Mussina Muzzles Mariners Orioles Beat Buhner-Less M’S, Spoiling Fine Effort By Wagner

There would seem to be nothing delicate about a Seattle lineup that is the heart of this team - a group of mashers that on its best days is as powerful as any in baseball.

Disrupt the balance even slightly, however, and the thing goes a wobbling.

On Tuesday, two things threw Seattle’s lineup off course.

One was Jay Buhner, who couldn’t play.

The other was Mike Mussina, who did.

Without Buhner in the lineup, the Orioles attacked the Mariners differently - and Mussina pitched like a Cy Young Award candidate, defeating Seattle 4-1 and ruining the return to the big leagues of rookie Matt Wagner.

“The kid pitched a great game,” said Buhner, who watched it in the training room while nursing an ailing right ankle. “He had one inning where they got a couple of bleeders, a couple of chinkers and one hard hit ball … ” That would be the Baltimore fourth inning. Entering it with a 1-0 lead - built on Mark Whiten’s second home run - Wagner made the pitches he wanted to, and watched that lead disappear.

A solid double up the alley in left-center field by Bobby Bonilla was followed by a pop fly double to the opposite field by B.J. Surhoff that tied the game. Cal Ripken Jr., a dead pull hitter from the right side, then flipped a ball over the head of first baseman Paul Sorrento to make it 2-1, Orioles.

“Every pitch I made found a hole or a spot in the outfield,” Wagner said of the inning. “I needed a ground ball and I got one, but it was hit so slowly we couldn’t turn a double play. And Mussina just didn’t make any mistakes.”

Ah, Mussina.

All day long, Buhner had thought of facing the Orioles ace, a right-hander with a 15-8 record coming in despite a 4.93 earned run average. Then, walking into the ballpark, Buhner’s right ankle locked up.

“There’s a piece of bone floating around in there, and it just froze up,” Buhner said. “I took treatment, I plan on playing (today) but I couldn’t even walk when the game started. I couldn’t put weight on it.”

That delicate little piece of bone may have changed this game before it began.

Consider the evidence: Buhner’s career numbers against Mussina are astonishing - a .429 batting average with three home runs in just 21 at-bats.

And without Buhner in the lineup, the Mariners dropped Dan Wilson into the fifth spot behind Edgar Martinez. The result? Baltimore walked Martinez his last three at-bats.

“I never got a pitch I could do anything with,” Martinez said.

“This is no reflection on Danny (Wilson) or Paul (Sorrento),” Buhner said, “but the top of our lineup is made up of pieces that fit. Take one of them away, you put a damper on the rest.”

Pitching to preserve a three-run lead in the eighth inning, Baltimore not only worked around Martinez, it worked around Ken Griffey Jr., too.

Alex Rodriguez singled with two outs - the Mariners’ third and final hit of the game. Jesse Orosco then walked Griffey. Alan Mills relieved Orosco and walked Martinez on five pitches.

Then he struck out Wilson, who went down swinging for the third time.

The result delighted the largest Camden Yards crowd of the season - 47,679 - and pushed the Orioles deeper into the run at a wild-card berth. For the Mariners, the clock seems to be speeding up on a bad end.

Since escaping the Kingdome and that 1-8 homestand, the Mariners have gone 3-2, eaten up six more days of the schedule and gained nothing on the Texas Rangers.

They trail the American League West leaders by seven games. And in the wild card race, they trail both Chicago and Baltimore.

“I watched last season when this team got so hot, and that’s what we have to do now,” Wagner said. “The trouble tonight was Mussina. I hate to say it, but I love watching him pitch.”

Held to three hits, the Mariners managed seven walks but didn’t score a run off of them.