The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
51°F
Current Conditions
Few clouds
View complete weather report
Subscribe now

Amazing Mariners Do It Again

Associated Press

So they’re without Ken Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnson. So what? Everything is going right for the Seattle Mariners.

It was Jay Buhner’s turn to be the hero for the Mariners on Friday night, doubling home Edgar Martinez from first base in the bottom of the 10th inning for a 7-6 victory over the California Angels.

Even without Griffey and Johnson, the Mariners are beginning to look like the team that won the A.L. West and got within two wins of the World Series last season. And Griffey and Johnson could rejoin them this month after stints on the disabled list.

“There’s a lot of baseball left to be played,” manager Lou Piniella said.

“It would be nice to win a no-brainer without having to go through all this,” Buhner said after Seattle’s second straight extra-inning thriller with the Angels. “We almost used our whole bullpen again tonight.”

Chuck McElroy (4-1), who came in to start the 10th, hit Martinez on the left arm on a full-count pitch. Buhner followed with a double down the third-base line off Randy Velarde’s glove on another 3-2 pitch. The ball rolled away from Garret Anderson into the left-field corner, and Martinez scored on a close play.

“I hit the crap out of it,” Buhner said. “When you hit a ball down the line like that and it hits the dirt, you never know what you’re going to get out there. That dirt’s funky.”

Martinez isn’t a fast baserunner, but he’s determined.

“It was a pretty close play at the plate,” he said. “But I knew I was going to get there before the ball.”

Added Piniella, with a smile: “These are fun games to watch. They’re interesting. They’re close, nip-and-tuck affairs.”

Bobby Ayala (2-1), Seattle’s sixth pitcher, worked the top of the 10th as the Mariners won for the sixth time in seven games to remain three games back of Texas in the A.L. West. They improved to 4-0 against California.

Mariners 7, Angels 6 (10)

California AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Erstad cf 4 2 2 0 2 0 .333 Hudler 2b 6 2 4 2 0 1 .328 GAnderson lf 5 1 2 1 0 1 .290 Salmon rf 5 0 1 1 0 1 .288 CDavis dh 3 1 0 0 2 2 .293 Velarde 3b 4 0 1 0 1 2 .304 Snow 1b 4 0 0 1 1 0 .262 Borders c 3 0 0 0 1 0 .189 c-OPalmeiro ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .267 Fabregas c 0 0 0 0 0 0 .261 DiSarcina ss 5 0 1 0 0 1 .249 Totals 40 6 11 5 7 8 Seattle AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Amaral cf 4 2 1 0 1 1 .285 ARodriguez ss 3 2 1 0 2 0 .339 EMartinez dh 3 2 1 1 1 2 .346 Buhner rf 4 0 2 3 0 0 .285 BRHunter lf 3 0 0 0 0 1 .340 a-Sorrento ph-1b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .320 DWilson c 4 0 1 1 0 0 .304 Pirkl 1b 4 1 1 0 0 1 .111 Bragg lf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .266 Sojo 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .223 b-Strange ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 .244 1-Sheets pr-3b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .218 Cora 2b 4 0 1 1 0 0 .278 Totals 34 7 9 6 4 6 California 000 042 000 0 - 6 Seattle 102 100 020 1 - 7 No outs when winning run scored.

a-flied out for Hunter in the 8th. b-singled for Sojo in the 9th. c-flied out for Borders in the 10th.

1-ran for Strange in the 9th.

E-Sojo (4). LOBCalifornia 11, Seattle 6. 2B-GAnderson (21), ARodriguez (31), EMartinez (43), Buhner (16), Pirkl (1). HR-Hudler (12) off TDavis. RBIsHudler 2 (30), GAnderson (38), Salmon (60), Snow (40), EMartinez (79), Buhner 3 (75), DWilson (54), Cora (26). SB-Erstad (2), Hudler (11), Amaral 2 (13), Sheets (2). CS-Borders (1), Cora (3). SF-Buhner.

Runners left in scoring position-California 7 (Hudler, GAnderson, Velarde 2, Snow, DiSarcina 2); Seattle 1 (ARodriguez).

Runners moved up-Salmon 2, Buhner, Sojo. DP-Seattle 1 (Sojo and Pirkl).

California IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Finley 7 5 5 5 4 5 128 5.03 James 1/3 1 1 1 0 0 9 2.63 Percival 1-2/3 2 0 0 0 1 35 1.69 McElroy L, 4-1 0 1 1 1 0 0 20 3.38 Seattle IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA MWagner 5 6 4 3 5 2 104 6.02 TDavis 1 1 2 2 1 2 19 5.31 Minor 1-2/3 2 0 0 1 0 16 4.76 Guetterman 1/3 0 0 0 0 1 4 4.22 Charlton 1 1 0 0 0 2 18 4.19 Ayala W, 2-1 1 1 0 0 0 1 15 6.31 Finley pitched to 1 batter in the 8th, McElroy pitched to 2 batters in the 10th.

Inherited runners-scored-James 1-1, Percival 1-1, Guetterman 1-0.

HBPby McElroy (EMartinez). WP-Finley, Charlton.

Umpires-Home, Cederstrom; First, Garcia; Second, Culbreth; Third, Reilly.

T-3:39. A-29,618 (59,166).

xxxx CABLE GUY CAN’T SAVE MARINERS Cox Cable pulled a “Heidi” at the end of the Seattle Mariners’ 12-inning victory on Thursday night. The KIRO-TV coverage was humming along smoothly until Paul Sorrento singled to lead off the 12th. Suddenly, the screen in Spokane reverted to the NASA channel. A computer had automatically switched from KIRO to the NASA channel. Those two stations share channel 25. A technician immediately noticed the problem (alerted by numerous calls from viewers), and started the process of switching back to KIRO, said a Cox Cable spokesman. Unfortunately, that process takes a while, and by the time the technician got it switched back, Sorrento had made it to third and scored on a wild pitch. Game over.