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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Griffey Smacks 2 More Homer Count Reaches 52 As Mariners Whip Blue Jays 7-3; Magic Number 7

Dan Raley Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The Seattle Mariners put playoff tickets on sale today. The promotional spots, however, started Monday night at the Kingdome - and the approach was hard-sell.

Ken Griffey Jr. turned chief pitchman for the postseason, homering twice in a 7-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. His 51st and 52nd homers jumped him to 11th on baseball’s all-time list for long balls in a season.

The home club made an explosive statement in its behalf, collecting five homers overall and dropping its magic number (any combination of Mariners wins and Anaheim losses) to seven for clinching the American League West. The Angels beat Minnesota 8-5 to remain 5-1/2 games behind Seattle.

The Mariners, improving to 84-67 and moving 17 games over .500 for the first time in franchise history, now head to Texas and Oakland for a six-game road trip, their last of the regular season, hoping to settle what appears to be a foregone conclusion.

Backing Griffey, teammates Dan Wilson, Joey Cora and Paul Sorrento also hit drives out of the ballpark and rookie pitcher Ken Cloude allowed five hits and struck out a career-high eight over six innings to complete a 4-2 homestand that left the crowd of 41,684 deeply satisfied. And liable to sweep up all the playoff tickets in a rush.

As is his custom, Griffey deflected all questions regarding his historical homer prowess, choosing not to talk about himself. That’s the way he was raised by his father, he explained, and that’s the way it will be.

“We won, that’s the most important thing,” said the slugger, meeting reporters in a white Kirby Puckett T-shirt and autographing customized black bats for the departing Blue Jays. “I just try to hit the ball hard. I don’t look at records. … Right now, there’s work to be done.”

Others in the Mariners clubhouse had no problem analyzing Griffey’s efforts and reconsidering his assault on the most endearing baseball record of them all, Roger Maris’ 61 homers in a season.

“It’s incredible, but it’s Junior,” teammate Jay Buhner said. “He does things so effortlessly, and he does it day in and day out. You kind of forget what he’s doing. It’s time he gets his just due now.”

Said Mariners manager Lou Piniella, referring to the Maris record: “Junior, he’s in position. We need for him to finish hot. It would be special to see, but I don’t want to put any pressure on him. Let him play.”

The Blue Jays did just that, and Griffey made them regret it with his first at-bat. He got full extension on a 2-2 pitch from Woody Williams, driving a ball deep into the second deck in right field, 404 feet away. He stoically circled the bases, following up a leadoff single to Joey Cora for an instant 2-0 lead.

In the fifth inning, Griffey blistered a 1-2 pitch from Williams into the second deck again for his 52nd homer and a 5-0 advantage. The blast, traveling 397 feet, tied him with Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, George Foster and Mark McGwire for 11th in the record book and the most homers hit in 36 seasons.

For Griffey, his free-swinging efforts resulted in his seventh multi-homer game of the season, and 28th of his career.

Joining him in the act, Wilson socked his 14th homer in the second, Cora led off the fifth with his career-high 10th - he’s the ninth Mariner to reach double figures - and Sorrento rapped a career-best 29th in the fifth. Ex-Mariner Jose Cruz Jr. hit his 24th homer, and 12th for Toronto.