9-8, Quick Game Thoughts

There's a surprising amount of animosity for JJ Putz floating around the Mariner blogosphere. I should know - I feel it too. And it's weird, because my memories of JJ are very nearly all positive, as he was one of the most electric and exciting Mariners I've ever had the privilege of watching. I know he had some struggles there towards the end, but for a couple years he was as dominant as any reliever I've ever seen, and even his departure did us an astonishing amount of good by bringing in Franklin Gutierrez.

But then he went to New York and said some irritating things about Ichiro and, in a flash, all goodwill was lost. Fair? I'm not here to judge fairness. He said what he said, though, and people stopped liking him in an instant. And so, more than a year later, today seemed so perfect. Playing against JJ for the first time and taking him deep for a game-losing grand slam? Sweet retribution right there. That's how we all felt, and we took delight in seeing JJ walk off with that expression of shock and dismay that remains singed in our brains.

It wasn't to be. It wasn't to be, because Alex Rios hit a good pitch and Andruw Jones hit a bad one. Revenge is a dish worst served bittersweet. We made JJ feel bad, which is nice, but it means little without the win, which retroactively takes some of the shine off the dinger. A little while ago, I was jumping around my living room praising Jose Lopez for his timeliness. Now I'm sitting down, typing angrily, and thinking critical thoughts about Jose Lopez's power. I suppose, if nothing else, that was one weak-ass grand slam. A true Jose Lopez special, only a little further to the right. Proper revenge takes the ball at least into the first row. That grand slam was just embarrassing for everybody involved.

It wasn't supposed to go like this.

God dammit.

Now for some one-sentence bullet points! Friday night, everybody.

• After tonight's outing, Ryan Rowland-Smith has ten walks and five strikeouts in 23.1 innings despite not really facing many more righties than he did a year ago, which is disconcerting.
  
• Milton Bradley and Jack Wilson being hurt at the same time, but not sufficiently hurt to go on the DL, is totally not something anyone could've ever predicted ever.
• Mark Lowe could not have thrown Andruw Jones a worse slider.
• A lot of people express surprise when I tell them US Cellular is the most homer-friendly ballpark in the league, but then they watch a game at US Cellular.
• Sean White was the wrong call for the seventh inning.
• Brandon League threw actual offspeed pitches.
• Things Donny Lucy did like a girl: throw to second base, bunt, reach base via beaning.
• Ken Griffey Jr. had a strikeout and three grounders to the right side.
• I think Eric Byrnes would be good at finding land mines.