Angels
Erick Aybar SS
Torii Hunter RF
Bobby Abreu DH
Vernon Wells LF
Howie Kendrick 2B
Mike Trumbo 1B
Peter Bourjos CF
Bobby Wilson C
Andrew Romine 3B
Ervin Santana P
Mariners
Ichiro RF
Brendan Ryan SS
Justin Smoak 1B
Carlos Peguero DH
Miguel Olivo C
Mike Carp LF
Franklin Gutierrez CF
Chone Figgins 3B
Jack Wilson 2B
Erik Bedard P
After a CG 4-0 win for Weaver yesterday, in which the Mariners managed only 5 hits, the Angels jumped to only 1.5 games behind the Mariners. The Mariners, thanks to another loss by Texas, remained 2 games behind the Rangers. Tonight was a big game, we were looking to avoid the sweep.
Erik Bedard took the mound, my first time seeing Bedard this year He was 180 degrees a different pitcher than when I last saw him in 2009. He used to labor out there, and run out of gas in the fifth inning. We were lucky if he ever got past 100 pitches. Well, he still pretty much stays around 100 pitches this year, but he is much more efficient! In his last 9 games started, including tonight's win... the Mariners are 8-1 and Bedard has a 1.70 ERA. Um, that's good... really good!
Here are his last 9 games, beginning with his 1st win on April 27
4/27 = Ms 10-1 @ DET 7 IP, 88 Pitches, 5 Hits, 1 ER, 3 K, 0 BB (1-4, 5.96)
5/3 = Ms 4-3 vs TEX 7 IP, 103 Pitches, 2 Hits, 2 ER, 3 K, 2 BB (1-4, 5.23)
5/8 = White Sox 5-2 @ SEA 5 IP, 100 Pitches, 5 Hits, 1 ER, 9 K, 2 BB (1-4, 4.78)
5/20 = Ms 4-1 @ SD 8 IP, 92 Pitches, 3 Hits, 0 ER, 9 K, 2 BB (2-4, 3.94)
5/25 = Ms 3-0 @ MIN 6 IP, 96 Pitches, 6 Hits, 0 ER, 4 K, 1 BB (3-4, 4.48)
5/31 = Ms 3-2 vs BAL 6.1 IP, 100 Pitches, 6 Hits, 2 ER, 7 K, 2 BB (3-4, 3.41)
6/5 = Ms 9-6 vs TB 7 IP, 111 Pitches, 8 Hits, 3 ER, 7 K, 0 BB (3-4, 3.46)
6/10 - Ms 3-2 @ DET 5 IP, 96 Pitches, 3 Hits, 2 ER, 6 K, 3 BB (3-4, 3.47)
Tonight - 7 IP, 96 Pitches, 3 Hits, 0 ER, 5 K, 0 BB (4-4, 3.16)
8 out of the last 9 of his starts were quality, which is at least 6 innings with 3 ER or less.
But Erik's performance is just one story of many for tonight's game. The biggest story is the 7th inning, of course, in which the Mariners scored 2 runs. The inning started off with a 9 pitch AB in which Figgins notched his second hit of the game, a 2B to the RF wall. The next pitch, Wilson with a perfect SAC bunt. So we had a runner on 3rd with 1 out, and Ichiro up to the plate. He already had 2 doubles in the game, and a SB in the 1st inning which was his 400th of his career. He is one of only 42 players in history to steal more 400 or more in a career. So, with 1st base open the Angels intentionally walked Ichiro. Ryan, who has been struggling offensively, struck out swinging on three pitches. Ichiro stole 2nd, which was a stupid decision because that just meant that 1st was open for Smoak. They started his AB being careful, but with the count 2-0 they decided to intentionally walk Smoak to load the bases.
Peguero had been moved up to the cleanup spot for this game, but he swings and misses at a lot of pitches. So while he is a threat with his strength, he also has a lot of holes. It was a tense at at. At one point, with 2 strikes in the count (can't recall how many balls at the time), he foul tipped a ball in to the catcher's mitt. But, with just our luck the catcher didn't hold on to it and we were still alive. On the 6th pitch of the AB and the count at 2-2, Peguero muscled a pitch up the middle. At just the right time and spot, the ball hit second base and bounced straight up for a single! It scored Ichiro Figgins and Ichiro, and the crowd went wild. It is funny how in baseball games can turn on such a small thing. Weird bounces, one of the great quirks of baseball!
There were some fantastic defensive plays from both teams as well. Erik's only trouble he really got in was in the 2nd inning. With Vernon Wells on 1st with 1 out, Mike Trumbo LAUNCHED a towering fly ball to left field. The ball was headed over the fence, just to the right of the hand operated scoreboard, when Carp jumped and caught the ball... replays showed that it was going to be a homer. So, instead of being down 2-0 we had 2 out. The next batter hit what would have routinely been a single but Carp threw his relay to 3rd and Bourjos is a speedy little guy so there were runners on 2nd and 3rd. The next batter grounded to Ryan to end the threat, and Bedard pretty much coasted the rest of the way.
In the top of the 6th inning, Gutierrez made a diving catch in shallow CF in which he basically soared through the air parallel to the ground to rob Aybar.
Pauley came on in the 8th and struggled, which was unusual. He ended up giving up 1 run to make it a tight game, only the 5th ER he has given up all year (39.1 IP). Halman was a defensive replacement for Carp. Well... thanks to Halman who just so happened to lead off the bottom of the 8th, we got an insurance run when he launched his first MLB HR to CF. He is now 9/22 (.409) on the season.
League came on in the 9th and nailed down his 19th Save, which is tops in the American League. He did it in part thanks to an amazing defensive play by Ryan. With a runner on 1st and 1 out, Trumbo hit a slow and choppy grounder. At one point it looked like Figgins might grab it, but Ryan snagged the ball barehanded and threw him out at 1st on a close play. That pretty much sealed the deal, and we all left elated after an amazing game.
Can't forget the great stop by Trumbo himself in the 5th inning. We had Ichiro on at 2nd with 1 out and Smoak hit a hard hit ball down the right field line. Trumbo was able to snag it and go to 1st for the unassisted out. He stole a sure double, without a doubt, which would have scored Ichiro. At that point the game was still scoreless, so it was a huge play.
It is really hard to pinpoint who the hero of the game is, so many players were clutch... whether it was Ryan's defensive gem in the 9th, Peguero's miracle hit, Halman's HR, Bedard's pitching, Carp's stolen homer, Ichiro with his 5th consecutive multi-hit game... I will chalk this one up to the TEAM. Below is a picture of the dugout in the 7th inning. Everyone was up there cheering their teammates on. This is something we have seen all season long. They're engaged, the fans (those who attend) are starting to believe. Most importantly, we have a bright future, and damn this sure is fun. You can also see the paltry attendance.
As soon as the game ended it was announced that Dustin Ackley, the #2 overall pick in the 2009 Draft (After Strasburg) has finally been called up and will join the team on Friday. Needless to say there is just a little excitement among everyone. FINALLY! I don't think we've been this excited about a hitter since Alex Rodriguez *shudder*.
I know this was an extremely long post, but there was so much to talk about. This could be the best game of the year, due to its importance and execution. Maybe not. Regardless, it was awesome and deserved an awesomely long post.
I scored my 3rd game of the year, and got a white pizza. Unfortunately it is a new kind. It now has mushrooms, definitely not as good as the broccoli one.
The Mariners improved to 8-6 when I attend and 35-34 overall. We are now one game behind Texas! The attendance was 19,321.
No comments:
Post a Comment