M’S Angry Early, Prevail Late Five-Run Eighth, Ayala’s Relief Carry Mariners Past Twins 6-4
They showed up with what Ken Griffey Jr. called “attitudes” on Wednesday - a clubhouse full of righteously indignant Seattle Mariners.
“It’s what you’d hope to see after a tough loss,” Griffey said. “You can hang your heads or you can get ticked off. We came in here ticked off.”
Attitudes didn’t translate to runs until much of the game with the Minnesota Twins was over, but when Seattle threw a five-run eighth inning into the mix they seized a two-run lead and handed it over to … Bobby Ayala?
The man whose last pitch a night earlier had been turned into Kirby Puckett’s two-out, ninth-inning, game-winning home run pitched the eighth and ninth innings Wednesday to save Seattle’s 6-4 victory.
“I needed to get back out there,” Ayala said.
It was a night of milestones and surprises for the Mariners, who were on the verge of losing two in a row to the team with the worst record in major-league baseball.
Junior delivered the 1,000th hit of his career, a first-inning single. Vince Coleman got off a plane, took batting practice, picked up his first two hits - and first stolen base - as a Seattle Mariner and scored twice.
Randy Johnson went six solid innings, though the Twins tweaked him for three runs, and for all that the Twins led after seven, 4-1.
“The way Frank Rodriguez was pitching, it didn’t look too good,” Johnson said.
Rookie Rodriguez, acquired in the trade that sent Rick Aguilera to Boston last month, shut out Seattle on six hits through seven innings in the best start of his young career. Inning after inning, the Mariners got nothing - which didn’t improve their attitudes much.
When Coleman singled to lead off the eighth, manager Tom Kelly pulled Rodriguez and went to his bullpen. Scott Watkins walked Griffey, allowing Coleman to steal second in the process.
Kelly yanked him in favor of right-hander Pat Mahomes. The first man Mahomes faced, Edgar Martinez, doubled home two runs to make it 4-3.
“Edgar,” manager Lou Piniella said, shaking his head. “He gets big hits every other day, doesn’t he?”
Jay Buhner walked, and Mike Blowers, trying to bunt, forced Edgar Martinez at third base to bring up Doug Strange. On a one-strike pitch, Mahomes threw Strange an off-speed pitch that bounced in the dirt.
Strange swung - an ugly hack that left him screaming at himself.
“I know that guy and he’s a fastball-slider pitcher,” Strange said. “I don’t know what that pitch was, a forkball, a palm ball, something. What an ugly swing I took.”
Mahomes threw a slider and Strange tripled off the wall in rightcenter field, driving in two more runs and putting Seattle ahead, 5-4.
“I know my role on this team, and when the guys were hot - and Mike (Blowers) is hotter than anyone - there’s not a lot of at-bats left for me,” Strange said. “We’d been playing well and I hadn’t contributed a thing. This is the time of year, though, when you don’t care who gets the hits, you don’t care which pitcher gets the win.
“As long as at the end of the night there’s a ‘W’ next to the Mariners, you’re happy.”
The drama wasn’t over, however. With Strange on third, Piniella went to his bench for a pinch-hitter who had been sound asleep two innings earlier - Tino Martinez.
“I’ve got strep throat and they gave me a shot, gave me medication and told me I’d be better in 24 hours,” Tino Martinez said. “I went to the trainers’ table in the clubhouse and slept until about the sixth inning. I didn’t even know how anybody had gotten their runs.”
He knew all about the Mariners’ sixth run, because he singled it home - his 87th RBI of the season and his first as a pinch-hitter.
Piniella then went to his bullpen and Ayala, who got through the eighth inning. When the bottom of the ninth began, Norm Charlton was loose, warming up and waiting. Piniella stayed with Ayala.
As for Griffey, his return from the disabled list continued steadily if without glaring numbers: In two games, he’s 2 for 7 with three walks and a pair of runs scored.
xxxx A.L. WILD CARD RACE W L Pct. GB Texas 53 49 .520 - New York 52 50 .510 1 Seattle 52 50 .510 1 Milwaukee 51 50 .505 1 Kansas City 48 51 .485 3 Oakland 48 56 .462 6 Baltimore 47 55 .461 6