Game 83, Blue Jays at Mariners
This is what it comes down to: starter by committee. The guy taking the mound for us started the year as a back-rotation candidate, has spent the season being alternately effective and bad, often going long stretches where the manager(s) seem to forget he’s there at all. There’s no one to be called up from Tacoma for a turn, no ready spot starter to take the mound… nothing. We’re serving leftovers for dinner today, Blue Jays. Please to enjoy.
Again, no one has put out a pre-game chemistry forecast. It’s disappointing. I’d have thought coming off that sweep they’d have all gelled and kept on going, united in trying to redeem the season, but I guess not. If only someone had been able to tell us what happened to the chemistry. Or where it stands for tonight’s critical game.
Update: I just realized this, but if RRS goes the hoped-for four innings, that’s better than four of Batista’s fourteen starts and two of Silva’s.
If he manages to go five, that’ll be equal or better to five of Silva’s starts and fully half of Batista’s starts this year.
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And in a DH in Tacoma, they are starting A) a reliever in game one, and B) a kid from A-ball in game two.
Nice pitching depth.
Leftovers?
Bill Krueger predicts RRS will go 4 to 5 IP, have an excellent outing (”he eats right-handed hitters for dinner”) and thus earn himself the next Mystery Starter spot as well. He was positively emphatic about this.
Is Bill in on “The Hope Trap”, or was this wishful thinking?
Yeah for RRS getting a “start,” but Rich Dorman would have been a better story (and maybe better than 3 innings of Cesar Jimenez).
Regarding chemistry, one of the great sports quotes, and a basic truth about baseball, came from Earl Weaver when asked about momentum (which is another word for chemistry): “Momentum is tomorrow’s starting pitcher.”
In other words, Earl said it’s a bunch of BS.
Believe it or not I haven’t been this interested to watch a Mariners game in several weeks.
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s sad we’ve come to this point, but I actually think Ryan Rowland-Smith has the make-up and ability to become a future No. 4 or No. 5 guy in the starting rotation.
I don’t expect him to be dominant just yet, but consider the following:
- Rowland-Smith holds right-handed batters to a Moyer-esque .159/.245/.280
- The Blue Jays are right-handed dominant in their lineup (Wells, Rios, Rolen, etc.)
- If he performs well it will save us from a potential Batista/Washburn/Silva signing this offseason
I guess in my opinion serving leftovers would be like putting Batista out there tonight. This is more like throwing together some unused ingredients and crossing our fingers that it’ll turn out. At least there’s a chance of success, right?
sigh.
Ichiro RF
Jose Lopez 2B
Raul Ibanez LF
Jose Vidro DH
Adrian Beltre 3B
Jeremy Reed CF
Richie Sexson 1B
Jeff Clement C
Yuniesky Betancourt SS
The man has to have photos of Howard and Chuck in compromising positions. How on earth does anyone put him in the lineup and bat him cleanup?
Arrrrggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh…………
It’s bad enough to have a DH that wouldn’t be on any other major league roster. It’s just salt in the wounds that he bats fourth and that our manager truly believes that he is a good hitter.
Hey, Riggles!
.220-.269-.326 is BAD! It would be bad for a slick fielding shortstop, it is way past unbelievable for a DH.
That is an OPS+ of 63. Do you know what that means? No, I don’t suppose you do. Never mind.
sortakinda chemistry-related:
“After fielding practice today, Riggleman pulled his infielders together and chatted with them for about five minutes going over what they just practiced. I have to say that I haven’t seen a manager for any Seattle or any other team ever be this hands on before – take that for what it’s worth.”
Willie’s 3 ABs yesterday puts him just 70 behind Valdivielso:
080 – Consecutive games without an XBH
153 – Consecutive at bats without an XBH
175 – Consecutive PAs without an XBH
084 – 2008 season ABs with no XBH
099 – 2008 season PAs with no XBH
Unofficial records:
100 – Consecutive games without an XBH – Greg Gross
223 – Consecutive at bats without an XBH – Jose Valdivielso
266 – Consecutive PAs without an XBH – Larry Lintz
124 – Full season ABs with no XBH – Dwain Anderson
144 – Full season PAs with no XBH – Dwain Anderson
Well, I was thinking about watching the game…
I just don’t understand Vidro batting 4th…the other guys must be pissed…
The Mariner All Access show, the one that starts on FSN an hour before game time… Do they just like film 30 minutes a month and then show the same segments over and over or what?
If I see that segment again about the guy that prepares the meat at Safeco two days ahead of time I’ll barf.
#13
Well then you might wanna skip the All Access Show before tomorrows game, don’t want you to get sick.
Seriously. I keep telling myself I don’t care anymore. But when I see Vidro’s name in the lineup…batting 4th…ahead of Beltre…ahead of Clement…I just can’t get over the frustration.
(Tho it helps to remind myself it’s temporary…and repeat the name “Strasburg”…)
Willie’s not in the lineup, so his chase for the record may have to wait.
In the lineup at all is a slap in the chops.
Hitting 4th? Where Edgar used to hit?
Maybe that’s it – they printed up a bunch of lineup cards with “DH” automatically inserted at 4th.
Makes you wonder – is this an org-wide philosophy or something? That the new manager is making the same inexplicable, and bad, decision makes me say WTF?
About chemistry being tomorrows starting pitcher, I love that quote, and it looks like a good chunk of our chemistry just went on the DL. Plus, it explains why we had no chemistry going into yesterday’s game against Halliday.
Why does having your identity stolen result in being forced to work in a fast food restaraunt that sells fish?
I think it’s cute, but I never quite caught the connection.
It would have been nice for the KJRAM site to spell RRS’ name right in their posted lineup. You know, since he plays for the Mariners and all.
Why isn’t Vidro forced to work in a fast food restaurant that sells fish?
because he would stink up the joint
He’d only be able to fry one fish stick at a time, and at a much lower speed than other cooks?
Because they monitor his credit and send him e-mail alerts?
When does the Home Run Derby start? I give it the second inning.
It’d be awesome if they monitored his performance and sent him email alerts.
“You suck.”
“Still sucking.”
“Doing great — no, you suck.”
“Sucktastic.”
good thing he has wheels
You have to admit that was a good looking inning for RRS. Ill take more of those please…
That ball must of had some serious air under since Raul got to it.
I was going to make a joke about Vidro liking his fish cooked nice and slow, but then I remembered that really good looking fish recipe of his, in the last M’s cookbook.
Rizzs said that there is a contingent of Mounties at the ballpark for Canada Day, one of whom is Matt Stairs’ sister.
Vidro shows his value as a cleanup hitter immediately.
After all those pitches that Lopez and Ibanez saw, Vidro wastes two outs with one pitch.
Thanks, DH.
31… that was mentioned yesterday.
I know at least one Canadian who is at the game with his parents. Apparently there was a Canada Day celebration of sorts today.
Ladies and gentlemen: your cleanup hitter.
Just turned on the game and was amazed to see Turbo hit into a DP. Boy, when was the last time that happened?
His veteran grit would get stuck between the diners’ teeth.
just vidro being vidro
hmm. with RRS pitching too, should we go back to calling it Dominion Day?
Well, he sure did “cleanup” the bases…
Maybe he just misunderstands the term.
Just once, I’d like to hear one of the M’s beat writers/radio guys ask Riggleman what the rationale is behind having Vidro batting cleanup. I mean, the NL version of this would be having the pitcher bat cleanup, wouldn’t it? Arguably, is there anyone starting tonight who wouldn’t be a more logical person to put in the 4th slot?
Let me think…
No.
Well, maybe Clement on the grounds that you would want to keep some pressure off of him while he gains experience.
why don’t we jsut go craazy and replace all the veteran pitchers with our younger arms? or would that be sanity?
Long John Vidros. Their specialty is the “singles platter”; single pieces of chicken and fish with chips.
Sims just said “That’s what I liked about Ryan last year, he’ll knock you off the plate. He will pitch inside.”
Has he been going to the Rick Rizzs school of redundancy?
I think those young ladies have had something other than jelly donuts, eh.
I really hope morrow can move into the rotation, he’s a waste as closer for a team that loses so regularly
*yawn* Oh. Hey. Is this season still going?
Who?
Wow, Richie thinks he’s Ichiro now, hitting singles, stealing bases, what’s next? The sleeve tug?
what the hell?
OK, is Richie’s skillset totally different now?
I’m tracking the game on Gameday. Was that a legit steal?
That was strange. Even Rizzs sounded shocked.
Good for Richie. His skills may be going, but his desire hasn’t.
Lauren! hey– just this evening I walked past the perfect car for you– it came in an alluring green shade …
Yes, it was a steal. They weren’t holding him on, and he had a huge jump. The throw was on the wrong side of the bag and he was easily safe.
Meanwhile, Long John Vidro’s sells fish but they serve it on the ground.
kinda like when Edgar would get his biennial steal.
What might have been….M’s rotation 2008:
Hernandez
Washburn
Batista
Morrow
Rowland-Smith
1B Ibanez
2B Lopez
3B Beltre
SS Betancourt
LF Reed
CF Jones
RF Suzuki
C Clement
DH not Vidro
Lots of extra money, lots more pitching depth with Tillman at Tacoma.
Richie easily caught a foul pop, got over there quickly. Right after he easily stole a base.
Ibanez tracked down two fly balls so far at the fence.
Are these phrases that have ever been said before?
60 – Depressing.
What is the pitch count “The Feed” is on, and is it strict? He’s 12/13/9 through three, with just that one hit/baserunner. He’s looking really good, and I’d hope they’d let him get through at least 5 or 6 and be eligible for a win if the M’s take a lead.
34 pitches in 3 innings – if he can go 6, it would be fantastic.
<3 RRS
RRS is pitching great, but i feel like this might end up being another wasted effort, just like last nights game. R.A. pitched well but has nothing to show for it. Hopefully they can get something together next inning, and RRS can keep up this nice pitching.
I don’t know if anyone has noticed it or not, but our team kind of sucks and can’t score runs.
Niehaus just said Rowland-Smith has thrown 35 pitches, 29 strikes!
jinx is on
This will be tough for RRS to get out of. Corcoran warming up?
Another assist for Rauuuul.
What happened on that last play gameday didnt make it very clear.
Who Jinxed him? No seriously he must have been gettig tired.
Well, that’s too bad. He wasn’t even pitching that badly there- that double by Wells, for example, his location was spot on. It just happened to get hit the other way. The question is, did the wheels fall off because it was the second time through the lineup, or because he hasn’t thrown more than 44 pitches in a long, long time?
Well it doesn’ look like RRS is going to be able to go the 5 innings he needs to get credited for the win… Oh wait…
Joe Borowski sucks. For an organization that is so intelligent, one would think they would have figured this out by now.
we better not get shutout again
73, I think 2nd time through had a lot to do with it.
That force at 3rd was a gift, too.
Umm, where was he aiming that throw to first?
Now that we have a 6′8″ version of Jose Vidro, can we at least DFA the shorter, slower version?
78: Richie’s speed made the pitcher rush his throw.
(I crack myself up)
o boy we have a rally going 5 bucks says that vidro will come up with 2 outs and bases loaded and strikes out
nevermind ichiro didnt want to give him the chance
it would be really nice if we DIDNT swing at the first or second pitch we saw, what happend to all the patience we had? and I though Jose Lopez always took the first pitch.
Ibanez running to save Vidro the humiliation of hitting into another inning-ending DP?
Whoa, Lyle Overbay is from Centralia? He’s a HOMETOWN KID!
Lopez the Defender
Ha, never seen this mentioned before
Looks like infield practice really helped Lopez today.
*yawn* Is this game still on?
Bases are juiced…they recieved a 30 suspension today from Selig.
no, it’s not still on, why?
Lauren, not for much longer.
…Lopez is not awesome. Please trade.
about how good is this corcoran feller
Is Eckstein at DH Cito’s way of a joke to make fun of the M’s having Turbo as a DH?
spwaking of Vidro they just showed Stairs and his sister and I am thinking I would rather have one of them as our DH
The white flag is out. Time to see how the kid does.
man, that was too close, the score was way to close so we had to be worse to lose
me like looked good there young fella
Stairs would be teh awesome. Well, ok, maybe not but better than Vidro.
ok so it is Canada Day and I have had a few Crown on the rocks to celebrate so despite Turbo in the lineup I feel good so let’s look on the bright side:
RRS showed he maybe could be a 4th or 5th when stretched out
Jimenez looks alright
Vidro and Sexson still need to be DFA’d
and umm…Canada makes a great whisky
Reed is the man.
Yum Crown Royal
hey thought of one more “good” thing for the M’s..with that seeing eye hit by Reed maybe he is finally ready to stick at teh ml level his .765 OPS is better then a few other guys that I would rather not mention. I know I know stil a little bit too small of a sample size but hey lets look at the bright side and we have to reach sometimes.
wo hoo that is deserving of another drink! Go Yuni lets keep it going Ichiro!
Clement is 2-3
one can only hope that will keep him in the lineup Mr. Mayor
guess Clement just didn’t like Doc.
wonder what the top of the height scale is for Rizzs to refer to someone as “a tough little hitter”
And how come he never calls Ichiro! that?
Certainly it would on a normal team
. I think he is safe though.
why is it they keep pushing for Lopez to be voted as an All-Star. I mean really he is not deserving. The M’s are losing this game because of his terrible D. Even Dave now mentions it of course after he is asking us to vote for Jose.
Are the Rally Fries garlic or not?
[deleted, unintelligible]
um, at one point he was the only one hitting?
huh. from Divish’ blog:
““We play pretty good defense. We’re not a great defensive club by any means, but when the ball gets hit, I feel good. I feel like we’re going to make this play. We have a lot of good arms on the infield, and we’ve got Ichiro in right and Willie (Bloomquist) and (Jeremy) Reed in center. Raul just turned 36 but to me he’s running around really good out there. I feel good when the ball’s in play,” Riggleman said.”
true but is he better then say Pedrioa,Kinsler, Roberts, Iwamurra or Palanco? Would you really vote for him just because he was the only M hitting.
I am curious now not sure if they are garlic or not maybe I will make a stupid sign and try to win them to let you know the answer….nah who cares
was that Pepe?
Riggleman’s really a “glass is half full” kind of guy isn’t he… Which I would like a lot more if he wasn’t staring at an empty glass.
thanks msb that quote from our manager makes me sick…..blind leading the blind…thanks for putting it in perspective for me
ok, that is two really funky funk blasts from AB.
hey that cheers me up
Pinch hitting Willie for Reed?!
now, see, to me that is an improvement, as the last manager actually thought they were a great defensive team.
no idea what a strike is but at least he does what I tell my little leaguers to do swing hard you never know
OVER HIS HEAD. Omg That was amazing!!!
gotta get WFB in the game so he can keep chasing history
I do not believe the rally fries are garlicky, unfortunately.
NJ M’s, you might wanna cut back on the whiskey. It is after the stretch, after all.
Another “how the hell did he hit that” home run by Beltre!
Well, it looks like at the very least we have plenty of ready reliever talent in the minors (Corcoran, Jimenez). Good thing we drafted a reliever in the first round to shore that problem area up.
you are correct Lauren I have run out of Crown
but at least we have a game again to watch.
I can’t even imagine what kind of strength you need in your wrists to hit the ball like Adrian did. Vlad Guerrero holds a patent on that; he wants his cut.
so he hits one from one knee on one night, then to top it off he hits one out thats way over his head, beltre is amazing..nuf said.
NJ M’s, I don’t mean to be rude or anything but you might want to work a bit on making your comments more readable.
Beltre is made for TV — pure entertainment value
msb — maybe this is how we realize that the FO isn’t oblivious to the suckitude — just invert what they say. Every night is Opposite Day night.
I think he actually ended up on the knee after the hit …
he is. let’s trade him. riiiiiight.
I can’t believe I just typed “omg”
This depresses me.
and Riggleman obviously knows something is needed if he has instituted daily feilding practice.
so, where was the ump positioned that he couldn’t see the runner was still a foot away?
0-13 against Arthur Lee? that could be very dangerous for us.
ML umpires are pretty good. That was as a bad a miss I have seen on an infield play like that.
Only if he is unwilling to sign an extension.
139 – I should have been more clear. For some reason the Seattle sports pundits want to trade him because “he hasn’t lived up to expectations.” Also, because he is undervalued it makes a bad candidate for trading. Who will replace him?
get to see Morrow pitch that is a good thing. Let’s get some runs
XBH SEXSON!
holy crap!!!! Is Richie back does that increase his trade value?
I CAn’t Believe IT!
Wow, you don’t see that every day. Or every month (none in June).
did hell just freeze over?
something about blind squirrels tripping over acorns….
Party like it’s May 24th!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
The Mariners used to have a guy who hit like that. I think his name was Richie Sexson. No idea what happened to him. I think he must have retired.
Is it sad that we’re this excited over our first baseman hitting a solo home run?
Hey whatever happend to Betancourt stealing bases?
146- Yes! The AP has just confirmed it! Hell hath frozen over!
oh man, we can’t trade richie now
What if we’re wrong and Sexson does have life left in that bat of his… nah
SWEET!
it’s getting awfully cold down here
154 and 155 do you guys work for the M’s FO I am sure that is what they are thinking right now.
Please read the comments guidelines regarding sourcing AP.
Just wondering, if Willie hits a walkoff homer, will the server spontaneously combust?
It’s like a weight has been lifted from his shoulder this game…does he know a trade is about to happen?
Come on Lopez. Undo the damage!
Everytime Morrow pitches in relief I die a little inside.
Seriously Mariners, the season is lost and saves don’t matter in the slightest. Why is now not the best time to send Morrow down to AA and stretch him out?
Why? DMZ, Dave, some body explain this to me.
Yes.
160: newp, tears in the fabric of space / time, daemons from parallel universes appear…Safeco field pulls a poltergeist and folds up before winking out of existence…
Maybe we can trick Ricciardi into trading for him, as part of an effort to burn down the Jays franchise before they fire him at the end of the season.
#165:
Wasn’t that the cliffhanger in the first Futurama movie?
Man – Ichiro sure is selfish. Worrying only about getting his own hits.
Getting on base, in a tie game, in late innings.
What is he thinking?
158- If I worked for the M’s front office there would have been no “nah” attached to the end of my statement.
167: Less David Cross in this rip in space-time
holy shit, could… I won’t jinx it, just wait
that is unfair 98 mph then 87 mph o what the future holds for you Mr. Morrow if only you were in the rotation….
not the time to walk guys, Brandon
bye, scott
I am not going to suggest what could happen now in the bottom of the ninth.
Man, Morrow is just sick.
he’s the motherfucka
not literally
lets just hope he doesn’t try to steal again
pinch run for Raul o wait we used Willie to pinch hit…darn it.
vidro? dare I hope
I know your DH is not supposed to bunt but it is a good idea considering who our DH is
How can a team have no depth in the pitching staff AND no depth off the bench. They’d have to be one of the worst teams in baseball.
Wait…
Why do we have Cairo if he doesn’t even pinch run!
I think I can safely call that Vidro’s best at-bat of the season.
Just want you want to cleanup hitter to do with a runner on in the ninth; to sac bunt.
Come on, Willie?
I might die if Willie Bloomquist wins it. The last thing I need to deal with is “ZOMG WILLIE BLOOOMQUIST IS MUCH AWESOME PWN!”
Oh great, the game is in the hands of Wee Willie.
YEAH VIDRO! maybe our cleanup man can be someone who bunts every time!
The situation is ripe for the server spontaneously combusting…
Pretty sad when you’re stoked that your DH laid down a sac bunt and didn’t F things up.
Except the Jays are smart enough to put Beltre on, and we’re forced to watch WFB save the day.
I can’t imagine a starker example of how terrible the Mariners’ roster construction is, than having Willie Bloomquist take this at-bat.
Please, hit him.
ok, officially a Bizarro game.
IGNITION!
classic, though– Willie gets credited with a single, so the record quest still holds.
Typically that would be a double. Poor Willie’s streak continues.
I believe that goes in the scorebook as a single, preserving the record.
“ZOMG WILLIE BLOOOMQUIST IS MUCH AWESOME PWN!”
You just had to say it, didn’t you.
Raul: Willie’s tough, he battles and he’s a gamer.
I believe that’s The Cliche Trifecta right there.
OMG! WILLIE GETS THE GAME WINNING HIT!
Better yet, Willie was able to limit his hit to a single, SO HIS RUN FOR BASEBALL IMMORTALITY CONTINUES!
This season is turning out to be a magical one, after all!
The talk has already started on teh mariner MLB Forum…its bad.
And I know…it my fault.
Ah- this must be one of those times that Derek meant the server couldn’t handle the load.
It’s the best of both worlds: walk off win by Bloomquist, and the XBHitless streak is still intact!
Seriously, I don’t get how they score walkoff hits; he was on second when the run scored, wasn’t he?
And speaking of trifectas, apparently three of us got our “Willie’s still on track for maximum suckage” posts through the server at the same time.
204: I think he wasn’t at second yet when the run scored, since half the Mariners seem to have beaten him to second. Is this one up to the official scorer?
gack. Valle post-game:
“…ever snce he’s had that opportunity to platoon, he’s come through with hits and plays…”
Kreuger just threw in a “he’s producing now that he has a chance to play” comment too.
We’re screwed.
I really wanted to see Raul stand right by home and yell for Willie to touch second…
Just as I was listening to all those post-game comments by Valle, Krueger, etc. (as well as the in-dugout interview of Willie by Angie), I was thinking about what fellow USSM denizens were saying…
No, I wasn’t wondering. I knew.
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