Two Builders Left In Stadium Race

The firms competing to build the Mariners’ new ballpark have been pared down to two finalists. The question of where the stadium should be constructed is becoming tougher to answer.

The board overseeing the $320 million project on Monday agreed to let two joint ventures bid on the job:

The M.A. Mortenson Co. of Minneapolis and Lease Crutcher Lewis of Bellevue. The joint venture has Coors Fields, the Colorado Rockies’ new stadium, on its resume.

Huber, Hunt & Nichols Inc. of Indianapolis and Kiewit Construction Co. of Omaha, Neb. The team’s construction resume includes the Arizona Diamondbacks stadium in Phoenix and the Milwaukee Brewers’ new stadium.

The board still must choose among three building sites near the Kingdome for the retractable-roof ballpark. Two of the sites are directly south of the Kingdome; one is a parking lot north of the dome. The board is expected to make a final decision on May 7.

Comeback aftershocks

The Mariners’ record-setting comeback victory Monday might not linger in the minds of Seattle and California players until the late summer pennant race, but you can bet each team’s psyche was affected.

California certainly didn’t expect to set season highs for hits and runs and then lose 11-10 in a game it led 9-1.

The Mariners’ victory can serve as a small mental edge for Seattle in the growing rivalry with the Angels.

Each team has taken its blows, but the Mariners have responded well enough to show others that they’re going to have to knock out the champ to win the title.

Norm Charlton, who recorded the victory Monday, isn’t much for seeing the game as more than one out of 162.

“If that game gave us mental edge enough to beat the Angels, we were going to beat the Angels anyway,” Charlton said about California’s frame of mind. “You’re not going to win anything in the first month. You’re not going to win games in the first two innings.”

Coming up

Sterling Hitchcock (3-0, 2.08 ERA) takes the mound for Seattle tonight against the Detroit Tigers’ Felipe Lira (1-2, 5.87). The game will be televised on Prime Sports and ESPN.

Notes

Monday’s starting pitcher, Paul Menhart, who didn’t fool anyone in his three innings, responded jokingly Tuesday, “I wanted to let the game become part of Mariners history.” … Baseball America ranks the game’s best players, 25 and younger, in its May 12 issue, and Seattle shortstop Alex Rodriguez is No. 4.