M’S Polish Off Jays, Go Tripping Home Wolcott’s Improving Pitching Leads Seattle To Its Best Start

They started the first trip of the season 0-2, finished it Sunday 4-2 - with the Seattle Mariners off to the best start in franchise history (8-4).

In between the first two losses in Detroit and the last three victories in Toronto, Bob Wolcott heard the lecture, a 45-minute crash course in how to win in the big leagues, delivered by Lou Piniella.

“I listened,” the rookie said.

Sunday, it was the Blue Jays who were beaten by the result, a superb seven-inning start by Wolcott that became yet another Mariners’ blowout, this time a 9-4 victory.

In the top of the eighth inning, however, the score was tied at 1 and Wolcott and Pat Hentgen were waistdeep in a pitching war.

“That,” Piniella said, “was the Bob Wolcott we saw late last season. He threw strikes, he pitched inside, he changed speeds. He was together out there today.”

So together that the more he pitched the better he got.

Wolcott survived a first-inning scare when Ed Sprague hit a ball down the line that hooked just foul.

“If it’s fair, it’s a three-run home run,” Wolcott said. “It was a bad pitch, and he hit the crap out of it. I thought it was fair. I got lucky.”

Toronto forged a tie with a second-inning run, but from that point on, the rookie right-hander gave them nothing. Wolcott retired 17 of the last 18 batters he faced and needed only 26 pitches to record his last nine outs.

For all that, Wolcott and the Mariners arrived in the eighth inning still knotted, 1-1. Then Paul Sorrento slapped an opposite-field double down the left-field line. That brought up Doug Strange in what, for some managers, would have been a sacrifice bunt situation.

“That was in the back of my mind,” Strange admitted, “but then I heard Lou yelling ‘Pull the ball.’ ” Piniella laughed.

“If Doug pulls the ball, he gets the man over and if the ball gets through, we’re ahead,” he said. “If he doesn’t get him over, I’m pinch-running Richie (Amaral) and we steal third base.”

Strange grounded a single up the middle, scoring Amaral and setting into motion an inning in which the Mariners scored four times, twice on Joey Cora’s third home run of the season.

And when Seattle rolled out another four runs in the top of the ninth inning to take a 9-1 lead - three of those late runs coming on Strange’s first homer - the pitching duel was forgotten.

“They say pitching and defense wins games,” Sorrento said, “but this team has pitching, defense, a great offense and maybe the best bench in baseball. It reminds me a little of last season.”

Last season, Sorrento played for the Cleveland Indians, who won 100 games in a shortened season and marched on to the World Series. It might be early to ponder such comparisons, but coming off the best year in franchise history, Seattle is off to its quickest start after 12 games.

“We started this trip 0-2 and won the last four games,” Piniella said. “We got Chris Bosio back. We got Wolcott back on track, and I think the more he pitches the more comfortable he’ll get.”

Mariners 9, Blue Jays 4

Seattle AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Cora 2b 5 2 2 2 0 0 .282 ADiaz lf 5 0 0 0 0 0 .136 Griffey Jr cf 2 0 0 1 1 0 .220 EMartinz dh 3 1 1 0 1 0 .289 Buhner rf 4 1 1 1 0 1 .286 Sorrento 1b 3 0 1 0 0 0 .206 1-Amrl pr-1b 1 2 1 0 0 0 .200 Strange 3b 4 2 2 4 0 0 .333 DWilson c 2 0 1 0 1 0 .270 Sojo ss 4 1 1 1 0 0 .375 Totals 33 9 10 9 3 1 Toronto AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Nixon cf 5 0 2 0 0 1 .304 TBrito 2b 3 0 0 0 0 2 .235 Carter lf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .277 Olerud 1b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .162 Sprague 3b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .244 CDelgado dh 2 0 0 0 2 0 .286 Green rf 4 2 1 0 0 0 .167 O’Brien c 4 1 2 2 0 1 .250 AGonzalz ss 4 1 1 2 0 1 .316 Totals 33 4 7 4 3 6 Seattle 100 000 044 - 9 10 0 Toronto 010 000 003 - 4 7 1 1-ran for Sorrento in the 8th.

E-Green (1). LOBSeattle 2, Toronto 6. 2B-Cora (2), Sorrento (1), Amaral (2), Green (1). 3B-EMartinez (1). HR- AGonzalez (3) off Ayala; Cora (3) off Hentgen; Strange (1) off Risley. RBIsCora 2 (4), Griffey Jr (12), Buhner (8), Strange 4 (4), Sojo (5), O’Brien 2 (6), AGonzalez 2 (8). S-DWilson, TBrito. SFGriffey Jr.

Runners left in scoring position-Seattle 1 (ADiaz); Toronto 2 (Olerud, Sprague).

Runners moved up-ADiaz, Sojo.

DP-Toronto 2 (Hentgen and Olerud), (Sprague and TBrito).

Seattle IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Wolctt W,1-1 7 3 1 1 2 4 98 6.75 MJackson 1 2 0 0 0 2 18 0.00 Ayala 1 2 3 3 1 0 29 9.64 Toronto IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Hentgn L,2-1 8 6 5 5 2 1 87 3.13 Risley 1 4 4 3 1 0 18 9.00 T-2:17. A-29,301 (50,516).