7/21/19 Edgar Martinez HOF day game thread

[Bil522]

It is just painful to watch....i am thinking the MASH-a-thon was worthwhile TV

[D-train]

Nice to see how Seags’ weight loss has borne fruit, only .14 down from Mendoza.

Too much tofu, not enough steak?

Donn Beach's skepticism about his physical transformation improving his hitting is vindicated.

[Petert]

I think it was the pre-season commercial he did with Maalox. Jinxed. He’s gotta go to Tacoma and take the cure.

[D-train]

Great story on the game today. Awesome that Kikuchi was so happy with how he threw and the SS understood that the fourth inning (in which they were outscored 4-0) was huge.

The fourth inning told the story.

Not just the story of Sunday’s 9-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels, in which the Mariners dropped their 15th game in their last 18 tries. It told the story of the season. It told the story of a step-back, of a 40-62 team that’s about to be sold for scraps at the trade deadline.

Seattle starter Yusei Kikuchi kicked off the frame by retiring Justin Upton and Andrelton Simmons in order.

(This is the part where the Mariners get off to a deceptively hot start.)

Then Albert Pujols singled on a grounder into the hole that diving shortstop J.P. Crawford couldn’t corral, and Brian Goodwin took a 91-mph fastball over the wall in left field for a two-run homer.

(This is the part where the Mariners’ pitching falters.)

“Even though today’s result wasn’t what I wanted, I felt like I was throwing pretty well and my fastball had some good run on it,” said Kikuchi (L, 4-7), who entered the game with a 5.01 ERA. “Moving forward, I do have to work more on my fastball and curveball mix.”

Then things got weird. Dustin Garneau sent a sharp ground ball down the third-base line, and after bobbling it, Kyle Seager’s throw across the diamond was not in time. Then Luis Rengifo smacked a tailing blooper into shallow right field; Domingo Santana slid and the ball banked off the web of his glove, caroming into the corner for an RBI triple. Then David Fletcher dropped a swinging bunt dribbler to third; Seager’s throw was again a step late and Rengifo scored the Angels’ fourth run of the inning.

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(This is the part where the Mariners’ defense disappoints.)

Then, in the bottom of the inning, Seattle catcher Tom Murphy cracked a double over Upton’s head in left field that should have scored Tim Beckham from first. It didn’t, because the ball took a hard bounce on the warning track and hopped cruelly over the wall for a ground-rule double.

(This is the part where the Mariners can’t catch a break.)

Then, with two outs and runners on second and third, Seager promptly popped out on the first pitch to end another scoreless inning.

(This is the part where the Mariners’ offense can’t deliver timely hits.)

“The fourth inning was huge,” Mariners manager Scott Servais concluded after the game.

The fourth inning alone would have been enough for Los Angeles to escape sunny Seattle with a series win on Sunday. But, just for good measure, Pujols, Garneau and Mike Trout each cranked solo homers as well. Kikuchi was knocked around for nine hits and seven runs in five innings.

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“I feel like I’m not really getting into good counts, and that’s something I struggled with today,” Kikuchi said through a translator.

The Mariners’ bullpen was also underwhelming, as Erik Swanson and Matt Festa allowed a solo homer apiece in the final four frames. On the other side, Angels pitchers Dillon Peters, Noe Ramirez, Adalberto Mejia and Luis Garcia combined to scatter 10 hits and one run in eight innings, stranding 10.

And, yes, Seattle second baseman Dee Gordon went 3 for 4 with three singles. Center fielder Mallex Smith got the Mariners on the board in the seventh, chopping an awkward double down the third base line that scored Austin Nola. They added two more runs in the ninth, via a Santana single and a Trevor Cahill wild pitch.

“Dee found something a little bit in his game,” Servais said of Gordon, who had six hits in nine plate appearances in the series. “The last time we were in Anaheim we gave him last Sunday off and he had a good pinch hit late in that game, and sometimes it’s just one at-bat that gets you back locked in. He had a very productive at-bat. He’s swinging the bat really good since then. Hopefully it continues. We need him. We need him to be productive.”

Yes, there were occasional exceptions in Seattle’s forgettable series finale.

But you know how it ended.

(This is the part where the Mariners lose.)

[Petert]

It’s damning. Servais looks desperately for any nugget of positivism to the point of being naive to the black and white, and abdicating his role as a motivator/disciplinarian. As long as he remains, no amount of talent will be sufficient to create a team of ‘savages’ (borrowing from Aaron Boone) that can lay waste to the rest of the division.

[D-train]

It’s damning. Servais looks desperately for any nugget of positivism to the point of being naive to the black and white, and abdicating his role as a motivator/disciplinarian. As long as he remains, no amount of talent will be sufficient to create a team of ‘savages’ (borrowing from Aaron Boone) that can lay waste to the rest of the division.

Not saying KK should be suicidal but in what world is happy about that performance???????? I wonder if SS hands out participation ribbons or stickers and pats on the butt and whispers "you'll get em next time Tiger" to everyone that plays in each game?

[Hy Feiber]

It’s damning. Servais looks desperately for any nugget of positivism to the point of being naive to the black and white, and abdicating his role as a motivator/disciplinarian. As long as he remains, no amount of talent will be sufficient to create a team of ‘savages’ (borrowing from Aaron Boone) that can lay waste to the rest of the division.

Not saying KK should be suicidal but in what world is happy about that performance???????? I wonder if SS hands out participation ribbons or stickers and pats on the butt and whispers "you'll get em next time Tiger" to everyone that plays in each game?

Put it this way, he “got his work in.”

[DavidGee24]

On Maalox' lucky double, after he hit the ball he just stood there for a moment wondering if the ball was going fair or foul. On a ground ball down the third base line. If that ball had been fielded his hesitation would have been the difference between an infield hit and the third out. Just really stupid baseball. Between that, getting repeatedly picked off (especially with the catcher pointing at the base), and having settled into .230 mode, he's back to playing like a clown again. Just waiting for another barrage of outfield misplays.

[Michael K.]

Nice to see how Seags’ weight loss has borne fruit, only .14 down from Mendoza.

Too much tofu, not enough steak?

Donn Beach's skepticism about his physical transformation improving his hitting is vindicated.

Being in better shape may not make you a better hitter, but the thought that it could make him worse is ridiculous. Being a better athlete should make him a better player, being in better shape makes him a better athlete. That doesn't mean he will all of a sudden hit the baseball. He just isn't very good anymore.

[Donn Beach]

how about Vladimir Guerrero Jr.?.. he seems pretty chubby to me, if you are Ross Atkins are you insisting he get in shape?