It had to be stopped before it got out of control.
I get so tired of hearing everyone beg to bring him up that I actually hope they don’t bring him up from AAA. Just to give you guys something more to complain about.
That was quite the self-contradictory statement.
#95–Linebrink was 3-3 this season with a 3.80 ERA as the Padres eighth-inning specialist … the Padres received left-handed relief pitcher Joe Thatcher, left-handed starter Steve Garrison and right-handed starter Will Inman.
is this the official start of Trading Season? do we count Kendall to the Cubs?
This would be a good time for Ichiro to think of the fans and try to jack one out for their entertainment
I’m surprised nobody has mentioned here that Cleveland and the Angels both won 1-run games today, the Angels in the bottom of the 9th. And the Yankees are leading KC…
but maybe everyone here has given up the playoffs thing.
I get so tired of hearing everyone beg to bring him up that I actually hope they don’t bring him up from AAA.
Good reasoning.
100- Following that logic shouldn’t we tell them to lose the rest of the games this season and never win a world series! Bavasi wouldn’t want people to think we are doing his job.
#98
Apparently you haven’t watched Ibanez and Broussard play left field.
are we playing the music because someone in the truck thought it was the 3rd out?
We should pinch hit Ellison for… uh… “defensive” reasons.
So, I’ve just noticed this now, but for the third day in a row whenever there is like one out and a Mariner grounds out with runners on…FSN starts playing their bumper music. The network is even used to them just GIDP all the time. sheesh.
#105– the Angels win came up in an earlier thread …
They probably played the music over the P.A. and figured the Mariner baserunners would walk off the field if they heard it. “Three already? Damn.”
Haha, Blowers saying “nice” at Beltre’s hit just now. The things these guys have resorted to getting excited about.
#107
Those are too general. We are talking about specific things that the Mariners should do to make themselves legitimate contenders which the Mariners F.O. never seem to do.
Sorry, I should have added…even though they are not out of the inning yet, FSN plays their music. Still funny.
Does that count as an RBI for Raul?
Disgusting swing.
Ibanez is money on the weak swing and miss turning into a run.
The Rangers always play that FSN bumper music whenever they make a “good” play, like Michael Young’s diving stop. It’s not the truck, it’s the PA system at the field.
did Guillen look a little gimpy crossing the plate there?
#113 – haha. I am glad I have something to smile at. Thanks for the laugh. and in response to #114 did you notice how the other day Sims kept talking about how the camera doesn’t always catch what a great job Raul does in LF. He actually went on to talk about how great he is because he is always so reliable backing up 2nd and 3rd. Heck, by Sims’s logic, let’s just sign a little leaguer and stick him or her out there.
116: Well, it almost worked last night in game #2 — we grabbed a lead for all af about three minutes after they cued the FSN music too early.
of course, if Vidro gets on, we then enter the Black Hole …
never mind.
121 – Yeah I heard that. I’ve been to four games now this season and there really isn’t anything positive to say about Ibanez’s fielding. Describing what he does as “backing up 2nd and 3rd” is such a joke. That’s literally what the position is there for; handle the balls that make it out of the infield.
I like Sims for the most part, but this kind of stuff irks me.
resident expert says 111 and 116 is wrong and 119 is correct, it comes from the ballpark PA system.
#126– nothing against Fox, but why would anyone pick that as in-stadium bumper music?
Yeah, Johjima and Batista work real well together.
this is going to end badly
Batista use your multi-lingual poem writing powers!
The way to end this losing streak is for the all the Mariners to quit shaving for the rest of the season.
127. maybe they can’t get clearance to use the FOX NFL theme to celebrate the coming of the cowboys to arlington.
PSSST, I got a secret. Batista is done!
Really, the only possible response to the way things are going is profanity. Lots and lots of fucking profanity.
Mariners continue losing streak. In other news, Mr. Roboto speaks Japanese.
You can tell Young sucked at football as a kid.
did we really have to go through the heart of their order watching them butcher Batista to realize he was done? Couldn’t they have noticed than when a) he walked the 9 hitter b) had the trainer come out c) threw a pitch 4 feet away from Kenji d) threw another wild pitch…what are they waiting for? Are they waiting for him totally blow the game?
And red rover…
133 — how did you get such great inside information?
Ya Simms, you can’t estimate the % of the time a leadoff walk in an inning will come around to score.
Please talk about Washburn’s deer farm in Wisconsin, and about the artifical insemination process again, it’d be more interesting and accurate.
#134
The only time I ever say f*ck is when miss a 3 foot putt.
Batista should walk more batters, seems to bring out the best in him.
#140
Gotta admit THAT was funny.
139- I know a guy, who knows a guy, who knows a guy that makes shit up… that kinda thing.
That was an awkward looking pitch….
What’s funny is McLaren actually thinks he’s smart by leaving Miggie in to rot. Guess he didn’t learn the lesson from HoRam the other day in this same park in this same inning.
At least we don’t do the Byrd flap, we have that self respect and pride as Mariners fans still.
Woo! The wrecking crew is coming up to do some damage. I can’t think of a hotter three hitters than Sexson, Joh, and Lopez.
137- McLaren is saving the bullpen for next season.
Raul, yuni, ellison
Funny how they’re smart enough to take their starting pitcher out before disaster strikes.
Richie is definitely hitting over .200…when there’s no one on base.
[]
Maybe they will pinch run Ellison early enough where we can see Ibanez, Ellison, Sexson. That would be a sight.
Simms calling everyone “big boy” or “big guy” is kind of disturbing and uncreative at once.
Johjima getting ready to pad his GIDP lead stat.
double play
Jake: Just imagine Sims all dolled up in drag and whispering it seductively to Sexson. It’s more entertaining than the game!
PSSSTTT…Kenji pulls everything. Don’t tell anyone.
WAY TO HUSTLE KENJI!!!!
Wouldn’t you love to be the pitching coach facing the M’s? How easy would that be to game plan. “Look – don’t throw strikes and they will swing. #2-#9 are all dead pull hitters who either refuse or don’t know how to hit the ball on the outer half of the plate…and their DH…well we can just bring the OF in to softball depth to take care of that guy.”
Good thing we don’t hit and run there. Sexson is so fast, Kenji never makes contact and he certainly never hits into the ground for a dp…sigh
Didn’t Lopez used to be able to hit?
Remember when kenji was hittin 300 +? and people were hopeing he would be on the all star team? And now the true kenji shows up.
Wow, this Ranger announcing crew is different. They are telling Yo Momma jokes.
Mariners great offense: One…slow…base…at…a…time…zzzzzz
Please let Ichiro get a hit with someone on base. Please.
Ok here comes out 11 game losing streak to end our season, and we turn from buyers to sellers, and we trade Sherril and guillen away for 2a players.
Ichiro will sacrifice bunt here.
I wonder what the cricket is saying. Probably ‘Go Mariners’…the immortal words of David Sims
Hahaha. Cricket interpretation.
Aww. It would have been awesome if he’d said “take a look at…” and gone to a graphic of translated cricket phrases.
christ on a cracker.
God. It really is like failure, and swinging at bad pitches, and errors, and everything else is contagious. I can see how people fall into using these types of cliches.
I think the cricket was saying “Call up Adam Jones”, but my cricketese is kind of rusty.
He he. Sims just said “dived out of the zone”. I hope his English teacher wasn’t listening.
Yeah it is real rare to see Ichiro swing at a pitch 5 feet outside of the strike zone.
hahahahahaha and to cap off our amazing road trip.
Simms exclaims what a “great pitch” it was. Yeah, throw it three feet outside and low and even our best hitter is dumb enough to hack at it rather than take a walk.
Real “great” (eyes rolling)
#164 – Head over to http://www.lookoutlanding.com for a really funny transcript (whether it’s real or not is debatable) of a post-game discussion between the Rangers announce crew.
Er uh “Sims” that is
I should replace “debatable” with “irrelevant”. I don’t know if Jeff just made it up. But it doesn’t matter, because either way, satire or no satire, it’s effing hilarious.
our 16 left on base compared to thier 4 left on, how pathetic.
McLaren is old school. Pitch till you drop.
WTF was that??!
Does Beltre not know that there is another player nearby?
#35 for A-Rod. Off Gil Meche.
I’m not sure yuni can make it but beltre was way out there.
184: Yep, and that the nearby player has 20+ errors already…which may have influenced his desire to perform a faceplant…
You may have caught that 3 years ago Kenny, but not now.
Crap I posted this in the wrong blog, but can someone tell me if the pitch that Ichiro struck out to was a strike and what kind of pitch was it?
I think it was a slider, and it was a few feet outside.
189
Waaaaaay outside and it was almost in the dirt. You know this team…no walks allowed!
99 – If I ever start a website, I’m calling it (Deleted, Useless).
188
MANY moons ago, I rememeber when he played against our Beavs for Lute’s ‘cats. I think it was on the team we crushed at Gill w/ Payton in 1990. (Those were the days…sigh)
And Vidro needs a 2RBI hit or else were screwed. We need this!
As many hits as Vidro has had lately, this sure WOULDN’T be a good time to NOT get another one.
it will take a triple to score ibanez
I wonder if Sims wonders what the crickets would say if we actually had three straight baserunners
196…from third
Infield track power
What the funk.
At least he stayed out of the DP.
what a cannon
I wanna see Mark Lowe, I need to see if my mancrush has faded.
Wild pitch #3.
Passed ball.
Man they are just playing like crap. All the way around. Just not doing anything right.
Thanks for that easy out, Corky.
This game is giving me intestinal cramps. 70% due to player performance, 30% due to the sickeningly banal and idiotic commentary by the Sims/Blowers two-headed broadcasting monster. It’s like these guys have chips implanted in their brains that shock them into regurgitating optimistic drivel at select moments. “But it’s a long season!” “Sexson has two hits tonight – both hit really hard!” “The crickets say ‘Go Mariners’, even though we’re in Texas!”
frank francisco’s name in spanish is Francisco Francisco.
Blugh. So… slow…
Wooooo! Mark Lowe!
That was hilarious, show Mark Lowe in the bullpen and he throws a wild pitch to the bullpen catcher. Endearing to the Mariner fans that forgot about him.
#207– Corky? who, Corky St. Clair?
God, even the Mariner singles are getting loud voice inflections from our broadcasters.
If there was ever a time for dinger.
ahhhh…the obligatory last ditch Broussard AB.
Oh good, more runners we can add to our LOB.
Corky. Sammy the bat corker.
Most awesome random game I have ever attended…the night Sosa got caught corking his bat at Wrigley. The only thing I heard the rest of the night was “Sosa, that fucking maggot.” It was awesome.
hey, they are as desperate as we are…
oh my god, turn off these idiots’ microphones
comon itchy.
BENNY BENNY BOO BOO!!
Not even with Lofton’s weak ass arm can we score on that.
I’d like to see Ichiro wile out and get violent with the gatorade cooler.
If we get a hit here I promise never to ask for rally fries
I love AB.
Beltre!
A two-out RBI! Sweeet!
Beltre!!! I do love me soma that Adrian. Quite the hot hitter lately.
Yes!!!!!
YES! Beltre is our saving grace these days.
Beltre is our revelation.
Despite even Ichiro with his head up his butt in some key situations, Adrian might just help us FINALLY end this streak.
Someone tell McDumbass its okay to use JJ in a tie game, especially if it keeps Reitsma out of the game.
Beltre! We heart you here at USSM.
…and he hit it the other way and didn’t try and pull it. Go figure.
Would that be a “triple double” for Beltre tonight?
Listening on the radio, I love when Dave N gets excited when a few minutes earlier it sounded like he’d given up.
If Raul gets this run in, even with another one of his magical whiffs…the world really may come to an end.
Unbelievable!!
I can get used to Beltre kicking ass batting second.
Mind exploded
And… the lead? Rauuuuuul!
way to go guys!
Holy guacamole!!
Rauuuuuuuuuuuul!
(yes, that was a lot of U’s to restore for one hit. But like the broadcasters, I am ready to overreact!)
Raul isn’t Ral for a night.
ummm…did Beltre get to bat twice?
OMG
I still think you should be on the bench Ral, but thanks for the RBI.
think of it as a parting gift from Raul.
237: World ended.
Somewhere Adam Jones sheds a tear.
I can’t believe my eyes. Who shall pitch bottom eighth, I wonder…
one must remember that Sims and Blowers don’t have the vast experience broadcasting baseball futility that Neihaus does
well there goes that.
Sherril and Putz here we go baby
Please tell me Retisma isn’t warming up? The Ranger crew doesn’t seem to ever show the M’s pen.
Who exactly gave Sherrill the “Governor” nickname?
255 – Sherrill’s up
Thank you huhwhat and McLaren.
Hey!!!
Where’s Reitsma…our “8th inning guy?”
(Totally kidding)
#256– Sims has been flirting with it. me, I’m sticking with The Pear.
I’m partial to David Wells’ bastard son myself.
Sims calls him the governor because “he doesn’t commute left-handers’ sentences.”
lol “filthy”
Using George as a LOOGY, awesome.
Game, Set, Match.
Whoa whoa whoa… what was that BA allowed v. righties??
I dunno, but i dont think this is the right move at this point, i would of waited one more out, i mean george only threw a few pitches. But i guess we will have to wait and see what happens.
.209…good thing we pull him before the righties start mashing
“Here comes… the BIG guy. Do you like my fishnets? They only go up to my thighs, see?”
Can we start calling 5 out saves a “JJ”?
tough save here even for JJ
Did weaver shave his head?
me like
Damn, yeah. I thought at least he usually came in with two outs in the 8th.
I have never heard an explanation as to why JJ is throwing the split so seldom this year.
Does anyone here know?
oh fuck
oooo wow, just our luck huh,
It was bound to happen someday.
Heck of a run, JJ. Still the team MVP.
272, no, per Drayer on the pregame. He also left to fly home just before the game, as he starts tomorrow, but that was no why.
And if you had Ramon Vasquez in the first blown save for JJ pool, you win.
I think ichiro should of at least tried for it, it didnt go that far over the wall.
I blame JJ getting his head shaved…and Dave Sims…
Whoops. BS #1.
hard hit ball by Vidro.
#281 – He didn’t try for it because he couldn’t get to it. Outfield was playing shallow to prevent the runner on 2nd from scoring on a single.
Hell we still got a shot as long as Benoit is pitching.
Game, Set, Season
yet another weak effing ground out from Sexson…
Thanks for pissing in our Cheerios Rangers…
Am I the only one that hates Sims’ “Mariner Nation” decree?
Is it ok to hit the panic button now?
I guess it wasn’t gonna last forever. That wasn’t an easy spot. Still, that’s a tough way to get swept. Don’t worry, JJ. You’re still our MVP.
The thrill is gone…
way to put up a fight in the 9th you hosers….
I’m guessing that this is the first ever 4-game sweep for the Mariners in which they lost each game by one run. In fact, I’m guessing that this has happened fewer than five times in MLB history.
The ship be sinking.
The Rangers are back in the race!
What’s the popular term around here? Regression to the mean? Yeah… this team was never very good, people.
that does just put the cherry on top, though– winding up the losing road trip with the blown save…
The Mariners should avoid the state of Texas forever.
Three 6 games losing streaks this season and this current one is not even over yet. I suddenly don’t feel so confident about their chances against Oakland.
Please let just one tiny (adamjones) thing come out of this series of unfortunate events…
R.I.P. 2007 Seattle Mariners.
I honestly want to yell at the top of my voice in Bill Bavasi’s ear right now.
Hmmmmmmmm, you lose 5 one run games in a week. Richie Sexson is hitting .200, and Adam Jones is in Tacoma.
Does our GM have shit for brains or what?
This is pathetic, we are 3.5 games out in July and I feel like the season just ended. This isn’t a feeling I’m supposed to get, but it’s hard not to.
When they were panning down the dugout fence with all of the M’s leaning on it, they looked like a team with a completely broken spirit… there wasn’t any fight in them at that point.
It seemed like they had 2 men on base every inning?
“is it ok to hit the panic button now?”
I have this bad feeling that won’t be necessary – that Bavasi will do that for us (ala Woody, 1997). I hope I’m wrong.
Yeah. With two outs.
When the mojo even goes south for JJ, you know things aren’t going well.
Bavasi looks like the effeminate alien “Roger” on American Dad.
Sorry.. I’M PISSED!
Wow. Can’t wait to get out of Texas. We couldn’t buy a break the entire series.
Losing four games to Texas is inexcusable. Losing four games to Texas by one run is criminal. And depressing as hell.
I haven’t believed the M’s were playoff material all season, but there were some glimpses of a team that could at least keep up. Now? They look just as bad as predicted and the unwillingness of the front office to do anything, even the simplest of obvious moves, is disgusting.
Hypothetically speaking, if the M’s are like 5 or 6 games out by July 31st should they still look to make a trade?
Please God, let Bavasi be back on the hot seat after this one.
WOW! The night of unlikely occurences continues:
Bill Krueger actually realizes we need to solve the “8th inning problem” and maybe Sherril should’ve been left in!
Amazing. Simple logic DOESN’T escape an FSN announcer!
How soon until football and basketball start?
Well, 307, if he adds a player that ends up being the best member of our bullpen, I guess it’ll be okay. Still, I see what you mean. Who’s ready for Contreras-mania?
Fwiw, if the 92 mph w/ no splitter Putz is around again, this could get downright depressing. HAD to be a brief aberration, right?
Fwiw you all do remember the big dingers he gave up in 2004 & 2005 I assume.
#316: That player would probably be Mark Lowe or Kam Mickolo. . .
#318: At the reliever will be, the starter would be someone like Jose Contreras.
At least*
Sorry, I’m a little flustered tonight.
Oh F- no…they’re talking about Dontrelle Willis on FSN. Like usual, Krueger says that Dontrelle would be “good” in the Mariner rotation.
Remembering the stat some ESPN guy quoted about the Ms before all-star game. We were +13 games over .500 but with only a +17 run differential. He said that kind of math had to catch up with the Ms. Guess it has in a hurry.
[deleted, tasteless]
I don’t think I liked that Japanese Pearl Harbor joke sir.
323: Replacing Johjima with a questionable prospect is only half as absurd as your attempt at humor.
Can someone fashion another ‘open letter’ to address all the moves that NEED to be made? Seemed to work before…
…or we could just play Burke oh…I dunno…say, uh TWICE a week, instead of once?
323 – Curious, my Japanese wife found your comment amusing, but I didn’t.
323. Sorry, that’s not funny at all.
missed in the Vazquez HR was the fact that Texas sacrificed a man to 2nd. That caused the outfield to play in. Not saying Ichiro would have caught the HR but Texas scrappiness helped it happen.
I want to see Adam Jones in Seattle right now, if only for the fact he hasn’t disappointed me like so many others on this team.
You know, how long can everything go wrong all at the same time? You know it’s bad when Putz gives up a bomb to Vazquez.
Keep the faith, people.
How many Home Runs did we just hit in a four game series at The Bandbox in Arlington?
1
316
That’s not the way I look at it. I was thinking more in terms of Varitek and Lowe for a lousy pitcher who would be out of the league within a few years in a trade that no sane General Manager, and few intoxicated, desperate fans with even a modicum of baseball knowledge would have made.
It’s not that bad people. We’ve lost 6 in a row, but we were in 5 of the 6 games. We’re only 3.5 back of the Angels.
It only hurts this much because we could have made one or two plays and won each of those 5 close games.
Now that we’ve lost 6 in a row with our offense disappearing, perhaps we’ll get to see Adam Jones join the club. If we’d continued to scrape out wins, there might never have been an excuse to bring him up.
Go M’s!
#336: Not to be a Debbie Downer, but sadly you forget who our GM is.
This team is backward enough to pitch Horacio on the road, give Sexson plenty of at-bats and allow Ibanez to play left (and give him plenty of at-bats to boot).
Color me skeptical.
My season-long skeptical optimism has shifted firmly into doubtful cynicism. It’s not just the losing streak – it’s the lackluster play, the apparent lifelessness of the players, the incompetence of McLaren, the lack of good platooning, the unwillingness to call up AJ, etc. Our starting rotation and oft-impotent offense are just too weak to stay in this thing.
330, you’re a madman. Seriously.