Rodriguez Homers Again, And This Time It’s Enough

The way Alex Rodriguez has been playing lately - hitting home runs and thwarting the opposition with sparkling defense - you’d think he was Baltimore’s Cal Ripken Jr., the shortstop Rodriguez idolizes.

Saturday night at Camden Yards, however, Rodriguez overshadowed Ripken, who was playing in his 2,193rd consecutive game.

Rodriguez homered for the fifth time in six games and John Marzano’s two-run double snapped a sixth-inning tie as the Seattle Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles 7-3.

“Cal is something special. I’ve watched him all my life,” Rodriguez said. “I love playing here.”

Rodriguez even turned in a defensive gem worthy of Ripken - against the Orioles shortstop, no less - in the eighth inning. He dove to his right to snare Ripken’s grounder and threw him out from the outfield grass.

“He’s played as well as you can expect any young player to play,” Mariners manager Lou Piniella said. “Probably better.”

Rodriguez, who hit a grand slam and drove in a career-high six runs in Friday night’s 14-13 loss, hit his eighth homer of the season. Jay Buhner later hit a three-run shot for Seattle.

“I’m trying to get my swing back,” said Rodriguez, 15 for 38 in nine games since returning from a pulled hamstring that landed him on the disabled list. “I’m getting good pitches to hit. With the guys behind me, it’s best to stay disciplined.”

Bob Milacki (1-0), recalled from Triple-A Tacoma earlier in the day, went 5-1/3 innings and gave up three runs and five hits. He pitched for the Orioles from 1988-92.

Mike Devereaux drove in three runs for the Orioles. Kent Mercker (2-3) lasted 5-2/3 innings, giving up four runs on eight hits.

The Orioles took a 2-0 lead in the fourth on Devereaux’s single. With one out, Baltimore loaded the bases on singles by Rafael Palmeiro and Bobby Bonilla and a walk to Ripken, bringing up Devereaux.

Seattle tied it in the fifth. Rich Amaral singled with two outs and Rodriguez homered to center.

“The pitch that Rodriguez hit was a great pitch - a changeup down,” Mercker said. “Sometimes, you have to tip your hat. I’d throw the exact same pitch to him again.”

Marzano doubled home two runs with two outs in the sixth, chasing Mercker and giving the Mariners a 4-2 lead. Buhner’s homer, off Roger McDowell in the seventh, made it 7-3.

Notes

To make room for Milacki on the roster, Seattle outrighted left-hander reliever Joe Klink to Triple-A Tacoma… . The Mariners have been told that on a best-case scenario, Randy Johnson won’t be able to pitch for another two to three weeks. That means the Seattle bullpen won’t survive unless there’s a major change in how the rotation does its job. “We’ve got to get more from our starters,” manager Lou Piniella said. “We can’t keep asking for five, six, seven innings a night from our relievers.” In their last starts, Chris Bosio went 1-1/3 innings and - a game later - Bob Wolcott lasted 2-1/3 innings.

Mariners 7, Orioles 3

Seattle AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Amaral lf 5 1 1 0 0 0 .225 ARodriguez ss 5 1 2 2 0 0 .333 Griffey Jr cf 4 1 2 0 1 1 .267 EMartinez dh 4 1 1 0 1 0 .331 Buhner rf 3 2 1 3 1 2 .289 BRHunter 1b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .385 Sojo 2b 4 1 1 0 0 0 .260 Marzano c 4 0 2 2 0 0 .278 RDavis 3b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .240 Totals 37 7 11 7 3 3 Baltimore AB R H BI BB SO Avg. ByAnderson dh 4 0 1 0 1 0 .302 Polonia lf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .188 a-Smith ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 RAlomar 2b 5 0 1 0 0 1 .381 RPalmeiro 1b 4 1 1 0 0 0 .278 Bonilla 3b 3 2 2 0 1 1 .234 CRipken ss 2 0 0 0 2 0 .258 Devereaux cf 4 0 3 3 0 0 .260 Hammonds rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .235 Zaun c 4 0 0 0 0 0 .243 Totals 35 3 8 3 4 4 Seattle 000 022 300 - 7 11 1 Baltimore 000 201 000 - 3 8 0 a-grounded out for Polonia in the 9th.

E-ARodriguez (2). LOBSeattle 6, Baltimore 9. 2B-Marzano (2). HR-ARodriguez (8) off Mercker; Buhner (13) off RMcDowell. RBIsARodriguez 2 (31), Buhner 3 (37), Marzano 2 (2), Devereaux 3 (13). GIDPPolonia.

Runners left in scoring position-Seattle 2 (RDavis 2); Baltimore 3 (Bonilla, Zaun 2).

Runners moved up-Hammonds 2.

DP-Seattle 1 (Milacki, ARodriguez and BRHunter); Baltimore 1 (CRipken and RAlomar).

Seattle IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Milacki W,1-0 5-1/3 5 3 3 4 2 97 5.06 Carmona 1 2 0 0 0 0 24 1.77 TDavis 2/3 0 0 0 0 1 8 5.51 MJackson 1 1 0 0 0 1 13 5.12 Charlton 1 0 0 0 0 0 9 3.50 Baltimore IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Mercker L,2-3 5-2/3 8 4 4 2 3 104 7.43 Orosco 1 1 2 2 1 0 18 9.88 RMcDowell 1/3 1 1 1 0 0 9 2.01 Krivda 2 1 0 0 0 0 24 3.60 Inherited runners-scored-Carmona 2-1, TDavis 2-0, Orosco 1-0, RMcDowell 2-2.

IBBoff Milacki (CRipken) 1.

T-3:00. A-46,434 (48,262).