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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Kelly’s Muscle Strengthens M’S Grip Seattle’s Magic Number Down To Four After Win Over Rangers

Larry Larue Tacoma News Tribune

Every six years, just like clockwork, Roberto Kelly throws out a two-home-run game.

“How do you guys find out about this stuff, anyway?” the Seattle left fielder said Thursday.

The media have their secrets, and so do the Mariners, who beat the Texas Rangers 6-3 with an assortment of weapons that rarely appear in the headlines.

Oh, Randy Johnson continued to be at his best after Seattle losses - he’s now 11-1 after the Mariners have lost games - and Bobby Ayala continued a two-month turnaround with two superb innings that earned him his eighth save of the year.

But on a night when, as Jay Buhner put it, “the big boys” didn’t do much, Kelly and pinch-hitter Paul Sorrento supplied the firepower that let the Mariners win their 85th game of the year.

No club in team history has won more.

“Every year, you need guys who can step up and fill in and help out if you’re going to win,” Buhner said. “You look at Paul Sorrento and Mike Blowers at first base. They’ve given us 35 home runs, 100 RBIs. That’s a hell of a lot of help.

“When we lost (Jose) Cruz Jr., we weren’t going to replace him, but when we got Roberto, it helped. Kelly does all the little things, moving runners up, taking the extra base, playing good defense. And tonight, he hit two bombs.”

Indeed, he did, his ninth and 10th of the year.

“I don’t think they got me to drive in four runs a night, but it’s nice to do that,” Kelly said. “After a game like last night, the easiest way to get over it is get out of the box fast the next game.”

In the first inning Thursday, Rich Amaral singled, and before Rangers starter Darren Oliver had caught his breath, Kelly homered for a 2-0 lead. Three innings later, with Johnson holding a 2-1 lead, Kelly hit his 10th homer - a bolt to straightaway center field.

Only once before in his career, on Sept. 18, 1991, had Kelly homered twice in a game.

“I remember that,” Kelly said. “I don’t do it that often.”

Seattle’s win, and Anaheim’s 7-3 loss to Oakland on Thursday, gave the Mariners a six-game lead with nine games to play, and though few of the players wanted to talk about the postseason, Johnson didn’t mind it at all.

“The objective for me and Jamie Moyer and Jeff Fassero from here on out is get our work in and prepare for the playoffs,” Johnson said. “In the postseason, our job is going to be to get this team deep into the game and give the offense the chance to win. Our offense has carried us most of the year.”

And it helped to get six runs against Texas, because Johnson clearly wasn’t at his most dominant in winning his 18th game of the year.

“It was his second start after that layoff, and he was stiff,” manager Lou Piniella said. “He’s right on schedule. He threw 86 pitches last time out, threw 107 this time. Next time, we’ll just let him go, give him 120-125 pitches.

“After a game like last night, if you had your choice, there’s no one you’d rather have pitching than Randy.”

Told his club had tied the team record with 85 wins, Piniella seemed stunned.

“I got fired twice with teams that won 90 and 91 games,” he said.

Different franchises, different expectations. On a Mariners team that has never won more games than 85 in a year, this is just the second time a playoff berth seems realistic.

“We’re focused,” Kelly said. “A game last night hurt, but we bounced back.”

“We’ve bounced back all season,” Piniella said. “It shows the doggedness of this team.”

Johnson pitched out of jams much of the night, yielding 10 hits in seven innings but allowing only three runs - two earned. In the third and fourth innings, he got out of trouble with double-play ground balls.

Helping Johnson were pinch-hitter Sorrento, who hit his career-best 30th home run, and Ayala, who got through the eighth inning unscathed and then worked a 1-2-3 ninth.

“Bobby’s been pitching well, he got out of the eighth and I thought we’d let him close it out,” Piniella said.

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1. A.L. WESTERN DIVISION W L Pct. GB Seattle 85 68 .556 - Anaheim 79 74 .516 6 Seattle’s magic number is 4.

2. A.L. WEST RACE Games remaining Seattle (9): Home (5) - Sept. 23, 24, Anaheim; 26, 27, 28, Oakland. Away (4) - Sept. 19, 20, 21, 22, Oakland. Anaheim (9): Home (4) - Sept. 25, 26, 27, 28, Texas. Away (5) - Sept. 19, 20, 21, Texas; 23, 24, Seattle.