M’S Ride Griffey’s 53rd Hr Seattle Tops Oakland 9-4; Magic Number Down To 3
Fans in the stands let Ken Griffey Jr. know he was falling farther behind Mark McGwire in the home-run derby. Then, with a ninth-inning swing, he tightened the race again.
Griffey hit his 53rd homer and Jamie Moyer pitched seven strong innings to win his sixth straight decision Friday night, leading the Seattle Mariners to a 9-4 win over the Oakland Athletics.
“You guys don’t have to tell me anything,” Griffey quipped.
“There were 16,000 people telling me, ‘McGwire hit another one.”’ Griffey was 0 for 3 with a walk before connecting on a 3-2 pitch from Aaron Small.
“I was just trying not to strike out. It’s a long walk to the dugout,” he said.
It was his first home run since hitting two Sept. 15 against Toronto, and moved him within one of McGwire, who homered Friday to raise his major league-leading total to 54.
“I don’t worry about it,” Griffey said. “The important thing is the wins and getting into the playoffs.”
Griffey has eight games remaining in his chase of Roger Maris’ major league record of 61, set in 1961. His 141 RBIs also lead the majors and broke the club’s seasonsingle record he set last year.
“He’s hit 53. He’s certainly capable of getting more,” Seattle manager Lou Piniella said. “He’s a great player. Every year in the past three or four, he’s developed more and more power.”
Edgar Martinez, Jay Buhner and Roberto Kelly added homers for the Mariners.
Alex Rodriguez added a three-run double in a four-run first as Seattle set a club record with its 86th victory.
Griffey’s shot to right field came after Kelly gave the Mariners an 8-2 lead with a two-run homer off Small.
“I’m not going to give into the guy. It was 8-2 at that point,” Small said. “I was trying to get him out. He won that battle.”
Moyer (17-4) walked one and struck out five to help the A.L. West-leading Mariners win for the 10th time in 15 games and reduce their magic number to three. Any combination of three Seattle wins or Anaheim losses would allow the Mariners to clinch their second division title in three years.
Jimmy Haynes (3-5) matched his career high by striking out 11, but he walked four, including three in Seattle’s four-run first. He went seven innings, allowing five runs and seven hits, including Martinez’s 27th homer in the seventh.
Buhner connected for his 37th this season and 250th of his career off Small leading off the eighth.
Seattle took advantage of Haynes’ early control problems for a 4-0 lead.
Kelly singled and Griffey and Martinez walked to load the bases for Rodriguez, who cleared them with a double to the right-center gap. Rodriguez took third on the throw home. He scored one out later on Dan Wilson’s single to center.
Oakland pulled to within two with a pair of runs in the third. Dave Magadan’s infield grounder drove in Miguel Tejada and then he advanced to second on an error before scoring on Brian Lesher’s RBI single.
Brent Mayne hit a two-run homer in the ninth for Oakland.
Playoff times not known
If you’re wondering when those Kingdome playoff games against the Baltimore Orioles are going to start, get in line. The teams do, too.
Granted, neither Baltimore nor Seattle has clinched a spot, but barring major upsets the two will meet in Seattle on Oct. 1 and 2 for the first two games of a five-game series.
But those games start could start at 10 a.m., 1 or 5 p.m. And the Mariners have no say in it.
The decision will be made by the three networks involved in televising the postseason - ESPN, NBC and Fox - and won’t be announced until next Friday.
Notes
Seattle has 249 homers, a club record and second only to Baltimore’s major league-record 257 last season. … Brian Lesher and Scott Spiezio pulled off a double steal in the second inning, Oakland’s second of the season. … The A’s have clinched their third last-place finish in the A.L. West in the last five years.
Mariners 9, Athletics 4
Seattle AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Cora 2b 5 1 1 0 0 0 .298 RKelly lf 5 2 3 2 0 1 .286 Griffey Jr cf 4 2 1 1 1 1 .302 EMartinez dh 4 2 3 1 1 1 .331 1-Guevara pr-dh 0 0 0 0 0 0 — ARodriguez ss 5 1 2 3 0 2 .300 Buhner rf 4 1 1 1 1 3 .245 Sorrento 1b 3 0 0 0 1 3 .270 DaWilson c 4 0 1 1 0 0 .267 Sheets 3b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .277 Totals 38 9 12 9 4 13
Oakland AB R H BI BB SO Avg. JMcDonald cf 5 0 1 0 0 0 .269 Magadan dh 4 1 0 1 0 0 .306 Grieve rf 3 0 0 0 1 1 .318 Lesher lf 4 0 2 1 0 1 .205 Giambi 1b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .284 Spiezio 2b 3 0 0 0 1 1 .245 Brosius 3b 4 1 2 0 0 1 .205 Mayne c 4 1 3 2 0 1 .287 Tejada ss 3 1 1 0 0 0 .216 a-Stairs ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .302 Totals 35 4 9 4 2 8
Seattle 400 000 113 9
Oakland 002 000 002 4
a-struck out for Tejada in the 9th.
1-ran for E.Martinez in the 9th.
E-Cora (17). LOB-Seattle 6, Oakland 6. 2B-RKelly (25), ARodriguez (40). HR-Mayne (6) off BWells; Griffey Jr (53) off ASmall; RKelly (11) off ASmall; Buhner (37) off ASmall; EMartinez (27) off Haynes. RBIs-RKelly 2 (55), Griffey Jr (141), EMartinez (106), ARodriguez 3 (81), Buhner (103), DaWilson (73), Magadan (29), Lesher (13), Mayne 2 (21). SB-Lesher 2 (4), Spiezio (8). CS-Lesher (1). GIDP-ARodriguez.
Runners left in scoring position-Seattle 3 (EMartinez, Sorrento, Sheets); Oakland 3 (Mayne 2, Tejada).
Runners moved up-Grieve.
DP-Oakland 1 (Tejada and Giambi).
Seattle IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Moyer W,17-4 7 7 2 2 1 5 108 3.68 Spoljaric 1 0 0 0 1 2 24 3.82 BWells 1 2 2 2 0 1 18 5.97
Oakland IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Haynes L,3-5 7 7 5 5 4 11 124 4.48 ASmall 1 4 4 4 0 1 23 4.30 Wengert 1 1 0 0 0 1 12 5.96
ASmall pitched to 3 batters in the 9th.
T-2:47. A-16,373 (45,177).
xxxx W L Pct. GB Seattle 86 68 .558 - Anaheim 80 74 .519 6
M’s magic number is 3.