Liddi’s career night lifts Mariners

DETROIT – Alex Liddi admits he really doesn’t know much about the last Italian-born major leaguer who played in this very city a half-century ago.

It’s hard to blame Liddi, since Reno Bertoia lived in Italy only one year, then moved with his family across the river from here in Windsor, Ontario, before spending much of a decade with the Detroit Tigers. And on Tuesday night, it was Liddi making his own name both here and in his native Italy, delivering a home run in a three-hit performance for a much-needed 7-4 win by his Mariners.

The biggest game of Liddi’s young career nearly didn’t happen. It was largely because of a decision by manager Eric Wedge to rest first baseman Justin Smoak and his nagging hamstring in favor of the first Italian-born-and-raised player in the majors.

“I don’t play every day,” Liddi said. “So every game I play, I just go out there and try to have good at-bats.”

He had a few, none bigger than when he belted a solo home run to left off Tigers reliever Collin Balester in the seventh inning. The Tigers had been creeping back in it all night, with a two-run homer by Alex Avila in the fourth and then a solo rocket from Miguel Cabrera in the fifth, both off Seattle starter Jason Vargas.

But Liddi’s first home run of the season restored a 6-4 advantage for the Mariners and gave reliever Tom Wilhelmsen some cushion during a nerve-wracking eighth inning.

Michael Saunders then put it away with his second run-scoring double of the night, in the ninth.

The 15-hit attack by the Mariners was a welcome start to what promises to be a tough, nine-game, three-city road swing. It comes as the Mariners, who snapped a four-game losing streak, are seeing their offensive abilities increasingly questioned.

“We did a pretty good job tonight,” Liddi said. “Every inning we were putting pressure on the pitcher. We had a lot of men on base today.”

The Mariners grabbed a 4-0 lead by the third inning against Tigers starter Max Scherzer.

Saunders doubled home a pair of those runs in the third inning. But Avila closed the gap to 4-3 with his two-out, two-run shot in the fourth.

But after Avila’s blast helped Detroit close within a run, Liddi lined a single off Scherzer in the fifth inning that sent Kyle Seager from first to third. Seager later scored on a fielder’s-choice ground out to restore the two-run advantage, and Seattle kept the lead the rest of the way.

It wasn’t easy, as the first two hitters reached base off Wilhelmsen in a 6-4 game in the eighth and Delmon Young sent Ichiro Suzuki back to the warning track in right-center to haul in a dangerous fly ball.

Wilhelmsen then pitched out of the jam by dropping a nasty curve in on Jhonny Peralta for a called third strike with the count full before striking out Avila as well to end Detroit’s last serious threat.

Wedge said it takes confidence for a pitcher to execute such a pitch in that situation, where the ball begins out of the strike zone before dropping in late.

“One of the reasons he’s in the backside of our bullpen is his toughness out there,” Wedge said.

The Mariners also showed some toughness with their fortunes reeling.

“We’re not panicking,” Liddi said. “We just had a tough homestand. But we were swinging well before that. It’s just the week before this was pretty tough. So now, we’re back where we started.”