Padres Pound Fassero, Bullpen San Diego Intentionally Walks Griffey When It Counts
Bruce Bochy said it before the game - “You can’t let Ken Griffey Jr. beat you” - and then the San Diego Padres manager did his best to make it so Wednesday.
On a night when Jeff Fassero made history at the plate but struggled on the mound, San Diego won an interleague game by employing Bochy’s thinking and beating the Seattle Mariners 8-5.
Though Griffey singled twice and doubled, in his one late-inning, game-on-the-line at-bat, Bochy took him out of the equation with an intentional walk. When the Mariners couldn’t make that move hurt - Jay Buhner struck out with the bases loaded in the seventh, Paul Sorrento grounded out - the Padres scurried through the final two innings for a victory.
No one player carries Seattle’s lineup, but Bochy’s effort to make certain that Griffey didn’t bat in a key situation is one about which the Mariners can do little, especially in a National League park where designated hitter Edgar Martinez, a two-time batting champion, wasn’t starting.
Martinez likely will start at first base tonight against left-hander Sterling Hitchcock, but no matter who is hitting behind Griffey, major league managers are all too happy to give him first base this season - his 12 intentional walks leads the A.L.
Seattle had other opportunities to score, and pushed home a pair of runs in a ninth-inning rally that brought the tying run to the plate. But Fassero, and later, his bullpen, couldn’t stop the Padres.
Doubles by Joey Cora and Griffey in the first inning gave Fassero a 1-0 lead, but Rickey Henderson extended his major league record in the bottom half by leading off a game with a home run for the 71st time in his career.
Russ Davis homered in the second - his 12th of the season - and Faserro was ahead, 2-1. Tony Gwynn doubled home the tying run in the third, and the Mariners never led again.
Fassero struck out seven in five innings, but the Padres balanced that with seven hits, including homers by Henderson and Chris Gomez, and by the time the left-hander came out of the game he was trailing 5-2.
Before departing, Fassero made history by dropping a second-inning bunt single - the first hit for a Seattle pitcher.
Sorrento got one run back in the sixth with his 16th homer and fifth in sixth games, and in the seventh the Mariners had Hamilton teed up and ready to drive.
With one out, Cora walked, Alex Rodriguez doubled to extend his hitting streak to 15 games and Griffey was intentionally walked. A long meeting on the mound ensued, with pitching coach Dan Warthen trying to settle Hamilton down as Buhner waited at the plate.
Hamilton struck out Buhner on five pitches, the last a 94 mph fastball, then got a chopper to first base from Sorrento.
For Fassero, the night could have been better - or worse. Gwynn’s game-tying double in the third glanced off the glove of rookie Jose Cruz Jr., who made a long run but couldn’t handle the ball. Back in the first, however, Fassero was helped when catcher Dan Wilson threw out would-be base stealer Quilvio Veras, although replays showed conclusively that Veras was safe at second base.
The Seattle bullpen held until the eighth, when Norm Charlton and Scott Sanders loaded the bases with Padres and Henderson’s double off Sanders unloaded them, break the game open.
In that eighth, Piniella made an exception to his edict never to use Martinez at third base, inserting him into his infield during a pitching change. The last time Martinez had played third base was July 20, when he collided with catcher John Marzano chasing a pop fly and fractured four ribs.
“That’s the last Edgar will see of third base,” Piniella had said since.
For an inning, he risked it Wednesday. And Martinez led off the ninth with his 14th homer.
As it was, that got Seattle a run closer in a one-sided game and gave Martinez his first career homer in an N.L. park.
In the end, the Mariners pushed hard and fell short - getting that homer, a walk, Junior’s single, an RBI grounder from Buhner and Sorrento’s single in the ninth. That brought Dan Wilson up as the potential tying run against Trevor Hoffman with two outs.
Hoffman struck him out with a changeup and the Mariners dropped to 5-4 in interleague play.
Notes
Seattle’s No. 4 and 5 starters, Bob Wolcott and Derek Lowe, have earned-run averages of 5.53 and 5.86, respectively, but Piniella said that’s more the norm than the exception in major league baseball this year. “You look at the fourth and fifth starters on most teams, and a 5.00 ERA is about what you’ll find,” he said. “With expansion next year, it might even sneak higher.” … Seattle began the game with a 5.08 staff ERA, the lowest that figure has been since the second game of the season. … Making a rare appearance on the road was the Mariners Moose, on hand for the interleague game. … Former Mariner Sterling Hitchcock will come off the disabled list today and start his 13th game of the season tonight. “In the last three years I’ve played in New York, Seattle and San Diego,” Hitchcock said. “I guess next year I’ll try Florida and complete the cycle. I think I could wind up pitching in every corner of America.” … Coming up - The Mariners close yet another two-game series with a 6:05 p.m. game against San Diego to be televised on TCI Cable channel 25. Probable starting pitchers: Lowe (2-3, 5.86) vs. Hitchcock (5-5, 4.35).