Lou Has Had It Davis, Wolcott To Sit After M’S Ugly Defeat

After a game that might have looked at home in a minor-league ballpark, manager Lou Piniella started taking away major-league jobs.

Bad defense and high earned run averages at the back end of the Seattle rotation have been gnawing at Piniella for weeks, but after one of the ugliest games in memory - a 9-8 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers - he had seen too much.

So Russ Davis is out at third base, replaced there as of today by Brent Gates. Bob Wolcott is out of the rotation, at least until Seattle decides what to do with Dennis Martinez, and Scott Sanders is back in.

“If I saw a guy booting balls I’d do the same thing,” a despondent Davis said - and he wasn’t charged with any of the three Seattle errors that accounted for five unearned Milwaukee runs.

Ah, but the box score is deceiving.

On a night when the Mariners got home runs from Ken Griffey Jr., Jay Buhner and Rob Ducey, then scored a pair of runs in a wild ninth inning to bring the potential go-ahead run to the plate, it was defense and poor pitching that beat Seattle.

“We’re at the bottom of the league in defense and that’s got to improve,” Piniella said. “It hasn’t hurt us that much yet, but you keep making errors and it costs you games. It cost us one tonight.”

Lesser men might have called for an exorcism after the fourth inning, when the Brewers scored seven runs without hitting a ball hard. Some managers might have pointed out that a sixth-inning Milwaukee run scored when Sanders wild pitched a runner from first base to third base - and then wild-pitched him home.

And if Piniella had chosen, he could have added that the last Brewers’ run scored when catcher John Marzano threw a ball into center field on a stolen base attempt, and Sanders followed by throwing a double-play ground ball so high that shortstop Alex Rodriguez couldn’t make the play.

Bad night?

“You see games like this once a year or so,” Wolcott said.

If Wolcott sees another like it soon, it will either be from the bullpen or Tacoma.

“Bob should have been out of that fourth inning with very little damage, but he didn’t help himself,” Piniella said. “He didn’t get out of it, he didn’t limit the damage, and that’s something we’ve been concerned about. So we’re making a change.”

Wolcott (2-2, 6.32 earned run average) is out. Sanders (0-4, 7.31 ERA) is in. But Sanders has been on a roll in relief, lowering his ERA from 10.53 through the past few weeks.

“I told Lou whether it was five days from now, 10 or 15, when he wants me to start I’ll be ready,” Sanders said.

“I’m not sure what I could have done out there to change what happened,” Wolcott said.

In that fourth inning, the Mariners began with a 2-0 lead and by the time it ended they trailed, 7-2, and Milwaukee had sent 13 men to the plate.

Wolcott walked three of those and hit another. But the hits that broke the inning open were utterly bizarre. One caromed off Davis’ glove at third and bounced past shortstop Rodriguez. Another bounced off the glove of Joey Cora.

With the bases loaded and no runs in, Marc Newfield slapped a ball at Davis, who dropped it, picked it up and fired home - where Marzano dropped it.

“Tonight my mistakes opened the gates,” Davis said. “It’s gotten to be a mental thing, it’s not physical.”

In 31 games, Davis has committed 10 errors and could have been given two more Monday. In its 36 games, Seattle has made 34 errors.

No team in major league baseball has committed more.

In came the ninth inning. Joey Cora blooped a single with two outs and Rodriguez grounded a base hit up the middle. Junior, way out in front of a Doug Jones changeup, nubbed a ball toward third base and beat it out - and when Jones’ throw sailed down the right field line, Cora scored to make it 9-7.

On the play, Rodriguez rounded third and collided with Jones. Thinking obstruction had been called, Rodriguez trotted home and the Brewers began to argue. What the umpires finally ruled was that the play had not been obstruction, but since no one called timeout after the collision, Rodriguez scored without a play and was therefore safe.

Jones then struck out Edgar Martinez, who earlier extended his hitting streak to 17 games, on four pitches.

Brewers 9, Mariners 8

Seattle AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Cora 2b 5 1 2 1 0 1 .313 ARodriguez ss 5 2 3 0 0 1 .321 Griffey Jr cf 4 2 3 2 1 0 .350 EMartinez dh 5 0 1 2 0 1 .314 Buhner rf 4 1 1 1 0 1 .213 Sorrento 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .295 RDavis 3b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .288 Ducey lf 4 2 2 1 0 1 .269 Marzano c 2 0 0 0 1 0 .235 a-DaWilson ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .339 Totals 38 8 12 7 2 8

Milwaukee AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

GeWilliams lf 5 3 2 2 0 0 .296 Burnitz cf-rf 3 1 3 1 2 0 .310 Cirillo 3b 3 0 0 1 1 0 .258 Nilsson 1b 4 1 0 1 1 0 .311 1-Huson pr-1b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .194 Mieske rf 5 1 2 1 0 0 .343 2-Carr pr-cf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .125 JsValentin ss 4 1 1 0 1 1 .220 Newfield dh 4 1 1 0 0 0 .259 Loretta 2b 3 0 2 1 0 0 .253 Matheny c 3 1 0 0 0 1 .231 Totals 34 9 11 7 5 2

Seattle 200 011 112 - 8

Milwaukee 000 710 01x - 9

a-grounded out for Marzano in the 9th.

1-ran for Nilsson in the 8th. 2-ran for Mieske in the 8th.

E-Marzano 2 (2), SSanders (1), Mieske (2), DoJones 2 (2). LOBSeattle 5, Milwaukee 9. 2B-Cora (9), ARodriguez (13), Griffey Jr (7), EMartinez (11), Ducey (3), Burnitz (6). 3B-Burnitz (2). HR-Ducey (1) off D’Amico; Buhner (5) off D’Amico; Griffey Jr (16) off D’Amico. RBIsCora (14), Griffey Jr 2 (43), EMartinez 2 (25), Buhner (16), Ducey (3), GeWilliams 2 (12), Burnitz (10), Cirillo (17), Nilsson (19), Mieske (7), Loretta (8). SB-GeWilliams (4). CS-Loretta (2). SF-Cirillo, Loretta. GIDPEMartinez.

Runners left in scoring position-Seattle 1 (RDavis); Milwaukee 5 (Cirillo, Nilsson, JsValentin, Newfield 2).

Runners moved up-Cora.

DP-Milwaukee 1 (Cirillo, Loretta and Nilsson).

Seattle IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Wolcott L, 2-2 3-2/3 9 7 4 3 1 80 6.32 SSanders 4 2 2 1 2 1 74 7.31 McCarthy 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 1 3.38

Milwaukee IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

D’Amico W, 1-2 7 7 5 5 2 4 104 5.29 Fetters 1 2 1 1 0 3 21 1.59 DoJones S, 9 1 3 2 0 0 1 23 1.59 Inherited runners-scored-SSanders 3-0, McCarthy 2-0.

IBBoff D’Amico (Griffey Jr) 1. HBPby Wolcott (Matheny). WP-SSanders 2.

T-3:05. A-10,587 (53,192).