Anyway - Yes Aardsma imploded. And I just put down the iPhone so I could type and upload photos. But ultimately, Aardsma didn't get much help from his infield (including Johjima, and I think Cedeno probably was fine in the 9th with the glove).
First - how is this ball 4? I'm not even sure Gameday doesn't say it's at least on the black...
Oh, wait, I know! Because Kenji doesn't know how to frame pitches...
That 3-1 pitch gets called a strike, and things might look a little different.
Okay, so a few runners later, there was this gem:
Exhibit #593894-985 why the M's miss Adrian Beltre. AB makes that play in his sleep. Even though it was Adam Jones running...
Wipe away that runner, add an out, and the game looks a lot different.
Then a little later, THIS happened:
Lopez makes the first of two errors he's charged with (although the second one was probably a little unfair as I'll point out in a second) by not being able to pull the ball out of his glove. Of course, whether Adam Jones isn't there in the first place (thanks Woodward!), they would've at least gotten the runner out at first.
So wipe out Markakis, and possibly Jones. And give the M's 2 outs. This game looks a LOT different...
Heh. Brian Roberts' "Checked Swing" yeah right:
Honestly, in the top half of the 9th, I'd say EVERYONE except B'more imploded - the M's, the umps...
Even Branyan.
I would've charged him with the fielding error. Lopez one-hopped it, throwing high a little bit, but it bounced reasonably in front of Branyan, who should've made the play. MAYBE it handcuffed him a little on the hop:
What a meltdown!
"Oh, wait, I know! Because Kenji doesn't know how to frame pitches..."
ReplyDeleteI'll agree with that, but that offset camera angle is awfully deceptive too. Time for the M's/FSN to invest in a dead center perch as well as X-Mo.
Yeah, it is deceptive. Hard to really tell when it crossed the plate. It was definitely tailing away from the plate at the end -- so much so that it probably started over the plate and ended up off it. Pitchers don't often get those calls anyway. It was borderline for sure, but for what I could tell, even in slo-mo on my DVR, it really seemed like a strike. I'm willing to accept that it was an optical illusion due to camera angles...
ReplyDeleteI know! Because Kenji doesn't know how to frame pitches..."
ReplyDelete___________________
Andrew
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