As dominate as Bautista was against the Angels his last time out, who would have expected the shellacking he got last night? He gave up 6 earned runs in 3 1/3 innings. What is even more curious is the fact that he seemed to change game plans after shutting the Mariners down in the first inning.
"After the first inning, he changed his style," Pena said. "In the first inning, he was aggressive with his (four-seam) fastball. It seemed like they didn't want any part of him. Then he went out and threw more breaking balls."
Pena elaborated: "He felt he didn't have a feel for the (two-seam) fastball. Then when he started throwing the fastball (again), he was pitching behind in the count."
Pena said that he told Bautista to throw the four-seamer, and Buck said that he kept calling for four-seamers, but Bautista did what he wanted to do. Assuming that all of this is true, I don't understand how a manager could allow a guy to go against the stated game plan and not do anything about it. By the time Pena yanked him, it was 4-2 Mariners and they had two more runners on base.
Mike Wood allowed both inherited runners to score and he gave up 4 more runs before he was done for the day.
On a positive note, Andy Sisco pitched 3 scoreless innings in relief, allowing 1 hit, 1 walk, and striking out 4. For a guy who has never appeared above Class A ball before this year, he could be quite a steal as a Rule 5 guy.
Notes:
- DeJesus picked up 3 more hits and is now hitting .306…
- Sweeney had 2 more hits and is hitting .359…but oddly he doesn't have any home runs yet…
- Joe McEwing made his first start at third base and went 2-for-4…but I doubt if he's going to make us forget Joe Randa…
- For the second straight game, the attendance was around the paltry 10,000 mark…
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