Mariners

During a day off for the big club... High Desert experiences something new: low scoring conditions in Rancho Cucamonga... Ricky Orta implodes as the T-Rats hitters join Carlos Triufel in taking a day off.  Too bad they still had a game against West Michigan to play... once Doug FISTER was done dueling with Alvis Ojeda, the DIAMOND JAXX relievers can't find the plate while Jacksonville's relievers racked up the K's, and Rene Rivera had a shockingly effective game (save for a game-ending gaffe) in a dubious extra inning affair... and Tacoma and Salt Lake bust out their whooping sticks in a wild ballgame in Utah.

A:  Rancho Cucamonga 2, High Desert 1

Jon Lockwood:  5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER (HR), 2 walks, 7 K
Jose Escalona:  2.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER (HR), 3 K
Casey Craig:  0-4 (.301)
Michael Saunders:  0-4, 3 K (.258)
Jesus Guzman:  2-4, double, K (.325)
Ronald Garth:  1-3, RBI, walk, K (.200)
Chris Colton:  1-3, triple, walk (.245)

Where were the runs?!  The top of the order went a combined 2 for 12 as the Mavs managed 6 hits against a surprisingly effective Quakes pitching staff.  Mavs pitching was pretty effective itself, their only two runs surrendered coming off solo HRs in the 5th and 8th innings.  High Desert attempted a rally in the top 9th.  Johan Limonta walked with one out against Kevin Jepsen, and back to back singles from Jeff Dominguez and Ronald Garth plated a run.  But with runners on 1st and 2nd and one out, Chris Colton killed the rally dead by grounding into the 6-4-3 game ending double play.  He, folks, is your MARINER IN THE MAKING.

NEXT:  Aaron Cotter, Rebel Against Ridiculous Pitching Conditions, goes tonight at 7:05 PDT against Rancho Cucamonga.

A:  West Michigan 6, Wisconsin 3

Ricky Orta:  1 IP, 2 H, (3 R) 2 ER, 2 walks
Natividad Dilone:  3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 walks, 3 K
Rollie Gibson:  2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, walk, K, 2 wild pitches
Robert Harmon:  1 IP, 1 K
Justin Souza:  1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 K
Greg Halman:  2-4, HR, 2 RBI (.224)
Kuo Hui Lo:  1-3, RBI, K (.129)
rest of T-Rats lineup:  0-22, 2 R, 3 walks, 8 K

Carlos Triunfel had the night off, and it appears the rest of the T-Rats went ahead and took the night off as well.  Ricky Orta didn't feel right at all and left the game after facing one batter in the 2nd, having allowed 2 runs (an inherited runner would score in the 2nd).  A platoon of relievers piece-mealed the rest of the game, and the T-Rats surprisingly plated 3 runs to tie it at 3: Greg Halman's 2 run bomb in the 3rd and Kuo Hui Lo, after two straight wild pitches by Lauren Gagnier, hit a pop up that 2B Scott Sizemore couldn't catch, allowing Alex Liddi on 3rd to score.

Rollie Gibson fared badly in the 5th to give the Whitecaps a 5-3 lead, and Justin Souza came in to pitch the 8th and... was Justin Souza, to make it 6-3.  The T-Rats weren't doing anything with their bats anyway, so the game was in the bag for the Whitecaps.

NEXT:  The T-Rats take a day off to celebrate their 3-12 start, before starting a home series with Fort Wayne on Thursday.  I'm guessing that GREAT SEATS are still available.

AA:  Jacksonville 5, West Tenn 3, 13 innings

Doug FISTER:  6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER (HR), walk, 3 K
Mumba Rivera:  2 IP, 0 H, 1 ER, 3 walks, 2 K
The Aircraft Carrier:  3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 walks, 1 K
Juan Sandoval:  2 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 3 walks
Sebastien Boucher:  1-6, double (.151)
T.Marshall Hubbard:  1-5, double, RBI, 3 K (.282)
Matt Tuiasosopo:  1-6, R, 4 K (.333)
Jeff Frazier:  2-5, double, 2 K (.176)
Rene Rivera:  2-4 (!!!), solo HR (!!!!!), walk (.231)

The comical difference in K:BB between Jacksonville's hitters/pitchers and the DIAMOND JAXX hitters/pitchers once the starters left the game reeks of heavily biased umpiring towards the Suns in the later innings, but that's just paranoid me.

Alvis Ojeda was his usual dominating self while Dougie Fistball kept up despite needing substancially more help from his defense.  The game was tied 1-1 after 6 innings, but the DIAMOND JAXX took the lead in the 7th on a solo homer by- HOLY FISTBALLS, RENE RIVERA!!!  Quick, Mariner-like outs despite a Sebastien Boucher double meant no more runs would come in, but West Tenn had the 2-1 lead.

The Suns quickly responded in the top 8th against Mumba Rivera.  Luke Allen led off with a walk, and ceded to pinch runner Wilkin Ruan, who stole second base.  A.J. Ellis himself drew a walk, and Chin Lung Hu sac bunted both runners ahead for one out.  Then here came another dubious play: Luis Maza flew out to right, and both runners tagged up.  Ron Prettyman took the relay throw, saw that Wilkin Ruan was going to make it home but felt he could get A.J. Ellis at 3rd, and threw to 3rd to gun down A.J. Ellis for the 3rd out.  However, because Ruan came home and the 3rd out wasn't a force play, Ruan's run counted, and we were tied at 2-2.  The game log homorously called Maza's flyball a 'sacrifice double play.'

Marshall Hubbard, Tui and Ron Prettyman went quietly in the bottom 8th, and Jacksonville tried to take the game in the top 9th.  Xavier Paul led off with a walk, and Mumba Rivera was yanked for The Aircraft Carrier.  Paul stole second base against the sizeable reliever, but John Lindsey swung at strike three for one out.  De La Cruz went ahead and walked Cory Dunlap, then escaped by allowing flyouts to Marshall McDougall and Anthony Ragliani.

Jeff Frazier, Rene Rivera and Louis Valbuena went quietly in the bottom 9th and we went to extras.

The Suns went for it again in the top 10th.  Wilkin Ruan lined a single to left, and A.J. Ellis sac bunted him to 2nd for one out.  Chin Lung Hu snuck a grounder down the middle to score the speedy Ruan, 3-2 Jaxtown.  Chin Lung stole 2nd base, and went Willie Mays Hayes for 3rd, but Rivera... THREW HIM OUT AT 3RD?!?!  That's twice that Rene Rivera shocked the world last night.  2 out.  Luis Maza went quietly for 3 outs, but the DIAMOND JAXX needed at least a run or they were done for.

Jonathan Meloan came in to wrap it up for the Suns, and got Boucher to ground to 2nd for one out.  Chris Minaker walked, but Prentice Redman flew out for two outs.  Marshall Hubbard, with the game on the line, doubled deep to left to score Minaker and tie the ballgame at 3!  Hubbard was lifted for the fleeter-a-foot Brent Johnson, but Tui flied out to right to end the inning.  The ballgame continues.

Jacksonville once again went for gold in the 11th.  Xavier Paul snuck one through the left side for a hit, and John Lindsey walked.  Cory Dunlap laid down a bunt, but the Aircraft Carrier shows off surprising agility and guns down Paul at 3rd for one out.  Marshall McDougall flew out (which would've scored another run if not for the Aircraft Carrier's heady play) and Anthony Ragliani popped out to end the threat.

Brian Akin came in to pitch for the Suns and no West Tenn batter could put the ball in play.  Prettyman struck out, Frazier struck out, Rene Rivera walked (that had to be a complete accident), and Valbuena struck out.

Juan Sandoval came in to work the 12th, and A.J. Ellis hit a one out double to once again put pressure on, but Chin Lung Hu's liner was gloved by Ron Prettyman at 1st, and Prettyman threw to 2nd to double off A.J. Ellis for the 3rd out.

Boucher, Minaker and Prentice Redman went quietly in the bottom 12th.

Sandoval plunked Luis Maza to lead off the 13th.  Xavier Paul bunted Maza to 2nd, but Rene Rivera finally realized who he was and threw it YIKES AND AWAY to give Paul 1st base and move Maza to 3rd.  John Lindsey popped out for one out.  Cory Dunlap drew another walk and the bases were now loaded, one out.  Marshall McDougall took ball four, and the Suns plated the go-ahead run, 4-3.  Sandoval lost his control at this point and uncorked a wild pitch that scored Xavier Paul, 5-3 Jaxtown.  So what does Juan do?  He intentionally walks Anthony Ragliani: THE MATEO METHOD.  Thankfully, Wilkin Ruan and A.J. Ellis took sympathy and popped out to end the threat.

The 2 run hill proved too much to climb for the DIAMOND JAXX, as Brent Johnson, Tui and Prettyman went quietly to end the ballgame.

NEXT:  Joe Woerman as they go again in Jacksonville.  Actually, as of this posting, they are in progress.

AAA:  Tacoma 12, Salt Lake 11

Jim Parque:  4 IP, 9 H, (7 R) 4 ER (HR), walk, 2 K
Sean Green:  3 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, walk, 4 K, WP
Brad Thomas:  0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, walk
Jon Huber:  1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, WP
Byron Embry:  0.1 IP, walk
Adam Jones:  2-6, R, RBI, 4 K: the Golden Sombrero (.312)
Jeremy Reed:  2-6, double, 3 R, RBI, K (.257)
WLAD:  4-5, 2 HRs, 2 R, 5 RBI (a beastly .380)
Bryan LaHair:  0-3, sac fly RBI, walk, K (.230)
Mike Morse:  3-4, solo HR, 2 R, walk (.286)
Jon Nelson:  1-5, R, K (.267)
Rob Johnson:  3-5, R (.254)
Gookie Dawkins:  3-4, double, triple, R, 3 RBI, walk (.255)

So many runs were scored that LL listeners seriously thought the game was being played in a launchpad like Las Vegas, rather than simply offense-friendly Salt Lake City.  The Rainiers scored the first 5 runs before the end of the 2nd, WLAD driving in two in each frame.  His 2 run bomb in the 1st kicked off the scoring, and his 2 run single ended the 2nd (he was thrown out trying for 2nd).  Salt Lake opened the bottom 2nd with 3 straight singles that plated a run, then after Parque picked off the runner at 1st, a 4th single plated another to make it 5-2, but Parque got a GIDP to escape the inning.

The Rainiers saw a new pitcher in the 4th, after Jon Rouwenhorst was pulled for being sloppy and horrible.  Chris Resop got Adam Jones on a foul tip for one out, and a Jeremy Reed fly out, but WLAD went ahead and took Resop deep for his second bomb of the game, 6-2 Tacoma.  Bryan LaHair drew a walk but Mike Morse popped out to end the inning.

Salt Lake then realized they were hitting against Jim Parque and erupted.  With one on, one out, Matthew Brown hit his first home run of the season, 6-4 Tacoma.  After Casey Smith tapped back to the pitcher for two outs, Adam Pavkovich singled down the middle and Parque plunked Nathan Haynes.  Then Tommy Murphy grounded to short where, GUESS WHAT, Oswaldo Navarro bungled the play, and the bases were loaded.  Daren Brown finally had enough with navarro's "defense", moving Gookie Dawkins from 2B to SS, and pulling Navarro for Brant Ust, who moved to 2nd.

Brandon Wood then doubled to center and cleared the bases.  7-6 Salt Lake.  A grounder ended the inning, but still, credit Oswaldo with three earned runs.

Parque ceded to Sean Green in the 5th and the Stingers went quietly.  Tacoma busted out the whooping stick in the top 6th.  Brant Ust doubled to lead off.  After Adam Jones swung at strike three for one of his four K's, Jeremy Reed doubled in Ust to tie the game at 7.  WLAD scorched a grounder through the left side to put runners at the corners and extend his hitting streak to (lots of) games, and Chris Resop was done hurling for the day, ceding to Jason Bulger.  Bryan LaHair flew out but Reed tagged up and scored to give the Rainiers an 8-7 lead.  The rally went dead when catcher Jeff Mathis took a pitch and threw out WLAD at 1st for the pickoff.

The Stingers picked a bad time to go quiet with the bats, as the Rainiers kept up the assault in the 7th.  Mike Morse snuck a grounder through the left side for a base hit.  After Jon Nelson flew out, Morse turned into Bizarro Morse and STOLE 2ND.  Rob Johnson then singled to move Morse to 3rd.  Gookie Dawkins then hit a Texas Leaguer to left to score Morse and move Johnson to 3rd.  9-7 Rainiers.  Dawkins stole 2nd himself but Ust and Adam Jones went down on strikes.

Sean Green then K'd the side in the 8th because he's incredible.

Marcus Gwyn came in to pitch for the Stingers in the 8th and quieted the Rainiers bats.  Reed, WLAD and LaHair all grounded out.

Brad Thomas relieved Green and promptly surrendered a double to Terry Evans.  Matthew Brown flew out but Evans tagged up and took 3rd.  Casey Smith grounded out but Evans scored to cut the lead to 9-8.  Adam Pavkovich walked and Daren Brown said AW HELL NO, pulling Brad Thomas for... Jon Huber.  After a lengthy discussion on how not to suck, Huber got pinch hitter Nick Gorneault to ground into the inning ending force out.

Understanding the nature of Jon Huber, the Rainiers jumped all over new pitcher Alex Serrano in the top 9th.  Mike Morse went deep to lead off and made it 10-8.  Jon Nelson got his 1st hit of the night, and Rob Johnson also singled.  Gookie Dawkins doubled to right to score both runners, 12-8.  The rest went quietly: Ust flew out, Adam Jones put on the Golden Sombrero and Reed swung at strike three.  Would a 4 run lead be enough?

Tommy Murphy led off the bottom 9th with a double.  Brandon Wood flew out, one out.  Mike Eylward lined a single to right, scoring Murphy, 12-9 Rainiers.  Jeff Mathis doubled to left, but thankfully, Eylward is slow and only reached 3rd.  One out.  Terry Evans grounded to 3rd for two outs, but Eylward scored on the play, 12-10 Rainiers.  With a runner on 2nd and Matthew Brown batting, Huber uncorked a rather needless wild pitch to to move Mathis to 3rd.  Huber got it back over the plate, and Matthew Brown promptly doubled to right to score Mathis easily, 12-11 Rainiers.

Daren Brown had enough of this crap and went to get the Big T-Bone, Byron Embry, to put a stop to this.  Sure, Casey Smith drew a walk, but Adam Pavkovich grounded out to 3rd to end a wild ballgame.

NEXT:  Tacoma takes the day off to celebrate their win by developing flu-like symptoms in time to resume play on Thursday.

First Pitch: 7:05pm PDT
                       
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  Washburn (0-2, 4.42)        Cupcakes (2-0, 4.13)

I was trying to think of something funny to put here until I realized that Jose Vidro only has two extra-base hits this year as our everyday DH, and tha-...oh wait, that counts.

LET'S GO MARINERS!!

The Single A clubs showed signs of life with solid efforts, but while the upper division clubs also showed said signs, their bullpens also showed us their gag reflex with late-inning meltdowns.

A:  High Desert 10, Lake Elsinore 1

Paul Fagan:  5.2 IP, 7 H, 1 ER (HR), 3 walks, 6 K
Nicholas Allen:  2.1 IP, 2 H, K
Austin Bibens-Dirkx:  perfect 9th, 2 flyouts, 1 groundout
Casey Craig:  1-5, R (.319)
Michael Saunders:  2-5, double, 2 K (.276)
Jesus Guzman:  4-5, double, HR, 4 R, 2 RBI (.316)
Reed Eastley:  3-5, 3 R, RBI (.333)
Johan Limonta:  4-4, 2 triples (!!), 3 RBI (.340)
Chris Colton:  2-4, R (.239)

It finally occurred to the Mavs in the bottom 4th that they were playing at home and as a result were supposed to score tons of runs.  Paul Fagan and Co either kept Lake suitably, impressively distracted, or Lake was so bored with hammering the Mavs that they took last night off.  Meanwhile, Jesus Guzman and Johan Limonta awoke and exploded, as did Reed Eastley, whose bat was AWOL for the last few days even if he wasn't.

NEXT:  Jon Lockwood opens a set in Rancho Cucamonga tonight at 7:05 pm PDT.

A:  Wisconsin 6, West Michigan 3

Chris Tillman:  6 IP, 3 H, (3 R) 2 ER, 2 walks, 6 K
Joseph Kantakevich:  2 IP, 1 H, 2 K
Andrew Barb:  hitless 9th, flyout, groundout, walk, K
Greg Halman:  1-5, R, RBI, K, SB (.204)
Alex Liddi:  2-4, 2 doubles, 2 RBI, SB (.174)
Kalian Sams:  0-3, walk, 2 K (.316)
Leury Bonilla:  0-4, 2 K (.297)
Carlos Triunfel:  2-4, double, 2 R, K (.255)
Jair Fernandez:  1-4, R, RBI (.296)
Gavin Dickey:  3-4, double, R, 2 RBI, SB (.186)

FINALLY the T-Rats wake up and play a decent ballgame!  After 4 scoreless frames, the T-Rats and Whitecaps traded runs in the 5th and 6th, but Wisconsin took the lead for good in the 7th.  Triunfel the Phenom bunted down the 3rd base line and got on base to lead off.  Jair Fernandez grounded Phenom ahead, and Gavin Dickey, finally showing something with the bat these last couple days, smacked a double to center to score Triunfel, 4-3 T-Rats.  West Michigan starter Jonah Nickerson was done and gave way to Phil Napolitan, who immediately gave up a single to greg Halman that scored Dickey, 5-3 T-Rats.  Halman stole 2nd, and Luis Nunez bunted him over to 3rd for two outs (both productive outs, BTW).  Alex Liddi doubled to center and drove in Halman to make it 6-3.  Kalian Sams went quietly but the damage was done.

That was all the bullpen needed: Chris Tillman called it a night after 6 solid innings (film at 11) and Joe Kantakevich and Andrew Barb were surprisingly solid in relief.  The T-Rats have their 3rd win of the season (okay, 3-11) and take a huge step forward with a solid all-around performance.

NEXT:  Ricky Orta will try and keep it up vs West Michigan at 3:35 pm PDT today.

AA:  Jacksonville 5, West Tenn 2, 10 innings

Robert Rohrbaugh:  5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER (HR), walk, 2 K
Aaron Troila:  4.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER (HR), 3 walks (2 IBB), 5 K
The Aircraft Carrier:  0.1 IP
Jeff Frazier:  1-5, K (.159)
T.Marshall Hubbard:  0-4, 2 K (.288)
Matt Tuiasosopo:  1-4, K (.350)
Chris Minaker:  2-4, R, K (.234)
Rene Rivera:  2-4 (!!!) (.208)
Luis Valbuena:  1-4, 2 run HR, K (.172)

Other than Luis Valbuena's 2 run shot, the DIAMOND JAXX managed nothing, but neither did the Suns, and we went to extras.  Aaron Troila had already pitched 3.2 innings, yet was sent out for another inning, which ended up proving the DIAMOND JAXX' undoing.  Juan Gonzalez bunted down the 3rd base line and reached.  Chin Lung Hu tried to bunt the runner ahead but Troila was able to turn and get the lead runner for one out.  Wilkin Ruan grounded out as Hu took 2nd, for two outs, and it looked like Troila was fine.  Troila walked Xavier Paul to ensure the force at any base, a dubious decision even sans hindsight, but John Lindsay hit a 3 run bomb to left to pretty much wrap this game up.  Troila hit the showers and the DIAMOND JAXX hit the deck as the Aircraft Carrier, Jose De La Cruz, got a quick out, and West Tenn went quietly in the bottom 10th.

NEXT:  Doug FISTER will try and rebound from a subpar effort in Jacksonville today at 5:05 pm PDT.

AAA:  Salt Lake 8, Tacoma 6

Justin Lehr:  5.1 IP, 6 H, (4 R) 2 ER, 2 walks, 7 K
Renee Cortez:  0.0 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 2 walks.  Faced 4 batters.
Jon Huber:  1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 K
Byron Embry:  1 IP, 3 K!
Adam Jones:  1-5, double, R, K (.311)
Jeremy Reed:  2-4, double, solo HR, walk (.250)
WLAD:  2-5, double, RBI, K (.348)
Bryan LaHair:  4-5, 2 doubles, 2 R, RBI, K (.239)
Mike Morse:  2-4, double, R, 2 RBI (.258)
Jeff Clement:  1-4, RBI, K (.200)
Rob Johnson (DH):  0-4, K (.224)
Brant Ust:  2-4, K (.333)
Oswaldo Navarro:  1-4 (.214)

And things were going so well too, despite Justin Lehr's botched pickoff throw allowing two runs in the 5th.  Clearly, the lineup pounded the Stingers pitching staff early and the Rainiers had a 4-2 lead.

Lehr came out for the 6th and Mike Eylward led off with a grounder that snuck down the middle for a single.  Terry Evans foul-tipped strike three into Jeff Clement's glove for one out.  Justin Lehr slipped up on his delivery and Eylward took 2nd on the balk.  Lehr walked Matthew Brown and Daren Brown decided to bring in Renee Cortez, which proved to be gasoline on the chemical fire.

Cortez had no control whatsoever.  He uncorked a wild pitch to move Eylward to 3rd.  He walked Casey Smith to load the bases.  He walked Coby Smith to bring in a run, 4-3 Rainiers.  He got it over the plate against Gary Patchett and Patchett smoked a grounder past the left side for a single that scored two, 5-4 Salt Lake, taking 2nd on the throw home.  Nathan Haynes smoked a Cortez pitch for a triple to right that emptied the bases, 7-4.  Daren Brown said screw this, yanked Cortez for Jon Huber.  Huber gave up a sacrifice fly for two out that made it 8-4, but that's one more out than Cortez got.  One more Texas Leaguer and a stolen base later, Huber got Mike Eylward (HEY, he led off the inning!) swinging to end a disastrous inning.

The Rainiers did get a run off back to back doubles by Jeremy Reed and WLAD to make it 8-5, but Mike Morse, with men on the corners and no outs, took a page from the Assclowns Handbook and lined right to Mike Eylward at 1st base, who calmly stepped on the bag to double off Bryan LaHair.  Jeff Clement shows us how ready he is by striking out to end the threat.

Jeremy Reed did hit his 2nd HR of the season with one out in the 9th, but WLAD and LaHair went quietly to end the ballgame.

NEXT:  Jim Parque will try and make it two non-suck performances in a row vs Salt Lake today at 12:05 PDT.

First Pitch: 11:05am PDT
                       
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  Washburn (0-2, 4.42)        Padilla (0-3, 6.00)

I don't know what's sadder, that Vicente Padilla's K/BB so far is 0.43, or that Ho Ramirez's is twice as bad.

Go Mariners.

So to answer the age-old question, yes, some good can come out of the day when Felix goes on the DL. Only very small bits of good, but good nonetheless.

Biggest Contribution: JJ Putz, +38.3%
Biggest Suckfest: Cha Baek, -19.0%
Most Important At Bat: Ichiro triple, +20.9%
Most Important Pitch: Blalock homers, -13.5%
Total Contribution by Pitcher(s): +54.7%
Total Contribution by Position Players: -7.1%

(What is this?)

I was going to write up a full standard recap, but then I had to go somewhere unplanned for two hours and it kind of ate into my schedule. So, bullet points!

• For the first three innings, this was looking like every other game we've had recently, at least on the offensive side of the ball - twice the Mariners were able to get the leadoff man in scoring position, and twice they came up empty. That's what happens when you have a team that's batting .239 with runners in scoring position. And while my initial reaction was "oh, that'll even out over time" since their overall numbers are better, it occurred to me that the guys who're keeping the overall numbers afloat aren't the guys who're coming to the plate in run-scoring situations. No, it's people like Ichiro and Johjima getting on base, and people like Beltre and Vidro and Guillen failing to drive them in. Yeah, it will get better just due to regression to the mean, but it's going to keep being a problem until the run-producing hitters in the middle of the lineup start doing their jobs. Right now, Guillen and Beltre alternate looking terrible, and Vidro just doesn't have the pop to cut it as a #3 hitter. Until one or two of the core guys get straightened out, you should continue to expect a ton of stranded baserunners. Fourth inning aside, Ichiro can't do everything by himself.
• You know what the biggest problem is with the lineup? Here it is, in one picture:

  

  Look at the FSN Tracker in the lower right. When this screengrab was taken, Richie had seen 11 pitches in the at bat. Eight of them were balls. He swung at five of them, which is why he's only in a full count here, rather than standing on first. You can see how big of an issue this is when you consider that Richie's supposed to draw the most walks on the roster. That said, I'm not trying to single him out; the entire batting order has this problem, aside from Jose Vidro - who can't do anything with strikes anyway - and Jamie Burke, who just, um, whatever (his fourth inning AB was terrific, strikeout be damned). This is a lineup that goes up there being aggressive and ends up bailing the pitcher out because, other than Ichiro, nobody on the team has the kind of plate coverage necessary to make a guy pay for a pitch off the plate. It's almost embarrassing to watch Beltre swing through a slider in the dirt or Betancourt pop up on a pitch at his eyes. Everyone in this batting order is going to end the season with respectable numbers, but with the way things are going, any smart pitcher who's able to locate the ball where he wants is going to tear this lineup apart.

• Cha Baek is a manager's favorite kind of back-of-the-rotation pitcher. Not because he's anything special, but because he throws a ton of strikes and makes the defense do the work. Nothing gets under a coach's skin more than falling behind in the count or issuing a bunch of walks. Remember Lou? If you consistently put the ball over the plate, managers can say things like "oh, the hitters just had a good day," or "balls were just falling in between the fielders." Miss the zone all the time, though, and that's solely the fault of the guy on the mound. I mean, just look at what Hargrove had to say after the game:
  "I though he was good," said manager Mike Hargrove of Baek's performance. "He didn't get tired, I think he started trying to do too much in the fourth and the fifth and got himself in trouble. On the whole he was good."

  "Trying to do too much" is manager-speak for "started getting too pretty." When Baek was out there just putting the ball over the plate, Hargrove loved it. That's obviously not the approach of a particularly successful pitcher, and it's why the organization doesn't hold Baek in real high esteem, but you better believe that Hargrove wouldn't mind a little more of Baek at the expense of the other assclowns in the rotation. If someone gets hurt or ineffective and a more permanent spot opens up, I think we know who we'll be seeing. It may or may not be the best idea, but it's what gives the manager the most confidence.

• Speaking of Baek, I've never seen a pitcher who looks so absolutely terrified in my entire life. It's not so much the body language as it is the facial expression; Baek legitimately looks like a man who's in the early stages of being delivered the worst news in the history of the world. Observe:

  

  Contrast this with Kevin Millwood, who appears to display nothing but bitter contempt for everyone around him when he pitches. I wonder if it might not be part of why Baek succeeds - when the batter goes up to the plate, he sees Baek looking like spooked cattle and assumes that something horrible is about to happen. Fearing for both his own safety and for the welfare of his family back home, the batter is no longer able to concentrate on the pitch, and he pops it up quickly so he can return to the dugout and call his wife.

  If I didn't know any better, I'd say it almost looks like Baek took Acting 101 from Mike Scioscia but, like any young amateur, struggles to convey the right emotion through facial subtleties. Scioscia's the master - he's able to appear bewildered and innocent through nothing more than a simple raising of the eyebrows. Baek, though, is prone to exaggeration because he's not comfortable with the finer muscle movements and doesn't understand how powerful they can be, even in small doses. Before any given pitch it's like he's one more stroke of bad luck away from breaking down and weeping on the field. This does not instill one with much confidence.

• JJ Putz is not 100%, and he's not going to get to 100% for as long as he's on the active roster. Today he threw about ten straight 93mph fastballs and never once flashed anything offspeed. I don't want to jump the gun, since 85% of JJ Putz is better than 95% of the rest of the league's relievers, but this could be trouble. While praying to see him throw a 90mph splitter in his next appearance, remember to be thankful for everything he's already provided.
• Highlight of the day: Brandon Morrow in the bottom of the fifth. Inheriting two on and one out, Morrow promptly uncorked a wild pitch and went on to intentionally walk Hank Blalock to load the bases for one of the hottest hitters in baseball in Ian Kinsler. Morrow blew him away. Blew away Nelson Cruz, too. Nothing but heat. The stadium radar gun got as high as 98 (101 on Fox Sports), and neither Kinsler nor Cruz could catch up. It was like watching Putz from last September, actually. Morrow didn't dick around - he just came right after the hitters with the best he had to offer and dared them to make him pay. They couldn't.

  So that was neat. But then things changed. Morrow stayed in the game, but he started featuring different stuff. He flashed a breaking ball, and his fastball was down in the 92-94 range. After escaping the initial jam, Morrow pitched his appearance like a starter. And I gotta say, I wasn't impressed. He couldn't locate his slider or splitter for his life, and his fastball lost so many ticks that it was no longer anything resembling a plus pitch. He was basically an average fastball guy with little else to offer, and once the velocity came down he promptly stopped missing bats. That's bad, and it's bad for two reasons. One, it means he isn't nearly as developed as the coaching staff thinks he is, and he still needs a lot of work before he's ready to help this rotation. And two, everyone's going to remember him for his two strikeouts in the fifth inning and bring them up anytime anyone dares to suggest moving Morrow back to the minors. "Look how much he can help us right now," they'll say. "Why would you want to lose that on purpose?"

  And this is where it starts. Bavasi has an obligation to do what's in the best interests of the organization, but Hargrove and the rest of the coaching staff are much more short-sighted, so there's a potential conflict here. After those two strikeouts, the coaches aren't going to let Morrow go without a fight, so if Bavasi decides that he wants to see him working every five days in Tacoma or Tennessee, he'll have to demonstrate the kind of power and authority he's been reluctant to do in the past. The pigeonholing that everyone feared when Morrow first came up is more likely now than it was a few hours ago. It's incredibly silly, but that's how these things work. Me, I'm not ready to settle for Morrow as the new Fernando Rodney, but all I can really do is hope.

  Remember: firing Hargrove isn't just about wins and losses. It's also about the future. Simply put, we can't allow a man whose job status changes by the day determine the development path of a pitcher who's supposed to help us for the better part of a decade. If Bavasi lets Morrow's two strikeouts sway the organization's judgment of his most appropriate role, then he's failed as a GM.

• Ichiro's slugging .532. The man continues to evolve.

Jarrod Washburn and Vicente Padilla tomorrow at 11:05am PDT. At 6.00, Padilla would have the third-best ERA in our starting rotation.

First Pitch: 5:05pm PDT
                       
  ----------                  ----------
  Baek (0-0, -.--)            Millwood (2-2, 4.91)

Happy Felix Day.

The whole org would like to forget that this weekend happened.  Except maybe for Marshall Hubbard.  None of our affiliates are better than three games under .500.  Like parent club, like affiliate.

One of our affiliates won yesterday, however.

A:  Lake Elsinore 15, High Desert 3

Aaron Jensen:  3 IP, 12 H, 12 ER (HR), 2 K.  Good lord.
John Sullivan:  4 IP, 6 H, 3 ER (HR), 3 K
David Asher:  2 IP, 1 H, walk, 4 K
Casey Craig:  2-4, triple, R, RBI, K (.328)
Michael Saunders:  0-4, K (.264)
Johan Limonta:  3-4, double, R (.304)

Aaron Jensen recorded nine outs.  Look at the line and that's really all you need to know.

NEXT:  Poor Paul Fagan.  7:05 pm PDT.

A:  West Michigan 8, Wisconsin 2

Anthony Butler:  5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER (HR), 5 walks, 8 K
Steve Uhlmansiek:  1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, walk, K
Justin "Little Mateo" Souza:  1.1 IP, 4 H, (5 R) 2 ER, K
Carlos Triunfel:  0-4 (.233)
Luis Nunez:  2-4, RBI, K (.244)
Greg Halman:  1-4, K, SB (.204)
Leury Bonilla:  1-3, double, R (.333)
Jair Fernandez:  2-3, RBI double, K (.304)
Gavin Dickey:  1-2, double, R (.128)

I'm just gonna post the recap of the bottom 8th in its entirety, because it speaks for itself.

• Santo De Leon doubles (2) on a ground ball to left fielder Kuo Hui Lo.
  
• James Skelton reaches on fielding error by second baseman Luis Nunez. Santo De Leon to 3rd.
  
• Jeramy Laster reaches on a fielder's choice, fielded by first baseman Alex Liddi. Santo De Leon scores. Jeramy Laster to 2nd. James Skelton advances to 3rd, on throwing error by first baseman Alex Liddi.
  
• Audy Ciriaco reaches on fielding error by shortstop Carlos Triunfel. James Skelton scores. Jeramy Laster to 3rd. Audy Ciriaco to 2nd.
  
• Gorkys Hernandez singles on a ground ball to right fielder Gregory Halman. Jeramy Laster scores. Audy Ciriaco to 3rd.
  
• Louis Ott singles on a ground ball to right fielder Gregory Halman. Audy Ciriaco scores. Gorkys Hernandez to 2nd.
  
• Scott Sizemore called out on strikes.
  
• Brennan Boesch grounds out, first baseman Alex Liddi to pitcher Justin Souza. Gorkys Hernandez to 3rd. Louis Ott to 2nd.
  
• Ryan Strieby singles on a ground ball to left fielder Kuo Hui Lo. Gorkys Hernandez scores. Louis Ott out at home on the throw, left fielder Kuo Hui Lo to catcher Jair Fernandez.

NEXT:  Chris Tillman vs West Michigan, 3:35 pm PDT.

AA:  West Tenn 8, Jacksonville 6

Andrew Baldwin:  6 IP, 9 H, 4 ER (HR), 2 walks, 1 K
Kam Mickolio:  2 IP, 2 H, (2 R) 0 ER, 2 K
Craig James:  1 IP, 1 H, 1 K
Alex Meneses:  0-3, 2 R, 2 walks, K
Sebastien Boucher:  1-4, 2 R, walk (.161)
Prentice Redman:  1-5, 2 RBI, 3 K (.286)
T.Marshall Hubbard:  2-4, 3 RBI, walk (.306)
Matt Tuiasosopo:  1-3, R, RBI, walk (.357)
Jeff Frazier:  1-4, R, K (.156)
Ron Prettyman:  1-2, double, R, RBI, 2 walks (.333)
Luis Valbuena:  1-4, R, RBI (.167)

THANK YOU, DIAMOND JAXX, for showing up yesterday.  Jacksonville shoved 4 runs down Andrew Baldwin's throat in the 3rd to take a 4-2 lead, but Baldwin held the fort down through six and Marshall Hubbard eventually paid him off with a 2 run single in the bottom 5th to tie the ballgame, which followed a costly fielding error by Jax 2B Juan Gonzalez that put the 2nd runner aboard.

The DIAMOND JAXX pushed ahead in the bottom 7th: Suns pitcher Matt Riley walked Alex Meneses and watched Sebastien Boucher beat out 1B John Lindsey on a bunt that moved Meneses to 2nd.  Prentice Redman swung at strike three for one out, but Marshall Hubbard drew a walk to load the bases.  Tui hit a deep fly to left that was caught for two outs, but it allowed Meneses to score and give West Tenn the 5-4 lead.  Jeff Frazier did his thing for the 3rd out but West Tenn had the lead.

Kam Mickolio had thrown a solid 7th, but committed a gaffe to start the 8th.  Cory Dunlap grounded to 1st, but Kam dropped Ron Prettyman's lob to 1st and Dunlap was safe.  Marshall McDougall struck out for one out, but Anthony Ragliani lined a shot to right for a triple that scored the runner and tied the game at 5.  Alberto Concepcion put another charge in a Kam pitch that was caught, but Ragliani scored on the sac fly to make it 6-5 Jaxtown.

West Tenn responded in the bottom 8th.  Ron Prettyman led off with a walk, and Luis Oliveros sac bunted Prettyman ahead.  Luis Valbuena watched strike three but catcher Alberto Concepcion let it get by and Valbuena reached.  Alex Meneses watched strike three for two outs, but Sebastien Boucher drew a huge walk to load the bases.  Prentice Redman, having done nothing all day, lined a single to center that plated Prettyman and Valbuena.  7-6 DIAMOND JAXX!  Marshall Hubbard came to the plate and continued his awesome day with a lined base hit to center that scored Boucher and made it 8-6.  Tui flew out but West Tenn went from trailing by a run... to being three outs from a much needed win.

And Craig James did not let them down, locking down the save despite a two out double from Xavier Paul.

NEXT:  Robert Rohrbaugh, 5:05 pm PDT.

AAA: Salt Lake 6, Tacoma 1

Jorge Campillo:  6 IP, 7 H, 4 ER (HR), walk, 3 K
Jake Woods:  1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, walk, K, 1 Mystic-tan session
Michael Wagner:  1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, K
Adam Jones:  0-3, walk, HBP (.319)
Jeremy Reed:  0-2, walk (.233)
Mike Morse:  1-3, RBI (.242)
WLAD:  1-4, K (.344)
Bryan LaHair:  0-3, walk (.197)
Rob Johnson:  1-4 (.241)
Jeff Clement (DH):  0-4, K (.197)
Oswaldo Navarro:  2-3 (.212)

Jorge Campillo's good fortune runs out, as Salt Lake gets to him in the 3rd and 4th innings for 2 runs apiece, and the Stingers added insurance runs off Jake Woods and mop up scrub Michael Wagner.  Tacoma's only run came in the first inning, when Mike Morse hit a sac fly that drove in Adam Jones.  Salt Lake pitching only allowed 5 hits, 3 walks and hit a batter.

NEXT:  Justin Lehr vs Salt Lake: 5:35 PDT.

The Mariners return home to last place after taking a brief vacation. The subletting Rangers are just moving out.

Mariners: Hey.
Rangers: Oh, hey!
Mariners: :struggle with luggage:
Rangers: How was your trip?
Mariners: Too long.
Rangers: Too long?
Mariners: It had its moments, but after a while, y'know, it's nice to come back.
Rangers: Yeah, I can see that.
Mariners: How were things here?
Rangers: Oh, y'know, same old, same old.
Mariners: No fires or break-ins?
Rangers: Haha, no!
Mariners: You moved the couch.
Rangers: We thought we could get some light in the living room by changing around the furniture a little bit.
Mariners: And those flowers are new.
Rangers: The front yard was dull.
Mariners: What did I tell you about flowers?
Rangers: I'm sorry, I just thought -
Mariners: Whose property is this?
Rangers: ...but I don't -
Mariners: Whose property is this?
Rangers:
Mariners: This is my property.
Rangers: ...okay.
Mariners: Say it with me.
Rangers: We don't have to -
Mariners: This is my property.
Rangers: ...this is your property.
Mariners: Whose property is it?
Rangers: Yours.
Mariners: Damn straight.
Rangers: Okay, well, we'll be out of your hair in a minute. Just gotta bring out these last few boxes.
Mariners: I think we know how to decorate our own fucking property.
Rangers: Thanks again for renting out while you were away.
Mariners: Get off my lawn.

Biggest Contribution: Raul Ibanez, +8.0%
Biggest Suckfest: Jeff Weaver, -15.8%
Most Important At Bat: Ibanez triple, +8.7%
Most Important Pitch: Matthews double, -10.1%
Total Contribution by Pitcher(s): -14.2%
Total Contribution by Position Players: -42.3%

(What is this?)

Now that's what I'm talking about. This team came to the ballpark ready to lose, and didn't deviate from its established gameplan in the slightest despite a substantial amount of external pressure. It's good to see everyone working as a unit towards one set goal. That's the kind of thing that builds camaraderie, and a clubhouse of tight-knit no-talent assclowns can be critical as you head down the stretch of a last place season. If the coaches and captains want to foster a culture of losing, you can't afford to have one or two dissenters. After all, a team's chemistry is only as strong as its weakest bond.

If there's an upside to today's game, it is this - my friends, we may be witnessing the dying moments of Jeff Weaver's Seattle career. Despite getting out of a jam with consecutive strikeouts, Weaver was yanked after three innings and only 68 pitches, and replaced by a guy Bavasi picked up in the Rule 5 draft. The message is pretty clear: Hargrove thinks nothing of our $8m fifth starter, and would rather watch a minimum-wage nobody try to tame the toothless meerkats that make up the Anaheim batting order instead. Weaver wasn't hurt, and his last two AB's were pretty good, but Hargrove had nevertheless seen more than enough. And given the seven hits in three innings, you can't really blame him.

So where does this leave Weaver? With a manager that doesn't like him, he may be one good Cha Baek start and a healthy Felix away from losing his job. In a disappointing trio of new starters, Weaver's both the worst pitcher and the easiest to jettison, so it shouldn't take much to force him out of the rotation entirely. Something like 6 IP/3 ER from Baek tomorrow could be enough by itself. Stay tuned, because this has been an ugly week, and Weaver looks like he could be the first casualty of a team that desperately needs to avoid another tailspin.

The biggest problem with Weaver - as is also the case for Batista, Washburn, Ho Ramirez, and most of the bullpen - is that he doesn't have a strikeout pitch. Today he was getting ahead of countless hitters 0-1 and 0-2, but he couldn't put them away, so they fought off pitch after pitch until he made a mistake and they got something they could drive. Being able to throw strikes is important, but as evidenced by Weaver's seven hits and 71% strike rate this afternoon, it isn't everything - far more useful is the ability to miss bats. Do that consistently and you're able to get out of any jam. Struggle with it, though, and you're left hoping that the batter makes a mistake. At its heart, pitching is all about taking control of a game, but we've assembled a staff that, for the most part, needs the batters to make their own outs. And that just doesn't happen often enough for this team to get by.

As far as Weaver himself is concerned, if you're determined to squeeze something out of him rather than cut bait completely, Dave emailed me with one idea - put him in the bullpen. With a few extra miles on his fastball and a pretty good slider that's still trouble on right-handed hitters (see the Hillenbrand AB in the third inning), Weaver could be more successful in the Mateo role than the incumbent, which is something to think about. It's also highly unlikely, but there you go. It's not so much that Weaver appears finished as a pitcher as it is that he appears finished as a starter. Used properly in a bullpen that badly needs some help in the middle innings, Weaver could be a moderately tolerable stopgap.

Oh yeah, there was a game today. The Mariners sucked in it. Aside from Ibanez, Burke, and Beltre, who combined to go .375/.556/1.125 with about 32423432 feet of extra-base hits, the offense was pathetic, not even bothering to wake up once everything was out of hand. And as is always the case on non-Felix days, there wasn't any particular reason to pay close attention to the pitching, which was about as generic as it gets. Sean White's kind of cool as a mop-up guy when he isn't getting stabbed in the back by Yuniesky Betancourt, but I don't know how much of that comes from the fact that his three appearances have come in relief of guys who allowed 18 runs in 13.2 innings. This is why women always try to befriend other women who are far less attractive. Separate White from his fugly companions and we might see him for what he really is - a worthless nothing righty who wouldn't have a job in a contending team's bullpen. With Seattle, though, he's Hargrove's go-to long reliever. Context is everything.

No kidding.

Texas tomorrow to kick off back-to-back two-game series against superior divisional opponents. If this pitching's been lousy in Seattle and Anaheim, I can't wait to see how things in Arlington unfold.

The Mariners suck.  The whole damn organization.  I have proof:

A:  Lake Elsinore 13, High Desert 4

Let's just ignore the pitching, shall we?
Casey Craig:  2-5, double, R, 3 K (.317)
Michael Saunders:  1-3, R (.286)
Adam Moore:  4-4, double, 2 RBI (.286)
Chris Colton:  0-4, 4 K: The Golden Sombrero (.214)

It was a 3-2 Lake lead before the top 6th, where... well, you can probably guess.  Marwin Vega only faced 3 of the 12 batters that came to the plate for Lake before Jason Snyder came in.  Fortunately for Snyder's already bloated ERA, a wild pitch and Jeff Flaig throwing error meant that only 1 of those 5 runs were earned.  Even funnier, he was sent back out for the 7th, though he escaped the 7th without incident.

Also, catcher Adam Moore asks that we not get on the Travis Scott bandwagon just yet, as he went 4 for freaking 4 and knocked in a couple runs.  Chris Colton also went 4 for 4... in strikeouts.

A:  West Michigan 4, Wisconsin 3

Anthony Varvaro:  5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, walk, 6 K
Joseph Kantakevich:  1 IP, K
Rollie Gibson:  0.2 IP, walk, K
Andrew Barb:  0.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER
Natividad Dilone:  1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, walk, K
Ogui Diaz:  2-4, K, SB (5) (.289)
Greg Halman:  1-4, double, R, K, SB (6) (.200)
Leury Bonilla:  0-4, 3 K (.333)
Carlos Triunfel:  2-3, R, RBI (.256)
Hargrove's kid:  1-3, RBI, K (.227)

The T-Rats had the 3-1 lead going into the bottom 8th, an error free performance buffered by some solid pitching from Anthony Varvaro and the bullpen.  Andrew Barb came in to work the 8th, as he'd done many times before successfully this year.  Gorkys Hernandez flied out for one, but Louis Ott threaded a grounder through the left side for a base hit.  Scott Sizemore took one for the team and Brennan Doesch smoked another grounder through the right side to score Ott and move Sizemore to 3rd.  Barb is done and in comes the dubious Natividad Dilone to shut this rally down... and he actually shuts it down with a pop up and K to end the threat!  Still 3-2 T-Rats.

We go to the bottom 9th with the T-Rats only needing three outs for a much-needed win.  Dilone deals to James Skelton, who smokes a grounder through the left side for a leadoff single.  Methinks they need an extra infelder.  Michael Bertram sac bunted the runner ahead to 2nd for one out.  Deik Scram smacks a hard grounder to third, and Alex Liddi can't make the play, so runners on the corners with one down.  Any run ties the game, and the runner on 1st can win the game.

Our friend Gorkys Hernandez hits a grounder to the left side and THAT gets through.  Skelton scores and we are TIED AT 3.  Scram is on 2nd.  One out.

Louis Ott draws a walk and the bases are loaded.  One out.  Looks like we're seeing Bad Natividad, except you can't blame him for the slow infield defense.

Scott Sizemore grounds hard to the right side, and it gets through.  Ballgame.  West Michigan wins, and this time you can't blame defensive gaffes.  Maybe infield speed or infield positioning.  And despite the blown save and loss, you certainly can't jump on Natividad Dilone for inducing a ton of groundballs that his defense couldn't snag.

AA:  Jacksonville 5, West Tenn 2

Juan Done:  5.1 IP, 4 H, (3 R) 2 ER, walk, 3 K
Juan Sandoval:  2.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 walks
Chad Fillinger:  1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER (season debut)
Chris Minaker:  1-5, double, R (.217)
Thomas Marshall Hubbard:  1-2, RBI, 2 walks (.293)
Jeff Frazier:  0-1, 3 walks (.150)
Matt Tuiasosopo:  0-2, 2 walks (.358)
Rene Rivera:  0-4, K (.182)

Scoreless ballgame until the 5th, when Marshall McDougall doubled to center with one out, and Anthony Ragliani drove him in with a single down the middle.  The DIAMOND JAXX responded in the bottom 5th with runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out, when (Thomas) Marshall Hubbard threaded a grounder through the left side to score both.  2-1 West Tenn.  Jeff Frazier drew a walk, but there was no more scoring, as Tui flied to center and Xavier Paul, after making an unexpected catch, doubled Frazier off of 1st for the double play.

Juan Done, making the spot start in lieu of Jason Mackintosh (who made the spot start in Tacoma for Cha Seung Baek, who may make a spot start Monday for Felix Hernandez, who may make a spot appearance on the DL), had thrown five good innings, but was figured good enough to go out for the 6th.  Chin Lung Hu led off with a double to right, and Luis Maza sac bunted him to 3rd for one out.  Xavier Paul grounded to 1st but Hubbard candyarsed the play and Hu scored to tie the game at 2.  Paul took 2nd.  One out, and Juan... was Done.  Juan Sandoval came in and John Lindsey smoked a single to right to move Paul to 3rd.  Cory Dunlap flied out to right, and Paul was able to score.  3-2 Jaxtown.  Marshall McDougall flew out to end the inning but the damage was done.

West Tenn had runners on with back to back singles but Rene Rivera, go figure, managed to produce two outs with one swing despite not making contact, as he missed strike three and despite being rather rotund and in the way, Suns catcher A.J. Ellis was able to throw past him and get Prentice Redman stealing at 3rd.  Luis Valbuena continued to prove nothing more than a decent single A hitter and grounded out to end the inning.

Jacksonville added a run in the top 8th off Sandoval, and then welcomed Chad Fillinger to the 2007 season by pounding him and scoring another run in the top 9th.  West Tenn had once again put two men on to start an inning, then failed to bring any of them in like true MARINERS IN THE MAKING (and HEY, Rene Rivera killed THAT rally too!), then went quietly in the 9th.

AAA:  Salt Lake 4, Tacoma 3

Ryan Feierabend:  3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER (HR), walk, 3 K
Renee Cortez:  2 IP, 2 H, walk, K
Ryan Rowland-Smith:  1 IP, walk
Brad Thomas:  2 IP, 2 ER, walk, K
Jeremy Reed:  1-3, walk, K (.241)
Mike Morse:  1-3, R, walk (.237)
Bryan LaHair:  0-4 (.206)
WLAD:  2-4, 2 run HR, SB (.351)
Jeff Clement:  0-4, K (.210)
Jon Nelson:  1-3, 2 K (.275)
Rob Johnson (DH):  1-4, K (.240)
Oswaldo Navarro:  1-3, double, R, K (.184)

Ryan Feierabend had another one of his off days and left after 3 innings, with Tacoma trailing 2-0.  It was not until the top 7th that Tacoma managed anything against an effective Kasey Olenberger.  Mike Morse singled (meeting his quota of at least one effective AB per game), and after Bryan LaHair popped out to continue his mission of avoiding the big club by any means necessary... WLAD came to the plate and destroyed an Olenberger pitch, sending it out of the yard and tying the ballgame at 2-2.  Clement and Jon Nelson went quietly, but the damage was done.

Brad Thomas came in for the bottom 7th.  Adam Pavkovich got a grounder through the left side to get on, and Nathan Haynes sac bunted him to 2nd, one out.  Jeff Mathis smoked a grounder through the right side to score Pavkovich, and Mathis took 2nd on WLAD's throw home.  3-2 Stingers.  Brandon Wood drew a walk, and with Mike Eylward at the plate, Brad Thomas uncorked a wild pitch to move the runners into scoring position.  One out.  Eylward flew out to right, but Mathis scored to make it 4-2 Salt Lake, two outs.  Nick Goneault grounded out to end the inning, but the damage was done.

The Rainiers immiedtaely tried to jump on a tiring Olenberger in the top 8th.  Rob Johnson didn't get  the memo, however, and swung at strike three for one out.  Oswaldo Navarro, holding some serious goodwill debt after the last week, lined a double to center.  Gookie Dawkins flew out to right for two outs and Navarro took 3rd.  Facing Jeremy Reed, Olenberger uncorked a wild pitch and Navarro scored to make it 4-3.  Olenberger lost his command and walked Reed, and Olenberger was quickly yanked for Alex Serrano.  Serrano got Morse to ground out and the threat was over.

Brad Thomas did much better in the bottom 8th, and the Rainiers needed a run in the top 9th.  With one out (thanks again, Bryan LaHair), WLAD hit a sharp grounder  to 3rd that got through for a base hit.  Jeff Clement popped out for two out, and WLAD finally said screw this, stealing 2nd with Jon Nelson at the plate.  Nelson, himself slumping after an early season hot streak, needed only smack a single to any field to score the fleet footed phenom and tie the ballgame.  Alex Serrano helped him out and plunked him to put runners at 1st and 2nd with Rob Johnson coming up.  Sadly, Johnson is as clutch as Bartolo Colon is thin, and he popped out to end the ballgame.

First Pitch: 12:35pm PDT
                       
  ----------                  ----------
  Weaver (0-2, 15.75)         Santana (1-2, 7.63)

Don't worry guys, Jeff Weaver won't be deterred by his awful start. If you thought he was so weak-willed that he'd try to fix the problems that came up over his first two starts, well, you've got another thing coming.

Of course, that dumbshit 86mph two-seamer isn't what got Weaver here. What got Weaver here was the success he had throwing 92mph heaters in the World Series. But what do I know? I'm just some guy. Weaver's a professional pitcher with a four-digit ERA.

Go Mariners.

Generally speaking, I'm not a man who takes a lot of naps, but the ones I get tend to be well-deserved and refreshing. Although rare, they're events that I look forward to, and sometimes they turn out to be critical components of a busy workweek.

A few months ago, I came back from an early class and crashed on my bed, anticipating that an hour or so of mid-afternoon sleep would give me enough energy to work through a late night. I was all settled in and out cold for about seven minutes before I woke up to a phone call. I groaned, reached over for my cell phone, and saw "1-800-377-7789" on the caller ID. Not even a friend or family. Ignoring the call, I tried to go back to sleep, but all I could do was toss and turn and stare at the ceiling. Finally, after about half an hour, I gave up, rolled out of bed, and checked the voicemail message that the 800 number had apparently left me. It was a reminder to call a "Dr. Phelps' office." Dr. Phelps, as it turns out, works at a telemarketing collection agency, or something along those lines. My nap was interrupted by a spammer. Thanks to Dr. Phelps, I spent the rest of the day in a foul and highly unproductive mood.

It wasn't an isolated incident, either. Almost without fail, calls from Dr. Phelps' office would either get me up way too early in the morning or cut my attempted naps in half. This assault on my sanity continued for about three or four weeks before I finally found a way to make them leave me the fuck alone (basically, calling them back and telling them to leave me the fuck alone). For as long as this went on, though, the calls consistently interrupted what little peace and quiet I could have, and left me angry and frustrated and in no mood to get anything done. It was a serious problem, the sort that could drive a lesser man to all kinds of evil.

You can probably see where I'm going with this. The Mariners' current five-game losing streak has been like a series of senselessly interrupted afternoon naps. If you're going to fall behind by an assload in the early innings, at least have the common courtesy to let your fans doze off without making annoying loud noises to wake them back up. A person who's sleeping is a person free of worry or angst. A person who's woken up prematurely is a person full of distemper. If you wake someone up with the hope of a comeback and then don't follow through, you would've been better off leaving him alone. I can't think of a more irritating way to make a habit of losing baseball games. Seriously, Mariners - either do something before the seventh or just lay down your weapons and surrender. This non-committal bullshit isn't doing anyone any favors.

Biggest Contribution: Ben Broussard, +14.3%
Biggest Suckfest: Ho Ramirez, -15.0%
Most Important At Bat: Broussard grand slam, +14.3%
Most Important Pitch: Guerrero homer, -13.1%
Total Contribution by Pitcher(s): -13.5%
Total Contribution by Position Players: -40.3%

(What is this?)

Jeff Weaver, Miguel Batista, and Ho Ramirez over seven combined starts:

IP: 35.1
H: 56
R: 42
HR: 7
BB: 16
K: 18

I'm just putting that out there.

With Bartolo Colon making his first appearance since last July and the Angels rolling out a pretty feeble lineup, this looked like a game with a little hope, and it got off to a fast start when Ichiro drilled a leadoff double into center. Little did we know at the time that the double would represent the high mark of our Win Expectancy. The rest of the inning was a disaster, the only redeeming moment being the classic Colon-Vidro encounter with Ichiro on third, pictured below:

In an at bat extended by both a series of pitches and the short breathers Colon had to take every time he climbed back onto the mound, Vidro came out on the losing end, going down on strikes and returning his professional-hitting ass to the dugout bench to think about what he did over cheesecake and Fritos. The camera briefly shifted to Colon, causing an immediate 3000% spike in anorexia among the young female viewership, before it went back to the standard center field angle in time to show Raul Ibanez flying out to end the inning. Another runner in scoring position stranded by the middle of the lineup. We've seen this movie before. All that was left was...was...

...oh yeah, the horrible early pitching. After Ho's performance today, the Mariners have now allowed twelve runs in their last six first innings. It could've been way way worse, too; there were two on and only one out when Mike Napoli hit a scorching comebacker to Ramirez, who wheeled around and threw to second to complete the double play. I mentioned this in the game thread, but a pitcher who turns that kind of double play must feel like a hockey goalie who hears a shot ring off the goalpost behind him. On the one hand, you didn't get burned, but on the other, you should've. Understandably, I'm sure Ho Ramirez is happy to get whatever outs he can by whichever means possible, but I can't really think of a less-inspiring way to leave the field after recording the third out.

Fortunately for the Angels, they were playing the Mariners, so they could afford to miss out on a few terrific run-scoring opportunities. Such as, say, Garret Anderson's at bat with the bases loaded in the next inning. You can't convert every RISP situation, but if you have to fail, I can't think of a better team to fail against. It's not like the M's were doing anything in their half-innings, anyway, so any additional runs would've just been piling on. I think Bartolo Colon got through a few of those innings on two pitches. This lineup hacks more than Jose Vidro after he accidentally swallows the lettuce on a cheeseburger.

Of course, just because piling on against the Mariners is unnecessary doesn't mean it isn't fun, so imagine Anaheim's delight when they got Ho on the ropes in the fifth and Hargrove called for Julio Mateo to stop the rally. If Mateo were a fireman, and he was called to the scene of a small grease fire in the kitchen of a one-bedroom apartment, he'd torch everything on the block including the apartment itself and tell the owner "now your fire can't do any damage." Mateo's inherited five runners so far this year and they've all come around to score, but while that seems bad enough by itself, he's also allowed five runs of his own, making him pretty much the worst reliever in baseball. By the time he was finished, the Mariners trailed by a touchdown, and it looked like everyone on the field had just given up. A minor one-run rally in the seventh wasn't particularly encouraging; it broke the shutout, but holy crap, that should've been done hours earlier.

Once again, the Mariners waited until we were comfortably asleep before they started showing signs of life. Nobody thought much of Jose Guillen's RBI single, but when Scot Shields walked Jamie Burke to load the bases for Ben Broussard, we perked up a little and watched through half-shut eyelids. We were ready to try and go right back to sleep after Shields twice struck out Broussard looking on inside fastballs, but somehow Derryl Cousins neglected to call the pitches what they were and in so doing gave Broussard a third opportunity, of which he took considerable advantage. One swing of the bat later, we were looking at a one-run ballgame (first pinch-hit GS in franchise history), and the dugout came alive.

Then Anaheim brought in one of the best relievers in the world and gave us all the finger. That's what we get for hoping. Rudely awoken from a pleasant slumber, we now get to go into tomorrow's 12:35pm PDT Weaver/Santana start all irritable and cranky. That usually doesn't happen until after Weaver pitches. Based on recent trends, I wouldn't bother tuning in until at least 2:15 or 2:30.

Pardon the belated post of this wrap-up, as last night was SPRING BREAK WOOOOOOOOOO for me and getting going today took some time.  Thanks to CoachOwensMoralCompass for the heads up that drinking is bad and that I am destroying my liver, but watching the Mariners is doing enough permanent damage to my mental health as it stands, so I'll go ahead and let my internal organs join in the fun, thanks.

Meanwhile, tight game and a wild finish in High Desert (and those who caught the tail end of the Mariners game thread last night probably know how it went, as I was listening to the end of the game and would not shut up about it, lol)... Wisconsin watched their own version of Mateo gag up another ballgame... West Tennessee blew up a one-time phenom with a huge late-inning rally... and with Eddie Guardado injured, it's likely he has passed the lefty suck torch to Ryan Rowland-Smith, who undid a solid start in Tacoma by a surprise replacement for the expected starting pitcher, who was a curious no-show.  That's as many prepositions as I had stiff drinks last night.

A:  High Desert 3, Lake Elsinore 2, 10 innings

Aaron Cotter:  6 IP, 5 H, (1 R) 0 ER, walk, 5 K
Roman Martinez:  3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 4 K
Austin Bibens-Dirkx:  1 IP, 1 H, (1 R) 0 ER, walk, 2 K, and a very curious rule violation
Michael Saunders:  0-5, K (.283)
Jesus Guzman:  2-5, R, SB (.288)
Jeff Dominguez:  3-5, double, R, K, SB (.310)
Travis Scott:  (debut) 2-5, 2 RBI, K

Tight game with a big finish.  Aaron Cotter looked to take a hard luck 1-0 loss, but High Desertgot a big break in the 7th.  With two outs and Casey Craig on 1st.  Craig stole 2nd, then Michael Saunders hit a routine fly to left, except LF Chad Huffman DROPPED it, and Craig scored to tie the ballgame.  Pitcher Brandon Higelin balked to move Saunders to 2nd, but got Jesus Guzman to escape the inning.

High Desert had a good shot in the bottom 8th with men on 1st and 2nd, one out... except catcher Travis Scott, making his first appearance of the year after missing 14 games  with an oblique injury, grounded into the 6-4-3 inning ending double play.  They also got a man on 2nd in the bottom 9th when Chris Colton pinch hit for Josh Womack and hit a one out double, but Casey Craig and Michael Saunders, easily two of the best bats in the Mavs lineup, went quietly to send it to extras.

The Mavs sent out reliable sidewinder Austin Bibens-Dirkx to work the 10th.  He got Yordany Ramirez to fly out and struck out Mike Baxter, and that's when things got weirder than Austin's last name.  Now, I admit that I was inebriated while listening to the game so I was a bit unclear as to what exactly happened.  I had heard that after walking Matt Antonelli, Bibens-Dirkx was called for a balk for going into his jersey, a technical no-no, which put Antonelli on 2nd.

Turns out that's not what happened.  Apparently during Antonelli's AB, the Lake batter in the hole, Seth Johnston, got tossed for a reason no media outlet will specify, though from what I heard under the influence, Johnston must have been the one who 'went to his jersey' and got tossed as a result.  We may never know.

Anyway, the hijinks during the Antonelli at-bat didn't end there.  Ball four to Antonelli got lodged in catcher Travis Scott's catching equipment and he couldn't get it out!  As a result, Antonelli was able to take 2nd, as the umps ruled the gaffe a catching error!  Chad Huffman singled in the next AB, scoring Antonelli to make it 2-1 Lake in the biggest screwing this side of Mike Reilly.

But High Desert would not give up.  Down 2-1 with their final three outs against Lake closer John Madden.  Jesus Guzman tapped it back to Madden, who FUMBLES and Guzman is safe at 1st.  Reed Eastley watched strike three for one out, and Mavs manager Scott Steinmann did not approve, so umpire Johnny Conrad said 'STFU GTFO.'  EJECTED.  Jeff Dominguez avenged his skipped and lined a single to center to put runners at the corners, one out.  Johan Limonta gets plunked by the Maddencruiser, BOOM, and the bases are loaded.  And here comes Travis Scott, already having a pretty crappy debut despite a hit, thanks to his rally killing GIDP and equipment gaffe that, if he does not respond here, costs his team the game.

And Scott smoked a worm-burner down the right side, PAST THE INFIELD and Guzman scores!  Dominguez hustled home and the throw was NOT IN TIME, HIGH DESERT WINS!!!  Travis Scott redeems himself with the walkoff Texas Leaguer in one of the craziest 10th innings you'll ever see in A ball.

A:  Beloit 8, Wisconsin 3

Nathan Adcock:  4 IP, 4 H, (2 R) 0 ER, 2 walks, 6 K
Robert Harmon:  2 IP, 1 H, walk, 2 K
Justin Souza:  1 IP, 4 H, 4 ER (HR), from Justin Souza?, K
Steve Uhlmansiek:  1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, walk
Ogui Diaz:  1-4, triple, RBI, K, CS (.265)
Carlos Triunfel:  0-4, 2 K (.222)
Greg Halman:  1-3, walk, K, picked off (.195)
Alex Liddi:  2-4, triple, 2 R, K (.147)
Leury Bonilla:  2-3, 2 doubles, R, 2 RBI (.385)
Hargrove's kid:  0-4, 3 K (.211)

I'm guessing nobody wanted to hang out with Justin Souza after last night's game.

AA:  West Tenn 7, Mississippi 5

Joe Woerman:  5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 4 walks, 4 K, WP
Mumba Rivera:  3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER (2 HR), 2 walks, 5 K, 2 WP, no concept of 'taking a day off'
Craig James:  1 IP, walk, 3 K
Jeff Frazier:  0-4, R, walk (.153)
Matt Tuiasosopo:  3-3, triple, 2 R, RBI, walk (.373)
Rene Rivera:  1-2, 2 run HR (?!), walk (.200)
Alex Meneses:  WILKOMMEN!  2-3, double, R, RBI, walk, K
Sebastien Boucher:  1-3, 2 RBI (.167)

Mississippi kept tacking on run after run as this game progressed and it looked like the DIAMOND JAXX, trailing 5-2, their only scoring being the violation of reality and common sense that was Rene Rivera's 2nd inning 2 run homer, were gonna drop another game to the AA Braves.  And then reliever Jeff Bennett came back out for Mississippi in the bottom 8th and the sea parted: with Jeff Frazier somehow on 1st base with one out, Tui, already 2 for 2, made it 3 for 3 with a big triple to center.  5-3.  Rene Rivera was so fat he couldn't help but get hit with a pitch and runners were on the corners, one out (West Tenn thankfully pulled him for pinch runner Chris Minaker).

Bennett got the hook and Mississippi brought in Joey Devine, last seen trying and failing to stick in the big leagues with Atlanta.  Joey took the mound as he always does, looking to prove that he belongs in the big leagues.  He walked Ron Prettyman to load the bases.  He walked Alex Meneses to force in Tui and make it 5-4.  He put one over the plate and Sebastien Boucher smoked it to center to score Minaker and Prettyman.  The DIAMOND JAXX retook the lead 6-5.  One out.

Brent Johnson grounded to third, but not seeing a chance to get the lead runner, Van Pope threw to 2nd to get Boucher for two outs, runners on the corners.  Bad call, shoulda punted: Devine uncorked a wild pitch that scored Meneses and gave Brent Johnson 2nd.  7-5 West Tenn.  Two out.

And then Joey Devine walked Luis Valbuena, one of the coldest bats in the lineup.  He got the hook.  Yeah, he and Soriano totally need to trade places right now, because Joey Devine is READY FOR THE BIG TIME after a performance like that.

Zach Schreiber got Jeff Frazier to be Jeff Frazier for the 3rd out but the damage was done.  Craig James shut the AA Braves down in the top 9th for the save.

AAA:  Fresno 5, Tacoma 1

Jason Mackintosh, NOT CHA SEUNG BAEK:  5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, walk, 4 K
Ryan Rowland-Smith:  0.2 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 3 walks, K (ERA: 9.31)
Jon Huber:  2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, walk, K
Sean Green:  1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, walk, K
Adam Jones:  1-4 (.333)
Jeremy Reed:  1-4, double, R (.236)
Mike Morse:  0-4 (.232)
Bryan LaHair:  0-3, walk, 3 K (.220)
WLAD:  2-3, RBI, walk (.340)
Jeff Clement (DH):  0-3, walk, 2 K (.224)
Rob Johnson:  0-4, 2 K (.239)
Brant Ust:  1-3, double, K (.273)

I'm guessing nobody wanted to hang out with Ryan Rowland-Smith after the game either.

Also, note the curious absence of scheduled starter Cha Seung Baek, as it appears the rumors of the Mariners starting Brandon Morrow were all hot air.  Could it have all been a giant smokescreen by the org to delay the opposition from getting a head start on scouting Baek?  Sure, this org is run by guys who couldn't find water if you threw them in the ocean, but I can see them pulling a bait and switch like this to head off thoughtful opposing scouts at the pass.

Either way, Jason Mackintosh made the most of his callup, throwing 5 surprisingly effective shutout innings, and was in line for the win before Ryan Rowland-Smith did his performance impression of a Brazilian freeway crash.  RRS sure has hit the wall in AAA this season.  Meanwhile, Jon Huber is rebounding from HIS poor start, mopping up seven outs while allowing only a couple baserunners, and Sean Green didn't look too hot after his cup of coffee with the big club this week.

First Pitch: 6:05pm PDT
                       
  ----------                  ----------
  The Ho (1-0, 1.50)          Colon (0-0, -.--)

I'd love to know how Jose Vidro's sorry ass wound up on this list.

LET'S GO MARINERS!!

In terms of viewing duration vs. exciting moments, these last few Mariner games have been a lot like Apocalypse Now, only with the Ride of the Valkyries sequence replaced by footage from Craig's Animals Close Up With a Wide-Angle Lens. And the animals are all asleep, and instead of the Benny Hill theme, the soundtrack is provided by Bryan Adams and the guy who wrote The Girl From Ipanema. It's not fair to say that they've all been complete wastes of time, since the last few ninth innings have gotten at least moderately interesting, but five minutes of hope is hardly worth three hours of asking yourself "why am I watching this?" over and over while you send bitter text messages to your friends who were smart enough to find something better to do. The worst part is that they haven't even justified the hope with a game-tying hit, the outcomes only serving to make us more frustrated than we were before the comeback even started. The Horror, indeed.

Biggest Contribution: Yuniesky Betancourt, +4.4%
Biggest Suckfest: Miguel Batista, -23.4%
Most Important At Bat: Lopez DP, -10.5%
Most Important Pitch: Anderson double, -9.4%
Total Contribution by Pitcher(s): -24.0%
Total Contribution by Position Players: -26.0%

(What is this?)

I'm going to be honest with you - just as we saw throughout the Minnesota series, there wasn't really too much to remember about this game. Even the comeback attempt was forgettable, in part because conventional blowout managerial intervention forced both Willie Ballgame and Jason Ellison into reluctant participation in place of arguably the two best hitters in the lineup. Not that anyone realistically entertained the thought of an eight-run rally, but the presence of those two in the ninth inning batting order prevented even the slightest glimmer of optimism from registering in anyone's brain. I'm not going to blame Hargrove for this, since that would be silly, but it makes for an appropriate conclusion to a game where pretty much everything went exactly the opposite of how we would've wanted it to go.

If there turns out to be an enduring memory from this game, it's going to be how Joe Saunders picked up six shutout innings that he totally didn't deserve. The line score of seven hits, two walks, and one strikeout says enough by itself, but you can go even further than that - he barely threw half his pitches for strikes, he started the majority of hitters off 1-0, and he escaped two potential rallies with a pair of absurdly stupid line drive double plays, one by Sexson in the second and another by Lopez in the third. Both came with nobody out, both came while the game was still close, and both were hit hard enough to get to the wall were it not for an infielder's glove being in the right place at the right time. I'm a firm believer in the idea that luck evens out over time, and that it's rarely worth complaining about, but misfortune played a critical role in putting the Mariners behind the 8-ball tonight. They were actually hitting the ball right at the defenders, while the Angels were actually getting every little break. Things didn't turn around until the game was well out of hand.

Not that the Mariners themselves should be absolved of blame for Saunders' truncated shutout. When a guy isn't throwing strikes, you're supposed to wait him out and either take the walks or make him pay when he comes back over the plate. The lineup did neither, preferring instead to keep with its aggressive approach and bail him out time and time again when a little more discipline could've sustained a few rallies. A pitcher who allows as many baserunners as Saunders did while throwing so few strikes shouldn't get away with 92 pitches in six innings. That's just indicative of bad hitting. The M's were bit by their share of bad luck, but too often I found myself longing for the discerning eye of Jose Vidro instead of whoever else was at the plate, and I think we can all agree that that's not a situation we should ever encounter. We knew this would be a problem before the season started, so it shouldn't really take anyone by surprise, but at the same time, if we all saw this coming, why can't the team do something about it? It's no accident that the Mariners have struggled to score runs since the end of the Gillick era. An impatient, ball-in-play offense just isn't going to have enough success when it plays most of its games in hit-killing environments. Swinging the bat is cool and all, but doing it too much leads to games like this. I don't know how many times we have to learn this lesson before the issue is addressed.

On the other side of the ball was Miguel Batista, who was introduced with the following scouting report:

...prompting Mariner fans everywhere to choke on their Starbucks biscotti and note that "hey, you should bring them to work sometime." If Batista really has five quality offerings, he has yet to show them with Seattle, leading me to believe that either the guy in charge of FSN West's scouting reports has lower standards than Julio Mateo's girlfriend, or he means that Batista generally throws about five good pitches per game sample of ~100, and just couldn't phrase it very well in the limited space. Whatever the case, it didn't take very long for him to allow the fourth multi-run first in the Mariners' last five games, even after getting the first two batters out. Falling behind the Angels is bad enough without giving up run-scoring hits to professional punchline Garret Anderson, whose reputation has long outlived his usefulness. For perspective, this is what other teams' fans feel like when they give up run-scoring hits to Jose Vidro. More hits would follow, and with all the bounces going Anaheim's way for the first several innings, it was clear that Seattle wouldn't be able to compete against both the Angels and Scrappy the Scapegoat's uncomfortably intimate relationship with Fat Lady Luck. Before we knew it, Anaheim was bouncing RBI choppers over Richie Sexson's colossal body while the Mariners were standing the bases loaded, and it was a 4-0 game.

Then it was a 5-0 game.

Then it was a 6-0 game. Luck didn't have too much to do with either Guerrero or Napoli's longballs, which officially dropped the list of excuses down to zero. Miguel Batista was brought in to be a groundball pitcher who can miss a few bats, but tonight he kept the ball in the air while fanning only Shea Hillenbrand and Mike Napoli, which should hardly even count. I'm trying as hard as I can to give Bavasi the benefit of the doubt for at least two months or so, but so far his offseason is working out as every bit the disaster so many people thought it was. That Chris Snelling has a .400 OBP. We shouldn't have to take solace in the fact that Raffy Soriano gave up three meaningless runs in a 7-0 blowout. Baseball fans aren't supposed to look for satisfaction from players and teams other than their own, but for most of the Mariner fans I know, there really isn't much of a choice. That's sad.

Oh, and in case you were still watching, it soon became an 8-0 game after the Angels smacked Brandon Morrow around a little bit. I was willing to give this whole thing a chance on Opening Day when I thought the Mariners might actually have a shutdown reliever on their hands, but after making just four appearances in twelve games, I'm on board with shipping Morrow to the minors to resume developing as a starter. He just isn't showing enough in the Majors to stick, and his role has been so insignificant that there's not really any point to his being here. Right now, we know two things: (A) Morrow isn't pitching very often, and (B) when he is, he looks mediocre. Now, one could argue that (B) is a function of (A), but (A) isn't going to change until Morrow starts improving on (B), so if it's a direct cause-and-effect situation, then the only solution is to get Morrow pitching consistently somewhere else. That "somewhere else" should be West Tenn or Tacoma, getting five or six innings every five days so he can hasten has eventual arrival as an actual impact arm. Right now, there's just no point to his being in the bullpen instead of someone like Sean Green or Jon Huber, who can help you without making you worry about their development as prospects. It sucks that the organization jerked Morrow around, but he ought to be in the minors, and it's better to make the right move late than to never make it at all. In the event that he does in fact get demoted, hopefully the ML paycheck's enough to keep him content.

Then the Mariners rallied their little hearts out against a Dominican pitching machine until Mike Scioscia's perplexed and whiny eyebrows conjured Francisco Rodriguez from the bullpen to slam the door. With the underside of his hat suddenly clean and spotless, Rodriguez may no longer be cheating with the baseball, but he's still cheating with his elbow, since there's no other rational explanation for why his right forearm hasn't flown off and gone into orbit. Rodriguez accomplished the burdensome task of getting Jose Vidro to ground out and Jason Ellison to whiff before thanking God for his inhuman joints and celebrating the win with a breathtakingly Caucasian Mike Napoli. Suffice it to say that any Friday night that ends with this unholy scene is a Friday night that would've been better spent somewhere else.

The Ho and Bartolo Colon go face to horrifyingly distended face tomorrow at 6:05pm PDT. I'd try to dream up reasons why you should tune in, but if you're a daily LL reader, you're already going to anyway, since you're every bit as pathetic as I am. You loser.

The lengthy post I did on Hargrove’s reliance on roles and how it likely cost the team a game generated a lot of good discussion and some derision that I would even throw out Putz as an option in discussing Hargrove’s options. I disagree that this (or really, any strategy or move) is beyond questioning, [...] - [Read more]

Just to stir this up more: They probably just wrote up the notes based on the probable starters briefly listed on the M’s site and then retracted, right? I mean, what other explanation could there be? hat tip to crosscut - [Read more]

Batista v Saunders. 7:05, FSN. M’s field their standard lineup. CF-B Matthews SS-R Cabrera RF-R Guerrero LF-L Anderson 1B-L Kotchman DH-R Hillenbrand 3B-B Izturis C-R Napoli 2B-B Aybar - [Read more]

Hi! You may have heard those wacky “internet rumors” that Morrow was starting, resulting in the standard mockery of internet sites etc. Morrow was listed on the Mariners official site as Monday’s starter. I’ll just type that again, because I think this is an important point to make. Morrow was listed on the Mariners official site as Monday’s [...] - [Read more]

Hey, the canceled Third Place Books event is going to be re-scheduled for late next month, it looks like. In the meantime: Tomorrow at 2pm, I’m at Jackson Street Books. I understand there will be light refreshments served. On the 26th, next Thursday, I’m in Portland at Powell’s at Hawthorne that evening. Portland wooo! On the 29th, a [...] - [Read more]