Thursday, June 21st, 2007 by Adam Wagner
What Became Obvious on the Third Night
Here we go again, as the 31-40 Pirates head into Safeco Field for a third consecutive night. After an impressive win Tuesday night, the Pirates looked pathetic in being shut down by Jeff Weaver last night, as the faltering starter threw a complete-game four-hitter shutout. Tonight, the Pirates face the phenom, Felix Hernandez. Hernandez has also been struggling of late due to injury and other factors. The Pirates will send John Van Benschoten, one of their young guns, to the mound, to see if he can solidify a spot as a mid-to-back-of-the rotation starter and carry the positive vibes he gave off in his first game into the remainder of the series.
10:01 - The Pirates switch it up a little bit tonight, with Ryan Doumit catching and batting fifth, Freddy Sanchez DHing from the three-hole, Xavier Nady playing RF from the seven-hole, and Jose Castillo playing second from the penultimate spot in the batting order.
10:07 - If the Pirates lose tonight, they will have the same record as the Baltimore Orioles. If Sam Perlozzo is worth firing, isn’t Jim Tracy?
10:10 - A wee-bit difference in velocity as Felix Hernandez is jacking it up to 97 and 98 while Jeff Weaver threw two pitches over 90 last night. This could be really ugly.
10:13 - 1-2-3 for Felix. Remind anyone of last night?
10:14 - Uh oh. JVB is not throwing strikes tonight. He managed to get a flyout, but he is still struggling to find the strike zone. A rather dubious start.
10:16 - Jose Lopez just hit a very long flyball. This guy is essentially Jose Castillo, but he plays for the Mariners. He’s a righty with a ton of power who is also an extremely slick fielder. He can jack the ball when he needs to, like he almost just did.
10:18 - An eleven pitch at bat for Lopez, as Van Benschoten is already up to 16 in the inning. He desperately needs a quick out here.
10:20 - 21 pitches after one. Not a good sign, as the bullpen needs some more rest.
10:24 - The Mariners’ ball girls are much better fielders than the Pirates’ ball boys.
10:27 - Of course Jose Guillen is the first person to get a lucky-looking hit on a blooper.
10:30 - Jack Wilson flashes a little bit of leather, helping out JVB in the process. This is the type of defense Van Benschoten needs behind him.
10:34 - JVB manages to get out of the inning. He’s showing a Gorzelanny-esque knack for creating a jam for himself and then somehow escaping without damage.
10:36 - Xavier Nady charges a ball, but it falls into Jose Guillen’s glove on the warning track.
10:37 - I’m really happy that I started Felix Hernandez on my fantasy team. Ok, now I’m not. Double for Jack Wilson on a shot down the LF line. I’m still glad I started him.
10:43 - JVB all of a sudden looks very good. His control and movement have picked up and all of a sudden, this guy looks like the #3 pitcher (Dave’s words, not mine) that the Pirates picked with the #8 overall pick in the draft. Of course, Ichiro just hit a double.
10:47 - It’s scoreless after three and both pitchers are getting outs, as each guy has only struck out one hitter so far. JVB has thrown 50 and the King has thrown 22. Which one do you think has been better?
10:50 - Wow, a hit for Nate McLouth as the ball headed up the middle. Time for the sparkplug to start running.
10:52 - For the second consecutive night, a fielder’s choice occurs as a runner is stealing a base. McLouth heads to second just as Sanchez hits a grounder to SS. Betancourt gets the out at 1st, so McLouth is on 2nd with one out.
10:54 - Well that wasn’t cool. LaRoche swings at a ball and there are two outs with Jason Bay coming to the plate and McLouth still on second.
10:56 - Yup, I am very glad that I started Felix tonight. He just got Bay swinging to escape the first “threat” of the game.
10:59 - JVB gets another K, as he sends Ibanez back to the bench disappointed. At the moment, he’s just getting a ton of routine outs. This is the way a pitcher needs to pitch.
11:01 - That is, of course, followed up by a single on a liner to CF by Kenji Johjima. I’m off tonight.
11:02 - Wow, this is the only game going on right now. I’m thinking that this is one of those nights when the addict who buys the MLB Extra Innings package feels as if MLB completely ripped him off.
11:05 - Now Felix is beginning to strike guys out, as he just set down “hometown favorite” Ryan Doumit.
11:06 - Jose Lopez just made a distinguishably Jose Castillo play, as he booted a ball behind the mound on a play he probably should have made. These two guys are interchangeable. Xavier Nady is on first with one out.
11:08 - Speaking of Jose Castillo, he just hit a solid liner to RF, moving Nady to second. There are now runners on first and second with one out and Jumpin Jack Flak coming to bat.
11:09 - Jack managed to force Jose Castillo out on what should have been a double play ball to Betancourt at SS, but the shortstop had problems removing the ball from his glove and there are runners at 1st and 3rd with two outs.
11:11 - The King walks Bautista, loading the bases for Nate McLouth with two outs. This could be dicey.
11:15 - Felix comes through huge, striking out Nate McLouth to end the inning and move on. There is a reason this guy is the King (even if M’s announcers aren’t allowed to call him that anymore).
11:18 - Van Benschoten looks questionable again, as he surrenders a four-pitch walk to Sexson. Just because the guy mashes once in a while doesn’t mean he’s capable of doing it very often.
11:20 - Just as Jose Lopez is the equivalent of Jose Castillo, so is Yuniesky Betancourt a better-hitting version of Jack Wilson. Both are extremely slick fielders who can make even the most ridiculous play look mundane. Both are slap hitters, both are important to their organizations. Speaking of Betancourt, he just hit a single to LF. Runners on 1st and 2nd with Ichiro coming to the plate.
11:26 - Ichiro just had a six-minute, 11 pitch at-bat. This at-bat is the perfect example of looking for a pitch with which to make something happen, as Ichiro patiently waited, fouling pitches off to virtually the same place, until he could drop a ball into LF and bring a run around. 1-0 Mariners. Why don’t the Pirates have a hitter even remotely capable of that?
11:29 - Jose Lopez hits a double down the left field line which, with some aid from the stadium, scores two runs. 3-0 Mariners and, all of a sudden, this game looks like a totally lost cause instead of a half-hopeful game, like it did before.
11:31 - JVB has essentially lost all confidence right now, as he just walked Raul Ibanez to put runners on first and second with one out. This at bat could define JVB’s season, whether he has the guts to fight through adversity or he will surrender to the seemingly stronger team.
11:36 - Van Benschoten induces two pop-ups (ok, one was a flyout) to escape the inning. This is huge for the young righty, as he kept the Pirates sort of in the game and prevented them from falling too far behind. He also figured out how to get outs instead of completely letting the game get out of hand. 3-0 Mariners and I’m searching for positives after five.
11:41 - Hernandez continues to dominate, as he gets LaRoche to strike out again for the second out of the inning. When LaRoche has a bad game, he has a really bad game. Like the Pirates, he has a few peaks and a ton of very deep valleys.
11:44 - Like all aces, Hernandez seems to amp it up when he feels the situation demands it. This last at bat to Ryan Doumit was a perfect example of that, as he managed to nip a corner to sit the Pirate catcher down.
11:47 - Kuwata on for the Buccos, as Tracy decides to take a young pitcher out for an ancient one. I’m guessing Tracy is doing this so that one of his extremely long quotes can be translated into Japanese after Kuwata faces Ichiro.
11:49 - Kuwata manages to strike out Beltre.
11:51 - Jose Castillo just attempted the Castillo-to-Wilson flip which they perfected two years ago. It was (unsurprisingly) unsuccessful.
11:54 - Kuwata has now struck out Betancourt, his second in the inning. That’s impressive for him, as he isn’t a pitcher who strikes hitters out a whole lot (Positive? Sure.)
11:58 - The new goal of the game is Felix reaching the 10 k plateau. It would be fascinating if he could simply because it would help my fantasy team further dominate. In other words, this game is over after another easy inning for Felix. 3-0 M’s after 7 and a half.
12:02 - Japanese media is going utterly crazy right now. Kuwata vs. Ichiro is bigger in Japan than Godzilla vs. Mothzilla. KUWATA WINS! After this at-bat and the almost certain word orgy in Japan tomorrow, I am now convinced that there’s life without Mothzilla.
12:04 - Kuwata has another 1-2-3 inning. Apparently he really wants to play for a contender in late July/ early August. It is never too early to start thinking about the trade deadline, especially when you’re a Pirate fan and they’re about to be shut out for the 8th time this season.
12:11 - Sanchez manages to get something out of this miserable game as he loops a ball into CF. Damn you, Freddy. You’re hurting my fantasy team.
12:12 - Surprise, surprise, Adam LaRoche (known as Pepe LaSuck from now on) strikes out again.
12:15 - Jim Tracy, in an effort to extend the game and prevent me from going to bed, brings in Jonah Bayliss to pitch the bottom of the eighth. Yes, the score is still 3-0 Mariners.
12:16 - Bayliss has gotten two outs in a row. This hasn’t happened to him since AAA (or at least it seems that way).
12:17 - Knew that was too good to be true, as Beltre drives a ball to the wall for a two-out double. Wow, ever since midnight I have been exceedingly bitter. Apparently I’m listening to too many Jim Tray press conferences full of pretend optimism.
12:20 - Apparently Ken Macha is associated with the organization somehow, as he is appearing at a team event. The real question is why is he not managing this team? He was the logical choice when they hired Tracy and would be a solid choice when they fire Tracy.
12:22 - JJ Putz is on. We’re not scoring tonight.
12:25 - Apparently Ryan Blowmit is worse than Pepe LaSuck as he just struck out for the fourth time tonight. I want someone to make it rain, like they did in the Orioles game. It would seem to fit Seattle better than any other city.
12:27 - Ballgame. 20 innings without a run. The last two nights have totally sucked. This is a team that we should have beaten, no question, hands down. Tomorrow the Pirates head to LA to face that team with the really long name that screams of silicon more than Pamela Anderson. The Pirates will send Zach Duke to the mound and the Angels of the City of Angels will send Joe Saunders in place of Jered Weaver. The Bucs are now 31-41 and 5-7 in interleague. I wonder what the record for most scoreless innings by a team is, because this club is very capable of breaking it.
I apologize for the bitterness. I guarantee that there will be happier posts ahead, but these last two games have been so utterly terrible for the Pirates. Hey, at least my family team is doing better.
Leave a Reply