M’S Sweep Royals, And It Matters Griffey Proud Of Teammates After 5-4 Win To Keep Lead

Slipping into his clothes after a September game that mattered, Ken Griffey Jr. was asked Sunday if being in a pennant race - even a wild card version - was everything he had hoped it would be.

“Yeah it is,” he said, taking in the clubhouse with a sweep of his eyes. “I’m proud of these guys. They’re playing their butts off.”

One day deeper into a month that matters, the Seattle Mariners used everything they had - including their fannies - to beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-4, and stay atop the standings of the American League wild-card race.

Sweeping the Royals aside in a three-game series, the Mariners won the finale on Sunday with every phase of the game: power, speed, pitching and the mind of a manager who has won it all and wants another shot.

Lou Piniella, who won a world championship in Cincinnati, insists his managerial style is to “let these kids play.”

Don’t buy it.

In front of a Kingdome crowd of 18,066, Piniella let the Mariners play and got big home runs from Dan Wilson and Jay Buhner. He let them pitch and got solid work from his bullpen, which allowed only one run in four innings to earn both the victory and the save.

And from his perch in the dugout, Piniella made the small moves that win games - after setting them in motion days earlier.

Reading a scouting report on the Royals before the series began, Piniella came across a tiny bit of information he filed away: Royals manager Bob Boone would pinch-hit for his starters in the middle innings if he found himself in a left-hander vs. left-hander situation.

For a team whose middle-innings relief strength is almost entirely right-handed - and thus vulnerable to lefties - that was a tendency Piniella used to his advantage.

Tied 3-3 in the sixth inning, Piniella brought in left-hander Lee Guetterman to face three men. Boone countered by pulling three left-handers - Bob Hamelin, Keith Lockhart and Jon Nunnally - out of the game for pinch-hitters.

Guetterman and Bill Risley got through that sixth inning unscathed, but the moves hurt the Royals and helped Seattle an inning later. Against right-hander Jeff Nelson, the same spots in the Kansas City lineup came to bat in the seventh - and Boone was out of left-handed hitters.

Nelson struck out Juan Samuel and Greg Gagne to leave the bases loaded.

It was the kind of baseball strategy that goes largely unnoticed, but in a game decided by one run, in a race that might come down to one game, it was a slick maneuver by Piniella.

Once the Mariners got to the eighth inning, tied again at 4, the manager had one last ace up his sleeve. He’d asked Vince Coleman on Friday if he was available to pinch run - since his ailing left hip prevented him only from hitting.

“I can go,” Coleman said.

When Wilson drew a leadoff walk in the eighth, Coleman was called upon to do just that. Against reliever Gregg Olson, Coleman promptly stole second base. Alex Diaz bunted him to third and Joey Cora doubled Coleman home for a 5-4 lead.

From there, it was Norm Charlton’s game, and a 1-2-3 inning later, Charlton had his eighth save and the Mariners their 65th win of the year.

Notes

Coleman missed all of the series vs. his former Kansas City teammates with a tender left hip until pinchrunning in the eighth inning. He could return to the lineup against Minnesota tonight, but likely will need another day.

Edgar Martinez has tied his own club record for doubles (46) in a season.

Jay Buhner is the third Mariner to hit as many as 30 home runs in a season, joining Griffey, who has done it twice, and Gorman Thomas.

In his 25th game back, Griffey walked three times to bring his total to 19 walks since coming off the disabled list.