Game 91, Mariners at Indians
Washburn v Ohka. Wait– Washburn’s still here? Um, I mean of course he’s still here! He’s the anchor of this rotation, a much-improved veteran left-hander who combines experience with a newly mastered pitch that exemplifies his dedication to always getting better. Why would the team trade him? Why, if I was a playoff-contending team, I’d pay any price to bring this fine player over before my opponents twigged to the possibility.
Don’t be distracted by Seattle finally getting light rail after… all my life, pretty much (side notes: Light rail! Woooooo! Please get a line over one of the bridges and start doing crazy good, please!). This is where it’s at.
The Angels are beating Oakland as I write this (it’s 8-5 in the 5th) and the M’s are going to have to keep winning if they want to cling to their playoff hopes, which are about 20% right now, depending on where you look.
So win. Win win win.
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83 Responses to “Game 91, Mariners at Indians”
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Don’t forget, Sizemore’s defense has been deteriorating since his peak in 2006.
He was OUT.
The fact that Rob Johnson didnt block the plate has nothing to do with how bad that call is. Im sorry, Rob Johnson coulda tagged him out Allen Iverson between the legs style, he was clearly, clearly out.
You can show me any statistical information you need, the umpiring this year has been attrocious. I can no longer brag about how much better they are then the NBA or NFL (well theyre still better, but theyre no longer good)
Yes intelligently implemented instant replay is very needed in baseball.
I don’t think instant replay should be used…I mean bad calls are half the fun.
I think the officiating in the NFL is by far the best, and doesn’t deserve to be mentioned with the NBA, which is easily the worst of the major sports.
Who has the hardest job though between NBA, NFL, and MLB? I would say MLB umps, but that is purely subjective obviously.
People like you are part of the problem.
Johnson should have blocked the plate better than that, though. He caught the ball too far out in front. Jason Varitek would have camped out in front of home plate, built a fire, roasted marshmallows, then caught the ball and made the tag, without Victor ever coming near the dish.
Only one umpire is calling balls and strikes though, the other three aren’t doing nearly as much.
NBA is the most difficult. It’s why David Stern insists on hiring senior citizens to run back and forth a couple hours and officiate some of the quickest athletes in the world.
Two Balentein catches in one innning.
Why did the Indians spend $10 million on a relief pitcher?
Baseball is the most difficult because every play and every pitch requires a call for play to continue. In the NBA and NFL everybody expects lots of no calls, and if no call is made play continues.
I like Wlad in left field, he adds a lot more excitement to routine fly balls than Langerhans does.
I say NBA is the toughest as well, you have split second decisions as to whether a foul should be called every few trips, not to mention the block/charge decision.
Why the NBA hasn’t developed a good referee in the last 15 years baffles me though. Not to mention that Bennett Salvatore seems to get assigned to every game where a popular or big market team needs a victory.
Not to mention having to factor in whether a “superstar” is involved in the play or not. Adds a whole ‘nother level of difficulty.
Cedeno whiffed on that last pitch, but was completely unaware that the ball was not caught.
DA time. Let’s get the win!
With all due respect to Junior, I don’t care who you are or what historical/nostalgic value you have to this team, if you can’t hit, you can’t start daily, bat 4th, and be the “designated hitter.” Especially on a contending team.
Wilson in as defensive replacement at 2nd! Great call Wak.
Who came up with “The DA” for Aardsma, was it Sims?
Are the Mariners “buyers” yet?
I prefer AA because it reminds me of an aardvark, which Aardsma slightly resembles.
Seeing Kerry Woods, and remembering that he’s alive, I think someone should assume an all angry animal team. He resembles a pissed off mouse. We can put Washburn as the classic furious beaver, and Pedrioa as the angry squirrel. Weasel? Mole?
Well, another win, another day of staying in lock-step behind the Angels in the standings…
I really don’t know how the Halos have finagled as many wins as what they have, with all the injuries/tragedy/stuff they’ve dealt with.
But it’s damn annoying.
I hope the scouts are following Washburn through the box scores, there were a lot of hard hit balls against him today, but the defense was absolutely great. He gave up 8 hits, but no walks.
Anyone else notice the M’s are only 1 game behind the Rangers after today’s win??? It would be nice to get back into second place if we want to catch the Angels.
I was thinking something today as I drove home and was hearing updates about the game. It was mentioned (yet again) that Washburn has had the least amount of run support per game since 2005 of any pitcher in baseball. Using this little tidbit, I formulated a counter to those who suggest that pitchers prefer to pitch to Johnson over Johjima because they like Johnson better and therefore pitch better when he’s behind the plate.
Couldn’t this same irrational thinking be applied to the M’s lineup in its lack of run production for Washburn? They hate the guy, hate how he has absolutely sucked for years with this team, and so in retaliation they don’t hit for him?
Anyways, I thought it was as illogical as the arguments for Johnson catching for Johjima…
No doubt about it.
No. Players may dog it on defense, but they just don’t dog it at the plate. They like to hit, now they may not always take the best approach at the plate, but I don’t think I have ever seen a batter that is just going through the motions while hitting.
And the M’s did play great defense for Washburn today and like I said that is the first place you would see lack of effort for a pitcher.
But they have a reason to play well for Washburn recently; he’ll get traded and some fun, hard-playing young talent may come back for him.
I highly doubt a hitter would purposely NOT hit to get back at a pitcher that has not pitched well for the team. Makes absolutely no sense. Keeping your stats in good standing keeps your value high. I can’t imagine a good hitter would sacrifice his value to get back at a poorly performing pitcher.
GripS-exactly my point…the same people claiming that the pitching staff doesn’t pitch well because of personal conflicts with Johjima is the same exact nonsense.
How many starting pitchers would even qualify to be on this list? (I assume they would have had to been active since 2005 with some minimum amount of IP)
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that the pitcher with the lowest run support is going to come from a team that’s had a couple years of poor offensive production.