MARINERS 11 | INDIANS 9
Tribe’s magic goes poof
Base-running gaffes, walks, fielding miscue doom streak
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Scott Priestle
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
<!--PHOTOS--><TABLE class=phototableright align=right border=0><!-- begin large ad code --><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE align=center><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle>
</IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>RON SCHWANE | ASSOCIATED PRESS </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki steals second base as the ball gets past Cleveland’s Ronnie Belliard in the fourth inning. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
CLEVELAND — The Indians had two players picked off on one play last night. Another runner was thrown out when the ball ricocheted off an umpire. A routine popup fell between three fielders. Paul Byrd, who rarely surrenders walks, issued three in one inning.
As productive as the offense has been in the young season, it did not have enough firepower to overcome such ineptitude, and the Indians succumbed to the Seattle Mariners 11-9 in a game that entertained and stupefied the sparse crowd in Jacobs Field.
The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for the Tribe. If there was a silver lining, it is that few people saw it: Only 14,773 purchased tickets, and the broadcast on SportsTime Ohio went black in the fourth inning.
"That was so crazy, it’s almost like you didn’t know what was going to happen next," said Indians reliever Danny Graves, who allowed a game-turning grand slam that followed the dropped popup. "That’s baseball.
That’s why you play 162 of them."
The Indians overcame an uncharacteristically wild and brief outing by Byrd to pull to 6-5 entering the sixth inning. Graves got the No. 9 hitter, Yuniesky Betancourt, to hit a routine popup to shallow center field, but it fell between three fielders for a single. It was one of many opportunities to cue the circus music.
After a single by Ichiro Suzuki, a wild pitch and an intentional walk, the television feed returned. And Richie Sexson smoked the next pitch into the seats in left for a grand slam, pushing the Mariners’ lead to 10-5.
"It was the right pitch selection, I just missed my spot," Graves said. "It was supposed to be a sinker away, but it ran in with no sink."
It was that type of night for the Tribe.
Casey Blake had three hits and four RBI, but he was thrown out at third base to short-circuit a rally in the fourth. Grady Sizemore hit a ball past Sexson at first, and Blake lowered his head and sprinted from first to third, but the ball struck first-base umpire Tim McClelland and remained in the infield. Blake was easily thrown out.
Three innings earlier, Jason Michaels and Jhonny Peralta were simultaneously caught in rundowns. Michaels was on second base and Peralta on first with a full count on Travis Hafner. Michaels broke for third too early, and Peralta started for second base but stopped. They were tagged out in succession.
Hafner hit a two-run homer in the seventh, and the Indians put the potential tying runs on base with one out in the ninth, but Mariners closer Eddie Guardado retired Ronnie Belliard and Aaron Boone to end the game.
"We didn’t play very well tonight, but it didn’t have anything to do with the effort," manager Eric Wedge said. "They play throughout. They never quit."
Byrd, who allowed only 1.2 walks per nine innings last season, fourth best in the league, walked two to start a four-run third that gave the Mariners a lead they would not relinquish. He has walked seven in two starts this season.
"Don’t put the blame on anybody else but me tonight," Byrd said. "It was a very poor performance on a night when we scored nine runs. They didn’t bring me here to do this."
[email protected]
