Rookie Pitcher Aces Test Leads Mariners To 12-2 Rout Over White Sox

Just three months ago, Matt Wagner thought he’d be spending this season fine-tuning his pitching for the Class AAA Tacoma Raniers.

But the injury-depleted Seattle Mariners needed Wagner sooner than expected, and the rookie proved up to the task Friday, when he held the White Sox to two runs in eight innings and beat Chicago 12-2 for his first major league win.

“Before the season, I read in Baseball Weekly, Baseball America and the papers and the way it sounded they wanted me to have a full year down there,” Wagner said. “But with guys going down I think they called me up before they wanted to. Hopefully I’m here to stay.”

Wagner (1-1) was helped by home runs by Alex Rodriguez, Edgar Martinez and Brian Hunter as the Mariners won without the injured Ken Griffey Jr. for the second night in a row.

Griffey became the latest Mariner to suffer from the Seattle injury bug this year when he broke a bone in his right hand Wednesday night. He will be out about a month. He joined 1995 A.L. Cy Young Award winner Randy Johnson, third baseman Russ Davis and pitcher Chris Bosio on the Mariners’ bulging DL.

“We’ve got to keep it as close as we can until we get Bosio, Griffey and the Big Unit (Johnson) and everybody back healthy,” said Hunter, who was 4 for 5. Rodriguez and Martinez each drove in four runs.

Chicago has lost a season-high seven in a row.

Joe Magrane (1-5) faced the minimum nine batters in the first three innings, but the Mariners scored three runs each in the fourth and fifth innings.

“It’s pure and simple: I haven’t been pitching very well,” Magrane said.

In the fourth, Martinez hit a two-run homer, his 16th, and Hunter followed one out later with his second homer. Then in the fifth, Rodriguez made it 6-1 with a three-run homer, his 13th.

Wagner counted his blessings from there. He allowed seven hits and three walks and struck out three before giving way to Bobby Ayala, who pitched a perfect ninth.

“I was a little bit winded after three,” Wagner said. “But we put up three runs in the third and again in the next inning so I was rested between innings and went out more aggressively.”

Before Friday, Wagner had a 6.88 ERA in three starts, but White Sox manager Terry Bevington said the White Sox were not overconfident about facing the rookie. Harold Baines and Lyle Mouton drove in the only Chicago runs.

“We put guys out there with high ERAs, too,” Bevington said. “That has no bearing on how we approach a baseball game.”

Bevington also took no consolation from the White Sox’ half-game rise in the A.L. Central standings after Cleveland lost both games of a doubleheader to New York.

“That’s good, but it doesn’t mean anything unless we come out tomorrow and start rolling.”

Game notes

A sick Tony Phillips was scratched from the White Sox starting lineup minutes before the game… . Baines’ RBI gave him 1,314 in his career and moved him into a tie for 62nd place with Pete Rose and Graig Nettles on the career list… . No Mariners pitcher has pitched a complete game this year, a team-record stretch of 70 games… . Griffey was the 10th player put on Seattle’s disabled list this season.