Piniella Left Hamstrung Pitching Collapses In M’S Loss; Buhner Sidelined With Injury
During the bad times in Shea Stadium, New York manager Dave Johnson would trudge to the mound while Mets fans pelted him with boos and chicken bones.
Back in the dugout, he would turn to third-base coach Sam Perlozzo and ask one question.
“You think this is easy?”
Perlozzo works for the Seattle Mariners now, but his answer is no different. Lou Piniella spent all afternoon trying to patch up a punchless lineup only to discover a rebuilt section of his pitching staff had collapsed again.
Dave Fleming and Bob Wells - two major disappointments all season - gave Baltimore 10 runs in a three-inning span Tuesday night, and the Orioles took them and ran off with a 12-6 victory over Seattle.
Think managing is easy?
Piniella, who might have lost cleanup hitter Jay Buhner to a strained hamstring for the foreseeable future, scrambled his lineup and came away with six runs, two coming on Marc Newfield’s home run.
When Seattle scores more than three runs, its record is 16-10. This time six left the Mariners a touchdown short.
It also left Piniella with a familiar problem - what to do on days when Randy Johnson, Chris Bosio and Tim Belcher aren’t pitching.
There’s been only one consistent answer for Seattle so far: lose.
On a team with 20 wins, Johnson, Bosio and Belcher have 11, and the bullpen has six others. That means in games begun by the No. 4 and No. 5 pitchers on Seattle’s staff, starters have three victories.
“Fleming didn’t throw that badly,” Piniella said. “What killed him tonight was throwing a curveball on a pitchout. That’s like asking Shaquille O’Neal to dunk from his knees …”
Fleming had coughed up a 2-0 lead and trailed 3-2 with two outs in the fifth inning and the speedy Jeffrey Hammonds on base. Piniella ordered a pitchout. Catcher Dan Wilson called one. Fleming missed the sign.
Buhner may be headed for DL
Jay Buhner was the first to say the Seattle Mariners couldn’t replace injured outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. - and now his team is saying the same thing about Buhner.
The man who hit the two-run home run that won Monday’s game against Baltimore, 2-0, did it on one good leg. A tight left hamstring that’s plagued him for two weeks was so painful that Buhner had to take himself out of Monday’s game.
So serious is the strain that Buh ner will be rested for the next 4-5 days - and the Mariners fear that even then, their cleanup hitter will be placed on the 15-day disabled list.
Buhner’s 32 RBIs rank him third in the league.