M’S Bats Go Flat Against Brewers Stale Offense Wastes Moyer’s Effort In 2-1 Defeat

They finally pull off a couple of deals to solidify their bullpen at the expense of their offense.

So what happens to the Seattle Mariners on Thursday?

They get 8-2/3 marvelous innings from starter Jamie Moyer - and lose 2-1 to the Milwaukee Brewers.

It was the unlikeliest kind of pitching duel, a contest between journeyman Moyer and four Milwaukee pitchers, but Seattle was shut out until the sixth inning, when Edgar Martinez singled home Ken Griffey Jr.

And Moyer? After giving up three hits and a first-inning run, he retired 21 consecutive hitters and got into the ninth inning tied at 1-1.

“It’s been awhile since I’ve been out there with two outs in the ninth inning,” Moyer said. “I think the last time I did it was in ‘93 or ‘94.”

He got there Thursday by baffling Milwaukee most of the night, hitting corners, changing speeds, waiting for his offense to explode. It never did.

Other than Martinez’ RBI single, the closest Seattle came to scoring was as close as it’s possible to come - left fielder Rob Ducey was called out at the plate on a bizarre play in the seventh inning.

“I thought I was safe, the umpire thought I was out,” Ducey said. “It was real close.”

With Ducey camped on second base, Alex Rodriguez popped a foul ball down the right field line and Milwaukee first baseman Dave Nilsson made a long run and a fine catch. As he caught the ball, Ducey took off for third, and Nilsson’s throw got away from third baseman Jeff Cirillo.

Left fielder Jack Voight, racing in to back up the play, benefited from a perfect carom off the base of the wall behind third base - and he fired the ball home as Ducey slid in.

“It was a great play by Voight,” said Moyer, a former teammate. “A lot of left fielders don’t get there. But that’s Jack.”

Among the ironies? Ducey entered the game in the fifth inning, when the Mariners pulled Jose Cruz Jr. and told him he’d been traded to Toronto for relievers Mike Timlin and Paul Spoljaric.

So the teams got to the ninth inning tied, and Moyer gave up a single to ex-Mariner Fernando Vina, who got to second base on a sacrifice bunt and third base on a fly ball to center.

That brought left-handed hitting Nilsson to the plate with two outs and Vina on third base.

“I got ahead of him (1-1) in the count and made a good pitch,” Moyer said. “He broke his bat but put it in play.”

Nilsson hit a soft line drive just out of the reach of Joey Cora and into right field - and the Mariners had lost three consecutive games.

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This sidebar appeared with the story: Brewers 2, Mariners 1 Seattle AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Cora 2b 3 0 1 0 0 0 .326 ARodriguez ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 .312 Griffey Jr cf 4 1 1 0 0 2 .299 EMartinez dh 3 0 2 1 1 0 .331 Buhner rf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .243 Sorrento 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .276 DaWilson c 3 0 0 0 0 1 .278 RDavis 3b 3 0 0 0 0 2 .290 Cruz Jr lf 1 0 0 0 0 1 .268 a-Ducey ph-lf 2 0 1 0 0 1 .276 Totals 31 1 6 1 1 10

Milwaukee AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Vina 2b 4 2 2 0 0 1 .270 Loretta ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 .293 Cirillo 3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .280 Nilsson 1b 4 0 1 1 0 0 .287 Voigt lf 3 0 1 1 0 1 .256 Mieske rf 3 0 0 0 0 0 .251 GeWilliams cf 3 0 0 0 0 2 .265 Dunn dh 3 0 1 0 0 1 .242 Matheny c 3 0 0 0 0 2 .241 Totals 30 2 6 2 0 7

Seattle 000 001 000 1 Milwaukee 100 000 001 2 Two outs when winning run scored. a-struck out for Cruz Jr in the 5th. LOB-Seattle 5, Milwaukee 3. 2B-Griffey Jr (24), Voigt (5). 3B-Cora (3). RBIs-EMartinez (78), Nilsson (64), Voigt (17). S-Cora, Loretta. GIDP-Matheny. Runners left in scoring position-Seattle 1 (ARodriguez); Milwaukee 2 (Mieske 2). Runners moved up-ARodriguez, Cirillo, Nilsson. DP-Seattle 1 (Cora, ARodriguez and Sorrento); Milwaukee 1 (Nilsson, Voigt and Matheny).

Seattle IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Moyer L,11-4 8-2/3 6 2 2 0 7 118 4.34

Milwaukee IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Florie 5-2/3 4 1 1 1 9 93 3.88 AReyes 2-1/3 1 0 0 0 1 29 6.00 Villone 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 5 5.40 Wickman W, 6-3 2/3 1 0 0 0 0 8 2.75 Inherited runners-scored-AReyes 1-0. T-2:31. A-20,823 (53,192).