Seattle’s Stars Shine Brightly Johnson And Griffey Come Up Big As Mariners Down Detroit

Pitching in Tiger Stadium has rarely been fun for Randy Johnson. Cold and rain Wednesday night made it that much tougher.

Johnson overpowered Detroit to win his 14th consecutive decision, and Ken Griffey Jr. broke an eighth-inning tie with a two-run homer, leading the Seattle Mariners over the Tigers 7-3.

“I never thought I’d say this, but I’m looking forward to going back to the Kingdome,” Johnson said after winning for just the second time in eight career decisions at Detroit.

It was 54 degrees at game time, but the temperature dropped steadily. It also rained much of the evening.

“I battled and felt real good considering the conditions,” Johnson said. “It’s always a battle for me here. It’s not because I’ve pitched poorly, but for whatever reason, this ballpark haunts me. So I was ecstatic when Junior hit the home run.”

Johnson (2-0) gave up three hits in seven innings, including a two-run homer to Tony Clark in the sixth. He walked four and struck out 10 - his 69th game with 10 or more strikeouts, his first since back surgery last Sept. 12.

“It worked out almost perfect,” Mariners manager Lou Piniella said. “We extended him. He went seven innings like we hoped he would and he got the win. He’s throwing the ball really well.”

The 1995 A.L. Cy Young Award winner had thrown six innings in his first two starts, both against Boston.

“I’m getting some innings in and building up my pitch count,” said Johnson, who threw 112 pitches. “I’m taking small steps, but I’m feeling my stamina starting to stay with me. I’m throwing just as hard late in the game as early.”

Johnson hasn’t lost in 18 starts since Aug. 1, 1995, and has won 26 of his last 28 decisions.

Griffey, who hit six homers in the first week of Mariners/ the season, homered for the first time since April 8. His drive off left-hander Mike Myers broke a 2-2 tie following Alex Rodriguez’s two-out single off A.J. Sager (1-1).

“It was just a matter of great players getting things done,” Tigers manager Buddy Bell said.

Myers, a sidearmer, tried to get a second straight slider past Griffey after freezing him the pitch before. But Griffey drove it off the facing of the right-field upper deck.

“In that situation I’m up there trying to hit the ball hard somewhere, especially against him,” Griffey said. “A sidearming submarine left-hander; you don’t see a lot of those. I don’t know what it was. I just saw it and hit it.”

Seattle added three runs later in the inning when Melvin Nieves dropped Dan Wilson’s fly to the right-field warning track for an error with the bases loaded.

Nieves homered in the ninth off Bobby Ayala.

Mariners 7, Tigers 3

Seattle AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Cora 2b 5 0 0 0 0 0 .128 ARodriguez ss 4 2 2 0 1 0 .344 Griffey Jr cf 3 1 1 2 1 0 .375 EMartinez dh 2 2 1 0 2 0 .347 Buhner rf 3 1 1 0 1 0 .245 Sorrento 1b 2 0 0 0 0 0 .319 a-Amaral ph1b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .417 b-Gates ph 0 1 0 0 1 0 .294 Blowers 1b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .111 DaWilson c 3 0 0 1 0 2 .250 RDavis 3b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .289 Tinsley lf 3 0 0 0 1 1 .220 Totals 29 7 5 3 7 5

Detroit AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

BLHunter cf 5 0 0 0 0 0 .175 Easley 2b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .250 Fryman 3b 2 1 0 0 2 2 .362 ToClark 1b 4 1 2 2 0 2 .350 Nevin dh 4 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Nieves rf 4 1 1 1 0 2 .270 Trammell lf 4 0 1 0 0 3 .297 Walbeck c 2 0 2 0 2 0 .231 DCruz ss 3 0 0 0 0 2 .260 c-Higginson ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .269 Totals 32 3 6 3 4 13

Seattle 000 100 150 - 7

Detroit 000 002 001 - 3

a-sacrificed for Sorrento in the 7th. b-walked for Amaral in the 8th. c-flied out for Cruz in the 9th.

E-Nieves (1). LOBSeattle 4, Detroit 7. 2B-EMartinez (7), Walbeck (1). HR-Nieves (3) off Ayala; Griffey Jr (7) off MMyers; ToClark (5) off RaJohnson. RBIsGriffey Jr 2 (16), DaWilson (5), ToClark 2 (15), Nieves (10). CS-DCruz (2). S-Amaral. SF-DaWilson. GIDPEMartinez.

Runners left in scoring position-Seattle 2 (RDavis 2); Detroit 4 (BLHunter, ToClark 2, Trammell).

Runners moved up-BLHunter, Nevin.

DP-Detroit 2 (Fryman and ToClark), (Easley, DCruz and ToClark).

Seattle IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

RaJohnson W,2-0 7 3 2 2 4 10 112 2.84 Ayala 2 3 1 1 0 3 34 5.59

Detroit IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Olivares 6 2 2 2 5 3 99 5.87 JCummings 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 2 4.76 Sager L,1-1 1-1/3 1 1 1 0 0 13 3.46 MMyers 0 1 1 1 0 0 3 3.86 Miceli 1-1/3 1 3 0 2 2 25 14.09 Olivares pitched to 2 batters in the 7th, MMyers pitched to 1 batter in the 8th.

Inherited runners-scored-JCummings 2-0, Sager 2-1, MMyers 1-1.

IBBoff Miceli (Buhner) 1. HBPby RaJohnson (Easley). WP-Olivares.

T-2:52. A-8,090 (52,416).