Slumping Mariners Set All-Time Low Loss To Royals Completes 1-8 Homestand; Johnson May Start

That seven-game losing streak wasn’t so much ended as interupted, and when the Seattle Mariners showed up for work Wednesday another loss was waiting.

This one made history - completing the worst homestand (1-8) ever for a franchise that has had some bad ones.

Against the Kansas City Royals, the Mariners squandered a handful of scoring opportunities and lost, 3-1. It cost them another game in the standings, where they now trail Texas by seven games in the American League West.

And it cost rookie Bob Wolcott his job.

“Wolcott is going to the bullpen,” manager Lou Piniella said. “I’ve wanted to look at Rafael Carmona in the rotation for some time, and this may be the chance. Randy Johnson may start in Wolcott’s spot on Monday, and we may recall Matt Wagner. We have some choices.”

If the Mariners pre-All-Star-game offense was still rocketing along, Wolcott might have won this game, or at least not lost it. But the days when the Mariners pitching staff had the luxury of more than six runs a game are memories.

“If you look at this 1-8 homestand I think you’ll see a lot of failure to get the big hit,” Piniella said. “We had a lot of chances to score and didn’t make much of them.”

This time, the team went 1-for-11 with men in scoring position, and no one had a more frustrating evening than Jeff Manto. Obtained last month from Boston, Manto began the game hitting .184 as a Mariner - then went 0 for 3, each at-bat coming with a teammate in scoring position.

When the team activates outfielder Mark Whiten before the game on Friday in New York, Manto may find himself designated for re-assignment.

Wolcott’s status was shakey coming into his 25th start of the season - no pitcher with a 5.55 earned run average in mid-August ought to feel too comfortable. Coming off a bad game in which he’d given Minnesota six runs in four innings, Wolcott was pitching under the microscope.

And what the Mariners saw Wednesday did not make them happy.

Earlier in the week, someone asked Piniella whether Wolcott had begun to accept losing a little too easily, and the manager nodded.

“There’s always a little explanation afterward,” he said. “I don’t know if he hates to lose, and at this level, you have to hate to lose.”

The rookie right-hander hung second-inning pitches to Bob Hamelin and Craig Paquette, and both were hit for home runs. During an animated conference on the mound, pitching coach Bobby Cuellar - normally reserved during such visits - was clearly angry.

An inning later, Piniella went to the mound and didn’t say a word to Wolcott. He just took the baseball, called in reliever Rafael Carmona and stared into space as Wolcott left the field.

In 2-2/3 innings he had given up three runs, but they came on seven hits, and the Royals hammered other balls hard right at the Seattle defense.

It was a month ago Thursday that Wolcott had thrown an 80-pitch complete game in beating Oakland, 5-1. On Wednesday, he needed 49 pitches to get eight outs.

Carmona held Kansas City scoreless into the seventh inning, pitching a rock-solid 3-2/3 innings, but after he gave up a one-out single in that seventh, Piniella saw an opportunity to use Norm Charlton.

The Royals had four consecutive lefthanded hitters scheduled up, so Piniella brought in his left-hander - a man badly in need of a good outing or two.

Charlton walked Tom Goodwin on four pitches, got a strikeout, then walked Hamelin to load the bases. The crowd booed loudly, but Piniella stayed with Charlton against Johnny Damon, and Damon lined out to shortstop to end the inning.

No, it wasn’t the old Charlton, but he did get through the inning without giving up a run. And it may have been coincidence, but after Charlton escaped that bases-loaded jam Seattle’s offense produced it’s first rally against rookie Rosado.

Back-to-back doubles by Brian Hunter and Dan Wilson broke up Rosado’s shutout but Seattle not only couldn’t push home another run, it couldn’t even chase the 21-year-old.

Seattle tried to rally in the eighth inning against reliever Hipolito Pichardo, putting together a one-out threat on singles by Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez. Pichardo struck out Jay Buhner and Brian Hunter.

The team got the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning, too, after Dan Wilson singled to lead off the inning. Royals closer Jeff Montgomery retired pinch-hitters Doug Strange and Paul Sorrento, gave up a two-out single to Rich Amaral, then got Alex Rodriguez on a pop fly to end the game.

“Things came to an abrupt halt for us on this homestand, let’s hope we get a sudden start on the road,” Piniella said.