9 In A Row For Abby, 100 RBI For Boone

August 1, 2001

"For anyone who missed the first four months of the season, the Seattle Mariners put together a little of all that's happened in 2001 [during this game] - and threw it at the Detroit Tigers. Somewhere in their 7-1 victory, the Mariners opened August with a display that might have answered most anyone's questions on just how this team happens to be 77-30." -Larry LaRue, sportswriter

"We bounce back." -Lou Piniella, on yesterday's loss

This wonderful, exciting game began with a 1 out walk from Mark McLemore who then stole second, and Chris Holt pitched a fastball BEHIND Bret Boone which annoyed me a great deal, but we were unable to score and Detroit did not fair much better as they were retired in order by Abby thanks to a couple of nice plays by Bret, so it is quickly the second inning where Stan Javier singled with two outs and then Carlos Guillen singled right after that but we unfortunately are unable to score again which made me say a couple of bad words and then Abby quickly strikes out Rob Fick and gets Juan Encarnacion to fly out before Randall Simon reached on an infield single and then Shane Halter doubled but Deivi Cruz, bless his heart, flew out to end the threat.

So third inning and Ichiro singled to lead things off and then he stole second and then Mac TRIPLED which naturally scored Ichiro and then an out later and John Olerud doubled which scored Mac and then an out after THAT and Al Martin singled and scored Ole who was safe on a super sweet slide and I am meanwhile watching the game with my dad at this point and I turn to comment about how cool that was only he is immersed in the directions for his latest mole-trapping device and this one evidently emits some noise that scares the mole or something, I don't even really know how it works and he is all "does your mom have any C batteries?" and I was like "how am I supposed to know?" and laughed at him for asking such a weird question and it reminds me of the time when I was on vacation in Florida a couple of years ago and I'd been gone about a week at this point, and my dad calls my hotel room one evening as my friend and I were about to head out the door to ask me if I knew where he put his remote that he'd had just the day before, nevermind that I'm in MIAMI and he's in SEATTLE and I haven't even seen him since he dropped us off at the airport like 7 or 8 days ago and how funny is my dad and anyway, Stan Javier walked but that's all the scoring we do and we head to the bottom half leading 3-0 and this was all kind of exciting so pay attention: Jose Macias walks. Roger Cedeno reached on a bunt single. They both move up a base on a wild pitch. Damian Easley is then HIT by a pitch. Nobody out, bases loaded. I am having a total stroke.

"Obviously, he's a great player. But I'd like to see him throw." -Bobby Higginson, leftfielder for the Detroit Tigers, on Ichiro

"Be careful what you wish for." -John Hickey, sportswriter

Higginson flew out to Ichiro. Ichiro threw that ball back in so fast that the runner on third base had to hold. THAT'S RIGHT, NO SAC FLY FOR YOU BOBBY HIGGINSON! And meanwhile, Dave Niehaus is going nuts of course and is all shouting "MERCY!" and when they finally get Dave calmed down and we continue, Fick hit into a double play and we are OUT OF THE INNING WITH NO RUNS SCORED and how much do I love Paul Abbott and Dave Niehaus anyway.

"The Mariners have gotten used to seeing big throws from Ichiro. As Boone put it, 'Does anything [Ichiro] does surprise you?' At the same time, the Mariners have never gotten blasé about it. Plays like that can be the difference between a win and a loss, between a good team and a superior team." -John Hickey

"Nothing Ichiro does surprises me. That inning, that throw, was the key to the game for me. The ball was hit so hard that I didn't even have time to back up the plate. I turned around and he was throwing a strike to home plate when I was having trouble throwing one from 60 feet, 6 inches." -Paul Abbott

"It was a great play by Ichiro. But Abby has gotten better and better at not giving in in situations like that. He did it twice [keep reading] tonight. To get out of those situations without allowing a run really shows me something." -Bryan Price, Mariner pitching coach

So fourth inning and Tom Lampkin led off with a single and then Ichiro singled and then... this was ghastly. Mark McLemore had the great misfortune of lining a shot to the second baseman, and since we were running at the time, it turned into a... triple play. And while it was tremendously annoying and I directed a few bad words at Detroit, I can't say that I'd have done anything any differently here, I mean that's how we operate, we run. And normally it works pretty well, so anyway, Abby retires Detroit in order, but much more conventionally with a fly ball, a pop up and a strikeout, and we are quickly to the fifth inning and my father has located a C battery at this point and has set off his mole trap on accident.

"They say that double plays are a pitcher's best friend. I beg to differ. When that guy (the triple play) comes to town, you're always pretty happy to see him." -Paul Abbott

"That's the worst thing that can happen when you've got two runners running. But we came back and ran some more. That's part of our offense, part of who we are. If we're allowed to run, we'll run." -Lou Piniella

"We run in situations where other teams don't. We run to put pressure on the other team. We push." -Bret Boone

So Bret Boone leads off with a single and then an out later and Mike Cameron singles, so with runners at the corners, Matt Perisho relieved Chris Holt and Ed Sprague pinch hit for Al Martin and just LACED a double which scored Bret and a hustling Mike Cameron who just barely was safe and we head to the bottom half leading 5-0.

"People say this team's strength is its pitching, especially out of the bullpen. We also have veteran guys coming off the bench. Our team is like a five-tool player that everyone is looking for. We don't have a weakness, and every spot we have is a strength. You don't win 77 games by accident. It's a blue-collar attitude where everyone is focused on his job." -Paul Abbott

So then with one out, Macias walked and then with another out, he stole second and Damian Easley walked and then Higginson walked and with the bases loaded, Abby came through again, getting Fick to foul out to Lampkin and meanwhile my father is outside and it is round 90 in Homer vs. The Mole.

So sixth inning and Mac walks with two outs but gets caught stealing so it's quickly Detroit's turn and they're down in order, so seventh inning and Bret leads off with a single and then an out later and Victor Santos relieved Perisho and Mike Cameron walked, but a double play later and it's the Tiger's turn, and Cruz leads off with a double and two outs later, and Easley doubled which scored him and Arthur Rhodes came in to relieve Abby.

"You give our guys [the bullpen] a lead after six innings, I like our chances." -Bret Boone

So Artie K'd Higginson looking and we head to the eighth where Kevin Tolar relieved Santos and we were down in order and Artie gets Fick to line out and then he strikes out Encarnacion and what a tear Artie's on just striking out people like mad and anyway, there's a pinch hitter for Detroit so Jeff Nelson takes over and unfortunately walked him, but then he struck out the next guy so it's all good.

Ninth inning and Heath Murray relieved Tolar and how many relievers does Detroit HAVE anyway, and speaking of Detroit Tigers, I miss Cecil Fielder. So Ichiro leads off with a walk and then Mac singled and then Bret Boone singled which scored Ichiro and gave Bret his 100th RBI of the season!!

"If someone had told me I would drive in 100 runs by August 1st, I wouldn't have believed him. I would not do it without this lineup." -Bret Boone

"That's a nice accomplishment. Boonie's been our leader all year. He's a real professional hitter." -Lou Piniella

So then they pan over to Mark McLemore who is on second and is giving Bret a nice round of applause there and anyway, John Olerud grounded the runners over and Cammie was intentionally walked and Ed Sprague grounded into a double play, but Cammie got the Tigers to chase him in a run down which allowed Mac to score which I thought was rather clever, and we head to the bottom half leading 7-1, and Bret makes a spectacular charge on a ground ball to get Cruz out and then Jose Paniagua relieves Jeff Nelson and gets the next two batters no problem and we win it and on an off note, I highly recommend going and buying the new 2002 Mariner calendar which you can find at the Team Store as they are very cool and benefit good causes, and back to the game at hand, I also have to mention that this was Abby's ninth consecutive victory.

"Nine in a row is a pretty good feat. Abby's come into his own, become a pretty good pitcher." -Lou Piniella

"The last time I was 11-2 was my senior year in high school. I've never won nine games in a row." -Paul Abbott

"Am I surprised by my season? I think anyone in their right mind would be surprised if a guy who'd never had 100 RBI in a season had 100 RBI on August 1st. If there's one key to my season, it's been my hitting with two strikes. I've stayed with my program, I've stayed consistent, and I've had a lot of two-strike hits and two-strike RBI. But look at how we won tonight. Everybody contributed something, Abbott gave us more than six innings, the bullpen shuts them down - that's us." -the ever-delightful Bret Boone

"We were two games from being in the World Series last year and we're a better team this year. I may be pitching for one of the greatest teams ever assembled." -Paul Abbott

"Their 107th game of the year was a reminder of just who the Mariners are. 'We pitch well, we play great defense, we run the bases and use timely hitting,' Piniella said. 'That's what we feature.' What the Mariners featured against the Tigers was a full-on assault." -Larry LaRue