Tagged: Seattle Mariners

6/8 – Game 3 vs. Mariners

I’m sitting here listening to the Alter Bridge station on Pandora as I try to figure this game out.

Well, it looked good for a while there, right? I hate seeing games like this go to waste. The Twins beat the Indians earlier today which set us up for a chance to get even closer to first place. Then the Mariners spoil the sweep and keep us where we were.

I tweeted during the game (or I tried to but the app like… crashed or something. Timed out? I think it timed out. I’m still getting used to the jargon) that this is as locked-in as I have seen Carlos Quentin since his 2008 campaign. Seventeen homers? It’s Jose Bautista junior over here. I was in the extreme minority of Sox fans who wanted to hold on to Quentin this offseason and I think, now, we can all agree its a good thing we kept him. The kid is ridiculous.

Alex Rios was in the lineup for the first time in a few days tonight. He didn’t do anything special, as usual. He and Dunn have been huge disappointments so far but the last few weeks have shown that our offense can produce anyway. Imagine how good we’d be if those guys chipped in once every thirty at-bats or so. Until then we’ll rely on Lillibridge (which is fine) and Teahen (blech, threw up in my mouth a little bit).

I just wanted to point out how consistent Gordon Beckham has been this year. He struggled a bit towards the end of last season and he was one of the question marks going into 2011. We’ve seen some flashy hitting from Konerko, Ramirez, and Quentin, some surprising games from Lillibridge and Vizquel, and of course those disappointments I mentioned above. I feel like Beckham has kinda gotten lost in the middle. He drew two walks tonight and drove in a run in the seventh inning. Another guy who needs more recognition is Brent Morel. How about that kid, huh? This is some Crede-like defense he’s displaying and I’m always impressed by him. Let’s not forget these guys.

Floyd pitched a pretty good ballgame, but so did Jason Vargas. (Don’t you hate it when that happens?) Sergio Santos, however, was completely out of character. He just had no command of his pitches tonight and that’s why he got burned. No points for Sergio. No points for Crain either as he allowed the game-tying run to score. Matt Thornton and Brian Bruney will get points – two each for outings that made me feel like we had another chance at a win.

Well, we tried for the sweep but it just didn’t work out. Thankfully, just as these guys are getting hot, the Sox will welcome in one of the worst teams in the game right now, the Oakland Athletics. Trevor Cahill (6-3, 2.65) will do battle with Mark Buehrle (5-4, 3.95) tomorrow night at 7:10.

Go Sox!!

6/7 – Game 2 vs. Mariners

Alright, I’m gonna try writing tonight’s post on my iPad. I can’t edit the widget for bullpen points on here so I’ll have to do that later. Other than that (and typos I’ll have to fix), this should go smoothly.

Phil Humber is climbing into the upper tier of American League pitchers. Anyone who can out-duel Felix Hernandez is one heck of a pitcher. Even Humber’s ERA is better than Felix’s! 2.87 as of the conclusion of the game against Hernandez’s 3.29. I don’t want to get way ahead of things, but could there be a Cy Young award on the way to the South Side? If not, at least give the guy Comeback Player of the Year,

Paul Konerko and Carlos Quentin are swinging hot bats lately. Konerko launched his fourteenth home run of the season in the second inning and Quentin hit his fifteenth (a frozen rope down the left field line) of the year in the third. Both are among the tops in the Majors in runs batted in (Konerko with 47 and Quentin with 42). And of course there was Omar Vizquel’s two-run triple in the third inning, a few batters before CQ’s laser. This wouldn’t be a proper recap of the offense without an Adam Dunn mention so here it is: he didn’t play. Mark Teahen manned first base tonight while Paulie filled the DH spot.

Here’s a thought to chew on… Dayan Viciedo is ripping triple-A apart right now. What if we call him up and put him at DH? I know we have Dunn and his $56 million dollar roster spot to deal with, but I say we convert him to the leagues highest payed pinch hitter. It could work, right?

Not much to say about the bullpen. These are the good games when I have nothing but praise for whoever comes out of the pen. Chris Sale was the lone reliever to make The Jog tonight, pitching one inning and some change, allowing one hit. Two points for Sale. See how nice that was? No Thornton explosions and Jesse Crain nail biters to report. Just a solid outing we can watch in peace.

The Sox will go for the sweep tomorrow as they’ll send Gavin Floyd (6-5, 3.84) to the mound to go against Jason Vargas (4-3, 3.96). Wait, no… Vargas is going against Floyd, right? Yeah. The way I write these always sounds funny to me. I’ll pay more attention from now on.

I fixed twelve typos in this post and if there are any I didn’t catch, point them out and… I dunno. You’d make a good editor some day.

Go Sox!!

EDIT: Turns out I can edit the widget I just have to go to WordPress in Safari. Perhaps I never need to leave my room again…?

6/6 – Game 1 vs. Mariners

That’s more like it, gentlemen!

John Danks is finally into the win column after a very frustrating (for both Sox fans and Danks) first two months of the year. This will have to go on my Games of the Year list just for the sake of Danks finally earning a win. If I’m wrong, let me know.

Adam Dunn continues to struggle. He struck out twice, climbing up to the eighty strikeout rung on the ladder, and left six men on base. Can you believe that? Six runners. Stranded. Absolutely ridiculous. I’m beginning to think there’s no hope for Dunn this season. If he were to heat up it should’ve been sooner than June. Quentin, Konerko, and Lillibridge are carrying this team right now. Speaking of Konerko, the captain hit his thirteenth home run of the season in the fourth inning. To go along with those thirteen homers, Konerko has driven in forty-six runs and is sporting a batting average of .314. Those are quality numbers

John Danks’ seven innings and some change earned him a standing ovation when he exited in in the eighth inning. Six strikeouts and one walk, Danks allowed just one unearned run in his best start of the 2011 season.

Jesse Crain entered the ballgame for the last two outs of the eighth inning and struck out a batter. Then Sergio Santos logged his eleventh save of the year as the Sox took game one of this series by a final score of three to one. Two points for Crain and Santos.

Well, if you follow me on Twitter, you’ll already know what I got from FedEx today. A bright, shiny iPad 2. It seems like forever ago that I ordered it online from Apple and it finally came today. I was able to watch the Sox game on the MLB At-Bat app and, even though it’s pretty much a portable Gameday, it was pretty to look at. I’m gonna really enjoy using this thing for the rest of the year and beyond. I’ll get some pictures up tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, we get a pretty good pitching matchup. Phil Humber (4-3, 3.06) will be opposed by Felix Hernandez (6-4, 3.04). Should be a good’n, guys!

Go Sox!!

5/8 – Game 3 @ Mariners

That’s two in a row! Such a fantastic feeling to be blogging after back-to-back wins. The last time I was able to do this was at the beginning of the Yankees series. 

The scoring started in the fourth inning when Ramon Castro hit a single to left field which scored Paul Konerko. Left fielder Milton Badley made a horrible throw to home plate which Miguel Olivo couldn’t get a handle on, allowing Alex Rios to score on a not-so-close play at the plate. The game was tied at two until the tenth inning when the Sox pushed three runs across the plate against Brandon League. Brent Morel started off the tenth inning with a single then was driven in on an Alexei Ramirez double. Adam Dunn drove in Alexei Ramirez on a double of his own, then moved to third on a Paul Konerko single, and then scored on an Alex Rios single into center field. Konerko was a perfect five-for-five. 
Dunn is starting to look like a ballplayer again lately. Catherine’s shirt that says “This Girlie Loves Buehrle” inspired me to come up with a t-shirt idea of my own, which I shared with my family at lunch today: “Adam Dunn’s Batting Average + Time = Comedy.” Eventually we’ll all be laughing about his slow start and frankly I think that shirt would fly off the shelves. I’ll get my sister to work on it right away. I also thought of custom making a Twins jersey with number seven on it that says “DORK” instead of “MAUER.” That one would probably be a little more expensive… 
Mark Buehrle pitched eight innings of two-run ball for the third straight quality start from White Sox starting pitching. Buehrle struck out three batters and surrendered nine hits to the Mariners offense but didn’t earn a win as the game was tied when he came out of the game. Sergio Santos pitched two innings of shutout relief, matching Buehrle with three strikeouts, earning him two points. 

Bullpen Points Leaderboard
1. Sergio Santos – 21 points
1. Jesse Crain – 19 points
3. Will Ohman – 12 points
4. Chris Sale – 11 points
5. Tony Pena – 8 points
5. Matt Thornton – 8 points
7. Jeff Gray – 7 points

The Sox will move down the West coast tomorrow to take on the Angels who are currently in first place in their division with a record of 20-15. Edwin Jackson (2-4, 4.98) vs. Ervin Santana (1-3, 4.43) tomorrow night at 9:10. If you haven’t heard by now, Jake Peavy is scheduled to make his first start of the year on Wednesday. I definitely do not want to miss that game as I think Peavy will be better than people expect him to be. 
Go Sox!!

5/7 – Game 2 @ Mariners

I don’t think anyone could’ve asked for a better outing from Gavin Floyd. The man was sharp as a knife on the mound tonight and his command and control were the best I’ve ever seen from him in a long time. I don’t often get a chance to watch a ballgame but tonight’s game was MLB.tv’s free game of the day so I was very excited. I noticed at the beginning of the game that Floyd’s delivery has changed a little since I last got to watch him pitch on TV and at first I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Apparently it’s a good thing as he dealt eight innings of three-hit shutout baseball. What a gem.

The offense had a night to be proud of as well! Fourteen hits off of Mariners starter Doug Fister were good for five runs. The seven, eight, and nine hitters were ten-for-ten in their first ten at-bats with four runs scored and two runs batted in. Rios, batting seventh tonight, went four-for-four and was quite smiley about it. Adam Dunn also had a pretty good night as he was two-for-four with a double, a run scored, and an RBI. My boy Brent Morel was three-for-four with an RBI in a great night for the Sox offense. 
Mark Teahen pinch hit for Paul Konerko in the ninth inning because of an injury to Konerko’s wrist. Ichiro scorched a grounder to Paulie and the ball hopped up and “bit” Konerko in the wrist. Paulie was having a hard time in his final at bat as Ozzie and trainer Herm Schneider had to go out and check on him. Hopefully Konerko’s injury isn’t too bad and he’ll be back in the lineup tomorrow afternoon. 
Tony Pena pitched an excellent ninth inning out of the bullpen, allowing just one walk and striking out Jack Cust to end the game. 

Bullpen Points Leaderboard
1. Sergio Santos – 19 points
1. Jesse Crain – 19 points
3. Will Ohman – 12 points
4. Chris Sale – 11 points
5. Tony Pena – 8 points
5. Matt Thornton – 8 points
7. Jeff Gray – 7 points

Whoever signed Milton Bradley to a professional baseball contract needs to have his scouting certification reevaluated. The man is absolutely terrible and I was literally laughing at his outfielding skills. Michael Saunders, however, is one heck of a center fielder. He’s filling in for Franklin Gutierrez who is currently on the disabled list but the way Saunders is playing I’d have a real hard time putting Gutierrez back in the lineup. Saunders has very good range and takes good routes to liners, and he can even rob home runs! It pays to be tall. The Mariners have a good outfielder on their hands and I hope they use him wisely. 
Congratulations to Justin Verlander on the
second no-hitter of his career. Bunny struck out four batters en route to the second no-hitter of the week and the second in the division. And congratulations to Andre Ethier on an awesome 30-game hit streak that came to an end tonight. I had a good feeling about his chances to make it to at least 40 games but the Mets had other plans and held the left-handed left fielder hitless in four at-bats. 
Tomorrow’s game, as I mentioned earlier, is an afternoon ballgame. The Mariners’ Erik Bedard (1-4, 5.23) will take on Mark Buehrle (2-3, 4.37). Let’s build on this one-game winning streak!
Go Sox!!

5/6 – Game 1 @ Mariners

How about this Phil Humber kid? Chris Rongey pointed out on Twitter that he has dueled toe-to-toe with Dan Haren, A.J. Burnett, and now Felix Hernandez, and he’s the guy filling in for Jake Peavy! In my opinion Edwin Jackson should go to the bullpen when Peavy gets back because Jackson is the most inconsistent starter on the staff right now. If Peavy comes back into the rotation. 

It really was a gunslinger duel out in Seattle tonight. I’ll take a 3-2 pitcher’s duel where all of the runs are scratched across over a 15-10 slugfest any day. Not all of the runs were “scratched across,” though, unless you count Carlos Quentin’s solo BOMB to left field as something we had to work to earn. I guess you could say that but it isn’t really that hard for CQ to hit homers. 
We just can’t seem to catch a break lately. Even Gordon Beckham tried to catch a blooper ten feet over his head just because he wanted a win. Most of the time people wouldn’t even try for that ball, but Beckham did. Some part inside of him thought he could get it. Oh well. 
Thornton, even though he gave up the game, pitched well enough to earn one point. Brendan Ryan hit a little flair into the outfield that scored a pinch-running Adam Kennedy from third base and the Mariners had a walk-off victory. Despite that, though, Thornton has really turned around his game lately, I dunno if I’ve pointed that out or not, but I’m noticing it. He’s a lot better than he was at the beginning of the season.

Bullpen Points Leaderboard
1. Sergio Santos – 19 points
1. Jesse Crain – 19 points
3. Will Ohman – 12 points
4. Chris Sale – 11 points
5. Matt Thornton – 8 points
6. Jeff Gray – 7 points
7. Tony Pena – 6 points

Tomorrow the Pitcher of Mystery (3-2, 4.39) will do battle with Doug Fister (2-3, 2.70). We need a win here, guys… your fan base could really use one.

Go Sox!!

5/4 – Game 2 vs. Twins

Well, the Twins took both games of this enjoyable little series. 3-2 today, so we got some hits, which is cool. Juan Pierre led off the Sox half of the first inning with a single up the middle so Nick Blackburn’s hopes of a no-hitter were dashed immediately. We left a handful of runners on base, including two in the bottom of the ninth. John Danks followed up Edwin Jackson’s great start with a great start of his own, going eight innings and allowing three runs on eight hits.

Alexander the Resurgent continued his hot streak with a home run, his third of the season. 
Jesse Crain had yet another dominant inning out of the bullpen. This guy is really picking up his game lately and I’m confident every time he toes the rubber. If he and Santos can keep this up I’ll be happy with the back end of our bullpen. Two points for Crain will tie him with Santos for first place.

Bullpen Points Leaderboard
1. Sergio Santos – 19 points
1. Jesse Crain – 19 points
3. Will Ohman – 12 points
4. Chris Sale – 11 points
5. Jeff Gray – 7 points
5. Matt Thornton – 7 points
7. Tony Pena – 6 points

I was distracted for most of the game because, as you should know, today
is May 4th. For us Star Wars nerds this is “May the Fourth” as in “May the Fourth be with you.” Someone on Twitter decided it’d be hilarious to change a word in a Star Wars quote to the word “pants.” So EVERYONE on Twitter was doing this, including myself, and I was having a blast. Here are some of the good ones:
It is unavoidable. It is your destiny. You, like your pants, will be mine.
It’s an older code, sir, but it checks out. I was just about to pants them.
Hey Luke, thanks. Thanks for coming after me. I owe you pants.
Lord Vader, this is an unexpected pleasure. We are honored by your pants.
I’ve just made a deal that will keep the Empire out of pants forever.
You look strong enough to pull the pants off a Gundark.
Just to give a few of them. Those were all mine, by the way, but people had some hilarious ones. A good time was definitely had by all – even during another painful Sox game. Gotta give the boys credit for trying. 3-2 is a lot better than 1-0. 
Off day tomorrow as the Sox are traveling to Seattle for our annual West Coast trip. Mariners, Angels, and A’s (Oh my!) on this swing starting with the M’s Friday night at 8:10. Phil Humber (2-3, 3.06) vs. Felix Hernandez (3-2, 3.21). They kid nobody saw coming has a better ERA than the defending AL Cy Young award winner. 
Go Sox!!