Blowers Remains Grand In Mariners’ Victory

Seattle’s Mike Blowers has a theory for hitting with the bases loaded.

After hitting his second grand slam of the season in Seattle’s 6-2 victory over Minnesota on Monday night, he explained why he has been so successful in that situation.

“Somebody’s going to feel the pressure,” said Blowers, who is 6 for 11 with two homers and 17 RBIs in bases-loaded situations this season. “And it’s better off them than me. I try to relax, be patient, try to take the first pitch and get ahead in the count. They have to throw the ball over the plate or walk me.

“It’s a great situation to be in and I’ve always loved it. That’s what the game is about - that kind of battle is really fun.”

Joey Cora, who also homered for the Mariners, said: “He doesn’t take one RBI when the bases are loaded. He always seems to take at least two or three.”

Andy Benes (2-0) allowed two runs over seven innings in his third start for Seattle since being acquired from San Diego. Benes walked three and struck out four before being replaced by Jeff Nelson to start the seventh.

Nelson earned his second save.

“I caught a few breaks in the first few innings,” Benes said. “The defense came up with some big plays on some hard hit balls. Then I settled down and gave us an opportunity to win.”

Benes was 4-7 in 19 starts with the Padres.

“Benes pitched very well,” Seattle manager Lou Piniella said. “He was aggressive, he got some rhythm out there and really did a nice job. Then Nelson was well-rested and everything fell into place.”

Mike Trombley (2-7) worked the first 6-2/3 innings for Minnesota, allowing three runs on four hits. He walked three and struck out a career-high seven.

The Twins took a 1-0 lead in the first when Rich Becker walked, stole second, took third on catcher Dan Wilson’s errant throw and scored on a bloop double by Pedro Munoz.

Cora’s solo home run, his second, tied it for Seattle in the third.

The Twins took a 2-1 lead in the sixth on a solo home run by Marty Cordova, his 17th.

The Mariners broke it open in the seventh. With two outs, Cora was hit by pitch and went to third on Warren Newson’s single that chased Trombley. A single by Edgar Martinez off Pat Mahomes made it 2-2, and a walk to Jay Buhner loaded the bases for Blowers, who hit his 16th homer.

“I wanted to throw my best pitch,” Mahomes said of his full count fastball. “Give Blowers credit. Most people would have cut down on their swing, but he won the battle. I feel sorry for Mike, he pitched a good game.”

Owners pitch in

Seattle Mariner owners vowed to do their part - sinking at least $250 million into the team by the time it moves into a proposed new stadium - and Monday night they went looking for a return commitment from King County voters.

“There’s not another ownership anywhere in the country willing to do what we will do for you,” Wayne Perry, a former McCaw Cellular executive and one of the team’s 16 shareholders, said at a “town meeting” that drew about 1,400 onlookers. “Now it’s up to you to decide.”

The M’s ownership group, going public for the first time since it bought the Seattle baseball team three years ago, was making its first pitch for voter approval of a sales-tax increase at a Sept. 19 election to pay for a new baseball stadium.

A group of five owners at the head table and three more in the audience agreed with supporters and responded candidly to questions about the measure that will boost the sales tax in King County from 8.2 to 8.3 percent to pay for the stadium.

Chris Larson, a Microsoft official who is one of the major investors, said the new stadium is important to attract enough fans to make baseball financially feasible in Seattle. He said the Kingdome is not adequate to produce the revenue to make the Mariners come even close to breaking even.

In addition to paying for the new baseball park the measure would pay for repairs to the Kingdome and another $100 million for Kingdome improvements requested by the Seattle Seahawks.

The present ownership’s last-minute rescue kept previous owner Jeff Smulyan from moving the team to St. Petersburg, Fla. As red ink flooded the franchise, with little expectation of a turnaround in the Kingdome, the ballclub has refused to renew its Kingdome lease beyond 1996 without promise of a new stadium.