Johnson’s Return Spoiled In Ninth Charlton Yields Decisive Homer As Red Sox Beat Mariners 8-6

They are struggling, and the early season slump by the Seattle Mariners is so significant that not even their best and brightest - Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr. and Norm Charlton - could end it Saturday night.

The “Big Unit” was impressive in his six-inning return to the mound, Junior hit his fourth home run in four games and Charlton was given his second save opportunity of the season.

And there was where the night unraveled.

Four ninth-inning runs by the Red Sox against closer Charlton swamped what had been a two-run Seattle lead and led Boston to an 8-6 victory that left the Mariners stuck in fourth place in the four-team American League West.

It was a gripping game, the kind that held 57,110 fans in their seats. Those who left, even briefly, missed something.

In the course of nine innings, Boston staked out a pair of one-run leads and lost both. Seattle countered with three leads, losing each.

On the mound was Johnson, who had not started a major league game since last May 12. Looking as if he had never been away, the 6-foot-10 left-hander struck out the side in the first inning, struck out eight men in six innings and left after surpassing a doctor’s orders pitch limit of 85 by throwing 91.

His best fastball flashed 97 miles per hour on the Seattle radar gun.

“Everything went fine, I was happy to be out there,” Johnson said.

Could he have gone deeper into the game?

“Why push it?” he said of his comeback from back surgery.

Johnson’s first return to the mound was high drama, and when he began one of the more awaited comebacks in franchise history by striking out four of the first five Boston hitters he faced, the ovation he got walking back to the dugout was thunderous.

For all that, Johnson left the game trailing, 2-1, outpitched by Red Sox ace Steve Avery, whose assorted offspeed offerings frustrated Seattle for five innings.

And then came what could have been a storybook finish.

With Johnson cooling down in the clubhouse, through for the night, the “Tacoma Kid” - Spanaway product Mike Blowers - hit his first home run of the season, a two-run, opposite-field bolt off reliever Chris Hammond that put the Mariners ahead 3-2.

Had it held, Johnson would have won but reliever Bob Wells gave up two runs in the seventh.

Charlton couldn’t get out of his own crisis in the ninth, giving up a three-run homer to Nomar Garciaparra to give Boston the lead.

Red Sox 8, Mariners 6

Boston AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Garciaparra ss 5 1 2 4 0 2 .421 JhValentin 2b 5 0 0 0 0 1 .333 MVaughn 1b 4 1 2 0 0 1 .250 Stanley dh 4 0 1 0 0 2 .182 1-Frye pr-dh 1 0 1 0 0 0 1.000 Naehring 3b 4 1 1 1 0 1 .250 Cordero lf 5 1 2 2 0 0 .375 Pemberton rf 2 0 0 0 0 0 .000 a-O’Leary ph-rf 1 1 0 0 1 0 .222 Haselman c 4 2 3 1 0 0 .308 Mack cf 2 0 0 0 0 1 .000 b-Bragg ph-cf 1 1 0 0 1 0 .200 Totals 38 8 12 8 2 8

Seattle AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Amaral lf 3 0 1 0 1 1 .429 d-Tinsley ph-lf 2 0 0 1 0 0 .000 ARodriguez ss 5 1 2 0 0 1 .263 Griffey Jr cf 4 1 2 2 1 1 .467 EMartinez dh 4 1 1 0 0 0 .267 Buhner rf 4 1 1 0 1 0 .167 Blowers 1b 2 1 1 2 1 0 .167 c-Sorrento ph-1b 2 0 0 0 0 0 .125 DaWilson c 5 0 3 1 0 1 .462 RDavis 3b 1 1 0 0 3 1 .182 e-Cora ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 .143 Gates 2b 3 0 0 0 2 0 .000 Totals 35 6 11 6 10 5

Boston 000 200 204 - 8

Seattle 010 002 210 - 6

a-walked for Pemberton in the 7th. b-fouled out for Mack in the 7th. c-grounded into double play for Blowers in the 7th. d-safe on failed fielder’s choice for Amaral in the 8th. e-walked for Davis in the 9th. 1-ran for Stanley in the 8th.

E-Naehring (1), Haselman (1). LOBBoston 7, Seattle 13. 2B-MVaughn 2 (2), Naehring (1), Haselman 2 (2), ARodriguez 2 (3), EMartinez (2), DaWilson (2). HR-Garciaparra (1) off Charlton; Griffey Jr (4) off Hammond; Blowers (1) off Hammond; Cordero (2) off RJohnson. RBIsGarciaparra 4 (4), Naehring (6), Cordero 2 (4), Haselman (1), Tinsley (1), Griffey Jr 2 (6), Blowers 2 (2), DaWilson (2). SB-Amaral (1), RDavis (1). SF- Naehring. GIDPARodriguez, EMartinez, Sorrento, Gates.

Runners left in scoring position-Boston 4 (Stanley, Naehring, Cordero, O’Leary); Seattle 6 (Tinsley, EMartinez, Buhner 2, DaWilson, Gates).

DP-Boston 4 (Garciaparra and MVaughn), (Garciaparra, JhValentin and MVaughn), (Naehring, JhValentin and MVaughn), (Garciaparra, JhValentin and MVaughn).

Boston IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Avery 5 6 1 1 4 2 85 1.80 Hammond 1 3 4 4 2 3 28 27.00 Trlicek W,1-0 2 1 1 0 3 0 44 .00 Slocumb S,2 1 1 0 0 1 0 19 .00

Seattle IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

RJohnson 6 5 2 2 0 8 91 3.00 BWells 1 2 2 2 1 0 26 10.80 Ayala 2/3 2 0 0 0 0 11 9.00 Charlton L,0-1 2/3 3 4 4 1 0 34 27.00 Manzanillo 2/3 0 0 0 0 0 5 2.70

Hammond pitched to 2 batters in the 7th. Inherited runners-scored-Charlton 2-0, Manzanillo 2-1.

IBBoff Trlicek (Griffey Jr) 1. HBPby Charlton (MVaughn), by Trlicek (EMartinez). T-3:17. A-57,110 (58,879).