Saturday, July 30, 2005
Cleveland
Indians at Seattle Mariners
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Recaps and BMTG Notes and observations...
A scalper tried to sell us $7 tickets for $13 each.
Ballpark signage (diamond vision and other electronic boards) tell the crowd in Seattle when to stand up, as well as when to make noise. Whenever the sign said to get loud, the near-silent crowd would suddenly get loud. As soon as the sign goes off, the crowd immediately quiets down and resumes their standard ballgame viewing silence.
In a prime example of poor form, "Everyday" Eddie Guardado enters the game to AC/DC's Hells Bells, a la Trevor Hoffman. Contrary to San Diego, however, the atmosphere in Seattle remains stale and the crowd only partially interested. When Hoffman comes in the game, the moment is electric. When Guardado enters the game, the moment is slightly elevated from subdued to flat.
Who's Batting For You?
Diesel - Olivo, C
0 for 3, strikeout
Ahchie - Bloomquist, CF
0 for 4
Throcksmorton - Spezio, DH
0 for 3, strikeout
Brother Nature - Sexson, 1B
1 for 2, walk
Franklin slapped with 10-day suspension
DETROIT -- Seattle Mariners pitcher Ryan Franklin was suspended 10 days for violating his sport's steroids policy, the eighth major-league player caught under tougher drug rules enacted this year.
The announcement Tuesday came one day after Orioles slugger Rafael Palmeiro was suspended after testing positive for steroids.
Franklin said he has "no idea" how he tested positive.
"There's got to be a flaw in the system," he said Tuesday before the Mariners played the Tigers at Comerica Park. "I have no clue. I tested in [early] May and again three weeks later. The first was positive, the second was negative."
The pitcher said he first was told of his positive test in May -- and "thought it was a joke" -- then appealed and appeared before two arbitration committees.
"I'm one of the guys who was supportive of strong testing," Franklin said. "I believe I got to the big leagues on God-given talent, and that's how I've stayed here. It's hard to swallow."
"I know deep in my heart that I have never done anything like that."
Franklin, a 32-year-old right-hander, is 6-11 this season with a 4.61 ERA in 22 games, including 20 starts.
"We are very disappointed to learn this news," Mariners spokesman
Tim Hevly said. "But at the direction of Major League Baseball, and,
following its rules, we are not able to comment further."
Manager Mike Hargrove declined to comment before Tuesday night's game.
The 6-foot-3, 190-pound Franklin pitched for the gold-medal winning U.S. team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, going 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA in four appearances. He was an Oklahoma All-State baseball player at Spiro and played two seasons at Seminole State College, going 20-0 before signing with the Mariners in 1993.
Franklin would not discuss what he tested positive for. But he did say that he took supplements he bought at a nutrition store. Franklin said he gave up all supplements after the positive test. After that, he said he tested negative.
"I'll never take [supplements] again. ... I won't even take a vitamin until I'm done with baseball," he said. "I hate what's happened for the organization, for me, and my family. I'm done with taking anything."
Mariners 3, Indians 2
CBS Sportsline/Associated Press
SEATTLE -- Ichiro Suzuki is ready for another run at a batting title.
The nine-time batting champion -- seven in Japan; two in the majors -- hit a pair of solo home runs Saturday to help the Seattle Mariners beat the Cleveland Indians 3-2.
Hitting .385 in July, he has raised his batting average 22 points this month to .316. He is within range of league-leader Johnny Damon of Boston, hitting .337 entering the day.
"To be able to do the things I do and win the title, that would be the best-case scenario," Suzuki said through an interpreter. "But worrying about what others think or what kind of numbers I need to put up, I really don't think that way. I want to be able to play my game."
Suzuki's fourth-inning leadoff home run also broke a 75-year-old major-league record. That gave him 1,058 hits in his career, the most ever for a player in his first five big-league seasons, breaking the mark set by Paul Waner from 1926-30. Waner reached 1,057 hits in 747 games, while Suzuki has played 737 games.
"I didn't know about that record," said Suzuki, the defending AL batting champion who broke the single-season hit record last year with 262. "When I heard of this record I thought to myself, 'Man, there's a lot of records out there."'
The home run, his eighth this season and the first hit allowed by C.C. Sabathia (6-9), cut Cleveland's lead to 2-1 and was the longest of his career, a 428-foot shot off the glass windows of Safeco Field's right-field second deck restaurant. His previous longest was a 424-foot shot Aug. 15 against the Yankees' Kevin Brown.
After Mike Morse tied it at 2 with a leadoff home run in the fifth, Suzuki hit his second shot into the right-field seats in the sixth to put the Mariners ahead. It was the third multihomer game of Suzuki's career and also the third time Sabathia has allowed three home runs.
"Ichiro is not a home run hitter," manager Mike Hargrove said. "His whole game is hitting it on the ground, keeping in on the line, taking the extra base, stealing and scoring runs. But he has good pull power.
"Getting base hits is not an easy thing to do. He makes it look easy sometimes, but it's not easy," Hargrove added. "If it was easy everyone would hit .300 or .400 and get 250 hits a year. Since he has been here in the States, not even counting what he did in Japan, he has been absolutely amazing."
Sabathia, who has a career-high five straight losses, has had trouble with Suzuki, who is hitting .419 with two doubles, three triples and three home runs against him.
"With him, it's whatever he feels like that day," Sabathia said. "If he wants to take you to left and you throw a fastball away, he'll do that. You have to feel him out."
Jason Dubois started the Indians' two-run rally in the third with a single just over second baseman Yuniesky Betancourt's reach. Sizemore, on a 1-0 pitch from Mariners' starter Ryan Franklin (6-11), hit a one-hop double against the right-field wall and Ronnie Belliard followed with a two-run double into the left-center gap.
Franklin would settle down, although the Indians continued to reach base. They left 11 on, at least one in every inning.
"The thing with Ryan is you know you're going to get the most of what he's got that day," Hargrove said. "He is as ready to pitch and compete as any I've ever been around."
Ben Broussard defused a Cleveland rally in the sixth. He reached first on a one-out single then Casey Blake followed with a single to left. Broussard rolled around second and tried to take third but was thrown out easily.
"There was no reason. The play was in front of him, not behind him," Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said. "It was just a very poor decision."
Ron Villone took over for Franklin with two outs in the seventh and struck out Victor Martinez. J.J. Putz relieved Villone with two on and one out in the eighth, walked Blake to load the bases but struck out Dubois and Grady Sizemore. Eddie Guardado picked up his 23rd consecutive save in the ninth.
Notes
There were no incidents after Friday's game, when Indians pitchers hit two batters and Seattle hit one, leading to five ejections. ... Suzuki is hitting .385 for July after a .243 June. He has the highest average among active players in July at .350.
Beaver’ Miguel Ojeda Traded To Seattle For Catcher Miguel Olivo
PORTLAND, Ore. - Portland Beavers catcher Miguel Ojeda was traded to the Seattle Mariners along with Class AA pitcher Nathanel Mateo in exchange for catcher Miguel Olivo, it was announced Saturday night.
Ojeda, 30, hit .137 with three doubles, one triple and six RBIs in 43 games with the San Diego Padres this season prior to being optioned to the Beavers on July 7. While with the Beavers, he batted .193 with three home runs and five RBIs in 16 games. Over parts of three major league seasons with San Diego (2003-2005), Ojeda had a career batting average of .224 with 12 home runs and 54 RBIs in 166 games.
Ojeda, who was signed by the Padres as a minor league free agent on May 17, 2003, was taken out after the second inning of Saturday night’s game against Iowa upon completion of the trade.
Olivo, 27, appeared in 53 games for the Mariners this season, batting .154 with five home runs and 18 RBIs. He also appeared in 24 games for Seattle’s Triple-A Tacoma affiliate, batting .233 with three home runs, 26 RBIs and 13 runs scored.
Over parts of five major league seasons, Olivo has appeared in 269 games with the Chicago White Sox (2002-04) and Mariners (2004-05), batting .219 with 39 doubles 25 home runs and 90 RBIs.
Mateo, 24, appeared in 47 games for Class AA Mobile this season, going 3-4 with a 3.14 ERA. Originally signed by the Padres as a minor league free agent on August 13, 2003, Mateo has a career 9-7 record with a 3.01 ERA.
Marlins grab Villone for bullpen
July 31: On a Sunday devoid of splashy trades, the Marlins settled for making a bullpen addition. Florida got Ron Villone from the Mariners for a pair of hard-throwing Double-A right-handers, Yorman Bazardo and Mike Flannery.
Villone, a 35-year-old left-hander, joins the ninth major league club of his career. He's in the midst of posting the best ERA of his 11 big league seasons (2.45) to go with a 2-3 record and one save in 52 appearances. He has a 41-23 strikeout-walk ratio in 40 innings, and has held opponents to a .226 average and two homers. Villone's main pitch is a cut fastball that usually arrives in the high 80s, and he also throws a hard slider and a changeup. He's making $1.7 million in 2005 and is due $2 million in 2006 as part of a two-year, $4.6 million contract he signed in the offseason. He has a 49-52, 4.70 record and six saves in 446 career games (93 starts).
Bazardo, 21, signed out of Venezuela in 2000. He had the best arm in the Marlins system, consistently delivering fastballs in the low to mid-90s and peaking at 98 mph. Despite his velocity and good control, he doesn't strike out as many batters as might be expected because he still needs to refine his changeup and slider. He made his big league debut in May against the Mets, allowing five runs in 1 2/3 innings. He has spent the rest of the season at Double-A Carolina, going 8-6, 3.79 in 18 starts. In 107 innings, he had a 72-35 K-BB ratio with a .257 opponent average and 12 homers allowed.
Flannery, 26, was pushing for his first big league promotion as well. A 33rd-round pick in 1999, he signed as a draft-and-follow the next year out of Gloucester County (N.J.) JC. He also can light up a radar gun, reaching 94-95 mph with regularity. His slider also has its moments. He has divided 2005 between Triple-A Albuquerque and Carolina, with a 2-3, 3.21 record and 13 saves in 45 games. He has a 50-17 K-BB ratio in 53 innings, while opponents have batted .231 with five homers against him.
