Free-Wheeling M’S Win Krueger Quits Stationary Bike To Deliver Superb Relief Work

Randy Johnson was dealing from the mound, launching pitches the Milwaukee Brewers could do nothing with, when Bill Krueger began riding the stationary bicycle on Thursday.

Forty-five minutes later, Krueger was still riding in the Seattle clubhouse, pumping away in a between-starts workout that left him briefly jelly-legged.

Not long after dismount, Krueger was hastily ordered to the bullpen, asked to warm up and, jelly-legs and all, shoved into another Mariners-Brewers extra-inning game.

The 37-year-old left-hander was supposed to start in Toronto on Saturday, but a 12-inning game Wednesday - and a 13-inning affair on Thursday - necessitated a change of plans.

“We didn’t have anybody else,” manager Lou Piniella said.

That speech won’t get Krueger nominated for the Cy Young Award, but his four scoreless innings against the Brewers led Seattle to a 4-2 victory in the 13th inning.

Krueger wasn’t about to play prima donna between scheduled starts.

“Let’s be realistic - I had to beg for a job in Tacoma. I’m not about to turn down any chance to take the ball,” he said. “I threw on the side (Wednesday), my throw day, and I rode the bike hard today during the game. But I learned a long time ago never to put limitations on what you think you can do.”

Journeyman Krueger has pitched in the major leagues with Oakland, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Seattle, Minnesota, Montreal, Detroit and San Diego. When the Padres released him last year, he became a free agent without portfolio and, eventually, a Tacoma Rainier.

When the Mariners purchased his contract last week, Krueger made the 160th start of his big-league career - on seven days rest - and lasted all of four innings.

After Piniella had used Johnson, Jeff Nelson, Steve Frey and Bob Wells against the Brewers in a game that showed no indication it would ever end, he was just about out of options. Krueger and his 9.00 earned run average got the call.

In four innings, he faced 13 batters, one over the minimum. When the Mariners broke through in the top of the 13th inning, scoring a pair of unearned runs, Krueger finished up and emerged 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA.

The winning rally was hardly a Mariners breakthrough - it consisted of a single, two Milwaukee errors, a pair of stolen bases and two intentional walks.

Still, a night after they’d taken a 6-5 lead in the top of the 12th inning, only to lose in the bottom half, 7-6, winning this one was just about a necessity.

“We’ve got to win both these games, period,” Jay Buhner said. “There’s no excuse for losing last night - if we win that game, right now we’re sitting on a four-game winning streak, we’re above .500 and we’ve gained a couple games on the other teams in the division.”

Notes

A key King County Council committee has told the Seattle Mariners the county won’t spend more than $240.8 million on a new baseball stadium. After voting to impose the spending cap, the council’s Budget Committee sent the ordinance setting up a Sept. 19 primary vote on the stadium to the full council… . The proposal would ask county voters to raise the sales tax from 8.2 percent to 8.3 percent.The tax increase would cost the average citizen about $9 per year.

Luis Sojo fouled two consecutive pitches off his left ankle in the fourth inning and had to be helped off the field with a bad bruise.