Ok, actually 13 hits but I'm pretty sure we had it won by 11 hits, unlike last night where we got 11 hits and no win to show for it. All right - today we had it won after THREE hits but the Mariners are a team chasing a win streak so we had to get 10 more hits and 7 more runs to make sure it stuck.
Turns out that Scott Kazmir was totally on top of his game today and the Mariners weren't going anywhere near a 9-game win streak. One hit, two walks and 7 strike outs for the Mariners against Kazmir in 8 innings. Holy smokes!!! That is Masterson-level awesomeness right there! So he's given up 3 hits and 0 runs in his last 14 innings (two starts). If it wasn't for the two errors behind him, perhaps he would have been able to go through to the 9th and have a complete game. As it were, he was out after 103 pitches.
Vinnie Pestano needed some work and he got plenty of work throwing 29 pitches. I was astonished that he didn't give up any runs, even though he had 9 runs to play with! He did get the bases loaded by walking two after a single. How many people were thinking "Well, we came back from 14-2 one time so...."? I knew you were!
But, Vinnie took care of it and all was well in Tribetown.
I don't get to put up an Everybody Hits badge because - can you believe it? - Jason Kipnis didn't get a hit!
Michael Bourn, however, he got himself the biggest of the hits. A Grand Slam Home Run! (capitalized!) I bet it even surprised him, like Jason Giambi stealing third or something. Seems like a day off sure did that cat some good, as he went 2 for 4 today with a walk and ended up with 4 RBI.
Also racking up the RBI was Asdrubal. OMG!!!! He got his 8th homer today, a 2-run dinger. That's his second homer this month! He's got 4 hits in his last 2 games (he also had an RBI double in the first inning) - does he like being the cleanup hitter? That'd be pretty spectacular if he ended the year as our go-to guy for the 4th spot, racking up the RBIs and stuff.
Santana had a touch of hotness today, after not doing much of anything after a little hot streak in the beginning of July. Streak much, dude? Gotta love him, though. Check out this neat article about him in TribeVibe. He's got sisters so that's why his hair is so pretty!
Aviles was in left field today because, eh, why not? He did just fine. No errors so he's doing better than a lot of the rest of the team. Heyoo! Him and Reynolds bot got in to the hit game today with 1 apiece. Let's hope Reynolds hitting in 2 games is the start of something bigger.
So I read on Twitter (Paul Hoynes) that Terry Francona said Yan Gomes was going to be our everyday catcher. I am all for that, man. I know Santana worked hard to become a catcher but you can't let a gem like Gomes sit and waste away. There's nobody special at 1st or DH right now so let Santana bat every day and backup catch and let's see more YANIMAL!!!
Gomes went 2 for 4 today with a double and a run scored. He's 4 for 8 in his last 2 games, and has 11 hits in his last 10 games. He is really not getting nearly enough playing time - those 10 games stretch from 6/26 to 7/24.
Stubbs got a hit and a walk today, and managed to make his way home safely this time. He's also safely back at .240 after his brush with something better, in .250-land. But before you try to knock our Stubbs, note that he's 28 points higher than Reynolds and exactly the same as Swisher. Uh huh.
The whole lineup really made it count today, and it was ROTFL funny because all they needed this time was one stinkin' run. But oh well - at least we not only stopped the Mariners' run but STOMPED them on our way out the door!
Thursday is an off day and they're back in town Friday to take on the Rangers. Let's hope all our starters are totally inspired by Scott Kazmir and his recent awesomeness, and really hold those Rangers down. And maybe hold our bullpen down too. Let's see those bats stay hot!
Friday at 7:05 it'll be Kluber versus LHP 3.40. Kluber is super hot right now too, so let's hope he stays that way. I guess he had some sort of minor hip injury after his last start but he's all better now.
Have a good day off! See you Friday! And Tom Hamilton, too!
No comments:
Post a Comment