Resilient Seattle Rallies Forces Again

The Seattle Mariners made late-inning comebacks their trademark last year. They’re at it again this season.

Seattle scored three times in the eighth inning Saturday to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 6-5.

“Everybody on this team knows it’s not over till it’s over,” Seattle reliever Norm Charlton said. “The more we win early, the less we have to win late.”

On Friday, the defending American League West champs twice came from behind to beat Milwaukee by the same score.

“We got in that situation last year when we had to win a bunch of them late,” said Charlton, who recorded five outs for his third save. “We’ve gotten off to a good start, and we need to continue to do that to make it a little bit easier on us at the end of the season.”

Edgar Martinez, who leads the league with 19 extra-base hits, delivered an RBI triple to key the three-run eighth.

Luis Sojo started the winning rally with a single and came around on Martinez’s triple against loser Ricky Bones (1-4).

Bones walked Jay Buhner and was replaced by Kevin Wickander. Ricky Jordan’s sacrifice fly scored the tying run. Buhner moved to third on a single by Russ Davis and came home when reliever Mark Kiefer was called for a balk.

Brewers manager Phil Garner was distressed as his club found another way to lose.

“In baseball vernacular, it’s gutcheck time,” he said. “Again, we had it and again we let it slip away. We wanted a third to first move (on Kiefer’s balk) and there was a miscommunication on the sign.”

It was the second straight game a balk by the Brewers allowed a run to score. This one hurt more as the Mariners made it stand up for the victory.

“It doesn’t matter how you win them, as long as you win them,” Charlton said. “That’s two runs we’ve seen balked - both legitimate balks. You don’t see that a lot, but we’ll take them.”

The Brewers’ relievers simply have not protected leads. Bones became the third straight victim, as he left with a 5-4 lead in the eighth. Milwaukee’s bullpen has allowed nine of the last 11 inherited runners to score.

Ayala faces DUI charge

Pitcher Bobby Ayala, who cut his pitching hand this week when he punched his hotel window, faces a drunken-driving charge in Arizona.

The right-hander, who was placed on a 15-day disabled list Wednesday for the cut hand, was arrested after a March 14 auto accident in Phoenix, The Tacoma News Tribune reported Saturday.

Notes

Randy Johnson, who left Friday’s game with a stiff lower back, is not expected to miss his start Wednesday against Texas… . The M’s have turned 26 double plays in 24 games. … The Brewers allowed fans to park for free if they arrived more than 90 minutes before the game.

Mariners 6, Brewers 5

Seattle AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Cora 2b 4 1 1 0 1 0 .228 Sojo ss 5 1 2 0 0 0 .286 Griffey Jr cf 3 1 0 0 1 0 .241 EMartinz dh 3 0 1 2 0 0 .353 1-Amrl pr-dh 0 1 0 0 0 0 .186 Buhner rf 3 2 1 1 1 0 .274 Sorrento 1b 3 0 1 1 0 0 .242 b-RJordn ph 0 0 0 1 0 0 .227 DWilson c 0 0 0 0 0 0 .257 RDavis 3b 4 0 2 0 0 0 .288 Strange lf-1b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .250 Marzano c 3 0 1 0 0 0 .091 ADiaz lf 1 0 1 0 0 0 .244 Totals 33 6 11 5 3 0

Milwaukee AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Cirillo 3b 4 2 2 0 1 0 .295 Listach cf 4 0 2 0 1 1 .293 Seitzer 1b 4 0 1 1 0 2 .316 GVaughn lf 5 1 1 1 0 1 .253 Jaha dh 5 1 2 2 0 1 .262 Mieske rf 4 0 2 1 0 0 .327 JsValentin ss 3 0 0 0 1 1 .275 Loretta 2b 2 0 0 0 0 0 .364 a-Vina ph-2b 2 0 1 0 0 0 .342 Matheny c 2 1 0 0 1 0 .250 c-Levis ph-c 1 0 1 0 0 0 .353 Totals 36 5 12 5 4 6

Seattle 300 000 030 - 6 11 0

Milwaukee 001 040 000 - 5 12 1

a-grounded into fielder’s choice for Loretta in the 5th. b-hit sacrifice fly for Sorrento in the 8th. c-singled for Matheny in the 8th.

1-ran for Martinez in the 8th.

E-Seitzer (1). LOBSeattle 5, Milwaukee 9. 2B-Cora (4), Buhner (3), Listach (6), Seitzer (3), Jaha (3). 3B-EMartinez (2). RBIsEMartinez 2 (19), Buhner (18), Sorrento (17), RJordan (4), Seitzer (18), GVaughn (20), Jaha 2 (15), Mieske (9). SB-ADiaz (2). CS-ADiaz (2). SF-EMartinez, RJordan, Seitzer. GIDPCora, EMartinez, Cirillo, Seitzer.

Runners left in scoring position-Seattle 3 (Cora, RDavis, Strange); Milwaukee 5 (Cirillo, GVaughn 2, Mieske, Vina).

Runners moved up-Sojo, Griffey Jr.

DP-Seattle 2 (Cora, Sojo and Sorrento), (Cora and Strange); Milwaukee 3 (Loretta, JsValentin and Seitzer), (Cirillo, Loretta and Seitzer), (GVaughn and Vina).

Seattle IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Hitchcock 4-2/3 7 5 5 3 3 80 4.54 BWells W,1-0 2-2/3 3 0 0 1 1 49 1.50 Charlton S,3 1-2/3 2 0 0 0 2 22 2.70

Milwaukee IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Bones L,1-4 7-1/3 9 6 6 2 0 100 4.93 Wickander 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 2 1.04 Kiefer 1-1/3 2 0 0 1 0 23 8.10 Inherited runners-scored-BWells 1-1, Charlton 1-0, Wickander 2-1, Kiefer 1-1.

IBBoff BWells (JsValentin) 1. Balk-Kiefer.

T-2:59. A-17,270 (53,192).