Fantasy baseball: M’s follow McLaren’s formula
SEATTLE – For one day at least, John McLaren’s wildest managerial fantasy came true.
The Seattle Mariners drew walks. They stole bases. They hit the ball from line to line and in the gaps. And they were content to convert scoring opportunities not with home runs, but with sacrifice flies.
Tuesday, the Mariners played an efficient offensive game and won with it, beating the Kansas City Royals 11-6 at Safeco Field. It was only their second victory this season without a home run.
McLaren and his coaches had preached that formula throughout spring training, but the Mariners made it seem they’d slept through all those sermons and daydreamed of winning with homers.
The Mariners tied a major league single-game record with five sacrifice flies, and second baseman Jose Lopez became the 12th player in history to have three sacrifice flies in the same game.
Lopez also had an RBI single in the Mariners’ four-run fifth inning.
“We did a lot of little things,” said McLaren, who was nearly speechless after learning the M’s hit the record books with the sacrifice flies. “We talked about this in spring training. We said, ‘Anything but a double play.’ That’s really cool. We’re making some headway. I’m very proud of these guys.”
Now they must keep it going for five of their biggest early season games, all on the road against division teams. They play at Oakland tonight and Thursday, then begin a three-game series Friday against the Angels in Anaheim, Calif.
Tuesday’s victory gave the M’s a 3-2 homestand and pulled them within a game of .500 at 7-8.
“It wasn’t a great homestand, but it was good enough and something we hopefully can take into tomorrow,” McLaren said.
Along with a little momentum, the Mariners will make another roster move today. Starting pitcher Erik Bedard went on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday because of his bad hip, and the Mariners are expected to replace him today. McLaren wouldn’t leave any hints, although reliever Brandon Morrow is a possibility.
“We’re fighting our way through some tough circumstances, and I think the guys are holding up pretty well,” McLaren said.
Tuesday, they came from behind twice before burying the Royals with four runs in the fifth inning.
Besides Lopez’s three sacrifice flies and RBI single, catcher Kenji Johjima had his best offensive day of the season with three hits. Among them was an RBI double in the fifth that was his 1,500th professional hit in Japan and the major leagues. He had 1,206 hits in 11 seasons with Fukuoka.
After starting the season 4 for 32, Johjima has five hits in his past seven at-bats.
“I’m finally getting to a number that I can compare with my teammates,” Johjima said. “It’s not there yet., though.”
Normally, McLaren would have sat Johjima for Tuesday afternoon’s game after he’d played the night before. But McLaren saw a lot of positives in Johjima’s two-hit game Monday.
“He’s coming around,” McLaren said. “The way he was swinging the bat last night, I knew I was going to play him today to keep him going. You could see his swing improving, his body language improving.”
With Mike Morse on the disabled list because of a separated shoulder, McLaren turned to Willie Bloomquist on Tuesday for his right-field platoon with Brad Wilkerson. Bloomquist, in his first start this season, went 2 for 2, walked twice and used his speed to beat a throw home on Lopez’s sacrifice fly in the fifth.
Taking an approach that worked well for everyone, Bloomquist didn’t try to do too much against Royals left-hander John Bale. His two hits were opposite-field singles to right field.