Jr.’S Power Outage Ends; M’S Light Up N.Y. Griffey’s Opposite-Field Homer Punctuates Seattle’s 8-1 Victory

There have been bigger hits for the Seattle Mariners this season.

In fact, there were bigger hits in this game.

But the home run Ken Griffey Jr. hit in the fourth inning Friday might have been the most-awaited of Seattle’s season, and it helped the Mariners pull away from the New York Yankees en route to an 8-1 victory.

In another season, a 60 at-bat stretch between home runs might not have been noticed, but for Griffey the power outage that had seen him hit just one homer in his last 98 at-bats came in a year in which he hit 24 home runs in the first two months.

“Did I know it was gone?” he teased reporters afterward. “Not being a power hitter, I didn’t know.”

Dozens of media members surrounded him before the Mariners’ 102nd game of the season, and initially their approach was almost comical - they wanted to know why he’d suddenly lost his power.

Had the pressure of trying to break Roger Maris’ single-season home run record gotten to him?

Had he gotten so caught up in trying to hit home runs that he was no longer able to do so?

Was it Woody Woodward’s fault?

No, no and no, Junior said before the game.

And then in the fourth inning, after Alex Rodriguez has slapped a two-run single up the middle to give the Mariners a 5-1 lead over David Wells, Griffey went to the plate and hit a line-drive missile over the left-field fence for a three-run home run that knocked Wells out of the game.

“When Junior starts going the other way, hitting home runs to the opposite field, good things happen,” Mariners manager Lou Piniella said. “When Junior gets hot, we score runs in bunches.”

The Yankees and Mariners sent a couple of 10-game winners to the mound - Wells and Jamie Moyer - but Seattle pounded Wells early and the Yankees couldn’t solve Moyer (11-3).

The lone Yankee run, which gave New York a 1-0 lead in the second inning, came when shortstop Rodriguez lost a pop fly in the lights and it dropped for what was ruled a single.

The Yankees never scored again, and Wells couldn’t stop Seattle.

Rodriguez got the two teams even with a third-inning run-scoring groundout and Edgar Martinez put the Mariners ahead 2-1 with a two-out RBI single. Dan Wilson ignited the six-run fourth inning with what he thought was the longest home run of his career - a blast into the third deck down the left-field line.

“I don’t hit that many and the ones I hit don’t go that far,” Wilson said.

He wasn’t just being humble.

“All the years I played here, I didn’t see that many balls go up there,” Piniella said. “He crushed that ball.”

Rodriguez made it 5-1 with a single up the middle, and then Griffey hit his 31st home run.

“Everybody kept asking me what was wrong,” Griffey said, shrugging. “I told them, I’m not a home-run hitter - I’m a line-drive hitter - and I’ve got 30 home runs. As long as I’m getting singles and doubles and we’re winning, I’m happy.”

In his next at-bat, Griffey flied deep to left-center field, and Yankees manager Joe Torre shook his head.

“In any other ballpark, he’d have hit two home runs tonight,” Torre said. “He scares you every time he goes up there, I don’t care what he’s done lately.”

The victory kept the Anaheim Angels from gaining a lot of ground - they swept a doubleheader from Boston and now trail by 1-1/2 games in the American League West.

Moyer has gone 7-1 over his last 11 starts and is 21-5 in his last 37 starts.

Hernandez latest candidate

Another name has surfaced in Seattle’s search for a closer: Roberto Hernandez of the Chicago White Sox.

Hernandez, with a one-year deal at $4.6 million, would cost Seattle about $1.6 million to $1.7 million.

Hernandez, 32, is expected to become a free agent after the season. He has 26 saves in 43 appearances with a 2.56 earned-run average and has limited opponents to a .235 batting average.

Mariners sources also told the Seattle Times that the club has given general manager Woody Woodward permission to spend $2 million for the needed pitching help.

Mariners 8, Yankees 1

Seattle AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Cora 2b 4 2 1 0 1 0 .332 ARodriguez ss 5 1 2 3 0 1 .309 Griffey Jr cf 5 1 1 3 0 0 .294 EMartinez dh 3 0 2 1 1 1 .332 Buhner rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .251 DaWilson c 4 1 1 1 0 0 .288 Blowers 1b 4 1 2 0 0 1 .290 Sorrento 1b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .275 RDavis 3b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .302 Cruz Jr lf 3 2 1 0 1 0 .257 Totals 36 8 10 8 3 6

New York AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Jeter ss 4 0 0 0 0 0 .292 PKelly 2b 4 0 2 0 0 1 .278 O’Neill rf 4 0 1 0 0 2 .339 TMartinez 1b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .294 Hayes 3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .277 Boggs dh 3 1 2 0 1 0 .278 Curtis cf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .267 Girardi c 4 0 1 1 0 1 .253 Pose lf 3 0 1 0 0 0 .250 a-Whiten ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .244 Totals 35 1 9 1 1 5

Seattle 002 600 000 8

New York 010 000 000 1

a-grounded out for Pose in the 9th.

LOB-Seattle 4, New York 8. 2B-Cora (32), ARodriguez (28), Cruz Jr (12), O’Neill (33). HR-Griffey Jr (31) off DWells; DaWilson (8) off DWells. RBIs-ARodriguez 3 (50), Griffey Jr 3 (93), EMartinez (73), DaWilson (51), Girardi (34). CS-PKelly (1).

Runners left in scoring position-Seattle 1 (Buhner); New York 5 (TMartinez 2, Pose, Whiten 2).

Runners moved up-ARodriguez, Girardi.

DP-Seattle 1 (DaWilson and ARodriguez); New York 1 (PKelly and TMartinez).

Seattle IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Moyer W,11-3 7-1/3 7 1 1 1 3 106 4.51 Holzemer 2/3 0 0 0 0 1 11 9.00 Charlton 1 2 0 0 0 1 23 7.80

New York IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA DWells L,10-5 3-1/3 9 8 8 3 2 83 3.93 Mendoza 2/3 0 0 0 0 1 7 4.39 KnRogers 5 1 0 0 0 3 68 5.49

Inherited runners-scored-Holzemer 2-0.

T-3:03. A-46,282 (57,545).