Final Showdown In Wild West M’S Lose, Angels Win To Force Today’s Finale
In the span of two months, they rallied from a 13-game deficit in the American League West, and over the final weeks of the season won 16 of 21 games.
So why were so many of the Seattle Mariners angry on Sunday?
Not because their road to the postseason is blocked, but because they complicated their October ambitions by losing to Texas, 9-3 - forcing a one-game playoff in the Kingdome today with the California Angels.
The winner will be the division champion.
The winner also must fly cross-country after today’s game to begin a Tuesday division championship series in New York.
The winner will also be without the services of its staff ace for the first three games of that series - Randy Johnson if the Mariners win, Mark Langston should the Angels beat Seattle.
“We didn’t make the road ahead any easier,” Mike Blowers said. “We had two games here to win it outright and fly to New York. It didn’t happen, and now we’ve got it a little tougher.”
Jay Buhner, noted diplomat and an outfielder who hit his 40th home run of the season Sunday, was even more candid.
“You want to know how I feel? I’m (ticked) off. Our hearts were set on winning it here, on going on to New York and getting ready for the Yankees - with the Big Unit starting Game 1. Now we go with the cards we’re dealt.”
The cards dealt Sunday favored the Rangers, who had nothing on the line but jumped Seattle starter Tim Belcher early for five runs in 3-2/3 innings. Mickey Tettleton homered again, his third in two games, to help build a 7-1 lead.
“Mickey’s a good man, and he came over before the game and wished us luck,” manager Lou Piniella said. “I told him, ‘We’d have been a lot luckier if you hadn’t played the last two games.’
“This isn’t the end of the world. For a week or so, you all have been asking me to make comparisons between this year and 1978, when I was with the Yankees and we had a one-game playoff with Boston. Well, you’ve got your comparisons now. We play one game for the division championship.”
Piniella and the Yankees beat Boston in ‘78, and today Piniella’s Mariners will send Johnson to the mound against California on three days rest. By the numbers - and Piniella knows the numbers - it’s a solid move.
Johnson is 17-2 this season, 2-1 against the Angels and, working on three days of rest five times, piled up a 3-0 record with a 3.22 earned-run average. In 18 career starts against California, Johnson is 9-5.
Langston, the man Seattle traded to Montreal in 1989 for pitchers Johnson, Brian Holman and Gene Harris, has never fared particularly well against his ex-teammates. He’s 4-6 with a 4.73 ERA vs. the Mariners.
“We’ve got an edge in that we’ve played very well at home all season,” Piniella said. “We’ve got our ace going, we’ll probably have a crowd in the ‘Dome. What is it they call the place when it’s rocking, Horror Dome? No, Thunderdome.”
Whatever.
Seattle went 45-27 in the Kingdome this season, the best winning percentage in team history. Few of the Mariners, however, wanted to be here today - not even Blowers, who grew up in Tacoma.
“We gave the fans a great homestand last week, and we wanted to bring the playoffs back to the ‘Dome later this week,” he said, “but we didn’t want to have to come back for this one game. The main thing is to get into the playoffs, and we’ve got one game left to do that.”
Tino Martinez was more conciliatory than some of his teammates.
“It would have been great to win today but we didn’t, so you’ve got to let it go,” Martinez said. “It’s still in our hands.”