Game 54, Red Sox at Mariners
A special dual-author game thread post!
Wakefield vs The Interview, 7:10 pm.
Dave:
Thanks to reader Christian who sent this in. From today’s P-I notebook:
About three weeks ago, the Mariners were sick and tired of seeing a seemingly endless supply of short pop flies and soft liners fall in front of their outfielders.
They were particularly tired of seeing runners go from first to third when the opportunity was presented. So the Mariners did what seemed to be the logical thing — they started positioning their outfielders closer to the infield.
That worked well for a couple of weeks, but during the seven-game losing streak that the club carried into Tuesday’s game against the Red Sox, a number of balls have fallen behind the outfield.
…
“We’ve talked about it, and we’re going to split the difference,” manager John McLaren said. “I really can’t explain what’s happened. I’ve never seen anything like it. First, every ball was being hit in front of us. Then, when we brought the outfielders in, they started getting balls past us.”
Raises Hand: “Mr. McLaren, I can explain it. Raul Ibanez has the range of a poorly watered potted plant. You can move him around all you want, but it won’t matter. You could clone him, stick nine Raul Ibanezes in left field, and they still wouldn’t get to most of these lazy fly balls. You have a designated hitter playing left field. As long as you keep him out there, you’re going to have a serious problem.”
“That’s ridiculous, son. Raul works his tail off, shows up to the ballpark early, and we’re happy with his effort. I just don’t understand how the ball keeps falling in front of him, and then behind him, and occasionally next to him. It’s bewildering.”
Puts hand down, punches self in face “How did you get hired again?”
Derek adds:
More from the PI
Manager John McLaren talked about the energy he felt Miguel Cairo gave the club while playing first base, including making a couple of nice placeon [sic] defense and bunting the eventual winning run into scoring position Tuesday in the bottom of the ninth.
Cairo is an utter embarrassment. He has no place being on the Mariners roster. He does nothing that Bloomquist doesn’t do better, and Bloomquist is a fit as the last guy on the 25-man. Cairo stays on the roster while other players who are more useful to the team have been shuffled off. It makes no sense that he’s on this team in the first place, it doesn’t make sense that he’s stayed on the team..
That the team would start him as a reward for his “spark” is another indictment of McLaren’s incompetent management and lineup construction. We’ve seen this over and over again with this team, where whim and wishful thinking drive decision making, and this is one more in the never-ending series of decisions that make reasonable fans want to punch themselves in the mouth so they’ll feel something other than overwhelming frustration with this team.
Jeff Clement got sent down hitting .167/.286/.250, but Cairo, who can’t even manage that, who we have every reason to think is hitting to his skill level, is starting at first base. Willie Bloomquist, despite having a lower batting average, gets on base more than Cairo and plays better defense — and who we were supposed to see get more playing time because Cairo was on the roster — sits. Sexson, who at least provides power, sits. A defensively inept left-fielder who can hit plays the field while an offensive black hole occupies the “Doesn’t Hit” slot in the lineup. Our manager’s seen that the once-invincible closer, now clearly not right, needs to pitch more often. On and on and on.
In related news, tonight we’ll get under 250 plate appearances before Turbo’s option vests.
And the M’s still have the worst defense in the league.
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The defensive alignment thing is a good analogy for the M’s as a whole. Well…. we noticed that that we didn’t have a fella penciled in as designated hitter. Carl Everett is a designated hitter, so we hired him. It turns out he couldn’t hit very well, so what we did was we traded for a different one. Now it turns out that the new guy isn’t a very good hitter either. So what we did was we brought up a guy from AAA who the fellas down there in Tacoma say is a good hitter. He didn’t seem to hit very well either so we sent him back to AAA and now we’re back to guy number 2. That seems to be working OK. Now… we also noticed that we didn’t have a guy penciled in as our #4 starter. We had a #3 and a #5, but we really needed to fill that #4 spot…
SEATTLE
I. Suzuki, CF
M. Cairo, 1B
J. Vidro, DH
R. Ibanez, LF
J. Lopez, 2B
A. Beltre, 3B
W. Balentien, RF
J. Burke, C
Y. Betancourt, SS
The lineups are getting more jokey every day. I’m a loyal fan but Mariners management is making this very difficult on me.
On the brighter side, at least Sexson is on the bench. But this article has put me in a pretty sad mood after that nice win last night. Way to piss in my cheerios.
The line-up is like a line from a bad stand up routine.
“If you are a major league manager and you play Miguel Cairo at first base and Jose Vidro at designated hitter, and you bat them 2nd and 3rd in the order, you might be an idiot.”
I’m not even going to say anything about the lineup tonight, it speaks for itself.
Wait, Cairo is hitting #2? I dare anyone to find a worse #2 hitter in a MLB game today. In fact lets make it interesting. I dare anyone to find a worse hitter in a #2 spot in a womans college softball game in the last 6 weeks! No offense to women, I am saying that they are just better than he is. I wonder if Angie Mentink would play 1st and hit #2 for us tonight?
If you have Raul Ibanez in left field and wonder why your defense isn’t as good as you thought it might be, you might be an idiot.
My brain is going to explode looking at that line-up. I can’t even begin to fathom the logic behind putting Cairo, Vidro and Lopez at #2, #3 and #5. Don’t teams usually put their best hitter at #3?
I guess McLaren wants to be mentioned in the same breath as Maury Wills as worst M’s manager ever. At least Wills had an excuse for his bizarre behavior.
And let’s not forget, Morrow apparently will be spending the rest of 2008 in the bullpen because that’s the best place for him to help the team come back and win the West.
Via Baker.
If you have Brandon Morrow in your bullpen, you refuse to stretch him into a starter, you’re 12.5 games out of first before June, and you’re still holding out hope to get back in the race, you are an idiot. (per Baker’s Blog)
The Mariners, with Bill “stuck in the ’60’s” Bavasi, and John “baseball confuses me” McLaren, the M’s are trying to figure out how to get a better biplane while the rest of the League is using fighter jets.
Does this one work? ….You might be an idiot if you give a pitcher with a FIP of 4.77 a personal catcher.
How about, If your ball club is 12.5 games out of first place, and you still send Vidro out to bat every game, you might be an idiot.
I really don’t care if Morrow starts right now or next year. It would be best if he can learn another pitch or two before they throw him to the dogs.
If you are the leader of a MLB team and you blame the teams failure on lack of leadership, you are most certainly and idiot.
Seriously, who takes the two worst hitters on their roster, two guys who don’t even belong in the majors at this point in their careers, and bats them second and third?
If you had told me someone would do that, I wouldn’t have believed it.
Seriously the team we are playing has Youk playing first and Ortiz as a DH. We have Cairo and Vidro. Amazing.
If you grew up in Kent, bought a Red Sox t-shirt in 2006, and wear it to the game tonight to feel like you are part of something bigger (the red sox nation) you might be an idiot.
Thanks Dave, this patern of comments is great. Humor is the best cure for depression.
Actually it has Sean Casey playing first. Youkilis is sitting out another game with a sore wrist.
The scary thing about Wakefield (as a Sox fan) is that he can dominate any team . . and he can get rocked by any team.
And the Sox never did much with Bedard when he was on the Orioles they seemed to basically try and work the pitch count every at bat and get him out of there so that they could face the Baltimore 7th inning guys.
If Vidro and Cairo get into your 2-3 holes and Beltre bats 6th (F#@$&^*&ING 6TH!!!) You are not only an idiot, but you are using up smart people’s air. Stop.
Right. Pick on the manager, as if he was at fault. Clearly the teams lacks spirit, they don’t know how to have fun, they need a mental adjustment, everyone predicted they’d win the division, there are no problems with upper-, mid- or low-management. Damn. I’ve run out of Brian Meehan cliches (from the Oregonian).
I don’t know that the Bedard you’ll see tonight is the Bedard you saw with Baltimore. He’s shown flashes of that, when he’s healthy and getting along with his catcher or whatever, but at other times….
On the bright side, if Dickey comes in as a reliever we could have the (now) uber-rare knuckleball-vs-knuckleball random dicefight smackdown.
Did you notice how, when Beltre came up to bat, Okajima seemed to change his pitching pattern a bit? He almost seemed to regard Beltre as a whole different level of seriousness of threat than the other guys he was facing in the Mariners’ order.
If you’re a Redsox fan are you giddy or insulted?
#21. Yeah, I guess we’ll see. Bedard used to seem even better against the yankees than the Red Sox. I was shocked that he got beat up in new york.
There’s a good answer for that James. Beltre’s actually a major league hitter!
You can’t be insulted with Wakefield pitching. It’s all about him. He can make lousy hitters look like Ruth and Gehrig. He could probably have made Babe and Lou look like Neifi Perez. It’s all dependent on how he’s throwing that inning. I say inning because he can lose it or get it back seemingly instantaneously. It can be frustrating to watch and it probably contributes to the lack of interest of a lot of teams in developing a knuckleballer. But he’s usually good for league average work and with his voluntary indentured servant contract there’s a lot of value in that.
“Doesn’t Hit” Slot? You are far too kind. I prefer Dung Heap when our lovable pile of Vidro is in the lineup.
#25. Teams are pretty good at identifying *the* guy in the other lineup who should be most feared. It looked like the Red Sox picked Beltre, which is not to slight Suzuki, they IBB’d him in the 9th.
I love to watch Beltre hit. He has my favorite swing of anyone since Griffey was a Mariner. It lacks the grace, but there is so much power in there. Of coarse Kenji’s is pretty sweat when he gets a high fastball that he likes.
I really like to watch Cairo hit. It reminds me of what I would look like if I got a chance to hit major league pitching. Not much contact, and if I did hit it, it would look like I hit it with a wet noodle.
Good job not showing us the game, FSN. Because I tune in for the commercials.
Maybe one day, he’ll be a professional hitter like Turbo.
jro, i hope not.
Ehh. Made him throw a lot of pitches.
Great AB by Miguel “Chuckles” Cairo.
The Celtics are slapping the pistons around pretty good right now. That’s where your Boston area front runners are, at the garden.
Ha ha ha! Blowers making fun of Manny’s defense in left. “Always entertaining.”
Yeah, you know what? We get that every damned night with Raul. It wears thin pretty quickly.
News Flash re: The Sounders FC (from yahoo news) “to the creation of its own fan organization that will have the power every four years to vote out the current general manager if the team fails to perform.” Now, why can’t the M’s do something like that. We’d have been able to get rid of Bavasi last year. (Banging head on wall)
I think the term “bavisdation” should be used to describe what has become of the Mariners!
That was a home run in Fenway Park. Damn.
The easiest way to lower your blood pressure is to stop being passionate about this team and start viewing it as a well-written Comedy of Errors- a diversion for when you get bored during the otherwise pleasant summer…
… and of course Ibanez ends up making a rather routine catch appear challenging by “banging into the wall”. That earned him 50 more games in left.
Raul making great plays in left, much like Vidro base hits, feel like steps in the wrong direction.
Wow. Lopez had a .301 batting average and a .313 on base percentage.
Wakefield rolling so far. If only he could bottle it and call on it whenever needed.
44 – His OBP was only 1 point higher than his batting average a few weeks ago.
Looks like were going to be in for a long night the way were just wiffing at that junk pitch.
Anyone count how pitches it took Wakefield to strike out the side? Couldn’t have been much more than 10.
48 – It was 11 pitches.
Wakefield 20 pitches thru 2.
Where’s our Knuckleballer? Fishin’ in Tacoma….
Hmmm…
Have you ever seen one, in person, a knuckleball? Amazing stuff.
does this mean that somehow Cairo’s Veteranocity trumps Willie’s Grit?
he has more than one pitch. he just doesn’t usually have to use them in relief.
I don’t know anyone who is a part of the FC fan organization (in its current form as the Emerald City Supportors) who thinks that will ever happen.
actually dickey is in the bullpen
actually, he is in the bullpen watching Wake pitch, after having had a long talk with him yesterday about the art of the knuckler.
The guy who plays catcher on my rec league softball team can throw a knuckleball. I pitch. He likes to kid around and throw knuckleballs back to the mound. I am not amused when he does.
That (half) Navajo can RUN.
I’m growing to hate Yuni Betancourt – wait, that sounds like it was Miguel Cairo’s fault.
There’s some spark right there good thing Cairo is at first base
But I hated him already.n How was that not an error?
#55. Yeah. I got hit in the chest warming up with a guy who thought it was cute to throw one in without saying anything.
Thanks for the update!
Nice to know we have a dancer in the house…..
Manny! Votre chapeau est tombe!
Yuni wants you to like him, Colm.
Ah yes. The downside of Tim Wakefield.
It would be such a great thing to take 2 of 3 from BOston on this trip. Please guys, don’t blow it.
I’m watching the Dodgers go into extra innings on ESPN, except they switch back to every Manny at bat. I’m not listening, but I’m guessing in that universe, the Mariners only exist as cardboard props.
I’m not going to lie. when I read:
wonder at what point Mac will be allowed to acknowledge that they are in fact not still in it
when he’s fired.
A well watered plant would have more extension on it’s leaves and therefore more range.
I am not a spark so I cant make the roster, but is it bad that I who haven’t played baseball since my freshman year of high school am a better hitter than half of the Mariners…well at least the DHs?
Same as last year. They’re in it until mathematical elimination. Miracle Mariners probably sounds feasible to people who thought Sexson would be the Comeback Player of the Year.
NESN just showed a table that displayed the teams with the lowest strikeout totals. The Mariners have the fewest strikeouts in the AL.
but the difference is minimal… its still a potted plant!
I should clarify, the fewest strikeouts by their hitters.
Did you blink? That was a 6-pitch inning.
No surprise there. Your 2008 Mariners can engineer a 90-second, six-pitch inning at will, with nary a stikeout in sight.
Bedar….d!
The Red Sox have 5 or 6 guys who look like they have any chance against Bedard. Not Cash. Not Lugo. I know he almost hit a homer but Crisp looks generally overmatched too.
Does it almost seem like Bedard still isn’t a Mariner? I don’t just mean the one-hitter. There’s something about the guy that just doesn’t seem like he’s on our team.
maalox, you mean because he doesn’t suck?
I’m happily enjoying him as a Mariner as long as he’s here. Cairo, on the other hand, definitely seems like a Mariner, you know, in the bad way.
Yikes. Pistons within 5 with 2:38 to play.
80 – Bedard probably has to trick himself into thinking he’s not a Mariner in order to motivate himself. I mean seriously…he comes into the locker room a couple hours before the game and looks at the lineup and has to think…”you’ve got to be F’ing kidding me!”
That’s one of the reasons I still watch every game. You get to see those sweet Beltre’ grabs.
Hey Dave,
You wrote a couple weeks ago that there was no way Vidro would reach the necessary PA’s to get vested for ‘09. Do you still feel that way, and why?
Was it at least partially because you thought Clement would get most of Vidro’s at bats? I am just looking for a little light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.
Gracias!
I’d say that Mac ought to send Bedard back out there in the 7th if we don’t score any runs in this inning.
As a Red Sox fan, I think the Mariners should look at the big picture and not push Bedard too hard.
From Baker’s blog:
So does that mean Mac chewed out Yuni for the tantrum then came out and praised him to the media? In politics we have this thing about staying on message. You know, just take one position at a time.
I guess I mean that he doesn’t seem in any way connected to the rest of his team. He didn’t even react when Lopez turned that inning-ending double play.
Pitchers duel between Erik Bedard and Tim Wakefield… what a wonderful way for game 54 to work. Do you think management had the lineup looking this bad at this point in the season
Ooooo. Questionable call.
Cairo was clearly safe.
What a terrible decision.
Ok, this has been bugging me since I noticed last year– Does anyone know why there’s a light-green patch of grass in right field? It’s not a reflection from the Hit it Here Cafe, I’m sure of it.
I guess WFB doesnt exist anymore.
95 – I always thought that was where the controls of the underground heating device were located.
I don’t see how he was clearly safe. It was a bang bang play.
Yeah, it’s the bane of the groundskeepers. It’s a combination of having the right fielder stay in the spot so often, wearing it down, and that it’s the part of the grass that gets the least sun, so the least chance to heal. At least that’s what I read somewhere.
Another perfect call by the Blue. Man, they just don’t get enough credit as the best trained officials in any major sport.
Time for someone to be warming up, Mac.
#100. Compared to the NBA where fouls are determined based on the respective players’ Q ratings, they’re excellent.
95 – The answer to your question is here http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/363043_aguy14.html
106 pitches so far. Come on McLaren. What is this, the Bataan Death March. Take him out (and put in someone not very good)
103 – Thanks for that. I guess I was wrong!
Coco Crisp is such a nothing offensively. With a bat in his hand, supermarket doors would remain closed in front of him.
Ah, James T, it’s so nice to have someone aligned with another team to be annoyed with our pitching and managing. Thank you.
Morrow may be warming up but I’m sure Bedar…d is lobbying hard to finish!
3-2 “fast”ball there by Wakefield gets the 6-3 groundout.
Hey, there’s Dickey in the bullpen looking for me in the binoculars. Wants me to pay more attention to where he is and how he’s doing…
This has been such a good outing for Wakefield; it would be a shame for it to go to waste.
James, we feel the same way about Bedard. But im sure your aware of that.
Two nights in a row Lugo bunts way too hard. So useless. So very useless.
Cairo….
Nice play!
James. It is a bit funny reading your concern for your beloved socks. I just tuned into gameday – see Wakefield through 7 on 81 pitches – Bedard at 109 – and Mariners with 1-0 lead and figure this game is a good bet to be a Sox victory.
You know that you’re hard up for good 1B players when Miguel Cairo makes your starter look like a AA-player…
Now if we were playing Cairo because we recognized the value of his defense… (and weren’t punting offense at so many other positions at the same time).
100 MPH!
OMG!! 100!!!!!!!!
100 MPH!
Morrow…. 100 mph Whoaaaaaaaa!
100 MPH!
You beat me, Rick L!!!
Sssssssssssssmokin!
If the M’s were actually good, Sims might put himself on the DL.
100!!! AMAZING!
Sharpen you epees. It was duel night in the West. Halladay and Harden were going at it in Oakland.
Having Brandon Morrow in the bullpen is like having Superman as your punter in a football team.
And another good example of how Manny SUCKS at anything involving running. The guy should be going for All-Star-Game nomination at DH, NOT leading the OF nominees…
Will Morrow get to pitch the ninth?
This would be a good time for a passed ball.
Faster yer seatbelts.
#126. Good to see Harden pitching against somebody else. He’s thrown 3 good games against the Sox and was on the DL in between.
Morrow is tired from practicing his pooch kicks to keep them in the stadium.
Ichiro – the old 1st to 3rd trick again. It is the only way he can advance. Basically playing with himself the way he is hung out to dry with that lineup.
Morrow’s pitching much better than Putz is right now. I’d leave him in there.
Tampa Bay and the Cubs are tied for the best record in baseball. The world is coming to an end.
Remy, on NESN, was chuckling about how deep Balentien was positioned. Annnd then the ball goes right to him. Ugh.
Niehaus just reported that Putz is throwing 96 mph.
And Vidro and Cairo both have a hit tonight.
oh boy… here we go
All I want for my birthday is two M’s wins in a row!!
Go M’s!!!
So – those with video – is Putz throwing well?
The thing I would find interesting – assuming it can be done – would be for someone to put together the mythical best lineup given our current roster, and from that estimate what our record should be.
I’m not one of those people who agrees with “It’s not McLaren’s fault – look at the roster he was given!”, especially when he’s trotting Cairo out there and leaving our DH in left. And that’s not even considering how he “manages” the bullpen.
Perhaps it’s not a sad thing that a guy who has waited all of his life to be a manager is “stuck” with this team. Perhaps he’s waited all of his life to be a manager because he’s not fit to be a manager.
too bad morrow will not make the move to the rotation cause he’s been great so far, not like there’s much to lose now
Hopefully we can shut up the damn Red Sox fans.
I just tuned into this game. What team subbed in for us tonight?
141. Not by his standards. 96 on the last pitch, but his command is not there.
No runner for Ramirez?
He’s throwing hard but he is all over the place.
145. Bedard an Morrow were pretty much lights out.
Putz does not look sharp at all.
Come on Putz…..
I think the only other guy who could run for Manny would be Alex Cora and he’s *barely* faster than Manny, if at all.
Ichiro – Beltre – Ibanez(DH) – punt x 6
It wouldn’t help the record much. This team is bad.
Splitter time.
This game proves that Morrow is too valuable to waste in the rotation.
Putz……..!
Coco Crisp, offensive cipher.
The chemistry’s turned around! It’s all wins from here on out!
Good series for Ms – on the lucky side of 2 one run games.
That’s probably the most we can expect.
YES!!!
WOO HOO!!!
Jagerbombs for everyone!!!
Still 14 games under .500, feels like a huge mountain to climb. Ugh.
I hate being an all-weather fan. Games like this just have me seeing so many good things suddenly occurring for the team. Why can’t they just be consistent so I can sit back, relax, revel in the consistent ineptitude of my team, and be satisfied that things will get better SOME day. I don’t want it now, I need it just at some point. Quick change leaves me feeling vulnerable and scared. This is first day of middle school all over again.
Hurrrr M’s win I’m so excited omg hurrrrr
Start firing people please.
Two wins? That’s almost a streak!
And it’s even more delicious that it’s against the Red Sox. Damn annoying fans.
Great to see Bedard with a nice outing.
Burke’s asked in if this is the same team that left New York (which, uh… yes, it is), and Burke cites many components of team chemistry! Yay! The team’s having fun again!
lol at pinch running for Casey and not Manny. WTF was that?
162: Don’t look at the forest, just focus on the trees!
Wow. For all the crappy pitching we’ve seen the last week or so, this is great. Shutting out the Boston Red Sox is something that doesn’t happen all that often.
This is the first Mariner shutout this year. Is it not?
I hate to be the bearer of good news… but if this team remotely rebounds things will continue to stay the same-90% bad with enough bright spots to count on one hand
It’d be nice if Bedard settles into an ace role along with Felix. Give a reason to tune into 20% of games (the defense half innings of the games Felix and Bedard start).
171: Yes, it is
my bad. obviously this is the start of the Miraculous Comeback (TM)
so the radio just said we traded for bedard so he could “be a stopper.”
it is. on the other hand, they’ve been shutout 3 times.
Wow! two wins in a row AND a shutout against the Sox….
Best birthday present ever..Thanks guys…
Make it three in a row and we’re all going to Sizzler!!
Well, we made up a game on the rest of the division.
I think the Ms saw the article on ESPN about how they’re the saddest team in baseball, and had a moment of “we’ve been doing it wrong?”
Boy, does it feel good to shut up Red Sox Nation. It was fun pretending that was game 7 of the ALCS … back to the 20-34 reality that is your 2008 Seattle Mariners.
And now I lay me down to sleep, and pray the Baseball Gods my soul to keep, and for Brandon Morrow to not get injured!!!
We won our 20th game! And it’s not even June! We caught up to San Diego!
yes. sublime series win. Way to go M’s.
ESPN’s coverage of the game ends with a quote by Betancout, through an interpreter. I was not aware Betancourt used one, maybe hes trying to be Ichiro.
Was it just me, or did Bedard look kind of pissed tonight? We haven’t had a pitcher who succeeds through anger since Randy. Maybe it was having so many Red Sox fans in the stands, but whatever it was, let’s do more of it.
What sucks about this series is after winning two games on a total of five runs the team will figure they’re “back on track” and change nothing. McLaren’s and Bavasi’s jobs are saved! Halelujah!!
The Mariners win not only this game but also the series against Boston.
USSM ponies are now running happy and free!
That was the Mariner’s first 1-0 win since Aug. 9, 2005. Two thousand and five.
And the media is still pissy because Bedard makes their jobs harder:
Oops, that last line was supposed to be outside the quote (it’s from me, in case you can’t tell).
I do love the fact that when asked the difference between this start and his (9 run) last start in New York, Bedard’s one-word answer was “Location” — leaving them wondering if he was talking about pitches or geography.