Sizzling M’S Play Hr Derby Martinez Tags Three, Complementing Grand Slam By Rodriguez In 9-5 Texas Humbling

There are things Alex Rodriguez hasn’t done the first three months of the 1996 season, records left to break, worlds unconquered.

He hasn’t pitched a no-hitter. He hasn’t won the most valuable player award. And he’s not quite Edgar Martinez yet.

“Edgar, he’s the best hitter I’ve ever seen,” Rodriguez said.

Martinez and Rodriguez - the veteran and the kid - double-teamed the Texas Rangers on Saturday night, and when Seattle had finished pounding out a 9-5 victory, the Mariners were only three games out of first place in the American League West.

“… so level-headed, so intense, so talented,” manager Lou Piniella said. And when a late-arriving writer asked who he was talking about - Martinez or Rodriguez - Piniella said: “Take your choice. It’s true of both of them.”

The 20-year-old shortstop blew open a tight game with a fourth-inning grand slam. Martinez, the elder statesman of the team at 33, hit three home runs.

When the loud sound of Seattle bats on Rangers pitches ended, the Mariners’ blitz through Texas was one game from completion. Now 14-4 at The Ballpark in Arlington, the Mariners lead the one-on-one series this season, 6-2, and a Rangers team that has led the division most of the season seems to be in shock.

“We’ve done so many good things this first half, it’s tough to see us end it on a sour note,” Mickey Tettleton said. “They’re really playing well.”

Rookie Matt Wagner won his second big-league game and admitted it felt a bit like a pennant race Saturday night. Jay Buhner hit his second home run in as many nights - No. 23 on the year - and talked about keeping the pressure on until the Mariners get Ken Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnson back.

Mostly, however, the talk was about Martinez and Rodriguez, two men who pushed their team a little deeper into the division race while inching a little further into franchise history.

Rodriguez’ third grand slam of the season tied the single-season club record. He shares it with Alvin Davis, Griffey and Mike Blowers - after his 69th game of the season.

The slam was his 17th home run of the year and the four RBIs gave him 65 for the season - both single-season club records for a shortstop.

The three-homer game by Martinez tied the club record, and after 84 games, he has 67 extra-base hits. The club record for a full season is 86.

“I’m hitting home runs because at the last instant, I’m elevating my swing,” said Martinez, who hit homers No. 20, 21 and 22. “It’s unconscious. The ball is just going higher and farther.”

“He puts on a nightly show,” Rodriguez said of Martinez. “He faced three pitchers tonight, each of them worked him differently, and he hit a home run against each. He’s amazing.”

Asked about Rodriguez, Edgar feigned a growl.

“He’s 20 years old - that’s not fair. It took me a long time to get to where I am, and Alex is already there,” he said.

Both men are all-stars, but a look at their across-the-board numbers is, as Piniella said, “astonishing.”

In 84 games Martinez is hitting .350 with 42 doubles, two triples, 22 homers and 77 RBIs. Rodriguez, in 69 games, is hitting .340 with 28 doubles, 17 homers and 65 RBIs.

“You look at the injuries we’ve been through, missing so many key players, and then you look at the first half these kids have put together,” Piniella said. “We’ve got five all-stars on this team, and every one of them deserves to go. Where would we be without any of them - Alex, Edgar, Jay, Danny (Wilson) or Junior? I don’t want to think about it.”

Griffey won’t play for another 10 to 14 days and Wilson, struck by a Kevin Gross pitch on the left elbow, may miss today’s game with a bruise. Martinez and Buhner are having great follow-up seasons to break-through years in 1995.

But Rodriguez?

Fifty-one games ago, Piniella moved Rodriguez from ninth in the batting order to second. The results have been astounding, even given the expectations laid on the first kid in the nation picked in the June 1993 draft. In those 51 games, Rodriguez is batting .359 with 14 home runs and 50 RBIs.

And the Mariners’ record in that span is 29-22.

One indication of how far Rodriguez has come is that when the season opened, Seattle was carrying veteran Felix Fermin as insurance against the youngster’s failure.

Fermin is history. Rodriguez is merely making it.

“I see myself on the cover of Sports Illustrated or in the league’s Top 10 and I’m humbled,” he said. “I try to look at the big picture. I want to be a great player for the next 10 to 15 years. I’ve worked extremely hard to have this season and believe me, every day I come out here I’ve got my hands full.

“We wanted to stay close to Texas, remind them we’re here,” he said. “I’d give our offense a B-plus the first half. We don’t have Junior. We get Junior back, this is a great lineup.”

How good? Piniella cracked a smile.

“I played with some great Yankees teams, teams that had better pitching than we have, teams that lived on great defense and clutch hitting,” he said. “We never, never had an offense this good.”