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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Brewers Trim Mariners On Buzz Cut Night Iii

Larry Larue Tacoma News Tribune

There are 64 games left to a season in which the Mariners find themselves - minus four key players - three games behind Texas in the American League West. The strain of staying close is beginning to show.

Last week, manager Lou Piniella issued a public plea for reinforcements, and on Tuesday, general manager Woody Woodward made a trade, sending a 22-year-old prospect to Boston for a 31-year-old journeyman third baseman.

Hours after the deal was announced, one senior Seattle executive was already seeking to distance himself from it - “This is Lou’s trade. It’s going to be like picking up Wally Backman,” he said.

And that was before Seattle got a one-inning start from Rusty Meacham and lost to the Milwaukee Brewers 7-3.

Whatever third baseman Jeff Manto, acquired for Tacoma Rainiers infielder Arquimedez Pozo, brings to his new team, it won’t be pitching. And he isn’t the impact player Piniella had hoped for.

But while front office types bicker over whether the deal should have been struck, the Mariners continue to chase a pennant - without Randy Johnson, Edgar Martinez, Chris Bosio or Russ Davis.

Woodward is said to be close to a trade for a starting pitcher and Bosio is five days away from rejoining the Seattle rotation. While the Mariners didn’t lose ground to the Rangers by dropping this one to the Brewers, they’re closer to third place than they are to first.

On Jay Buhner Buzz Cut Night III, a Kingdome crowd of 22,378 - plus another 3,697 hairless Buhner fans let in free - watched Seattle dropped into an all-too-familiar position by a shaky first inning.

Falling behind early didn’t merely put the Mariners in a hole, it forced Piniella to go to his bullpen in the second and ask for eight innings. Piniella got the eight innings, but relievers Rafael Carmona, Tim Davis and Blas Minor gave up four more runs while delivering them, and the Mariners, who’d tied the game at 3 on Jay Buhner’s fifth-inning homer, couldn’t come back again.

The game probably marked the end of Meacham’s string of starting assignments for Seattle - a stretch of five games in which he won once, lost once and displayed an off-the-mound temperament the Mariners weren’t quite sure what to do with.

Still, a man who screams at umpires might have stayed in the rotation if he’d pitched well consistently. Meacham hasn’t, and with the team trolling for a spot in which to insert Bosio back into the rotation, Meacham’s numbers and his one-inning start gave Piniella that opening.

Consider this: Meacham pitched one inning, allowed three hits and three runs, requiring 27 pitches to get three outs. In his Tuesday rehabilitation assignment in Everett, Bosio threw 54 pitches, pitched four innings without a walk, struck out eight and then went to the bullpen and threw another 30 pitches.

File it away. Come Sunday in the ‘dome against Detroit, Bosio will be starting in Meacham’s spot.

In the meantime, the Mariners chase the Rangers with spirit if not a healthy core. With Martinez on the 15-day disabled list and Alex Rodriguez and Ken Griffey Jr. a combined 1 for 8, rookie Andy Sheets doubled home one run and utilityman Rich Amaral singled home another.

Though they never could push ahead, the Mariners never were retired in order, either, putting men on base in every inning - and stranding 10 of those runners.