Wilson Hits Homer Trifecta Catcher’s 3 Hrs Power 9-1 Shelling

Jay Buhner wears hostility as if it were a family crest.

So when Dan Wilson’s third home run of the day left his bat Thursday, arcing into the left-field stands, caroming off the upper deck, the Seattle Mariners stood in their dugout and cheered happily - except Buhner.

“I thought about meeting him at home plate and kicking his butt,” Buhner said, trying to keep a smile from ruining his surly look. “I haven’t hit three balls hard in a week and he hits three bombs in a game?”

What Buhner did was pat Wilson’s rear as he walked beaming into the Seattle dugout - even hostility had limits when the Mariners finally won a game in Detroit, shelling the Tigers 9-1.

Seattle had lost 16 of its past 18 games in Tiger Stadium, including the last two days, and Randy Johnson, the most dominant pitcher in Mariners history, had a career record here of 0-5.

“I was aware of that,” the Big Unit said.

So he overmatched Detroit, no-hitting the Tigers through five innings, striking out 12 in 7-1/3 innings, running his season record to a spotless 2-0 and pushing along a streak in which he has won 22 of his past 24 decisions.

Remarkable numbers, and yet afterward even Johnson was awed more by his catcher than himself.

“Somebody put something in Danny’s drink,” he said. “We’re both going to remember this game.”

Even Wilson tried to deflect the finest offensive day of his career by praising his pitcher, converting every question about his power to a description of how well Johnson had used his change-up against the Tigers.

Eventually, however, the shy smile kept sneaking loose on him.

“I think games with one home run are big,” he said, knowing he’d never hit more than one in a game. “I never dreamed I’d hit three.”

“I never thought I’d see it,” manager Lou Piniella said, “and that’s not meant derogatorily. Guys who hit three in a game are guys who hit 25-30-35 in a season. Dan’s never hit more than nine in a year.”

Nor was he the likeliest candidate to match a franchise record - Wilson came in batting .130, in such a profound slump he’d been given the day off 24 hours earlier.

“(Coach) Lee Elia and I worked on some things; worked some kinks out,” Wilson said. “It’s hard to explain, but today the ball looked bigger.”

Wilson’s homers were hardly dressing atop a blowout victory. He broke open a scoreless game with a two-out, opposite-field shot in the second inning that pushed Johnson ahead 2-0.

When Wilson hit his next home run, in the seventh, it was a solo shot - and made the score 3-0.

“This wasn’t an easy game early,” Piniella said. “It was a tough, tight game until the eighth.”

In that eighth inning, Russ Davis hammered a three-run home run and, on the next pitch, Wilson hit his third.

In the ninth, Ken Griffey Jr. got into the act - matching Wilson for the club’s season lead with his third home run.

“What people won’t know when they see those three home runs by Danny is how hard he’s worked the last couple of years,” Piniella said. “The first season he was here, he could not have hit three home runs. He’s gotten stronger, he’s learned the pitchers in this league and he’s matured into one hell of a catcher.”

In Wilson’s first season with Seattle, 1994, he played 94 games and hit … three homers.

“That off-season, I started a weight-conditioning program and I stayed with it this off-season,” Wilson said. “I’m seeing results, and not just with home runs. When you catch, you have to stay strong - it’s a grinding position. I work hard on my back and legs, and I’ll keep doing it during the season.”

While Wilson was matching the team record shared by five Mariners, Johnson was adding to a handful of his team marks. By striking out 12, he has struck out 10-or-more batters 68 times in his career.

The victory, the 101st of his career, was his 98th in Seattle.

“I mixed speeds today and I don’t think many of the Tigers had ever seen my changeup,” Johnson said.

Mariners notes

Are the Mariners worried about Buhner? A little. After batting .188 in 64 spring at-bats, the man who set a club record with 121 RBIs last season is hitting .200 in 30 regular season at-bats. Buhner has two hits in his last 12 at-bats and has struck out six times in that span. … Seattle hasn’t hit well early in the season - compiling an .227 team average through nine games - but of its first 68 hits, 37 went for extra bases.

Mariners 9, Tigers 1

Seattle AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Cora 2b 5 0 1 0 0 0 .296 ADiaz lf 5 0 0 0 0 2 .176 Griffey Jr cf 4 1 1 1 1 1 .194 EMartinz dh 4 2 3 0 1 1 .273 Buhner rf 4 0 1 0 1 0 .200 Sorrento 1b 4 1 1 1 1 2 .217 RDavis 3b 5 2 1 3 0 1 .250 DWilson c 4 3 3 4 0 0 .222 ARodrigz ss 3 0 0 0 1 1 .200 Totals 38 9 11 9 5 8 Detroit AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Curtis cf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .308 MLewis 2b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .275 Fryman 3b 3 0 0 0 1 2 .286 Fielder 1b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .175 EWillms dh 2 0 0 0 1 1 .138 a-Pride ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 Nieves lf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .268 Bautista rf 2 1 1 0 1 0 .300 Flaherty c 3 0 0 0 0 2 .185 Trammell ss 3 0 2 1 0 0 .320 CGomez ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 .222 Totals 29 1 3 1 4 13 Seattle 020 000 142 - 9 11 0 Detroit 000 000 010 - 1 3 0 a-walked for E.Williams in the 9th.

LOBSeattle 7, Detroit 5. 2B-EMartinez 2 (5), Bautista (1). HR-Griffey Jr (3) off RVeres; RDavis (2) off Christopher; DWilson 3 (3) off Gohr, Christopher 2. RBIsGriffey Jr (7), Sorrento (8), RDavis 3 (5), DWilson 4 (7), Trammell (5). GIDPFielder.

Runners left in scoring position-Seattle 3 (Griffey Jr, RDavis 2); Detroit 1 (Flaherty).

Runners moved up-Buhner, Nieves.

DP-Seattle 1 (ARodriguez, Cora and Sorrento).

Seattle IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA RJhnsn W,2-0 7-1/3 3 1 1 2 12 123 3.00 MJackson 1-2/3 0 0 0 2 1 30 0.00 Detroit IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Gohr L, 0-2 5-2/3 4 2 2 3 4 96 9.00 Christopher 2-1/3 4 5 5 1 4 46 15.95 RVeres 1 3 2 2 1 0 27 15.43 Inherited runners-scored-MJackson 1-0, Christopher 1-0.

IBBoff Christopher (Sorrento) 1. WP- RJohnson.

T-2:39. A-12,272 (52,416).