M’S Break Out In 11-1 Win There’s Togetherness Today As Seattle Shares First In A.L. West

On the Internet, there was a rumor that Jay Buhner had punched out Bobby Ayala. Talk radio callers worried that trading away Jose Cruz Jr. had ruined Mariners team chemistry.

One ESPN analyst wondered if the burden of expectations had finally overwhelmed an under-achieving team.

And this morning, the Seattle Mariners awakened tied for first place in the American League West - locked up in a 45-game pennant race with the Anaheim Angels.

Once Seattle’s offense reintroduced itself to another solid pitching performance, a Kingdome crowd of 51,016 watched the Mariners pound the Miwaukee Brewers 11-1 Monday night.

No, a 14-hit game doesn’t necessarily mean an August slump is over. And no, a victory at home against a team four games under .500 may not trigger a long winning streak.

Bottom line, though, is that despite a less-than-inspired stretch of baseball, Seattle has 15 more wins than losses and is tied atop the A.L. West.

“It’s not like we were playing badly; we were playing good baseball,” manager Lou Piniella said. “We just weren’t hitting.”

After wasting a pair of well-pitched games against Chicago, the Mariners got another from Jamie Moyer - and pounded Brewers starter Cal Eldred and his bullpen after a slow start.

“How do you eat an elephant?” asked Piniella. “One bite at a time. That’s how you hit, too.”

Moyer trailed 1-0 before Seattle produced an almost forgotten aspect of its game - a rally. A team that has scored with the home run or not at all, got a third-inning double from Lee Tinsley and turned that into a four-hit flurry that put the Mariners ahead for good, 4-1.

Seattle threw the whole package at Milwaukee. Ken Griffey Jr. and Dan Wilson each had three hits and stole bases and made sensational defensive plays. Alex Rodriguez snapped out of a mini-funk with two hits and a pair of RBIs.

Tinsley had two hits, Joey Cora had two more and scored twice and Jay Buhner hit his 27th home run of the year, a three-run bolt that officially turned this one into a rout.

“All of us had been trying to do too much,” Rodriguez said. “Tonight, we all did a little bit and it worked.”

Buhner’s homer was his first since July 27 and came as he was fighting a 6-for-52 skid.

“Jay and Junior make this team go. They can carry it,” Piniella said. “It’s good to see Jay pop one.”

All those runs made Moyer’s night easier, but he pitched well before he got them - and just as well after the Mariners started lobbing them up on the scoreboard. Now 12-4 this season, the 34-year-old left-hander has often benefited from run support, but could easily have won more games.

In his previous three starts, for instance, Moyer had worked 22 innings and allowed five runs - a 2.05 earned run average - and gone 1-1. This time, Moyer went seven innings and gave up just one run on three hits.

The victory that resulted let him match his single-season career best with seven weeks of baseball remaining.

“Our pitchers have been doing a great job, and that’s what it takes from now on in,” Piniella said. “Our pitching has really settled down lately, kept us in games even when we didn’t win.”

And somewhere in the 2-hour, 55-minute game, the Mariners answered another question - this one about heart and desire.

Griffey made one of his marvelous, over-the-shoulder catches to rob Jack Voight of extra bases in the fifth inning, and in the ninth inning, when the game was no longer in doubt, Wilson made a stunning play.

Brewers shortstop Jose Valetin fouled off a Bob Wells pitch, popping it up near the Seattle dugout. And Wilson - his team ahead by 10 runs - sprinted after it, diving at the last moment and cradling the ball for the second out of the inning.

“You’ve got to want to make that play to have a chance, and you’ve got to have a lot of athletic ability,” Piniella said. “I’ve said all along, these kids play hard every game. Tonight we got a little of everything, and maybe it will break us loose.”