Mariners Pathetic In 18 Innings
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- Category: Sports
Seattle Manager Fails To Help Team
One night after getting absolutely crushed by the Baltimore Orioles, the Seattle Mariners received some solid pitching from a call up in Erasmo Rameriz. Rameriz was dominate, throwing all of his pitches for strikes and getting the big out when he got into a little trouble. The young pitcher had not given up a single run as the Mariners took a 2-0 lead into the 9th inning, but that was when manager Eric Wedge decided to do everything he possibly could to make his team lose.
Rameriz is not a everyday starter in the major leagues. He is a kid that was having a real good night so when he opened the 9th inning with a lead off single, the manager should have brought in the closer. Rameriz was clearly gassed, and probably had no business even going into the 9th inning in the first place. Instead, manager Eric Wedge leaves Rameriz out on the mound to give up yet another base hit before deciding to pull the pitcher. The next hitter executed the sacrifice bunt, and then the Seattle closer gave up a weak grounder for a base hit that tied the game at 2-2. This was the start of what would end up being a 18-inning battle in futility.
All season long the Mariners have struggled to hit, and anyone who follows this team understands that hitting is their major shortcoming. Throw in the fact that when a game is in extra innings and the home team gets the leadoff man on, typically a sacrifice bunt is put down every single time to put the team in the best possible position to get the walk-off win. Wedge, for some odd reason last night, felt that his team could hit their way into a walk-off win. Numerous times in extra innings the Mariners got their leadoff man on base. Not once did the runner make an attempt to steal when their were less than 2 outs. And not once did the team successfully lay down a sacrifice bunt to put a runner into scoring position with less than two out. However, the absolute blunder of the game came in the bottom of the 17th inning.
In the bottom of the 17th inning the Mariners got a leadoff double. Essentially all the team had to do was bunt the runner to third and drive him in with a sacrifice fly, grounder or base hit. Instead, Wedge decided that he would let Montero hit instead of lay down the bunt. Keep in mind that Montero was 0-6 thus far in the game, and the Mariners were 0-14 batting with runners in scoring position. Montero ended up popping out, the next hitter striking out and then the final hitter getting a routine out. Any baseball fan, manager or player knows that if your team struggles offensively and gets the leadoff man in second with no outs that he has to be sacrificed over. Especially, in a game-winning situation when the hitter is 0-6 for the day. This truly was the ultimate fail by a manager, and it is shocking he was not fired first thing this morning for jeopardizing his team.
The bottom of the 17th was the biggest of many managing mistakes by Wedge, but he finished off his night of idiocy by letting a reliever who nearly gave up a run in the top of the 17th inning to pitch in the top of the 18th inning. Luetge gave up two base hits in the 17th and was able to sneak out of the inning after two line drives hit well shot right at the infielders. Clearly, the Orioles had no problems seeing Luetge, and were hitting him hard. He should not have pitched the 18th inning, but when your manager is making every decision to sabotage his team then this is the result. Luetge walked the leadoff man, and still the manager did nothing. Luetge followed the leadoff walk with a base hit, and still the manager did nothing. After the walk and base hit, Luetge gave up another base hit. The manager did nothing, and the Mariners fell 4-2.
This sports writer for GPS Tracker Shop understands any team that goes 0-17 with runners in scoring position is clearly failing. However, a team can still get runs by stealing bases, sacrificing players into scoring position and driving in players on third without getting a hit. The manager is the captain of the ship and has to have a pulse on what his team is capable of doing every single night. Wedge clearly did not have that or he would have brought the closer in to open the 9th, sacrificed the leadoff double in the 17th and brought in a different pitcher in the top of the 18th. Then again, this is why the Mariners are the worst team in the American League West.