Series #13: Seattle

[Special_K19]

Tuesday May 13 7:05
Brian Anderson vs Joel Pineiro

Wednesday May 14 7:05
Jason Davis vs Freddy Garcia

Thursday May 15 7:05
Jake Westbrook vs Ryan Franklin

All-Time Match-Up: Indians lead 160-123 all-time, but trail 0-3 this season.

[Special_K19]

Joel Pineiro (2-3 4.06)
http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/images/gameday/mugshots/334492.jpg

vs

Brian Anderson (2-3 4.54)
http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/images/gameday/mugshots/110230.jpg

Let's keep the offensive hot streak going tonight! :dance2:

[duckboy]

Guess who's back
Back again
The M's are back
They're gonna win
Guess who's back
Guess who's back
Guess who's back
Guess who's back

:D

Here we go! Let it be said here first that we will take 2 out of three in this series.

:2guns:

Score of the first game:

Mariners - 8
Indians - 4

It's time to take the Jake! :luvkiss:

[Special_K19]

Oh boy. :hmm: I was so looking forward to your return. ;)

But you face a revitalized Indians offense. I smell a sweep in our favor. :D or at least two wins with the way this game is looking

[PissedPrincess]

Effin Semen.:angry:

Go Tribe!:angel:

[SlushyBOB]

Go Indians! Take out those AL West rivals!

[duckboy]

:clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :hoohoo :hoohoo :hoohoo

That was a great game. Pineiro looked awful out there and was able to battle through it for the victory. Our hitting is on fire right now. Even Cirillo is hitting. I feel bad for any team facing the Mariners right now.

:devilsmok

My prediction for tonight:

Seattle - 8
Cleveland - 7

You're lucky you are facing Garcia. That should pick up your offense.

-------------------------------------------------------

Seattle lays out Cleveland

By Bob Sherwin
Seattle Times staff reporter

CLEVELAND — No one knows why it has happened. Maybe a change of scenery, a turn in the weather, or just a simple flick of a switch, but undeniably things have been transformed within the Mariners' offense.

A revised and revitalized lineup introduced last week pounded out 17 hits last night for an 8-3 comeback victory over Cleveland in the first game of a six-game road trip. Starter Joel Pineiro (3-3), who allowed 12 base runners and threw 84 pitches over the first four innings, made it through six innings to pick up the victory.

He was supported by Ichiro's first four-hit game of the season, along with three hits from Jeff Cirillo and two apiece from Carlos Guillen, John Olerud, Mike Cameron and Randy Winn, who also drove in three runs. The Mariners have won seven of 11 in May and continue to share first place with Oakland in the American League West.

Mariners manager Bob Melvin's tinkering may have solidified this lineup, at least as it's now constituted. Melvin, who as bench coach last season in Arizona watched Bob Brenly use 141 lineup combinations, decided on May 2 to move Randy Winn out of the No. 2 spot. Winn, who was hitting a season-low .245 at the time, dropped to No. 7 ahead of Jeff Cirillo. Carlos Guillen was inserted in the second spot behind Ichiro.

Winn has hit .419 (13 of 31) in eight games at No. 7, with three doubles, one triple, one home run and eight runs batted in. Cirillo has hit behind him in six of those games, averaging .391 (9 of 23). Ichiro has hit .436 (17 of 39) since the move, while Guillen has hit .389 (7 of 18) behind Ichiro.

It demonstrates that two pair can beat four of a kind.

"We're trying to experiment with different things," Melvin said. "If nothing else, maybe a change of scenery gets them going. Ideally, you'd like to have your swifter runners at the top. But once you get through that first inning, it doesn't really matter. When Randy leads off an inning, Jeff is the perfect No. 2. We have two good combinations, 1-2 and 7-8.

"We're getting more production all through the lineup now. I feel it's more balanced. We can score runs in any inning."

The players, however, believe it's more coincidence than chemistry.

"I do like the fact that I have Cameron and Winn hitting right in front of me. That's kind of cool," Cirillo said. "But it's not voodoo or something. That's not it. It's purely coincidental. We've just played well in that lineup this month. Carlos had hit well in the No. 2 spot. He works at it."

Things actually began changing when the month did. Cirillo was hitting .171 when May began. He's now at .243, a gain of 72 points. Winn went from .245 to .295. Ichiro has climbed from .243 to .299, and Guillen rose from .272 to .309.

"I was moved because I was just struggling. My mechanics weren't where they needed to be," Winn said. "I'm feeling much better. I'm getting a few more hits.

"But the lineup gives us a different look. Whatever works for the team, I don't mind hitting seventh. It's just a little different spot in the lineup. If Jeff can see more fastballs, that's great. I want him to see more."

The fourth inning last night was a game-turning hitting session for this lineup. Trailing 3-2, the Mariners nearly hit for a cycle to open the inning off starter Brian Anderson (2-4). John Olerud singled, Cameron doubled, then Winn hit a two-run triple. Cirillo followed with a single to score Winn and then scored on Ichiro's double to right for a 6-3 lead.

"Nothing has changed, just the results," said Ichiro, whose average has not been above .300 since April 3. "I like to have at-bats that affect the team in a good way."

Edgar Martinez gave the Mariners a 2-0 lead in the first on a two-run single to left. It was the 15th career hit for Martinez off Anderson. The Seattle designated hitter is hitting .556 (15 of 27) with four doubles three home runs and seven runs batted in against Anderson.

Pineiro, who didn't have his best stuff, coughed up the lead in the second inning, when the Indians scored three runs on five hits. He got out of three jams with double plays.

"He struggled. He did not have his good fastball," Melvin said. "To get through six innings was a borderline miracle. That showed the character and makeup he has."

Pineiro said, "I have it for one game and not the next. It's off and on. It was a struggle for me. I just had to keep battling."

Pineiro's offense bailed him out with the four-run fourth, then added a pair of runs in the fifth on RBI hits by Winn and Cirillo.

"I keep telling Bob I'm not a .180 hitter. Then I told him I'm not a .200 hitter, then a .209 hitter, then a .220 hitter," Cirillo said. "And (today) I'm going to tell him I'm not a .240 hitter."

Bob Sherwin: 206-464-8286 or bsherwin@seattletimes.com.

[Special_K19]

Indians lefty takes his lumps
Anderson hit hard; Tribe trumped in homestand opener
By Justice B. Hill / MLB.com


CLEVELAND -- The Indians entered Tuesday with a 1-11 record this season against teams with winning records, so it was anything but a guarantee that they would race to a win against a club tied for first place in the American League West.
While the Tribe did have its moments, it couldn't withstand the offensive might of the Seattle Mariners. The Indians went on to lose, 8-3, lowering their mark against .500 or better ballclubs one more notch below .500.

In this loss, the Tribe could cite, among other problems, the ineffective work of Brian Anderson. He was hit right from the start.

"We're going into games with a good game plan," said Anderson, whose record fell to 2-4 and whose ERA ballooned to 5.40. "We're not staying on one side of the plate. We're moving the ball around.

"Right now, if they make contact, there's a good chance it's going to find a hole or it's going to be where we're not playing."

The Mariners hit a lot of balls where nobody was. They scored twice off Anderson on three hits in the first inning, and they might have scored more had the slow-footed Edgar Martinez not been thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double.

But Anderson would get no such help in the fourth. Holding a 3-2 lead at the time, he tried to work through the bottom half of the Mariners lineup.

He could not. He gave up a single to John Olerud, a double to Mike Cameron, a triple to Randy Winn and a single to Jeff Cirillo.

When the inning was done, so was Anderson. He did not return in the fifth, handing a 6-3 deficit to the bullpen.

The Indians did, however, have a chance to chip into that three-run deficit in their half of the fourth. Brandon Phillips started the inning with a single to right-center, and Mariners starter Joel Pineiro, who in the early going wasn't much sharper than Anderson, hit Matt Lawton.

Pineiro forced Omar Vizquel to ground into a double play. He then walked Ellis Burks to bring up Milton Bradley, batting cleanup for the first time in his career. Bradley flied out to right.

"When they did drop that four-spot on us, it was important for us to come back right back and try to get close to them again," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "It just didn't happen."

With right-hander Jerrod Riggan, fresh from Triple-A Buffalo, starting the fifth in place of Anderson , the Mariners scored twice more in an inning that needed right-fielder Jody Gerut to throw Winn out at home to end it.

Gerut's throw saved the Indians a run. Not that one run mattered, because Pineiro (3-3, 4.11) discovered his rhythm after the third. He pitched through six innings before giving way to the Mariners bullpen.

Seattle's relievers proved to be as effective as Pineiro. Giovanni Carrara and Shigetoshi Hasegawa kept the Indians from doing anything to dent a five-run lead.

"Unfortunately, when we got down in the middle portion of the game, it looked like it was going to be one of those games where offense was going to have to win it over," Wedge said. "You got to go ahead and keep swinging, and it didn't work out for us."

[Special_K19]

Freddy Garcia (3-4 5.40)
http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/images/gameday/mugshots/150119.jpg

vs

Jason Davis (2-4 7.20)
http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/images/gameday/mugshots/425186.jpg

JUST WIN JD!!!!!!!!

[Special_K19]

Davis dazzles in Indians win
Tribe offense backs up right-hander's strong effort
By Justice B. Hill / MLB.com

CLEVELAND -- The Indians wanted one thing Wednesday night from rookie Jason Davis: a well-pitched game.
They got what they wanted.

In going seven strong innings, the 23-year-old right-hander held the Mariners to four hits and two runs, and the Indians used his performance as the foundation for their 7-2 win in front of 17,324 fans at Jacobs Field.

"I was just relaxed today," said Davis, whose record improved to 3-4. "I had some great defense and some great offense, and I kind of just got into the flow. It was a great game to play."

It certainly was a great game for Davis, whose work was made easier thanks to the run support his Indians teammates gave him early.

The Indians pecked away at Mariners right-hander Freddy Garcia from the start. They went into the bottom of the first inning trailing, 1-0, but they quickly tied the score on Omar Vizquel's single and Ellis Burks' double.

In the second, the Indians cobbled together a more substantial rally. Ben Broussard kicked off the inning with the first of his three hits, a single. Casey Blake also singled and Brandon Phillips, swinging the hottest bat of any member of the Tribe, doubled home Broussard.

After Lawton bounced out to Garcia, Vizquel hit a grounder to first base that John Olerud butchered, allowing Blake to score. Vizquel moved to second on Garcia's wild pitch and Phillips scored from third on Burks' groundout.

The Indians got nothing else in the second off Garcia, stranding two runners.

With a 4-1 lead, the Indians got to Garcia for a pair of runs in the third. Again they were the beneficiaries of some shoddy defense behind Garcia. Shortstop Carlos Guillen's two-out error kept things alive. Garcia then walked Phillips, putting two runners on for Matt Lawton. His double knocked in both of them.

Davis (3-4, 6.21 ERA) let the Mariners take one of those runs back in the top of the fifth, and a Broussard error played a major role in letting that run score. But Broussard made amends in the Tribe's half of the fifth when he homered off Garcia (3-5, 5.47).

"I was just up there trying to get something I could hit," Broussard said. "I was able to put the bat on the ball, and it carried for me."

The Tribe would not score again, but it didn't matter much because the Mariners wouldn't score again either.

Davis helped see to that. He worked into the eighth and turned a five-run lead over to rookie Billy Traber, who held the Mariners scoreless. Closer Danys Baez then worked an uneventful ninth to give Davis his first win since April 20.


"I've been improving and improving, but I haven't been winning," Davis said. "That's a big thing for me. But I'll tell you what: This organization treated me well, and I knew they were behind me.

"That's a great thing to be out there and knowing the organization is behind you. I knew they had faith in me and believed in me."

He repaid that faith the best way he could -- with a win.

[Special_K19]

Ryan Franklin (3-2 3.80)
http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/images/gameday/mugshots/211041.jpg

vs

Jake Westbrook (2-2 3.00)
http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/images/gameday/mugshots/150414.jpg

Could we possibly win 2 series in a row? :eek: Let's hope. :D

[PissedPrincess]

Yes, we can. Hey K, when do you go off to do the camp counselor gig?

[Special_K19]

June 11 is when I'll be out there full time, until probably September.

[PissedPrincess]

Who is gonna keep me company in here then?:angry: :cry:

[Special_K19]

I'll try to pop in on Saturdays. But other than that, it looks like you could be very lonely. :(

[duckboy]

:rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

It never ceases to amaze me how much Edgar Martinez loves hitting against the Indians.

:hail: :hail: :hail:

[PissedPrincess]

:doublefin

[duckboy]

:Party:

:dance2: :dance2: :dance2:

It's official. Another series won by the Mariners. Our work here is done.

NEXT!!!

[Special_K19]

Wait 'till August, when our youngsters mature into Mariner killing machines. :2guns:

[duckboy]

August of what year? :laughing

[PissedPrincess]

Yeah, wait till August when Pedro shuts you down again. You dudes are what? 0-12 lifetime vs. Petey?:clap2:

[Special_K19]

Tribe soaked at The Jake
Westbrook's wildness, wet weather lead to long night
By Justice B. Hill / MLB.com


CLEVELAND -- Jake Westbrook found out the hard way Thursday night what happens when his sinker doesn't sink.

After he allowed two Mariners runners to reach base in the first inning, Westbrook threw a sinker that stayed high in the strike zone. His sinker met the fat part of Edgar Martinez's bat, which rocketed the ball into the seats in right field.

Westbrook's sinker didn't get a lot better after Martinez's three-run homer. In 2 1/3 innings, the 25-year-old right-hander gave up seven earned runs as the Indians dropped the rubber game of their three-game series with the Mariners, 9-1, in front of 17,889 fans at Jacobs Field.

In this lopsided loss, Westbrook wrestled early with his control -- or lack of it.

"My arm felt good," he said. "I was just all over the place. It was tough to get locked in on where I needed to be."

His work in the third proved that statement true. Wrapped around Martinez's fly out to right field, Westbrook walked Bret Boone, John Olerud and Mike Cameron to load the bases. He then gave up singles to Randy Winn and Jeff Cirillo. Both singles knocked in a pair of runs.

At that point, what had been a 3-0 deficit for Westbrook (2-3, 4.64 ERA) and the Tribe ballooned to a 7-0 deficit. His night was done after Cirillo's single. So, too, in a real sense, were the Indians.

Their only real chance to get back into this ballgame -- unless the 2-hour-28-minute rain delay had been able to wipe out all those Mariner statistics -- came in the bottom of the third.

Thanks in part to shortstop Carlos Guillen's error and a hit batter, the Tribe loaded the bases with one out against Mariners right-hander Ryan Franklin. He did a masterful job of working out of this jam.

First, Franklin made Omar Vizquel squib the ball to the mound, which led to a force play at home. For the third out, Franklin got Ellis Burks on a grounder to Guillen.

"We just didn't take advantage of it," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "If we take advantage of it even a little bit, we can make that game 7-2 or 7-3. It's still the fourth or fifth inning."

With that rally short-circuited, the Indians' quest for runs would be mostly futile the rest of the way. They Tribe didn't score off Franklin, who had his outing shortened to three innings because of the rain delay.

The Tribe also didn't get any runs off Giovanni Carrara (2-0, 4.84). He worked three innings.

To start the seventh, Julio Mateo replaced Carrara, and Vizquel finally cracked the Cleveland half of the scoreboard with a home run.

By the time Mateo came in, however, the Indians needed much more than a solo homer to make up deficit left by Westbrook and his wildness before the rains came.

"Jake didn't have the command he normally has," Wedge said. "They had some quality at-bats, and they made him work a little bit. He just wasn't able to command the baseball the way he has the entire season."

[PissedPrincess]

Jakey Jake.:cry:

[Special_K19]

The game should have been called during that 2 1/2 rain delay. Than Jakey's performace would have been wiped out with the Mariner's runs. :(

[duckboy]

Originally posted by pedro's princess
Yeah, wait till August when Pedro shuts you down again. You dudes are what? 0-12 lifetime vs. Petey?:clap2:

OK, you guys might have one pitcher who can beat us. No, I take that back. We'll just beat up on the bullpen, and Pedro will get a no-decision. :D

I'm thinking the Seattle - Boston series will be a lot of fun. I think a signature bet will have to be in order. :)