Game 80: 2-for-5 in 3-2 Win vs. Boston

Otto Greule Jr. / Getty Images

At Bats: 5
Runs: 1
Hits, Game/Season: 2/89
Runs Batted In: 0
Walks: 0
Strikeouts: 0
Left on Base: 1
Average: .274
Box
Notes: Flyout, flyout (above), single, single, grounded into a double play.
Next: Game 81 vs. Boston, 1:10 Sunday.

Game 79: 1-for-4 in 5-0 Loss vs. Boston

Ted S. Warren / AP Photo

At Bats: 4
Runs: 0
Hits, Game/Season: 1/87
Runs Batted In: 0
Walks: 0
Strikeouts: 0
Left on Base: 1
Average: .272
Box
Notes: Popout, single, groundout, line out… Played short during BP (below).
Next: Game 80 vs. Boston, 7:10 Saturday.

Otto Greule Jr. / Getty Images

Baseball Card of the Week: 2012 Triple Play

These should be out next month.

Game 78: 0-for-4 in 1-0 Win vs. Boston

At Bats: 4
Runs: 0
Hits, Game/Season: 0/86
Runs Batted In: 0
Walks: 0
Strikeouts: 1
Left on Base: 1
Average: .272
Box
Notes: Strikeout, groundout, groundout, bunt popout.
Next: Game 79 vs. Boston, 7:10 Friday.

Game 77: 1-for-4 in 2-1 Loss vs. Oakland

Elaine Thompson / AP Photo

At Bats: 4
Runs: 0
Hits, Game/Season: 1/86
Runs Batted In: 0
Walks: 0
Strikeouts: 2
Left on Base: 2
Average: .277
Box
Notes: Flyout, strikeout, single, strikeout, strikeout.
Next: Game 78 vs. Boston, 7:10 Thursday.

Game 76: 2-for-3 in 3-2 Win vs. Oakland

Elaine Thompson / AP Photo

At Bats: 3
Runs: 1
Hits, Game/Season: 2/85
Runs Batted In: 0
Walks: 1
Strikeouts: 0
Left on Base: 0
Average: .277
Box
Notes: Flyout, single, single, intentional walk… Played DH… Batting .483 (14-for-29) over last seven games.
Next: Game 77 vs. Oakland, 12:40 Wednesday.

The Sincerest Form of Flattery

Posted on Cyandero’s tumblr blog.

Game 75: 1-for-4 in 1-0 Loss vs. Oakland

AP Photo / Elaine Thompson

At Bats: 4
Runs: 0
Hits, Game/Season: 1/83
Runs Batted In: 0
Walks: 0
Strikeouts: 0
Left on Base: 0
Average: .273
Box
Notes: Flyout, single, groundout, groundout.
Next: Game 76 vs. Oakland, 7:10 Tuesday.

Game 74: 1-for-3 in 2-0 Loss at San Diego

Denis Poroy / Getty Images

At Bats: 3
Runs: 0
Hits, Game/Season: 1/82
Runs Batted In: 0
Walks: 1
Strikeouts: 0
Left on Base: 1
Average: .273
Box
Notes: Flyout, single, walk, grounded into force out.
Next: Game 75 vs. Oakland, 7:10 Monday.

Game 73: 2-for-4 in 5-1 Win at San Diego

Denis Poroy / Getty Images

At Bats: 4
Runs: 0
Hits, Game/Season: 2/81
Runs Batted In: 1
Walks: 1
Strikeouts: 0
Left on Base: 0
Average: .273
Box
Notes: Groundout, walk, RBI single, single, flyout… Tenth stolen base; caught trying to steal third (above).
Next: Game 74 at San Diego, 1:05 Sunday.

Ichiro Art #35

Found here.

Game 72: 3-for-5 in 9-5 Loss at San Diego

Denis Poroy / Getty Images

At Bats: 5
Runs: 2
Hits, Game/Season: 3/79
Runs Batted In: 0
Walks: 0
Strikeouts: 1
Left on Base: 0
Average: .270
Box
Notes: Reaches on throwing error (above), single, strikeout, single, single.
Next: Game 73 at San Diego, 7:05 Saturday.

Baseball Card of the Week: 2012 Topps #537

Pardon the redundancy, since we’ve already seen this card’s photo here and here.

Game 71: 1-for-5 in 14-10 Loss at Arizona

Matt York

At Bats: 5
Runs: 1
Hits, Game/Season: 1/76
Runs Batted In: 0
Walks: 0
Strikeouts: 2
Left on Base: 2
Average: .264
Box
Notes: Strikeout, single, flyout, lineout, foul-tip strikeout.
Next: Game 72 at San Diego, 7:05 Friday.

eBay Alert: Ichiro Bendy

These were handed out to the first 10,000 fans at the June 9th game. Strangely, there was zero fanfare beforehand.

Usually these giveaways are heavily promoted online and during game broadcasts in the weeks prior to such events, but I didn’t see anything… Maybe because there was no outside sponsor?

In any case, I got mine (seen in the photos above). The real Ichiro seems far more flexible.

Game 70: 4-for-5 in 12-9 Win at Arizona

Norm Hall / Getty Images

At Bats: 5
Runs: 2
Hits, Game/Season: 4/75
Runs Batted In: 2
Walks: 0
Strikeouts: 0
Left on Base: 0
Average: .265
Box
Notes: Single, double, single, groundout, RBI sac fly, RBI double… First four-hit game since opening day… Collected 2,500th career hit (see below)… All in all, a good night.
Next: Game 71 at Arizona, 12:40 Wednesday.

2,500!

Says here:

The 38-year-old Ichiro reached that plateau in the fourth fewest games. His 2,500th hit came in his 1,817th game. Al Simmons had 2,500 hits in 1,784 games, Ty Cobb in 1,790 and George Sisler in 1,808.

I don’t think he’ll reach 3,000.

UPDATE

Here are his postgame comments.

Game 69: Did Not Play in 7-1 Loss at Arizona

Christian Petersen / Getty Images

At Bats: 0
Runs: 0
Hits, Game/Season: 0/71
Runs Batted In: 0
Walks: 0
Strikeouts: 0
Left on Base: 0
Average: .255
Box
Notes: Given the night off for the second game in the last 2-1/2 weeks… His OBP has dropped to a paltry .282 on the year; it’s been just .206 since moving back into the leadoff position.
Next: Game 70 at Arizona, 6:40 Wednesday.

Game 68: 0-for-4 in 2-1 Win vs. San Francisco

Otto Greule Jr. / Getty Images

At Bats: 4
Runs: 0
Hits, Game/Season: 0/71
Runs Batted In: 0
Walks: 0
Strikeouts: 0
Left on Base: 2
Average: .255
Box
Notes: Flyout, lineout, lineout, grounded into force out… Is one shy of career hit number 2,500.
Next: Game 69 at Arizona, 6:40 Monday.

Game 67: 1-for-4 in 7-4 Win vs. San Francisco

At Bats: 4
Runs: 0
Hits, Game/Season: 1/71
Runs Batted In: 1
Walks: 0
Strikeouts: 0
Left on Base: 2
Average: .259
Box
Notes: Flyout, line out, RBI single, grounded into double play… I took the above photo — my favorite hitter facing my favorite pitcher, Tim Lincecum.
Next: Game 68 vs. San Francisco, 1:10 Sunday.