The Mariners’ losing streak has reached five, they’ve lost 10 of 11 and they’re a league-worst 10 games under .500 after an 8-4 thumping from the White Sox.
But hey, the M’s got nine hits and scored four runs! They actually had runners in scoring position and such a thing as the tying run at the plate! Since they can’t celebrate a victory, they’ll have to feel good about the little things.
That’s nice. But there were some other little things that were the difference in losing.
Raul Ibanez let a fly bounce off his glove in the second inning. He’d made a long run to get to a high drive by Orlando Cabrera. It was rightfully ruled a double, but it’s a play that needs to be made. It would have been the third out of the inning and limited the White Sox to four runs. Instead, it prolonged the inning and pitcher Jarrod Washburn, who struggled mightily, gave up a two-run homer to the next hitter, Carlos Quentin.
-The Mariners inexplicably tried a double steal that backfired into the third out of the inning. They were behind by three runs and, with Willie Bloomquist on first base and Ichiro Suzuki on third, Adrian Beltre had a 3-1 count against White Sox reliever Octavio Dotel. Nobody from the dugout called for a double steal. But manager John McLaren did take off the red light for Bloomquist because Dotel was paying no attention to the runners. Bloomquist broke for second and Dotel paid attention this time, pulling the old fake-to-third-throw-to-first move.
That play never works, right? This time it did, in the strangest way. Bloomquist never broke stride and Dotel, instead of throwing to first, awkwardly threw to Juan Uribe at second base. The ball was in the dirt, but Uribe dug it out. Too late to get Bloomquist, but for some reason Suzuki decided to break for home.
Uribe threw him out on a close play at the plate. Beltre, who had homered and singled in his previous two at-bats, looked dumbfounded at the opportunity that was lost after he’s worked a great hitter’s count, 3-1.
You’ve got to wonder why anyone was running in the first place, since the Mariners trailed by three runs. Maybe Bloomquist was trying to stay out of an easy forceout at second, but the deal here is that Beltre deserved a chance to produce. He’d comprised most of the Mariners’ production to that point.
Here’s Suzuki’s explanation — through a translator — to reporters on why he decided to run:
“There’s a high probability that the last out was going to be made at second base. That’s something that must not happen. If there was an out to be made in that situation, it should be at home plate, not at second base.”
I’m not sure what to make of that explanation, other than this:
It’s not a play that lost the game for the Mariners. But good teams don’t waste opportunities like that. Desperate teams do.
Right now, the Mariners are very desperate.
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