Game 54, Orioles at Mariners

DMZ · June 3, 2009 at 6:37 pm · Filed Under Mariners 

Bergesen v Vargas. Wait.

So what’s the best option for a lineup against a right-hander, given the M’s current composition, and Vargas on the mound? Standard L/R alternation preference, Chavez for the defense… I’m thinking:

RF-L Ichiro!
CF-R Gutierrez
1B-L Branyan
DH-L Griffey
C-R Johjima
LF-L Chavez
3B-R Beltre
2B-R Lopez
SS-R Betancourt (can I use Cedeno? Is he still alive?)

Hmm. Having written it out, I don’t like it so much any more. Go nuts, Wak!

Comments

133 Responses to “Game 54, Orioles at Mariners”

  1. cgmonk on June 3rd, 2009 9:42 pm

    Win expectancy at 83.0% after the triple, dropped to 82.6% after Ichiro’s walk then increased to 83.6% after Branyan’s walk.

  2. Flowin on June 3rd, 2009 9:43 pm

    Wow. Double intentional walks! Can’t remember the last time that happened to us.

    It was two years ago in an August home game against Tampa Bay. Seth McClung did it in the bottom of the ninth to bring Sexson to the plate.. double intentional walks with one out in the ninth.. a tie game.

    And Richie hit a grand slam.

  3. Nate on June 3rd, 2009 9:43 pm

    c’mon! that 3-1 pitch was a BALL! at least it was on my radio.

  4. brothermatt on June 3rd, 2009 9:43 pm

    this guy throw anything but fastballs?

  5. MedicineHat on June 3rd, 2009 9:44 pm

    Beltre’D

  6. brothermatt on June 3rd, 2009 9:44 pm

    Beltre!

  7. Nate on June 3rd, 2009 9:44 pm

    that was just sweetness.

  8. Scooter4 on June 3rd, 2009 9:44 pm

    Anyone else see the look on Silva’s face as he was chasing Beltre? He looked hungry.

  9. MattThompson on June 3rd, 2009 9:44 pm

    I love walk-off wins.

  10. UW10 on June 3rd, 2009 9:45 pm

    haha, I love how Felix was kicking him

  11. Scottdids on June 3rd, 2009 9:45 pm

    And Sims with another overlaugh at Yuni chasing down Beltre.. That never gets old for me.

  12. Lauren, token chick on June 3rd, 2009 9:46 pm

    Awesome. And Ichiro’s streak continues, too!

  13. fiftyone on June 3rd, 2009 9:46 pm

    We’re going to shatter, it seems, the all time-record for walk-off wins + losses in a single season…

  14. jordan on June 3rd, 2009 9:46 pm

    Anyone else see Betancourt, and Felix kicking Beltre? What is that all about?? haha

  15. shortbus on June 3rd, 2009 9:47 pm

    Is that the new “thing” for the Mariners…pummel the guy who gets the game-winning hit? I can’t see how that could go horribly wrong or anything.

  16. Nate on June 3rd, 2009 9:48 pm

    we can still make a smart trade on friday. right? we can still do that, I think. you can do it Jack!

  17. UW10 on June 3rd, 2009 9:49 pm

    I think it’s hilarious

  18. TomTuttle on June 3rd, 2009 9:49 pm

    WALK OFF!!

  19. JerBear on June 3rd, 2009 9:50 pm

    Is that the new “thing” for the Mariners…pummel the guy who gets the game-winning hit? I can’t see how that could go horribly wrong or anything.

    All we need is for Rob Johnson to get one of those walk-off hits…

  20. Jeff Nye on June 3rd, 2009 9:51 pm

    In particular, someone needs to tell them that a kidney punch can be extremely hazardous.

  21. Axtell on June 3rd, 2009 9:51 pm

    All we need is for Rob Johnson to get one of those walk-off hits…

    I’d settle for a hit of any variety from Mr. Johnson…

  22. Scooter4 on June 3rd, 2009 9:52 pm

    All we need is for Rob Johnson to get one of those walk-off hits…

    And for Silva to trip and fall on him.

  23. TranquilPsychosis on June 3rd, 2009 9:53 pm

    And that’s just one small reason why Beltre has value. Be it that they trade or keep him, that man can flat out play.

  24. cougjosh on June 3rd, 2009 9:54 pm

    All we need is for Rob Johnson to get one of those walk-off hits…

    I’d settle for a hit of any variety from Mr. Johnson…

    Why ask him to do something he’s not capable of? I’d settle for him to just walk off.

  25. TranquilPsychosis on June 3rd, 2009 10:00 pm

    All we need is for Rob Johnson to get one of those walk-off hits…

    And for Silva to trip and fall on him.

    preferably after he crosses the plate considering that Silva may see the plate and think the buffet table is nearby.

  26. Scottdids on June 4th, 2009 1:10 am

    So tonight’s game marked the 1/3 mark of the season. Putting us on pace for 78 wins. I do believe that number sounds familiar from our projected wins before the season.

  27. Breadbaker on June 4th, 2009 2:21 am

    That’s very true, Scottdids, but let’s remember that Zduriencik and Wakamatsu have both had to do a lot of improvising on the fly. We’ve had three guys start who weren’t projected to start, four starters go down for one or more starts, had a closer meltdown to nothing and had to put Aardsma, White and Batista into roles they weren’t projected for, gotten almost nothing from the aged DH tandem that nonetheless have clogged the no. 3 slot in the lineup most of the year, substandard production from three infield spots (including atrocious defense), almost nothing from behind the plate (including two Kenji DL stints) and yet we’re on pace to meet our projected win total. And we didn’t have Ichiro for eight games.

    We’ve had more than we could have expected from essentially all the starters except the never-mentioned Burger Chef (Bedard and Washburn are doing nice salary drives, thank you; we’ll be cashing that in before you do) and somehow survived a bullpen made up almost entirely of right-handed fastball guys with control and command problems. The outfield defense has been superb, Balentien has developed some and Gutierrez has demonstrated that there are right-handed hitters who can tire out pitchers. Branyan has made a fine pact with the devil and Ichiro! has been Ichiro!!

    The pluses and minuses add up to about what the projection was, but is there a guy on the roster other than Felix and maybe Gutierrez who’s about where you expected him to be? Okay, possibly the Doublemint twins. But the point is that getting to a pace for 78 wins in the circumstances hasn’t been easy and the guys who have outperformed their expected performance have been doing so with lead weights around their necks from Silva, Morrow, Betancourt, Lopez, Griffey, Sweeney, and, offensively, Beltre. Not to mention the zero from the catchers offensively. Wak has had to juggle like crazy to get us here.

    I like this team (they’re 3-0 in the games I’ve attended and I get to see Felix on Friday). I enjoy watching a manager with the balls to have an all-right-handed bullpen, and unafraid to experiment and innovate. A year ago we had Vidro and Sexson. I’m happy.

  28. bilbo27 on June 4th, 2009 3:25 am

    “I like how Jones can chew gum and slam into walls at the same time.”

    I actually saw a highlight real catch earlier in the season where Jones was running way back and near the end of his run he blew a bubble and then it popped a split second into his dive and he started chewing again mid-air (and caught the ball incidentally). It was pretty crazy.

  29. pygmalion on June 4th, 2009 7:18 am

    I actually saw a highlight real catch earlier in the season where Jones was running way back and near the end of his run he blew a bubble and then it popped a split second into his dive and he started chewing again mid-air (and caught the ball incidentally). It was pretty crazy.

    That’s…awesome.

  30. wrob4343 on June 4th, 2009 8:30 am

    All we need is for Rob Johnson to get one of those walk-off hits…

    Somehow I interpreted that as Rob Johnson being hit (beaten down) until the Mariners had to find a replacement…

  31. wrob4343 on June 4th, 2009 8:31 am

    All we need is for Rob Johnson to get one of those walk-off hits…

    Somehow I interpreted that as Rob Johnson being hit (beaten down) until the Mariners had to find a replacement…

  32. JerBear on June 4th, 2009 9:18 am

    Somehow I interpreted that as Rob Johnson being hit (beaten down) until the Mariners had to find a replacement…

    Yeah, that’s what I was going for…

    And for Silva to trip and fall on him.

    Even better!

  33. joser on June 4th, 2009 7:10 pm

    That’s…awesome.

    It is. It’s also apparently something some people in Baltimore complain about. (This sounds exactly like some of the bitching about Ichiro you hear around these parts).

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