Blanked M’S To Reload M’S Lineup To Take On Fresh Look

Not much escapes the manager of the Seattle Mariners.

The Cleveland Indians changed their lineup Saturday and, for the first time in the American League Championship Series, played like they’d expected to play - blowing out the Mariners, 7-0, to tie the series at 2-2.

Tonight, in what both teams agree is the biggest game of the best-of-seven series thus far, Piniella will shake up his own lineup.

Sit down, Vince Coleman. Take a seat, Mike Blowers. Don’t look too comfortable, Joey Cora.

“I’m not going into details, but there will be a few changes,” Piniella said after Game 4. “We’re not scoring runs, we’re not hitting, we’re not doing a lot of the little things we have to do. We’re going to show them a different look.”

Against Orel Hershiser - a man who shut Seattle down in Game 2 - the Mariners will go with a new starting pitcher, Chris Bosio, and a lineup that could include Alex Diaz, Doug Strange, maybe Felix Fermin.

And Piniella made one more announcement: Andy Benes won’t be starting again in this series.

The big right-hander acquired July 31 has pitched well at times and been rocked at times, and in the most important start of his Seattle career - which will likely end whenever this postseason does - he was a 6-foot-6 disaster.

Did Piniella notice any problems with his starter?

“Yeah, I saw a few balls that were going into the seats,” Piniella said.

Benes was the easiest target on Saturday, when the Mariners played their worst game of October, failing in every area that mattered. The bullpen pitched well, but only after the game was gone.

“We’ve proven all year we can bounce back from deficits,” Benes said, “but when you’re down 1-0, then 3-0, then 4-0, then 6-0 - all in the first three innings - that’s asking too much from your team. I didn’t do the job.”

In that, Benes wasn’t alone.

On a night when the Indians lost two regulars, Albert Belle and Sandy Alomar Jr., to minor injuries, Seattle looked lost in the infield and, until Benes left after 2-1/3 innings, clueless on the mound.

And Ken Hill, the Indians’ hired gun, pitched his finest game since joining Cleveland on July 27 - three days before the Mariners picked up Benes. After pitching seven shutout innings, Hill’s effort drew rather conditional praise.

“He threw strikes,” manager Mike Hargrove said.

“He threw strikes,” Piniella said.

Matched against Benes and an anemic Seattle lineup - the Mariners managed six hits, three of those by Jay Buhner - throwing strikes was enough.

Back when it was still a contest, in the first inning, both teams set the tone that lasted throughout the night. Kenny Lofton singled and stole second, and Dan Wilson’s throw bounced into center field when Joey Cora couldn’t field it on a hop.

Benes walked Omar Vizquel, who was 0 for 12 in the series at that point, and then got a grounder to Cora. As Lofton scored the Indians’ first run, Cora declined to throw to second base and instead went to first for an easy out.

Eddie Murray then hit a Benes fastball 435 feet for a home run and a 3-0 lead.

“It was right down the middle,” Benes said. “I couldn’t get ahead of anybody, and when I threw strikes, they were all right in the middle of the plate.”

It got worse. In the second inning, Alomar’s replacement, 38-year-old Tony Pena, singled and then thoroughly embarrassed Seattle. Wayne Kirby banged a grounder at third baseman Mike Blowers, who threw to first base for the out. Pena, rounding second, lit out for third when he saw no one covering that bag.

It wasn’t Blowers’ play - fielding the ground ball took him deep into the infield. But no one else covered third for him. Not shortstop Luis Sojo, not pitcher Benes.

So on a grounder to third, a 38-year-old catcher went from first to third base - and scored a moment later on a ground ball to shortstop.

At the plate, the Mariners fared no better. They had two men on base in the second inning and left them when Blowers struck out and Sojo flied out.

They had two runners on base in the third inning and stranded those, too, when Edgar Martinez grounded weakly to second base.

But the worst was the third. Tino Martinez led off with a single, Buhner doubled - and Hill struck out Blowers and Sojo, then got a routine grounder from Wilson to get out of the jam. Seattle never got another man to third.

“Now it’s down to a three-game series,” Piniella said. “One team has to win two games. No game this series is bigger than Game 5 - if we win, we go home having to win just one of two games in the Kingdome. If they win, we’ve got two sweep ‘em at home.”

Lofton, the Indians’ center fielder who is batting .467, agreed on today’s game.

“It’s like you’re starting over, 0-0, and the first team to win two goes to the World Series,” he said. “All we have to do is what we did tonight, and we’ve done that all year. Tonight you saw the Cleveland Indians.”

And the Seattle Mariners. Although if you tune in tonight, you might not recognize them as the same team that began Game 4.

“No question, we’re going to change things,” Piniella said. “Edgar, I have patience with - he won a batting title. Some other guys, you’ve got to make the switch now. We can’t beat the Indians without scoring - I don’t care who’s pitching for us.”

Notes

Eddie Murray, who’s been swinging at a lot of first pitches in this series, drew a well-earned, 14-pitch walk in the fifth inning from Bob Wells. Murray fouled off a 2-2 pitch, took ball three and then fouled off seven straight full-count pitches before walking. … Toronto second baseman Roberto Alomar, brother of Cleveland catcher Sandy Alomar, was in the stands. Roberto also got to catch up with Carlos Baerga of the Indians; they’re often compared as the best second basemen in baseball, and they’re also best friends.