Fassero, Mariners Lose Key Battles In 6-2 Defeat At Cleveland
In a game that came down to a half-dozen key at-bats and a couple of pitches, the Seattle Mariners could do nothing with those at-bats - and Jeff Fassero threw National League pitches to an American League hitter.
As a result, the Mariners began their 12-game, four-city trip with a 6-2 loss to the Cleveland Indians.
“We just didn’t hit the ball well, we had four hits, which speaks for itself,” manager Lou Piniella said. “We had a few chances and didn’t do much with them …”
Actually, Seattle did nothing with them. Zilch.
After back-to-back home runs by Russ Davis and Jose Cruz Jr. in the fifth inning earned a 2-2 score - and broke up what was then a no-hitter by Orel Hershiser - the Mariners got six at-bats the rest of the night with runners in scoring position.
In those at-bats, they struck out three times, walked once and flied out twice.
One of those fly balls, a drive off the bat of Jay Buhner, was hauled down by Indians center fielder Marquis Grissom, who slammed into the wall to make an inning-ending catch with two men on base.
“I thought Jay had hit it out, then I thought it was off the wall,” Piniella said.
It was neither.
The loss went to Fassero, a left-hander who had handed off leads in each of his past two starts and watched the bullpen blow both. This time, Fassero matched Hershiser into the sixth inning of a tie game - having allowed only one earned run - and watched things go very bad.
“It was my fault,” Fassero said. “I’d throw a pitch I thought was a strike, and if I didn’t get the call I let it affect me for the next two pitches. Stupid!”
Cleveland’s second run came after Fassero walked Matt Williams after a long battle in which the Cleveland third baseman fouled off eight pitches. In the end, Fassero threw a fastball just off the outside corner.
“That’s a National League strike,” Fassero said. “But I threw it with an American League umpire behind the plate.”
Was ball four really strike three? Williams - a one-time San Francisco Giant - was asked if he’d have been called out in the N.L.
“I’m in the American League now,” he said, and grinned.
Similarly, Fassero walked Manny Ramirez to lead off the sixth and, frustrated, threw a fastball down and in that Dave Justice hit for a two-run home run that broke the tie.
xxxx ON DECK Game 2 of the three-game set with Cleveland begins today at 4:35 p.m. at Jacobs Field and will be televised on Fox Sports Northwest.