No. 5 Starter Does Top Job For Mariners

When Paul Menhart started comparing video tape of his pitching this year to his work last season, the frightening truth he saw had nothing to do with mechanics.

“To be honest, what jumped out at me was my attitude,” Menhart said. “What I was doing this year was pitching scared.”

His response?

“I kicked myself,” Menhart said.

And then he kicked the Cleveland Indians, too - pitching the Seattle Mariners to a 5-1 victory that snapped a three-game losing streak for the club and gave Menhart his first major league win as a starter.

“This is my life, my career, and I was fooling around with it,” Menhart said. “If I didn’t do well tonight, I was out of here.”

The irony may be that Menhart could be out of here, anyway, not because of his pitching but because the job he holds as the No. 5 starter in a five-man rotation isn’t needed for nearly three weeks.

“This was a positive for him, a positive for us,” manager Lou Piniella said.

If Menhart is sent to Class AAA Tacoma to make room for reliever Joe Klink, he would do well to take with him the approach of Darren Bragg - the scrappy outfielder who got back to the big leagues Friday just in time to hit a leadoff home run.

“I’ve been in the bushes the last three weeks, playing in front of 500 people,” said Bragg, recalled from the Rainiers just before game time. “I get here tonight and I’m playing in the Kingdome in front of 57,000 people. I got emotional.”

The Mariners third sellout crowd of the season - 57,133 strong - greeted Bragg warmly in the first, sparked in part by Menhart having just retired the Indians 1-2-3.

Bragg worked pitcher Albie Lopez to a full count, then hammered a fastball over the fence in right field.

“Darren had a big night. Menhart had a big night, and we got outstanding relief pitching from a couple of our kids, Tim Davis and Rafael Carmona,” Piniella said. “But Edgar had a special night, too.”

Batting champion Martinez had a milestone night on an evening when the team handed out thousands of replica Edgar Martinez jerseys.

His solo homer in the first put Seattle ahead 2-0. Five innings later, facing Lopez again in a 3-1 game, Martinez hit a two-run shot, his ninth homer of the season.

The 100th of his career.

“When I signed, I didn’t think I’d hit 10, let alone 100,” he said. “That’s a big number for me, 100 home runs.”

If homer No. 99 irked the Indians, No. 100 beat them, putting this game a little too far out of reach. Menhart got the game into the sixth, then appeared to tire.

After giving up Julio Franco’s long homer and singles to Albert Belle and Eddie Murray, Menhart was replaced by left-hander Davis - who promptly struck out third baseman Jim Thome.

Piniella immediately went to his bullpen again and right-hander Carmona, who ended the sixth inning and pitched two more scoreless innings, as well.

“He’s very quietly doing the job, filling the role we needed him to fill,” Piniella said.

Mariners 5, Indians 1

Cleveland AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Lofton cf 3 0 0 0 1 0 .333 Franco 1b 4 1 2 1 0 1 .342 Baerga 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .254 Belle lf 4 0 2 0 0 1 .339 Murray dh 4 0 1 0 0 0 .217 Thome 3b 2 0 0 0 1 2 .291 b-Leius ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Burnitz rf 1 0 1 0 1 0 .308 a-MRmrz ph-rf 2 0 0 0 0 0 .272 SAlomar c 4 0 1 0 0 1 .325 Vizquel ss 4 0 1 0 0 1 .286 Totals 33 1 8 1 3 8

Seattle AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Bragg lf 4 2 2 1 0 1 .235 Cora 2b 4 0 1 0 0 2 .218 Griffey Jr cf 3 1 1 1 0 1 .262 EMartinz dh 4 2 2 3 0 1 .352 Buhner rf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .287 Sorrento 1b 3 0 1 0 0 0 .268 DWilson c 3 0 0 0 0 0 .273 Sojo ss 3 0 0 0 0 1 .250 RDavis 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .256 Totals 31 5 8 5 0 7

Cleveland 000 001 000 - 1 8 0 Seattle 201 002 00x - 5 8 0

a-grounded into fielder’s choice for Burnitz in the 6th. b-struck out for Thome in the 8th.

LOB - Cleveland 8, Seattle 3. 2B-Burnitz (1), Cora (5), Sorrento (3). HR-Bragg (2) off Lopez; EMartinez 2 (9) off Lopez 2; Franco (5) off Menhart. RBIsFranco (22), Bragg (2), Griffey Jr (19), EMartinez 3 (26). SF-Griffey Jr. GIDP-Murray.

Runners left in scoring position-Cleveland 3 (MRamirez, SAlomar 2); Seattle 3 (EMartinez, Sojo 2).

DP-Seattle 2 (Sorrento), (Sojo and Sorrento).

Cleveland IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Lopez L,1-1 5-1/3 7 5 5 0 3 81 6.75 Embree 1-2/3 1 0 0 0 3 26 6.75 Plunk 1 0 0 0 0 1 9 3.14

Seattle IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Mnhrt W,1-2 5-1/3 7 1 1 2 4 81 8.20 TDavis 1/3 0 0 0 0 1 4 5.06 Carmona 2-1/3 0 0 0 1 2 34 2.25 Charlton 1 1 0 0 0 1 15 2.38

Inherited runners-scored-Embree 1-0, TDavis 2-0, Carmona 2-0.

T-2:44. A-57,133 (59,166).