Ohhhhhh, Bobby! 22-Year-Old Pitches Mariners To 3-2 Win In Opener Wolcott, Mariners Escape Jams
The Seattle Mariners’ miracles may never cease.
It wasn’t a last-at-bat hero this time, but a last-minute pitcher who led Lou Piniella’s upstarts to a 3-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians in Game 1 of the ALCS Tuesday night before 57,065 fans in this suddenly baseball-delirious city.
“He’s a sinker-slider pitcher,” Cleveland manager Mike Hargrove said before the game.
“It’s not like we’re facing Randy Johnson the second.”
Maybe not, but Bob Wolcott - a 22-year old righty added to the ALCS roster Monday - gave the M’s their best non-Johnson start of the postseason, holding the 100-win Indians to two runs on eight hits in seven innings. More amazing is that Wolcott did all that after walking the game’s first three hitters on 13 pitches.
“He came out shakily,” said Piniella. “But the kid can pitch. He adds and subtracts to the speed of his fastball, and keeps hitters off balance. He did a heck of a job. He really came in and gave this team a lift.”
“Lift” is an understatement. For the first time since their one-game playoff with the Angels, the Mariners have starters and relievers rested and ready to go.
“We’ve been kind of a mish-mash for a while,” said catcher Dan Wilson. “This win gives us a real good chance, with Randy going in Game 3, to get this series back to the Kingdome, which would be huge.”
The whole tenor of the game was set in the first, when Wolcott worked out of a self-induced, bases-loaded jam. After walking the bags full, Wolcott struck out Albert Belle, got Eddie Murray on a pop to third, and got a diving stab from second baseman Joey Cora that took a hit away from Jim Thome, who had roped what looked to be a hit up the middle.
“I think it’s a different game if that ball gets through,” said Thome. “That might have rolled through the gap. It was definitely two runs, maybe even three.”
Instead, Wolcott settled down. The Indians scratched him for a run in the third, and Belle connected for a solo shot in the seventh. Jeff Nelson and Norm Charlton combined on the final six outs.
“It’s a tremendous relief,” said Wolcott. “Anything could have happened, we could have gotten blown out. It’s just a relief.”
Forty-year-old Dennis Martinez was masterful for the Indians, as well, particularly in the way he held down the heart of of the Seattle lineup. The quartet of Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, Tino Martinez and Jay Buhner was held without an RBI for the first time in the postseason.
Martinez’s regrets could only be with the damage inflicted upon him by the Mariners’ more unsuspecting players.
Mike Blowers, the No. 7 hitter, came through with a two-run homer in the second. And Sojo, the No. 8 hitter, snapped the seventh-inning tie with an RBI double.
“When we didn’t score early,” said Martinez, “that puts pressure on a pitcher. You better win when you hold down their big hitters. I did the best I could out there, but we didn’t score the runs.”
Wolcott, who was 3-2 during the regular season, was added to the roster under Major League rule 40. The Mariners replaced outfielder Warren Newson with pitcher Greg Hibbard, who is out with a rotator cuff injury. Once added to the roster, Hibbard was then replaced by Wolcott. A slick maneuver.
“It’s within the rules and I know we would have done the same thing if we had to,” Hargrove said.
ILLUSTRATION: Color photo