Game Recap – 5/12

Well, that was frustrating.  That game, and a sweep, would have been really nice to have but the crazy thing about baseball is that even the worst teams (and the Orioles are as bad it gets) still usually win about 60 games.  As much as sabermetrics do work for baseball, the favorable matchup doesn’t always win.  With that being said, I’m not sure the Mariners had the favorable match up today.  Lets looks at a few matchups in this game:

• Ryan Rowland-Smith vs. Brad Bergesen.  Let me start off by saying that Hyphen is a good guy.  I like him and have yet to hear anyone write/say that they really disliked him.  But, he just isn’t very good right now.  I want him to succeed as much as anyone but he doesn’t look like a quality starter right now.  Brad Bergesen on the other hand has turned his season around a little bit.  He’s no Cliff or Felix, heck, he’s not even Doug or Vargas, but if given a choice between Hyphen and Bergesen I would chose Bergesen.  This may not be the case in a couple months or years but it is right now. 

The Mariners obviously rolled out a better defensive unit than the Orioles but lets look at thelineups hitting wise tonight.  We’ll play our series preview game with tonights lineup (winners in bold):

• Catcher:  O’s-Wieters.  M’s- Moore. This really is a no contest.  Moore looks awful right now, he might need to go back to Tacoma.
• 1st base:  O’s- Atkins.  M’s- Kotchman.  Yes Kotchman is a better player but looking at this hitting wise, Atkins is a little better in my opinion.  It’s close, but neither guy is really hitting right now.
• 2nd base:  O’s- Wiggington.  M’s- Figgins.  Yes, I’d rather have Figgy on my team than Wiggington but Ty is hitting the ball.  Chone really isn’t hitting the ball at all.
• SS:  O’s- Izturis. M’s- Jo. Wilson.  This is a sad contest but Wilson wins.
• 3rd base: O’s- Tejada.  M’s- Tui.  Tui is another guy who looks lost, right along with Adam Moore.
• LF:  O’s- Patterson. M’s- Saunders.  I don’t need to explain.
• CF:  O’s- Jones.  M’s- Langerhans.  This one is closer than it should be.  Langerhans is one of them most productive hitters on the team right now, which is sad, but I still think Jones strikes more fear in pitchers hearts.
• RF:  O’s- Markakis.  M’s- Ichiro.  Ichiro seems to be on his usual May hot-streak.  This is good.
• DH: O’s- Luke Scott.  M’s- Lopez.  Jose can’t hit right now.  Scott’s average is lower but he’s shown a lot more power than Jose.  Lopey was so close to a home run tonight but more on that later.

So, looking at the matchups hitting wise the O’s held a 6-3 advantage tonight.  I know defense is an important part of the game and the Mariners run out a good defense usually but this just shows how inept this offense can be.  The Mariners are better than the Orioles but tonight the matchup never really seemed to be in our favor.  4/9 of our starters were in Tacoma last week.  Four of the other starters are hitting .214 or below.  That leaves Ichiro and he can’t do everything himself.  The lineup should be back to normal tomorrow, which still isn’t anything to be excited about but at least we’ll have a better matchup.

Goat/Hero and a few notes after the jump. 

Hero:  Ichiro.  Again, he looks pretty good.  Now, if we could only get Figgy going.

Goat:  Josh Wilson.  He killed a few rallies with double plays.  He hit a few balls hard but they were just right at people.  I do like how he swings so hard though. 

• Jose Lopez was about 3 feet from making it a one run game in the 8th inning.  Patterson caught the ball with his back against the wall.  If it had been a nice day with warmer temperatures that would have been a home run.
• I thought for sure that Griffey had hit a home run in the 9th inning.  It looked like a classic Griffey home run.  Unfortunately, it didn’t even make it to the warning track.  Did he just miss it or is he done?  Maybe both but it was sad either way.
• We had an Ian Snell appearance tonight.  He pitched exactly like Ian Snell does.  Nothing new to report there.
• Tui is not very good at third, he wasn’t very good at shortstop, and he didn’t look like he was average when he was in left field.  I hope he starts hitting so that his roster spot is justifiable. 
• Jesus Colome left with an injury.  Maybe he’s headed for the DL and a 6 man bullpen will come back?  I hope so.
• Did anyone notice how many people high-fived Griffey after his pinch-hit sac fly?  It looked as if the whole team was there.  Maybe the team really is rallying behind this whole situation. 

So lets get back at it tomorrow with a morning game.  I love 10 AM games in the summer.  I can wake up, flip the game on and still have the rest of my day once it’s over.  I know we all wanted a sweep but a series win is progress and hopefully the Mariners can do that.  Happy Felix Day Everyone!

Andrew