Tuesday, May 15, 2001 (W: SEA 4-CWS 3 29-9)

The streak is now 6 for the Mariners, who beat the White Sox 4-3 tonight.

The streak is now 20 for Ichiro, who went 2-5.

The streak is now 2 for Mariners games that include a manager successfully argue a call. This time it was Jerry Manuel arguing. I'll let the Times article explain it:

With Chicago's Magglio Ordonez on first, Harold Baines hit a hard one-hopper off Mariner pitcher Aaron Sele, who deflected the ball toward the right side. The ball then hit Ordonez in the leg but was recovered by M's second baseman Bret Boone, who threw out Baines at first base.

When a batted ball hits a runner, the runner is automatically out, the ball is dead and the batter is awarded a single. That's what the umpires initially ruled.

However, this ball hit a fielder - Sele - before it hit the runner. That changed things, as White Sox Manager Jerry Manuel pointed out to the umpires, who conferred and reversed their ruling. When a ball is directed toward a runner by a fielder, then it remains in play. Ordonez was allowed to remain at second, but Baines was ruled out.

Boone hit another HR, and only needed a triple for the cycle (if you're counting, that's 3 straight games the M's have had a chance at the cycle -- I don't know what the record is; you'd have to ask Jayson Stark).

In the 9th, the Sox made it interesting off of Jose Paniagua (Lou was resting Sasaki -- I'm not sure why, after an off day. Sasaki hasn't shown signs of being fragile), but Ichiro threw out Josh Paul at third trying to stretch a double, Paul's second baserunning blunder of the game. In the top of the 7th, he pinch ran for Sandy Alomar, Jr. and got gunned down at third by Wilson. This, Mr. Paul, is why catchers don't run (because you're slow)!

Buehrle (whose name I spelled wrong yesterday) actually pitched pretty well for the 3nd time this season. Twice were against the M's. Go figure.

A couple side notes:

Chicago's future Hall of Famer Frank Thomas underwent season ending triceps surgery today. That's a big blow. Last year's MVP runner up, Thomas hit .328 last season with 43 HR's and 143 RBI! Of course, he was 0-9 vs. the M's in last year's ALDS. I predict he'll come back with a vengance next season. .340, 40 HR, 120 RBI. You heard it here first (I think he may sacrifice a little power for average in April because of the time off, but he'll cut loose in the 2nd half of the season).

Warren Moon threw out the first pitch. Cammie looked like Brian Blades pulling in a pass, as Moon's toss was quite a bit high and outside.

Tomorrow night's game has Paul Abbott going up against another rookie in Chicago's Rocky Biddle. Even though he's a rookie, Biddle is 0-3 with a 10.69 ERA in his career against the Mariners.

Monday, May 14, 2001

Minnesota won today. They're only a game and a half back!

Off day for the M's today.

Tomorrow we play the White Sox at Safeco.

May 13, 2001 (W: SEA 7-TOR 5 28-9)

Happy mother's day mom! (Sorry readers, I had to get that out of the way first.)

The M's wrapped up their 6-game road trip by winning their 5th straight game, beating the Blue Jays 7-5 today.

Ichiro extended his hitting streak to 19 games (tying Toronto's injured Jose Cruz, Jr. for the longest streak of the 2001 season) and had 3 out of the 4 legs of hitting for the cycle for the 2nd straight game! He's now hit in 35 of the M's first 37 games. I think he's the real deal! Toronto pitchers decided the only way to keep him from hitting is to hit him twice, keeping him from getting a shot at the HR he needed to complete the cycle. I'm keeping him in my MLB.com Beat the Streak team for the forseeable future (I would love that trip to the World Series to see the M's win their first title)!

Boone hit his 6th HR, a 2-run shot in the 3rd off of Esteban Loaiza, whose career is quickly fading. He gave up all 7 runs in his 6 innings.

Seattle's starter, Jaime Moyer didn't have a great game, giving up all 5 Blue Jay runs in only 6 innings, but a win's a win. Sasaki pitched the 9th for his 17th save. Seventeen saves in 37 games: Kaz is on pace for 74 saves this year. Of course, the M's are on pace to win 122 games; both those paces are likely to slow considerably. Since the M's and Blue Jays inagural season of 1977, only one AL team has won more than 104 games: the amazing 1998 Yankees.

It was nice to see Olympic hero Ryan Franklin bounce back from his 3-inning, 6-earned run stint last Sunday. He'd been great in his first 8 appearances this season, compiling a 0.90 ERA and striking out 18 in his first 20 innings. He pitched the 7th last night, striking another batter, bringing him to a total of 22 K's in 24 innings this season. Looks like another young power pitcher on the M's staff!

Toronto prospect Vernon Wells, called up yesterday for the former Mariner Cruz, hit his first HR of the season. He hit one in a September call up back in '99; this was his first since then. The kid's swing looks good! There was some talk the M's were trying to swing a 3-way trade for him and Phil Nevin this spring. I think he'd be better in left than Javier and Al Martin, especially in the future.

Lou worked his magic with the umpires in the 7th, SUCCESSFULLY arguing that Toronto third-baseman Tony Batista trapped what appeared to be the start of a triple play on a lineout by Dan Wilson. I guess all those tantrums of Lou's younger years finally paid off. The Blue Jays had already left the field, and had to come back out to finish the inning!

Buhner's still out indefinitely, but his veteran presence is keeping the clubhouse loose and professional.

Did anybody else see Bob Finnegan's note in the Times yesterday suggesting the M's pick up Vinny Castilla for just the pro-rated portion of $200k? I think it's a good idea in case David Bell goes down. However, Gillick and the M's scouts think his bat's too slow and he'll never hit like he did in Colorado. I understand Gillick's concern not wanting to pay a ton of money for a third baseman with Coors-inflated stats, but at the major league minimum, I argue it's worth the risk.

And, Steve Kelley wrote in this morning's Times that George W Bush is planning to get former M's owner George Argyros an ambassadorship! To Spain. Why does the US need an ambassador in Spain? I wonder if Bush thinks they speak "Mexican" there? Oh well, good riddance Argyros!

Bob Sherwin had an interesting article in this morning's Times about Rett Johnson, a 21-year old lefty pitching down in single-A Wisconsin. He's got a 1.85 ERA in his first 7 starts!

We're now 11 games up on the Angels (who won today) and only 2 up on the red-hot Twins (who also won).

Next game is Tuesday against the White Sox. Tickets are still available. Sele (5-0, 2.72) vs. some rookie (Buhrle: 1-3, 5.54).