M’s, err…, win?
Ron Villone and Aaron Sele square off. Not quite a clash of the titans, but important to me, since one of them is bound to lose.
And yet strangely, neither does.
Mariners defense boots two runs across the plate, and Ron allows one himself in 6 innings of stellar work. This would be great (6 hits, two walks, one homer for a total “gain” of 7 points), except Aaron Sele goes 5, and gives up five, for a “loss” of 5 points.
Now, normally there is a win loss swing on points happening here, but this week, Ron Villone pitches for the Mariners. Which means that if he doesn’t pitch nine innings, he’s not going to win.
Oddly enough, the ninth inning is when it all falls apart. “Everday but Villone’s Starts” Eddie Guardado comes in with a simple assignment. Preserve the first Mariners Road win in over a month.
Three outs.
That’s all we ask of our overpaid, untradeable closer.
Two batters later there are no outs, no baserunners, and no Mariners’ lead.
Again
My television is a time machine, I swear. I watched this exact same game on Friday night, from exactly the same position. Villone pitches a gem, the bullpen (including Guardado) blows it, and Bonus Baseball occurs.
With Bobby Madritsch on the mound in the 10th. Eerie.
But this week, Bucky Jacobsen doesn’t win it with one swing of the bat. It was Justin Leone’s turn to go around the bases, and he did it much earlier in the game.
Tonight, we go the extra mile.
As does Ichiro. 5 times he reaches first base, and on two of those occasions he touches the rest of them. With runs scored in the 1st and 13th innings, he gets my vote for MVP. And I might get one someday, so that’s a promise, Ichiro.
So, lets review. Rotowise, I record neither a win, nor a loss. But points wise, how do I come out of tonight’s bloody spectacle?
Let’s go to the map.
from the Pitchers:
Villone (+7)
Sele (-5)
Guardado (-5.5)
Thanks to canny drafting, I’m down 3.5 points. Of course, Guardado was a reserved player, so the pitching tells all. And I picked up Villone mid-April, so what , really, is the point of this Paragraph?
None, whatsoever. Just like the futility of playing nine innings with a lead, it would seem.
From the hitters:
Ichiro (+12.5)
Ibanez (+2.5)
Leone (+3*)
Eckstein (+4)
*It turns out that you can absolutely suck at the plate, going 1-6, as long as that hit is a home run. Who knew? Roto scoring sucks.
Not a bad haul. 22.5 points, adjusted to 19. Over 7 players.
Or, roughly split, 2 .714285(bar) points per player. Now it really, really sucks. Since the two opposing home runs were hit by players belonging to the owner closest to me in score, who has been steadily gaining in the standings, it sucks even more.
Crap.
Just for kicks, lets check on the former roto players participating in tonight’s contest.
Boone (+5.5)
Martinez (-.5)
Salmon (-.5)
Eh. I traded Boone for a reason, and tonight that reason went 2 for 5, with a walk (+4.5 points). Of course, the white elephant pitcher I offloaded at the same time picked up 12.5 points in his last start. Bringing his total add since the trade to …
3 points. (He earned 66.5 for me over 14 starts)
I suck. Or do I?
Next year, the Giants. Definitely the Giants. (670.5 points, and counting)