The Mariners lost again today against the Angels, this time 4 to 2. Hector Noesi didn't pitch too bad, but he did give up a couple homers. Thankfully neither of them were to Albert Pujols today as they were in the first three.
Today's problem? The hitting. Surprised? I doubt it. Today the Mariners managed to get just 3 hits in a full nine innings. Before I go on my tirade, some of you may want to point out that this was just one game, but I call hogwash. It's been more than one and it's been more than the last four. Even in our series versus Texas in which we took 2 of the 3 games we could hardly hit. We survived mostly on a Texas pitching staff that allowed more walks than I have ever seen in a series. They gave us those games.
In the past 4 games, the Mariners have managed to get only 18 hits in the four games combined. That's only 4.5 hits per game. We cannot continue to allow this to happen as fans. Throughout a myriad of managers, GM's, hitting coaches and players, the Mariners still have yet to find a way to win ball games. No managerial change is going to help this offense, we've tried that. It's not our GM, it's not our hitting coach, and even though I really disagree with Eric Wedge much of the time, it's not him either. The overall problem with our team is mental. We invite players into a stadium that is known for being a pitchers park and ask them to hit the ball. It gets into their heads. When you lay some good wood on a ball and start into that famous homerun trot only to find that the ball was snagged on the warning track, that is hard to swallow for a player. For fans, it's getting down right depressing.
Take Adrian Beltre's career for an example. He was massively insane with power when he was with the Dodgers before Bill Bavasi signed him and Richie Sexson to contracts as Mariners. They both came here and we watched their numbers take a dramatic dip. That's where they remained. Now that Beltre has gone on to Boston and now Texas, we can see him become the player that we only wished he were as a Mariner. He could have been that guy, but we were too busy counting our pitching stats to realize every single one of our stars were leaving the team.
So I want to call for a strike. As fans, can we strike for change? Can we force the hands of our front office to finally make that tough decision and move in the fences? We may give up a couple more runs in a game, but if these young players that we currently have can gain some confidence at the plate, I would bet that we start to outscore the majority of teams out there with consistency. Justin Smoak, Jesus Montero, Dustin Ackley, Kyle Seager, Michael Saunders, all of them are power threats if we just took off about 15 feet in the gaps and in left field. Then we would look something more like an Angels lineup. Then we would start to be an intimidating team and not look so much like a team that should be swept in their own ballpark.
It's time for a change and it starts with the fences. I doubt our staff ace would mind at all. His loss this home stand came on two hits that Safeco couldn't hold. If Felix Hernandez were to talk and share his feelings concerning this matter, I'm sure he would rather score runs and deal with a smaller park than continue like we are.
So, I hereby call a strike. No games, just bring in the fences! And hurry up about it, there is way too much at stake.
SodoJoe
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Pujols And Callaspo Combine To Whoop Felix!
Albert Pujols has hit a homerun in each of the past three games versus the Mariners. A struggling Albert Pujols has found his way back to being the Albert we all know and he's done it here at Safeco Field. If anyone can be a hitter at Safeco Field, it's Albert. Today's homer coming off none other than Felix Hernandez who faced him for the first time today. In the first match-up of the day, Felix struck him out on three pitches. The second, the homerun and the third at bat, Albert hit the first pitch fastball for a double.
Mariners fought back and gained the lead in the bottom of the fifth on RBI singles by Mike Carp and Dustin Ackley, but the Angels wouldn't quit. In the top of the 6th they got the bases loaded on three singles, two of them infield singles and Felix was in trouble. After getting Kole Calhoun to strikeout, Angels Manager, Mike Scioscia called for pinch hitter Alberto Callaspo. On a second pitch fastball, Callaspo got all of a pitch that was left out over the plate and hit a grand slam. 5 runs for the Angles on two huge homeruns and the Mariners were out of the game.
Justin Smoak tried to bring them back into it, but the one run off of his solo homer was all the M's would manage for the remainder of the game. It was Smoak's 7th homerun and he is tied with Pujols believe it or not.
That is 3 straight losses for the M's and every time we think that things are going to start getting good, we run into a series like this. Where nothing seems to go right and we lose games that we shouldn't lose, we play lousier than we should play and fall further back in the standings. The M's are now 7 games under .500 and even worse, 9 games back in the standings.
There was some good news today. Brandon League was demoted from the closer role for the time being. As I was writing a post about his horrible performance last night, Wedge was with the media discussing the closer role and stating that there will be no closer and that Wedge is going to rather play the match-ups as he would before the ninth inning. So, not all is lost, but we have to start winning again. Maybe it will be Hector Noesi that comes in and stops the bleeding. At some point you would think this team would really start to gel. Maybe Albert Pujols can give some hitting lessons while he's here at Safeco. We could sure use them.
SodoJoe
Mariners fought back and gained the lead in the bottom of the fifth on RBI singles by Mike Carp and Dustin Ackley, but the Angels wouldn't quit. In the top of the 6th they got the bases loaded on three singles, two of them infield singles and Felix was in trouble. After getting Kole Calhoun to strikeout, Angels Manager, Mike Scioscia called for pinch hitter Alberto Callaspo. On a second pitch fastball, Callaspo got all of a pitch that was left out over the plate and hit a grand slam. 5 runs for the Angles on two huge homeruns and the Mariners were out of the game.
Justin Smoak tried to bring them back into it, but the one run off of his solo homer was all the M's would manage for the remainder of the game. It was Smoak's 7th homerun and he is tied with Pujols believe it or not.
That is 3 straight losses for the M's and every time we think that things are going to start getting good, we run into a series like this. Where nothing seems to go right and we lose games that we shouldn't lose, we play lousier than we should play and fall further back in the standings. The M's are now 7 games under .500 and even worse, 9 games back in the standings.
There was some good news today. Brandon League was demoted from the closer role for the time being. As I was writing a post about his horrible performance last night, Wedge was with the media discussing the closer role and stating that there will be no closer and that Wedge is going to rather play the match-ups as he would before the ninth inning. So, not all is lost, but we have to start winning again. Maybe it will be Hector Noesi that comes in and stops the bleeding. At some point you would think this team would really start to gel. Maybe Albert Pujols can give some hitting lessons while he's here at Safeco. We could sure use them.
SodoJoe
Saturday, May 26, 2012
League's Hair Tells The Story!
A lot has been said about Brandon League's hair and there is a lot to be said about his pitching as well. On the field, League has his hair hidden under his cap, his pitching there is not lid for. Although we may hide our eyes on every pitch that he throws due to the unknown of what may happen next.
His hair is a bit wild, so is his pitching. League doesn't have the ability to locate, at all. This is in large part because there is so much movement to his pitches, but if you can't locate, it makes it a lot harder to throw strikes. His hair is often out of place. So is League. He is our closer and probably shouldn't be. A closer needs to be able to hit his spots and to this point, that is not League's game, at all. League's hair is really messy. This may be on purpose, but his 9th inning mayhem is not. In just about every close opportunity, League allows runners on, makes us all have severe stress or makes us all really, really angry like he did last night. League needs a haircut! I may be going too far in saying this, but it works for the grand scheme of things. He simply needs to go away. I don't want him to be cut, because I'm sure there is still value for him out there, but not like there was in the off season when rumors were flying. I was hoping that we would trade him, but now he's still here and with his current struggles his value has severely diminished.
The Angels hit him hard and early last night in the 9th. As League gave up 3 runs before even getting 1 out and still had 2 runners on base. Absolutely horrible. One thing I notice about League is that because he is so wild, I believe a lot of players are just waiting on his fastball. Maybe he is tipping his pitches by drawing back so far in his delivery. No matter what the problems are, they need to be fixed and fixed fast. In the post game interview with Eric Wedge, Wedge stated that League was still our closer and that he is going to continue to go out there and have to fix the problem. Grrr... I don't like projects in the Major Leagues. Can't we fix him in AAA? Can't we fix him when we're down by 6 runs? Why do we have to fix him in the 9th inning?
So we're going to continue to watch this struggle. With our offense and our bullpen. As we watch, we can pray that it won't be too long until we're able to compete again. There are answers out there, the real question is, are the Mariners willing to go after them? First, let's get Brandon League a haircut!
SodoJoe
His hair is a bit wild, so is his pitching. League doesn't have the ability to locate, at all. This is in large part because there is so much movement to his pitches, but if you can't locate, it makes it a lot harder to throw strikes. His hair is often out of place. So is League. He is our closer and probably shouldn't be. A closer needs to be able to hit his spots and to this point, that is not League's game, at all. League's hair is really messy. This may be on purpose, but his 9th inning mayhem is not. In just about every close opportunity, League allows runners on, makes us all have severe stress or makes us all really, really angry like he did last night. League needs a haircut! I may be going too far in saying this, but it works for the grand scheme of things. He simply needs to go away. I don't want him to be cut, because I'm sure there is still value for him out there, but not like there was in the off season when rumors were flying. I was hoping that we would trade him, but now he's still here and with his current struggles his value has severely diminished.
The Angels hit him hard and early last night in the 9th. As League gave up 3 runs before even getting 1 out and still had 2 runners on base. Absolutely horrible. One thing I notice about League is that because he is so wild, I believe a lot of players are just waiting on his fastball. Maybe he is tipping his pitches by drawing back so far in his delivery. No matter what the problems are, they need to be fixed and fixed fast. In the post game interview with Eric Wedge, Wedge stated that League was still our closer and that he is going to continue to go out there and have to fix the problem. Grrr... I don't like projects in the Major Leagues. Can't we fix him in AAA? Can't we fix him when we're down by 6 runs? Why do we have to fix him in the 9th inning?
So we're going to continue to watch this struggle. With our offense and our bullpen. As we watch, we can pray that it won't be too long until we're able to compete again. There are answers out there, the real question is, are the Mariners willing to go after them? First, let's get Brandon League a haircut!
SodoJoe
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Mariners K 14 Times, Land In Last Place
Dan Haren went to the mound to face the Mariners with a 1 and 5 record on the year and carrying a 4.37 ERA. Today, he looked like the future American League Cy Young Award winner and made the Mariners look absolutely pathetic at the plate as they went down 14 times via the strikeout. This isn't anything new for the Mariners as they seem to be the team to help opposing pitchers get back on track. If you remember a Philip Humber you would know what I mean. Haren is obviously a great pitcher, but he has struggled this year up until today.
Our offense led a huge hand to Haren as they kept on going after the slider that was consistently low and away. Alex Liddi, the biggest culprit, struck out 4 times today and every Mariner hitter struck out at least once today with the exception of Dustin Ackley.
Ackley had one of the M's 4 hits today along with Ichiro Suzuki, Michael Saunders and Brendan Ryan. Overall, it was one of the most pathetic games the team has had offensively.
The Mariners had an opportunity to score a run in the 7th when Ichiro led off the inning with a double and went to third on a Kyle Seager ground ball. Jesus Montero blew the opportunity with one of his two K's on the day and then Mike Carp finished off the inning by striking out looking. The curse still seems to be alive and well. M's still cannot score when runners are in scoring position. They had Saunders at 2nd with one out in the 6th inning and failed to advance him any further as well.
In watching the Eric Wedge interview after the game, you could tell he was irritated. He stated that the guys needed to be better than that and they needed to adjust to Haren throughout the game and that nobody adjusted. "They just kept doing the same thing"; Wedge said. Jason Vargas seemed a bit irritated himself. After throwing 7 innings and only giving up 3 runs he did make a comment that showed he was irritated by more than just his own game. Vargas said that the Angels could have won the game if he only allowed 1 run. A statement that is 100 percent true, but wasn't a statement about the effectiveness of Haren's pitching.
The M's have a total of just 8 hits in their last two games. Not a sign of turning the corner offensively. They still have no offensive threat in their lineup and are now in last place in the division. The Angels are only going to get better and today, we let them pass us up.
Tomorrow's another day and we can gain that 3rd place spot right back, but even more, we can take the Angels in this 4 game series and continue to win series after series. Do I expect that? Not totally, but it's baseball, and you never know what will happen. So, with that being said, we'll see you tomorrow, rooting on our team through the thick and thin.
SodoJoe
Our offense led a huge hand to Haren as they kept on going after the slider that was consistently low and away. Alex Liddi, the biggest culprit, struck out 4 times today and every Mariner hitter struck out at least once today with the exception of Dustin Ackley.
Ackley had one of the M's 4 hits today along with Ichiro Suzuki, Michael Saunders and Brendan Ryan. Overall, it was one of the most pathetic games the team has had offensively.
The Mariners had an opportunity to score a run in the 7th when Ichiro led off the inning with a double and went to third on a Kyle Seager ground ball. Jesus Montero blew the opportunity with one of his two K's on the day and then Mike Carp finished off the inning by striking out looking. The curse still seems to be alive and well. M's still cannot score when runners are in scoring position. They had Saunders at 2nd with one out in the 6th inning and failed to advance him any further as well.
In watching the Eric Wedge interview after the game, you could tell he was irritated. He stated that the guys needed to be better than that and they needed to adjust to Haren throughout the game and that nobody adjusted. "They just kept doing the same thing"; Wedge said. Jason Vargas seemed a bit irritated himself. After throwing 7 innings and only giving up 3 runs he did make a comment that showed he was irritated by more than just his own game. Vargas said that the Angels could have won the game if he only allowed 1 run. A statement that is 100 percent true, but wasn't a statement about the effectiveness of Haren's pitching.
The M's have a total of just 8 hits in their last two games. Not a sign of turning the corner offensively. They still have no offensive threat in their lineup and are now in last place in the division. The Angels are only going to get better and today, we let them pass us up.
Tomorrow's another day and we can gain that 3rd place spot right back, but even more, we can take the Angels in this 4 game series and continue to win series after series. Do I expect that? Not totally, but it's baseball, and you never know what will happen. So, with that being said, we'll see you tomorrow, rooting on our team through the thick and thin.
SodoJoe
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Liddi Powers Mariners To Series Win Vs. Texas
There you have it! The Mariners took to the challenge against the Texas Rangers and proved that something is brewing with this young ball club. After sweeping the Rockies in a great finish to a horrible road trip, many skeptics questioned whether or not the Mariners were turning a corner or if they just played well against a terrible team.
After today's game, there will be skeptics still, but maybe a bit less. Although there are still troubles for the Mariners when it comes to hitting with runs in scoring position, they are showing a tremendous amount of patience at the plate and it's paying off. Throughout the series the team collected a total of 15 walks. Yes, 15! The trouble is, even though we had all of those free base runners we didn't score a lot of runs off of them.
Today, Alex Liddi tried to reverse the curse when hitting with runners in scoring position. If he didn't break the curse, he at least made the numbers look a lot better. Facing Scott Feldman in the 5th inning with the bases loaded, Liddi hit a line shot over the left field wall on the first pitch for a grand slam. It was the first grand slam of Liddi's career and his 3rd of the season. You can watch the video here.
The true key to success has been our starting pitching, not our offense. The Mariners starting pitchers combined in the series for 22 innings, allowing only 12 hits and 4 runs against the most highly touted offense in the league. Hector Noesi took the loss in game 2 as he surrendered 3 runs in one inning and the Mariners couldn't get any production off of Matt Harrison. Felix Hernandez was spectacular, Noesi was amazing and Kevin Millwood was dynamic in his 3rd consecutive start as he held the Rangers scoreless through 6 innings on just 3 hits.
So, the Mariners have turned a corner as of late. I just don't think it's the offense that has turned things around. I believe it's the pitching. Our next series is against the Angels who have been keeping pace with the M's in the past couple of weeks. Just a half game behind in the division but carry a 9 and 15 road record on the year. The Mariners will send Jason Vargas to the hill against the Angels Dan Haren. Haren is just 1 and 5 with a 4.37 ERA, while Vargas is 5 and 3 with a 3.34 ERA.
Another great series is in order, let's keep the momentum going and the bats will surely follow. Thank you Alex Liddi for stepping up huge today!
SodoJoe
After today's game, there will be skeptics still, but maybe a bit less. Although there are still troubles for the Mariners when it comes to hitting with runs in scoring position, they are showing a tremendous amount of patience at the plate and it's paying off. Throughout the series the team collected a total of 15 walks. Yes, 15! The trouble is, even though we had all of those free base runners we didn't score a lot of runs off of them.
Today, Alex Liddi tried to reverse the curse when hitting with runners in scoring position. If he didn't break the curse, he at least made the numbers look a lot better. Facing Scott Feldman in the 5th inning with the bases loaded, Liddi hit a line shot over the left field wall on the first pitch for a grand slam. It was the first grand slam of Liddi's career and his 3rd of the season. You can watch the video here.
The true key to success has been our starting pitching, not our offense. The Mariners starting pitchers combined in the series for 22 innings, allowing only 12 hits and 4 runs against the most highly touted offense in the league. Hector Noesi took the loss in game 2 as he surrendered 3 runs in one inning and the Mariners couldn't get any production off of Matt Harrison. Felix Hernandez was spectacular, Noesi was amazing and Kevin Millwood was dynamic in his 3rd consecutive start as he held the Rangers scoreless through 6 innings on just 3 hits.
So, the Mariners have turned a corner as of late. I just don't think it's the offense that has turned things around. I believe it's the pitching. Our next series is against the Angels who have been keeping pace with the M's in the past couple of weeks. Just a half game behind in the division but carry a 9 and 15 road record on the year. The Mariners will send Jason Vargas to the hill against the Angels Dan Haren. Haren is just 1 and 5 with a 4.37 ERA, while Vargas is 5 and 3 with a 3.34 ERA.
Another great series is in order, let's keep the momentum going and the bats will surely follow. Thank you Alex Liddi for stepping up huge today!
SodoJoe
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