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.
Man, oh man, that was just what the bullpen ordered.
Against the Tigers in yesterday's 9-2 victory over the Tigers, Cha Seung Baek through a complete game, keeping the Tigers' explosive offense to just two runs and six hits. Most importantly, Baek helped himself minimize the number of baserunners by allowing no walks. Granted this was the second start in a row by a Seattle starter without giving up any walks, but Baek obviously appeared to keep the Tigers' hitters a bit more off balance than Horror-Arm's soft toss. Baek mixed it up throughout the ballgame, getting a number of groundouts to stave off any trouble at the beginning of the ballgame, before striking out the side in the sixth and then getting the Tigers' hitters to mostly fly out to end the ballgame.
In yesterday's post, I said that with Weaver and Ramirez imploding every fifth day, the other three-fifths of the mariners rotation needed to step up and be perfect as much as possible. Glad to see that Baek stepped up to the challenge.
Baek received plenty of help from the bats, as six Mariner batters got multiple hits. Raul Ibanez rapped out three hits, including a double, and Jose Guillen provided assistance in a big way with his three-run home-run in the fourth inning, the first of three straight three-run innings for the M's as the quietly put the game away. Beltre even picked up a hit and an RBI in five at-bats, as his average dipped to .252. Regardless, it was dominating baseball being put on display by the M's at Comerica park yesterday, ensuring that even if the M's lost today they'll return to Safeco with a tough road trip to New York and Detroit no worse than .500.
And lose today they most likely will, as the real horrors await. Considering how much fun the Tigers had with Horror-Arm's putrid offerings two nights ago, one can only imagine they're licking their chops in anticipation of facing Jeff Weaver today. Granted, the one-time Tiger "ace" has a career 2.53 ERA and a 1-2 record in three starts, but one would have to be naive to assume Weaver could buck his trend of being the Official Worst Starter in Mariner History this afternoon in Comerica. Look for Magglio Ordonez to give Weaver fits, as he's picked up ten hits in thirty-three at-bats- a mostly empty .303 batting average as only three of those hits have gone for extra bases, but still he'd be the one to start off any rally or clear the bases with a sharply well-placed single.
Fireballer Justin Verlander takes the hill for the Tigers. Verlander has only one career start against the M's, in which he tossed seven innings of one-run ball versus Seattle last year, allowing just four hits. Of the five Mariners to have picked up hits against Verlander, Broussard has two of them, and, yes, Beltre has one as well.
There will be no suspense in today's ballgame. The Tigers will, indeed, win and send the M's back to Seattle at .500. The biggest question is how many runs will Jeff Weaver allow in the first inning? Well, since the Tigers tend to score most of their runs later on in the game, I'm going to go on the conservative side and say Weaver will jsut give up two. Final score: 7-2, Tigers.
Against the Tigers in yesterday's 9-2 victory over the Tigers, Cha Seung Baek through a complete game, keeping the Tigers' explosive offense to just two runs and six hits. Most importantly, Baek helped himself minimize the number of baserunners by allowing no walks. Granted this was the second start in a row by a Seattle starter without giving up any walks, but Baek obviously appeared to keep the Tigers' hitters a bit more off balance than Horror-Arm's soft toss. Baek mixed it up throughout the ballgame, getting a number of groundouts to stave off any trouble at the beginning of the ballgame, before striking out the side in the sixth and then getting the Tigers' hitters to mostly fly out to end the ballgame.
In yesterday's post, I said that with Weaver and Ramirez imploding every fifth day, the other three-fifths of the mariners rotation needed to step up and be perfect as much as possible. Glad to see that Baek stepped up to the challenge.
Baek received plenty of help from the bats, as six Mariner batters got multiple hits. Raul Ibanez rapped out three hits, including a double, and Jose Guillen provided assistance in a big way with his three-run home-run in the fourth inning, the first of three straight three-run innings for the M's as the quietly put the game away. Beltre even picked up a hit and an RBI in five at-bats, as his average dipped to .252. Regardless, it was dominating baseball being put on display by the M's at Comerica park yesterday, ensuring that even if the M's lost today they'll return to Safeco with a tough road trip to New York and Detroit no worse than .500.
And lose today they most likely will, as the real horrors await. Considering how much fun the Tigers had with Horror-Arm's putrid offerings two nights ago, one can only imagine they're licking their chops in anticipation of facing Jeff Weaver today. Granted, the one-time Tiger "ace" has a career 2.53 ERA and a 1-2 record in three starts, but one would have to be naive to assume Weaver could buck his trend of being the Official Worst Starter in Mariner History this afternoon in Comerica. Look for Magglio Ordonez to give Weaver fits, as he's picked up ten hits in thirty-three at-bats- a mostly empty .303 batting average as only three of those hits have gone for extra bases, but still he'd be the one to start off any rally or clear the bases with a sharply well-placed single.
Fireballer Justin Verlander takes the hill for the Tigers. Verlander has only one career start against the M's, in which he tossed seven innings of one-run ball versus Seattle last year, allowing just four hits. Of the five Mariners to have picked up hits against Verlander, Broussard has two of them, and, yes, Beltre has one as well.
There will be no suspense in today's ballgame. The Tigers will, indeed, win and send the M's back to Seattle at .500. The biggest question is how many runs will Jeff Weaver allow in the first inning? Well, since the Tigers tend to score most of their runs later on in the game, I'm going to go on the conservative side and say Weaver will jsut give up two. Final score: 7-2, Tigers.
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