The Seattle Mariners, stuck in an offensive funk for several weeks now, were facing a must win situation against the Oakland Athletics by the Bay Friday night.
They were up against Cy Young candidate Tim Hudson. Hudson had been almost invincible against the most dangerous rivals in the league. Check out his performance against 3 of the 4 best teams in the A.L. this season:
The totals in these 7 starts: 56 IP, 29 hits, 11 walks (0.71 WHIP), 7 ER, 1 HR, 42 K, 1.13 ERA
He averaged 104 pitches and 8 innings per start.
In the first inning, Hudson gave up a double to Carlos Guillen and walked Edgar Martinez and John Olerud before striking out Randy Winn to leave the bases loaded. No runs - a lost opportunity. In the third, Hudson struck out the three batters he faced on called strikes and it looked like his dominance over Oakland's most dangerous rivals would continue, as Oakland held a 1-0 lead on the strength of a first inning homerun by Erubiel Durazo. In the 4th, the Mariners almost nicked Hudson, but left 2 men on when McLemore grounded out 4 to 3.
But it was not to be for the Oakland ace, as the 5th inning would prove to be his undoing. Wilson snuck a single through the infield and Ichiro reached on an infield hit that Tejada couldn't handle cleanly in front of the 2nd base bag. After a sac hit and a sac fly, the game was tied. Edgar then blooped a single down the right field line which scored Ichiro. The knockout punch was delivered by Jays fan favourite John Olerud, who blasted a pitch over the centrefield wall for a 4-1 lead. In the bottom of the inning Johnny O made a diving stab on a ball ticketed to the RF corner and tossed to Ryan Franklin for the out.
Hudson lasted one more frame while Franklin went 8, allowing 4 hits and 4 walks. Seattle added a run apiece off Chad Harville and Steve Sparks; Rafael Soriano mopped up with a perfect 9th.
Final score: Seattle 6 Oakland 1
Seattle now sits 4 games behind with 4 young starting pitchers set to battle over the weekend: Duchscherer vs Pineiro on Saturday and Harden vs Meche on Sunday. The Mariners desperately need to win both those games.
Boston looks to have the wild card locked up: they are 2.5 games up on the Mariners and have 2 games left against Cleveland, 4 at home against the craptastic Orioles and 3 in Tampa Bay. 6 wins in 9 games mathematically clinches the wildcard for Boston. Winning 5 of 9 would leave them at 95 wins. Assuming 95 wins for Boston, the only way they can fail to clinch a wildcard is if Seattle sweeps Anaheim on the road, Oakland sweeps Texas at home (both series take place Monday to Wednesday next week) and Seattle takes at least 4 of the remaining 5 games against Oakland. If that were to happen the Bosox would finish in a tie for the wildcard.
That's a tall order, so the smart money is on a matchup between Pedro Martinez and Tim Hudson in game 1 of the ALDS (Wildcard version)
It would take a small miracle for Seattle to oust Oakland for the division crown. However, if Jays fans of a slightly advanced age search their memories they may recall a similar predicament. On the morning of September 27th, 1987, the top of the A.L. East standings looked thus:
Toronto had 7 games left to play, Detroit had 8. Four of those were to be head-to-head battles. That fine Sunday, Toronto fans were expecting to dash the Tigers' and foil Doyle's hopes at one and the same time and put the pennant race to bed.
In the first inning, Nelson Liriano singled, stole 2nd and scored on George Bell's single to put the homeside up 1-0. Jim Clancy held the Tigers scoreless for 7 innings but Toronto could not score more runs off Alexander. Tom Henke was brought on in the 8th to attempt a 2-inning save, but in the ninth Kirk Gibson led off with a homerun. Tied at 1. Both teams scored runs in the 11th: Darrel Evans with a solo homerun and the Jays on an error, a walk and a single by Jesse Barfield off Alexander (yes he was still in the game). In the 13th inning, with 1 out and runners on first and second, Kirk Gibson drove in the eventual winning run with a single, making it 3-2 Detroit. If I recall correctly, Gibson did something famous the following year too.
The Jays would not win another game that year, losing 3 in Milwaukee and 3 in Detroit.
The 2003 Mariners the Tigers of yesteryear are/were veteran clubs who are/were seemingly running out of chances to win championships. The Tigers were now 3 years past their dream season, and the Mariners are now two years post-2001 (admittedly, they didn't win the big prize that year but I think it qualifies).
The Oakland A's are a quality ballclub built largely from an exceptionally productive farm system (as the Blue Jays were). The Jays were in their 4th season of serious contention and the Athletics are now in their 5th. Both young teams were saddled with the reputation of playoff losers - the Jays losing their only ALCS after leading 3-1; the Athletics twice losing to the Yankees when victory seemed certain.
It would be a just reward if one or two World Championships lurked somewhere in Oakland's near future, just as they eventually arrived in Toronto. But who knows if history will repeat itself; after tonight's performance I'm not ready to count the Mariners out just yet.
They were up against Cy Young candidate Tim Hudson. Hudson had been almost invincible against the most dangerous rivals in the league. Check out his performance against 3 of the 4 best teams in the A.L. this season:
Date Opp result IP H R ER HR W K PIT dec
Apr 1 Sea W 5-0 8.0 5 0 0 0 2 4 107 win
Apr 16 @Sea W 4-1 8.0 5 1 1 0 0 7 92 win
May 3 @NYY W 5-3 8.0 3 1 1 0 2 4 115 ___
May 9 NYY W 7-2 8.0 5 2 2 1 1 5 101 win
Jul 1 Sea W 3-2 8.0 5 1 1 0 2 5 105 ___
Aug 1 NYY W 3-2 7.0 4 2 2 0 3 5 119 ___
Aug 11 Bos W 4-0 9.0 2 0 0 0 1 7 89 win
The totals in these 7 starts: 56 IP, 29 hits, 11 walks (0.71 WHIP), 7 ER, 1 HR, 42 K, 1.13 ERA
He averaged 104 pitches and 8 innings per start.
In the first inning, Hudson gave up a double to Carlos Guillen and walked Edgar Martinez and John Olerud before striking out Randy Winn to leave the bases loaded. No runs - a lost opportunity. In the third, Hudson struck out the three batters he faced on called strikes and it looked like his dominance over Oakland's most dangerous rivals would continue, as Oakland held a 1-0 lead on the strength of a first inning homerun by Erubiel Durazo. In the 4th, the Mariners almost nicked Hudson, but left 2 men on when McLemore grounded out 4 to 3.
But it was not to be for the Oakland ace, as the 5th inning would prove to be his undoing. Wilson snuck a single through the infield and Ichiro reached on an infield hit that Tejada couldn't handle cleanly in front of the 2nd base bag. After a sac hit and a sac fly, the game was tied. Edgar then blooped a single down the right field line which scored Ichiro. The knockout punch was delivered by Jays fan favourite John Olerud, who blasted a pitch over the centrefield wall for a 4-1 lead. In the bottom of the inning Johnny O made a diving stab on a ball ticketed to the RF corner and tossed to Ryan Franklin for the out.
Hudson lasted one more frame while Franklin went 8, allowing 4 hits and 4 walks. Seattle added a run apiece off Chad Harville and Steve Sparks; Rafael Soriano mopped up with a perfect 9th.
Final score: Seattle 6 Oakland 1
Seattle now sits 4 games behind with 4 young starting pitchers set to battle over the weekend: Duchscherer vs Pineiro on Saturday and Harden vs Meche on Sunday. The Mariners desperately need to win both those games.
Boston looks to have the wild card locked up: they are 2.5 games up on the Mariners and have 2 games left against Cleveland, 4 at home against the craptastic Orioles and 3 in Tampa Bay. 6 wins in 9 games mathematically clinches the wildcard for Boston. Winning 5 of 9 would leave them at 95 wins. Assuming 95 wins for Boston, the only way they can fail to clinch a wildcard is if Seattle sweeps Anaheim on the road, Oakland sweeps Texas at home (both series take place Monday to Wednesday next week) and Seattle takes at least 4 of the remaining 5 games against Oakland. If that were to happen the Bosox would finish in a tie for the wildcard.
That's a tall order, so the smart money is on a matchup between Pedro Martinez and Tim Hudson in game 1 of the ALDS (Wildcard version)
It would take a small miracle for Seattle to oust Oakland for the division crown. However, if Jays fans of a slightly advanced age search their memories they may recall a similar predicament. On the morning of September 27th, 1987, the top of the A.L. East standings looked thus:
Toronto 96-59 ____
Detroit 92-62 3.5 GB
Toronto had 7 games left to play, Detroit had 8. Four of those were to be head-to-head battles. That fine Sunday, Toronto fans were expecting to dash the Tigers' and foil Doyle's hopes at one and the same time and put the pennant race to bed.
In the first inning, Nelson Liriano singled, stole 2nd and scored on George Bell's single to put the homeside up 1-0. Jim Clancy held the Tigers scoreless for 7 innings but Toronto could not score more runs off Alexander. Tom Henke was brought on in the 8th to attempt a 2-inning save, but in the ninth Kirk Gibson led off with a homerun. Tied at 1. Both teams scored runs in the 11th: Darrel Evans with a solo homerun and the Jays on an error, a walk and a single by Jesse Barfield off Alexander (yes he was still in the game). In the 13th inning, with 1 out and runners on first and second, Kirk Gibson drove in the eventual winning run with a single, making it 3-2 Detroit. If I recall correctly, Gibson did something famous the following year too.
The Jays would not win another game that year, losing 3 in Milwaukee and 3 in Detroit.
The 2003 Mariners the Tigers of yesteryear are/were veteran clubs who are/were seemingly running out of chances to win championships. The Tigers were now 3 years past their dream season, and the Mariners are now two years post-2001 (admittedly, they didn't win the big prize that year but I think it qualifies).
The Oakland A's are a quality ballclub built largely from an exceptionally productive farm system (as the Blue Jays were). The Jays were in their 4th season of serious contention and the Athletics are now in their 5th. Both young teams were saddled with the reputation of playoff losers - the Jays losing their only ALCS after leading 3-1; the Athletics twice losing to the Yankees when victory seemed certain.
It would be a just reward if one or two World Championships lurked somewhere in Oakland's near future, just as they eventually arrived in Toronto. But who knows if history will repeat itself; after tonight's performance I'm not ready to count the Mariners out just yet.
