Two years into a five-year, $64 million contract, Adrian Beltre has produced a .262 average, 44 home runs, and 176 RBIs. However, after the All Star break in 2006, Beltre slugged .552 with a whopping 18 home runs. Does this strong second half bode well for a turn-around in 2007, or will Mariners fans have to deal with 'A-Drain' once again? This blog intends to follow the 2007 season for Adrian Beltre, and the Seattle Mariners, and promises to hold no punches.
It had the makings for a great game. The Mariners were riding a three-game winning streak, and their newly minted ace, Gil Meche, was taking the mound against perhaps arguably the best pitcher in the league, Roy Halladay, who the Mariners hit well the last time they faced him in Toronto. It should've been a tight-knit, low-scoring, affair, something along the lines of 2-1 or in that neighborhood.
Should've been, but wasn't. Along the way, something went horribly, horribly wrong. Somebody forgot to tell Meche that he was supposed to exhibit his 2006 version to provide the pitching match-up against "Doc" Halladay, and instead ol' Gil reverted to his 2004 version of mediocrity. Well, it didn't help that he was being squeezed on the strike zone, and home plate umpire was denying Tim McClelland the outside corner to right-handed batters all night. To be fair, Halladay wasn't getting that corner either, but he was able to adapt and locate his pitches better, demonstrating why he's head-and-shoulders above Gil (and most of the rest of the league).
At any rate, Gil was forced to groove cookies all night, the Blue Jays' offense took advantage, and they ended up trouncing the Mariners 12-3, thus splitting the first two games of the series. And it wasn't just Gil who was being squeezed by McClelland's strike zone (which ended up getting Hargrove tossed from the game). Jake Woods and Emiliano Fruto provided 4.2 innings of lousy five-run relief, the big blow being a ninth-inning grand slam hit by light-hitting Blue Jays shortstop John McDonald, who entered the game batting .222 with one home-run before taking Fruto deep.
Beltre went 1-for-5 with an RBI single in the seventh inning, continuing a seven-game hitting streak. The highlights for the M's were few and far between. Ichiro got three hits, Johjima two, and Betancourt knocked in two with a fifth-inning double. Kind of appropriate that the M's Japanese contigent performed well on the night that former ace closer Kazahiro Sazaki threw out the first pitch, huh?
The Mariners attempt to take their second series in a row tomorrow night with junkballer Jamie Moyer on the mound. I have less and less confidence in Moyer as the season continues. Sure he's looked brilliant at times this season, against the Kansas City Royals and the Tampa bay Devil Rays, but he's pretty much a hittable beer-league soft-tosser as the season's warmed up. It's been brutal to watch Jamie on the mound over his past three starts- 17 earned runs given up in just under 18 innings, including 6 runs in 6.1 innings against the Blue Jays in his last start in Toronto.
One of the Blue Jays' off-season free-agent signings, A.J. Burnett, takes the mound tomorrow night for Toronto. The Jays invested $55 million over five years for Burnett, averaging $11 million per year. And so far this season, Burnett has provided a 2-3 record, meaning that he has earned $5.5 million per win so far this season. Burnett has faced the Mariners once, stymying them on two runs and six hits over seven innings, though he didn't get a decision. No current Mariner has hit a home run off Burnett, and Beltre has the most number of hits, four in fifteen at-bats.
I find it highly unlikely that the Mariners will be able to scratch out another win tomorrow and take this series, not with Moyer on the mound. Burnett has been hittable in his last few starts- 21 hits and 11 runs in 20 innings- so perhaps the M's can put a three-spot on the board, but I believe the Jays will score at least six off Moyer.
At least we can hope that the rest of the AL West loses as well again.
Should've been, but wasn't. Along the way, something went horribly, horribly wrong. Somebody forgot to tell Meche that he was supposed to exhibit his 2006 version to provide the pitching match-up against "Doc" Halladay, and instead ol' Gil reverted to his 2004 version of mediocrity. Well, it didn't help that he was being squeezed on the strike zone, and home plate umpire was denying Tim McClelland the outside corner to right-handed batters all night. To be fair, Halladay wasn't getting that corner either, but he was able to adapt and locate his pitches better, demonstrating why he's head-and-shoulders above Gil (and most of the rest of the league).
At any rate, Gil was forced to groove cookies all night, the Blue Jays' offense took advantage, and they ended up trouncing the Mariners 12-3, thus splitting the first two games of the series. And it wasn't just Gil who was being squeezed by McClelland's strike zone (which ended up getting Hargrove tossed from the game). Jake Woods and Emiliano Fruto provided 4.2 innings of lousy five-run relief, the big blow being a ninth-inning grand slam hit by light-hitting Blue Jays shortstop John McDonald, who entered the game batting .222 with one home-run before taking Fruto deep.
Beltre went 1-for-5 with an RBI single in the seventh inning, continuing a seven-game hitting streak. The highlights for the M's were few and far between. Ichiro got three hits, Johjima two, and Betancourt knocked in two with a fifth-inning double. Kind of appropriate that the M's Japanese contigent performed well on the night that former ace closer Kazahiro Sazaki threw out the first pitch, huh?
The Mariners attempt to take their second series in a row tomorrow night with junkballer Jamie Moyer on the mound. I have less and less confidence in Moyer as the season continues. Sure he's looked brilliant at times this season, against the Kansas City Royals and the Tampa bay Devil Rays, but he's pretty much a hittable beer-league soft-tosser as the season's warmed up. It's been brutal to watch Jamie on the mound over his past three starts- 17 earned runs given up in just under 18 innings, including 6 runs in 6.1 innings against the Blue Jays in his last start in Toronto.
One of the Blue Jays' off-season free-agent signings, A.J. Burnett, takes the mound tomorrow night for Toronto. The Jays invested $55 million over five years for Burnett, averaging $11 million per year. And so far this season, Burnett has provided a 2-3 record, meaning that he has earned $5.5 million per win so far this season. Burnett has faced the Mariners once, stymying them on two runs and six hits over seven innings, though he didn't get a decision. No current Mariner has hit a home run off Burnett, and Beltre has the most number of hits, four in fifteen at-bats.
I find it highly unlikely that the Mariners will be able to scratch out another win tomorrow and take this series, not with Moyer on the mound. Burnett has been hittable in his last few starts- 21 hits and 11 runs in 20 innings- so perhaps the M's can put a three-spot on the board, but I believe the Jays will score at least six off Moyer.
At least we can hope that the rest of the AL West loses as well again.
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