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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Fleming, M’S Can’t Hold Off Yanks Former Rookie Pitching Ace Loses His Place In Rotation

Larry Larue Tacoma News Tribune

Little League, summer leagues, high school, college, the minor leagues, the majors - Dave Fleming has pitched in them all.

And not once, at any level, did the 25-year-old left-hander ever feel he was hurting his team.

Until now.

On Sunday, the Seattle Mariners lost a game to the New York Yankees, 10-7, lost it late when the Yanks rolled a five-run eighth inning together against relievers Steve Frey and Bobby Ayala.

But Fleming, his teammates and his manager knew that they had lost this one early, in large part because of a starting pitcher who was handed a 3-0 lead and couldn’t get out of the second inning.

And Fleming, his teammates and his manager suspected something else Sunday: Fleming, who hasn’t been a dependable starter since his rookie season in 1992, is out of chances.

“We’ll talk about what we’re going to do once we get back to Seattle,” a grim-faced Lou Piniella said. “With the off-day Thursday, we’re going to skip this spot in the rotation until a week from Tuesday, anyway, so we have some time to think about it.”

The bottom line? Fleming is out of the rotation, probably off the 25-man roster and the Mariners, who signed him to a one-year, $800,000 contract this spring, are out of ideas.

“I can’t help him,” pitching coach Bobby Cuellar said. “I’ve tried, and he listens but he can’t carry it out to the mound. He knows what he has to do, and he’s the only one who can do it.”

Before this game began, Fleming knew he needed a solid performance to keep his job, knew the team needed innings from him that he hadn’t been able to provide all year. In his first five starts, he lasted just 24 innings - never going past the fifth inning.

Matched against New York rookie right-hander Mariano Rivera, the Mariners got three quick runs on back-to-back singles by Joey Cora and Alex Diaz and a three-run home run by Edgar Martinez, his fourth in five games.

“If you’re a big-league pitcher and you get a 3-0 lead, you pitch six, seven innings, you give up one or two runs,” Fleming said. “You keep your team in it, you save your bullpen and the team probably gets you another few runs along the way.”

The Mariners got more runs along the way - a two-run single by Marc Newfield and solo home runs by Chad Kreuter and Tino Martinez. But Fleming wasn’t around to see any of that.

“I couldn’t put the ball where I wanted it, I don’t have a pitch I can put right where I want it,” Fleming said, looking like a man in shock. “The second inning, I walked two guys, fell behind Gerald Williams and threw him a fastball he hit out. Then I fell behind Bernie Williams and he did the same thing … “

And that was it - perhaps Fleming’s last start in the foreseeable future ended after 1 1/3 innings. He got four outs, the Yankees four runs.

Seattle rallied to regain the lead, and Piniella had to reach deep into his bullpen, using Bob Wells, Ron Villone, Jeff Nelson, Frey and Ayala. It was good enough to get the Mariners into the bottom of the eighth inning with a 7-5 lead.

“We can’t get innings from Fleming, and what happens when you go to your bullpen in the second inning?” Piniella asked, then answered his own question. “You burn out your bullpen too early, and it hurts you today and it hurts you for the next few days. And every four or five days, that’s what’s happened with this team.”

Wells got nine outs. Villone one. Nelson four. Frey four.

And that got the Mariners into the eighth inning - although when Frey left, there was one out, the bases were loaded and the Yankees had already scored a run to get to within one, 7-6.

After striking out Jim Leyritz in the ninth inning Saturday on splitfingered fastballs, Ayala threw the Yankees catcher a first-pitch fastball Sunday and Leyritz singled home two runs to put New York ahead.

Ayala then threw a split-fingered pitch in the dirt, catcher Chad Kreuter was charged with a passed ball, and Wade Boggs scored from third base. A single, a sacrifice fly later, New York had a 10-spot and the Mariners were done.