Schmidt The Best in the NL, Mariners Hang On in Oakland
It came as no surprise when Jason Schmidt knocked off the Cardinals Monday night 5-1 with another complete game victory. The guy is good, great right now. I had him as a guest on Right Off The Bat last Friday night and he couldn’t have been more gracious.
Tonight things get dicier for the Giants as Jim Brower, a seldom used reliever gets the start with his predecessor in the rotation Damian Moss slated for long relief.
St. Louis counters with Woody Williams one of the better seven inning pitchers in the league. What this means of course is the game will be in the hands of Felix Rodriguez, Jeff Fassero, Cal Eldred, Tim Worrell, and Jason Isringhausen when Albert Pujols or Barry Bonds decide things late in the game.
Arizona keeps plugging along. Luis Gonzalez is quietly putting together another fabulous season. He too is one of the most generous players with the media, what is this good guy week in baseball?
The scary thing for the Giants and the punchless Dodgers is Curt and Randy aren’t around, but they will be back shortly.
Seattle beat the A’s 3-1 and the game had many subplots which I will touch on below.First of all, the A’s did what they had to do in order to keep the Mariners in their offensive slide which has seen them score 46 runs in 12 games. Take away two games where they scored 18 runs total and Seattle has put up 28 runs in ten games.
The A’s continue to get Ichiro out rather easily. He went 0-4 last night. Bret Boone 0-4 as well.
Now, why did the A’s lineup feature two lefthanded hitters back to back in Scott Hatteberg and Erubiel Durazo, two and three?
The big DH Durazo has driven in 5 runs since May 30th, Miguel Tejada is driving in runs at his 2002 clip. Seattle must go to its bullpen late in the game. Arthur Rhodes is guaranteed to come in to face the lefties. Last night the A’s got away with Hatteberg and Durazo against Rhodes in the eighth inning when Hatteberg singled and Durazo walked. By batting lefties in succession you make Rhodes better. Right now he is struggling and barely escaped his jam in the eighth. Having Tejada come up behind Hatteberg would have made Rhodes very vulnerable and who knows Tejada may have gotten the big knock instead of Durazo patiently taking his usual walk.
So, split the lefties against Seattle’s bullpen.
Don’t let Terrence Long hit against a lefty with the game on the line. If Frank Menechino can swing the bat, let him hit late in the game. Memechino has hit the ball hard this year even though his average doesn’t reflect it, Long has little chance for success against a tough lefty like Jamie Moyer.
What’s up with Chris Singleton? Mark Ellis has not done much for over the past six weeks. Why not let Singleton hit against Jeff Nelson in the ninth with two outs and a runner on? Lefties have a shot at Nelson who looks as weary as Rhodes right now.
Aaron Harang pitches well against Seattle, his third good game in as many starts. Harang reminds me of Gil Heredia, when the seventh inning approaches he heads for the barn. Get the bullpen in there at the first sign of trouble in the sixth or seventh. The usual result would have been a homer off Harang, last night it was merely a quick succession of hits which put Seattle on top to stay.
Tim Hudson has been lights out against the Mariners, Gil Meche must be watched by Seattle very carefully since his arm was operated on two years ago. The Angels knocked Meche around in his last start, let’s see what he has tonight.
Anyway, I didn’t see the A’s put forth their best shot last night, they have to plan much better to beat Seattle who will not beat themselves. The last unearned run Seattle yielded was on May 27th. Unbelievable.
Mark Prior and Randy Wolf in Philly tonight, great pitching matchup. Dusty Baker won’t go to the pen if Prior is leading after eight, the Cub’s pen is struggling. what happened to Mike Remlinger, one of the best set up men around?
Phillies lead the NL wild card by 1/2 game over LA and one game over Arizona.
Mark Buehrle beat Brad Radke last week in Minnesota, tonight they pitch against one another in Comiskey. Twins are back in first because Cleveland took two in KC. Sox trail Minnesota by 3 1/2. I won’t get too excited about this race until Chicago is at least at .500, right now they are 40-42.
The Marlins throw Josh Beckett tonight in his first big league start since his minor league rehab coming off the DL. Tomorrow night it is Dontrelle Willis against the Braves. If only the Marlins had some dough, this is a good team.
The Phillies trail the Braves by 5 1/2 and will watch this score.
Toronto did its road disappearing act once again last night in Detroit. Tonight it’s business as usual because the Tigers cannot win back to back games.
The Royals need Mike Sweeney back from the DL soon. Without the all star firstbaseman their lineup looks very suspect.
St. Louis, Chicago, and Houston all are coming off last game losses, today all should win their games, but it won’t be easy for Houston who will face Ben Sheets, a very capable pitcher.
The Yankees bench is contributing every night. It is nice to actually have a 25 man roster that can be called upon in any situation. Jason Giambi is at .271 and climbing faster than the Dow Jones averages.
Must be a New York thing.
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Was at the A’s game last night. Jamie Moyer is quite the master. He is throwing at 70 mph and all you can do is top the ball. Never saw so many weak hits to the infield.
Since that was the case, why not have Ramon bunt when Byrnes was on 3rd. The suicide bunt was as good an option as trying to swing the bat. And why didn’t Tejada and Chavez take some pitches from Rhodes? He was all over the place. Bad managing if they were not so instructed.
And what is with Jeff Cirillo? Is he really that much of a hothead. His bunt scored the 2nd run so he accomplished what he was trying to do. He really came unhinged and just about hit the umpire. The helmet came flying out of the dugout, and then after he was ejected his batting gloves flew into the cameramen’s space next to the dugout. At least his tirade woke the A’s up a little.
Seattle’s bullpen looks tired so we need to be more patient with them. And how is the trade coming for Rondell White?
Hey Marty,
I couldn’t agree more about the pinch hitting situations in the game last night. Granted, Macha doesn’t have much to work with off the bench. The A’s don’t really have a righthanded pinch hitter. But why not try to use what you have? Singleton has put some hits together as a pinch hitter and Menechino has a better shot at a tough lefthanded pitcher than Long. And why let Ramon hit in the 7th. His numbers against Moyer are terrible. And he goes up there swinging for a homerun. Unacceptable. Someone better have chewed him out for that. These guys look like they need little league guidance sometimes. I question Macha’s late inning decisions. I have yet to see why Beane wanted Macha instead of Howe. Macha isn’t anymore savvy.
-Mike
When are Tejada and Chavez going to grow up. They still get overanxious in key situations. When Hatteberg comes up you always feel confident that he’s not going to waste his at bat. Having both Tejada and Chavez swing at first pitches with one out and the bases loaded was just too painful. Am I expecting too much out of them? I don’t think so. Are they both head cases? This is why they can’t get past the first round in the postseason.
Couldn’t Ron Washington call them over and remind them that no one is getting good wood on the ball (with the exception of Tejada’s 7th inning single). Moyer was tiring and throwing balls. Make him throw a good strike. Gee, Tejada, a fly ball ties the game.
I agree about Hatteburg. That is why he does so well with RISP. I was wishing that he was up to bat because he could have made something happen.
Frustrating.
It sounds like Chavez bristled at the suggestion he wait out the pitcher and get a good pitch to hit. I have long maintained that with mature hitters the A’s would have less trouble in October. The A’s let the game get away Monday night, but they still look stronger than Seattle for some reason. I think the Mariners catchable in the West.
Chavez has so much natural talent, but he will never be a superstar unless he matures. I think Byrnes has much less natural talent, but seems to listen and observe so well. Perhaps the team is missing that older influence in tough situations. Maybe a Justice or Henderson reminding them to be patient would make a difference. Moyer was weakening last night and Rhodes was rocky. Hope they have better luck with Meche tonight.
Chavez has so much natural talent, but he will never be a superstar unless he matures. I think Byrnes has much less natural talent, but seems to listen and observe so well. Perhaps the team is missing that older influence in tough situations. Maybe a Justice or Henderson reminding them to be patient would make a difference. Moyer was weakening last night and Rhodes was rocky. Hope they have better luck with Meche tonight.
So here we go again with the lousy at bats in key situations.
I agree with all here that claim that Tejada and Chavez are long overdue to show some maturity at the plate. Also agree that Macha should have pinchhit for Long.
So what’s up with Singleton? You’ve got a good defender hitting .300 sitting, while Mr. Irrelevant (Long), continues to sport a sub .250 average and is 0 for 2 seasons in clutch hits.
My current frustrations lead me to my latest trade fantasy:
Piatt, Long, Estaban German and AAA pitcher (Dursherer etc.) for Wilkerson and Vidro from Montreal. Maybe we rent Vidro for half a season or maybe Tejada leaves, we move Ellis to SS and keep Vidro. Wilkerson would be a keeper as he is on the verge of stardom. I think Montreal could be on the edge of dump mode if they continue to fade.
Trade fantasy #2:
Same bums from our side for Castillo and Encarnacion from Florida. Same scenario as above possible on keeping the players for next season.
Fallback position trade:
Rent Shannon Stewart from Toronto for low minor prospects. Toronto’s getting ready to dump I feel.
My final frustration involves Ted Lilly.
The guy cannot continue to try and pitch upstairs with that weak stuff of his. He needs to adopt a Jamie Moyer-type approach to pitching, quickly, as his fastball is very hittable.
Reno Bill
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