Thursday, September 23, 2004
The Hits Just Keep on Coming
Wow. The Mariners pounded out 24 hits last night in a 16-6 rout of the Angels, further dampening the Halos playoff chances. Okay, "pounded" may be a bit strong. "Eked" may be more like it, as 22 of the 24 hits were singles. Combine that with control problems from Bartolo Colon, and you have a fun game of "Follow The Leader" around the basepaths.
Ichiro added 4 hits and is now 10 shy of the hits record (11 to break it) with 10 games to play. Unfortunately for Ichiro, the M's do NOT get to play the Angels again this season, and instead have 6 against the Rangers and 4 against the A's.
Raul Ibanez went 6 for 6 last night, a feat that even Ichiro has never accomplished. In the process, he did something I did not even think was possible (until I really thought about it), and raised his batting average BY 10 POINTS! In September! Again... Wow.
Jeremy Reed had 3 hits and now has a nice 8-game hitting string during which he has hit .500 (13 for 26).
And Scott Spiezio seems to be back in the swing of things. After 4 RBIs two nights ago, he was again the starting first baseman for the M's, and made a beautiful diving stab in the first inning to keep the Angels off the scoreboard in addition to adding two more hits of his own.
Even the M's one stupid play may be a blessing in disguise. Ramon Santiago bunted with runners on first and second with Ichiro on deck. Naturally, the Angels walked Ichiro, robbing him of a precious at bat. As it turns out Melvin had not screwed the pooch here, but instead, Santiago screwed up the signs and misinterpreted Melvin's call for a hit and run. Maybe this will lead to us not having to worry about Santiago being in the lineup much more this season.
Alrighty out there - who wanted us to go after Bartolo Colon?? Its okay to admit you were wrong - I've been wrong many times. At least that's one path we did not blunder down.
Speaking of wrong, someone (ahem, Trent, ahem) owes me a pro-Bavasi post over our preseason bet that Quinton McCracken would be more productive than Greg Colbrunn. Admittedly, most of that production came for Arizona, and this is not one to gloat over, but still, a bet is a bet.
How about those pesky Texas Rangers? A win tonight, and we have a heckuva finish looming with the A's 2 games ahead of the Rangers AND Angels. And with us getting to beat up on both the A's and Rangers down the stretch, maybe we can help create the first 3-way tie (correct me if I'm wrong).
Today's picks:
Devil Rays (Ritchie) +250 over Yankees(Lieber)
Rangers(Park) +140 over Athletics(Hudson)
Mets(Glavine) -110 over Expos(Kim)
Money to date: $-308 (picking dog/favorite = +1472/-1780, 45-63 32-32). My fantasy pitchers, Oswalt and Sheets let me down, but two big underdogs pay off in the Mariner and Blue Jays, so I pocket a tidy $225 on the day.
Ichiro added 4 hits and is now 10 shy of the hits record (11 to break it) with 10 games to play. Unfortunately for Ichiro, the M's do NOT get to play the Angels again this season, and instead have 6 against the Rangers and 4 against the A's.
Raul Ibanez went 6 for 6 last night, a feat that even Ichiro has never accomplished. In the process, he did something I did not even think was possible (until I really thought about it), and raised his batting average BY 10 POINTS! In September! Again... Wow.
Jeremy Reed had 3 hits and now has a nice 8-game hitting string during which he has hit .500 (13 for 26).
And Scott Spiezio seems to be back in the swing of things. After 4 RBIs two nights ago, he was again the starting first baseman for the M's, and made a beautiful diving stab in the first inning to keep the Angels off the scoreboard in addition to adding two more hits of his own.
Even the M's one stupid play may be a blessing in disguise. Ramon Santiago bunted with runners on first and second with Ichiro on deck. Naturally, the Angels walked Ichiro, robbing him of a precious at bat. As it turns out Melvin had not screwed the pooch here, but instead, Santiago screwed up the signs and misinterpreted Melvin's call for a hit and run. Maybe this will lead to us not having to worry about Santiago being in the lineup much more this season.
Alrighty out there - who wanted us to go after Bartolo Colon?? Its okay to admit you were wrong - I've been wrong many times. At least that's one path we did not blunder down.
Speaking of wrong, someone (ahem, Trent, ahem) owes me a pro-Bavasi post over our preseason bet that Quinton McCracken would be more productive than Greg Colbrunn. Admittedly, most of that production came for Arizona, and this is not one to gloat over, but still, a bet is a bet.
How about those pesky Texas Rangers? A win tonight, and we have a heckuva finish looming with the A's 2 games ahead of the Rangers AND Angels. And with us getting to beat up on both the A's and Rangers down the stretch, maybe we can help create the first 3-way tie (correct me if I'm wrong).
Today's picks:
Devil Rays (Ritchie) +250 over Yankees(Lieber)
Rangers(Park) +140 over Athletics(Hudson)
Mets(Glavine) -110 over Expos(Kim)
Money to date: $-308 (picking dog/favorite = +1472/-1780, 45-63 32-32). My fantasy pitchers, Oswalt and Sheets let me down, but two big underdogs pay off in the Mariner and Blue Jays, so I pocket a tidy $225 on the day.
