Disheartening loss for M’s
Woeful Indians pound Seattle again
SEATTLE – One game among 162 got away from the Seattle Mariners in a hurry Saturday, but this time a healthy dose of hope in the division race may have gone with it.
The Cleveland Indians beat the Mariners 10-3 at Safeco Field and, combined with the L.A. Angels’ victory over Minnesota, the M’s fell 71/2 games out of first place.
Time and a miracle can still pull the Mariners back into contention, and it may take both after what they learned about pitcher Erik Bedard on Saturday.
He needed 81 pitches to labor through three innings that stirred concerns again about the health of his left shoulder.
In Bedard’s fourth start after a month on the disabled list because of inflammation in his left shoulder, manager Don Wakamatsu saw signs again that the left-hander could be hurting.
“When you look at the command and the lack of efficiency in his pitches, I think there’s some discomfort in there,” Wakamatsu said.
Bedard needed 42 pitches to get through two innings, then he threw 39 in the third when the Indians took a 2-0 lead on Jhonny Peralta’s two-run single.
The M’s went into Saturday unsure who would start today’s series finale against the Indians. One possibility was Chris Jakubauskas, but he was needed for 12/3 innings after Bedard was pulled.
Seattle will call up left-hander Jason Vargas from Triple-A Tacoma to start against the Indians today.
The game got away from the M’s in the fourth when the Indians pounded Jakubauskas for four runs and five hits, including Chris Gimenez’s two-run homer, to make the score 6-0.
Garrett Olson got the final out in the fifth and gave up another two-run homer in the sixth – by Ryan Garko – before finishing the game by retiring 10 straight.
The Indians led 10-0 before Seattle scored for the first time since the sixth inning Thursday at Detroit, a span of 20 innings.
Johnson and Russell Branyan each hit RBI doubles and Ronny Cedeno had an RBI groundout.
•Seattle called up outfielder Michael Saunders from Triple-A Tacoma and designated Wladimir Balentien for assignment.
Saunders started in left field and went 0-for-4.
Indians 10, Mariners 3
| Cleveland | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
| A.Cabrera ss | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .300 |
| B.Francisco cf | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .237 |
| Choo lf | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .282 |
| V.Martinez c | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .287 |
| Jh.Peralta 3b | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | .260 |
| Hafner dh | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .290 |
| a-Shoppach ph-dh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .194 |
| Garko 1b | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .286 |
| Gimenez rf | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .234 |
| Valbuena 2b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .220 |
| Totals | 38 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 5 | 9 |
| Seattle | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
| I.Suzuki rf | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .358 |
| Branyan 1b | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .267 |
| Jo.Lopez 2b | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .261 |
| M.Sweeney dh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .252 |
| F.Gutierrez cf | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .296 |
| Hannahan 3b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .197 |
| Ro.Johnson c | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .207 |
| Saunders lf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Cedeno ss | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .178 |
| Totals | 35 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Cleveland | 002 | 422 | 000—10 | 12 | 1 |
| Seattle | 000 | 000 | 003—3 | 7 | 1 |
E—Jh.Peralta (10), Cedeno (5). LOB—Cleveland 7, Seattle 9. 2B—A.Cabrera (21), Choo (19), Hafner (10), I.Suzuki (21), Branyan (18), Ro.Johnson (14). HR—Gimenez (3), off Jakubauskas; A.Cabrera (3), off Jakubauskas; Garko (11), off Olson. RBIs—A.Cabrera 2 (38), V.Martinez (64), Jh.Peralta 3 (43), Garko 2 (39), Gimenez 2 (5), Branyan (55), Ro.Johnson (20), Cedeno (17). SB—A.Cabrera (11), B.Francisco (13). RLISP—Cleveland 4 (V.Martinez, Hafner 2, Choo); Seattle 5 (Saunders 2, Jo.Lopez 3). RMU—I.Suzuki, Branyan, Saunders, Cedeno. GIDP—B.Francisco, Gimenez. DP—Seattle 2 (Jo.Lopez, Branyan), (Hannahan, Jo.Lopez, Branyan).
| Cleveland | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | NP | ERA |
| Sowers W, 3-7 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 103 | 5.15 |
| W.Abreu | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 10.50 |
| Veras | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 6.75 |
| Seattle | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | NP | ERA |
| Bedard L, 5-3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 81 | 2.82 |
| Jakubauskas | 1 2/3 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 5.59 |
| Olson | 4 1/3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 59 | 5.37 |
IR-S—Veras 1-1, Olson 1-0. HBP—by W.Abreu (Hannahan), by Jakubauskas (B.Francisco). WP—Sowers, Olson. T—3:13. A—29,213.