Tag Archives: Jesus Colome

by | May 31, 2010 · 12:26 pm

Mariners Weekend Recap — 5/29-5/30

Some games feel bigger than the one W or L that they represent on the schedule. When the M’s win in dramatic fashion on a Saturday night in front of 40,000 at Safeco, it seems odd that that win means just as much as a 10 am weekday win against Kansas City, in front of 11,000 fans. Likewise, a loss like yesterday kind of feels like 10 losses, rather than just one. The fashion in which the Mariners blew a 7-2 lead in the 5th inning yesterday, although not surprising based on how this year has gone, left me feeling frustration that should be reserved for only the most painful, playoff losses; not a regular season game in May.

I should be talking about a Mariners team that is miraculously just 5 games out of first place today. The M’s should have won yesterday, and should have won Saturday. The streak of horrible weekend games should have come to a halt, but alas, the M’s lost on Saturday and Sunday, providing further proof that while good teams find ways to win games, Seattle finds ways to lose them. Thus, they are not a good team. I have so many thoughts, opinions and observations from this weekend series because I saw every inning, and both games had so many layers. Rather than recap both games in typical style, I think I will just bullet point the good and bad that stood out.

The Depressing Stuff:

  • Ian Snell pitched well through 3 innings, but then I jinxed him by noticing this, and his control went haywire. I’m sure Snell will be gone at the end of the season, if not before then, and with Jack Wilson on the shelf and probably never returning to his old form, it’s probably accurate to say we lost that trade with the Pirates. I would have done it myself, and the trade won’t set the organization back much, but Jeff Clement at least has some potential, whereas Snell and Wilson don’t appear to.
  • Felix pitched well enough to win on Saturday, 8+ innings of 1 run ball, but the M’s offense was MIA and Brandon League showed again an inability to keep the ball in the park when it matters most.
  • On Sunday, Jesus Colome and Kanekoa Texeira pitched the 5th and 6th innings, and despite yielding just 2 hits, neither pitcher had much control. Of the 40 pitches they threw, 25 were balls. 4 walks were issued, plus a catcher’s interference, and suddenly the Angels had scratched out 3 runs off 2 singles, and the score was 7-5 heading into the 7th. This felt like the turning point in the game.
  • Yesterday, David Aardsma entered the 9th with a 1 run lead. The odds of winning may have been 75%, but in reality, it felt like a 50/50 game at this point. Aardsma had Matsui struck out on a full count, but the ump called it a ball, which was a horrible call. Once Matsui walked, I felt things slipping away. Rivera proceeded to crush a ball that somehow stayed in the yard, but it felt like a foreshadow of things to come. A fluke infield hit followed, and the wheels were coming off. Kendrick then blasted a fastball (of course) the other way and the game was over. But back to why things never feel safe when David Aardsma enters the game…

    The fact is, Aardsma usually has decent control, but everyone knows he will throw a 93-96 mph fastball about 90% of the time. If that pitch is not located perfectly, it’s a meatball. There really isn’t any deception to Aardsma’s pitching. The hitters just have to sit dead red, make a nice swing, and hope the ball lands in a good spot. Effective closers need not have 3 great pitches, but if he chooses to throw 1 pitch 90% of the time, it had better be a great pitch. Aardsma’s fast ball is not a great pitch, especially if it is not properly located. Aardsma will continue to get hit well for this reason, and sometimes the ball stays in the park or he gets lucky with a ball hit right at someone, but a lot of time the outcome is what we witnessed yesterday. It’s just really frustrating, but really, who didn’t expect him to regress this year? His true colors are showing. Aardsma depends on location and luck, and often one or the other fails him. He seems like a really cool guy though, for what it’s worth.

  • Our 3rd base coach is awful. I talk to Andrew about this often, and yesterday’s send of Wilson was his worst of the year. Base coaches are like referees in that if no one is talking about him, he is probably doing a good job. We have talked about Mike Brumley way too much this year, thus, he is doing a bad job.
  • Saturday and Sunday has not been kind to the Mariners this year. Seattle is 3-13 in weekend games, including 6 straight Saturday losses, and currently the team has won just once in its past 13 weekend games. In their 13 losses, 6 have been walk-offs, and 9 have been the crushing loss type, whereby the M’s were either tied or leading in the 8th inning.
  • 9 times the M’s have given up a walk-off hit. Conversely, Seattle has just 1 walk-off hit this season.
  • The Mariners are 0-6 in extra inning games this year.
  • Only 3 teams in baseball have a worst record than the M’s.

    Do I enjoy digging up these stats? Actually, no. I don’t drink alcohol, but this team brings me closer each weekend!

    Positive notes, plus hero and goat after the jump Continue reading →

    • Advertisement

    4 Comments

    Filed under M's Game Recaps, Mariners

    Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

    by | April 18, 2010 · 6:22 pm

    Game Recap – 4/18/2010

    The thing about a 162 game season is that you can’t get too high or too low.  Things started out bleak at 2-6 and everyone was freaking out.  Then, the 4 game winning streak occurred and everyone was getting excited.  Both of these reactions were justifiable and somewhat expected but maybe a little bit over done.  The Mariners were not going to win the rest of their games and, while a sweep of the Tigers would have been nice, series wins are what this team needs to shoot for.  They have achieved that the last two series and things look promising since we’re playing Baltimore next.  All of that to say that today’s loss is not a big deal.  It’s pretty close to what we should have expected really.

    Ian Snell was decent today.  Not bad, not good, but decent.  He allowed quite a few hitters to reach base but escaped trouble most of the time.  He made some really good pitches and showed the upside that people rave about.  Unfortunately, he showed his downside to: too many walks, too many hard hit balls, and an inability to get lefties out.  We can’t really make any conclusions on Snell because he was sick today and just returned from a death in the family.  Although he struggled at times, Snell was one batter away from not giving up any runs today.  That batter was Miguel Cabrera and there’s no shame in giving up a home run to him, he can really hit and proved it on that ball he launched into the upper deck.  The next two weeks are big for Snell if he wants to stay in the rotation but today gave us both sides of Snell and that means we can’t decide anything today.

    As for the hitting…. Well, the Mariners proved that they still have trouble with young right-handers that are talented.  They hit some balls hard but couldn’t get anyone in.  Casey Kotchman hits righties pretty hard and definitely did that today.  There were some opportunities to score, the 8th inning was somewhat painful, but the same can be said for the Tigers offense.  In truth, the Mariners probably should have lost by more today. 

    Our infield is really coming together.  Jose Lopez looks better and better at third.  He’s not Adrian Beltre but I think that he will have an above average UZR once the years done.  Chone Figgins is really quick at second.  The two double plays he turned on short hops today were very impressive.  Kotchman had another diving play today and is showing why a defensive first baseman is a good thing to have.

    The best part about this loss is that we didn’t lose any ground in the AL West.  The schedule becomes pretty easy over the next few weeks while our rivals go up against some of the best teams in baseball.  This was a good series win against a fairly good team.

    A few more thoughts after the jump.  Continue reading →

    Leave a comment

    Filed under M's Game Recaps, Mariners

    Tagged as , , , , , ,