Rodriguez Rides The Cycle Rare Batting Feat Caps 14-6 Win, Makes Lucky Cashmere Woman A Millionaire

Alex Rodriguez interrupted a perfectly ordinary blowout at Tiger Stadium on Thursday night to provide a moment worthy of recognition in this celebratory year of the Seattle Mariners’ 20th anniversary.

Rodriguez’s less-than-spectacular bloop double down the right-field line with two out in the ninth inning gave him the second cycle in Mariners history during Seattle’s 14-6 victory over the Tigers. The 12,572 fans who couldn’t get tickets to the Red Wings’ Stanley Cup hockey game were there to see it.

One lucky Mariners fan no doubt thinks Rodriguez’s hitting for the cycle was the greatest moment in baseball history.

Pamela Altazan of Cashmere was the winner of the “Million Dollar Baseball Magic” jackpot awarded to a randomly drawn contestant if any Mariner happens to hit for the cycle.

“It’s a surprise to me No. 1 because there is only one other and it was by Jay Buhner who can’t run,” Rodriguez said. “No. 2, I’m more excited for the girl that won a million dollars back home. I wish I was on the other end so I could get the million dollars.”

Rodriguez is the first Mariner to hit for the cycle in a nine-inning game. Buhner’s moment of M’s history came in a 14-inning game against Oakland, June 23, 1993. The triple came in the final inning.

Rodriguez homered in the first inning, singled in the fourth, tripled to deep center in the eighth and hit that looping double in the ninth.

“It was in and out of my head,” Rodriguez said. “Usually when you really think about stuff, it doesn’t happen.”

Rodriguez punched a Doug Bro cail pitch over the first baseman and figured he’d stop at first. But first-base coach Sam Mejias was aware of the rare feat.

“If it wasn’t for him I probably wouldn’t have gone to second,” Rodriguez said. “He was yelling, Go! Go! Go!”

The cycle obviously takes a bit of luck considering its rarity. It was the first against the Tigers since Kansas City second baseman Frank White did it in 1982.

“It’s a very tough thing to do,” manager Lou Piniella said. “It’s hard enough just getting four hits in a game.”

The triple was also just a few inches from being an out. Rodriguez ripped it to center, where the fence in Tiger Stadium is 440 feet from the plate, deepest in the majors. Tigers center fielder Brian Hunter had run down a long drive off the bat of Russ Davis just four batters earlier. This time, going to his left, the ball sailed just over the top of Hunter’s glove.

Though the glory belonged to Rodriguez, the evening’s hard work was done by pitcher Jeff Fassero.

The 14 runs were well deserved considering Fassero had pitched well but not won since the Mariners’ last trip to Detroit, April 22.

“It was kind of nice to pitch with that support,” said Fassero.

Fassero, who didn’t win a game in May after winning four in April, threw six shutout innings before giving up three runs with a big lead in the seventh.

The only ugly part for Seattle was the attempted mop-up performance by struggling Norm Charlton. He entered in the eighth and walked the first three batters, throwing 10 consecutive pitches out of the strike zone. He then made an error on a dribbler right of the mound to give up a run. Raul Casanova’s single through the left side scored two to make it 14-6.

Mariners 14, Tigers 6

Seattle AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Cora 2b 5 1 1 0 0 0 .360

Amaral 2b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .272

ARodriguez ss 6 3 4 2 0 0 .320

Griffey Jr cf 4 2 2 1 1 0 .313

Ducey cf 1 0 0 0 0 0 .208

EMartinez dh 3 3 2 3 2 1 .335

Buhner rf 5 1 3 4 0 1 .237

Sorrento 1b 5 0 0 1 0 0 .283

DaWilson c 4 1 2 2 0 1 .301

a-Marzano ph-c 1 0 0 0 0 1 .250

RDavis 3b 4 2 2 1 0 0 .288

b-Gates ph-3b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .250

Cruz Jr lf 4 1 1 0 1 0 .278

Totals 44 14 17 14 4 4

Detroit AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

BLHunter cf 4 0 1 0 1 1 .237

Easley 2b 4 0 0 0 1 0 .242

Fryman 3b 3 1 1 0 1 0 .289

Brocail p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

c-Pride ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .235

ToClark 1b 2 1 0 0 2 0 .280

Hamelin 1b 1 0 1 0 0 0 .345

Nevin dh-3b 4 1 0 0 1 3 .229

Nieves rf 4 1 1 1 0 2 .271

Casanova c 4 1 2 2 0 0 .286

Higginson lf 4 1 1 2 0 1 .270

DCruz ss 4 0 0 1 0 2 .206

Totals 35 6 7 6 6 10

Seattle 300 410 150 14

Detroit 000 000 330 6

a-struck out for Wilson in the 8th. b-grounded out for R.Davis in the 8th. c-struck out for Brocail in the 9th.

E-Charlton (1). LOB-Seattle 7, Detroit 8. 2B-ARodriguez (21), Buhner (6), RDavis (15). 3B-ARodriguez (2), Higginson (1). HR-Buhner (15) off JCummings; RDavis (7) off Bautista; DaWilson (5) off Lira; ARodriguez (9) off Lira. RBIs-ARodriguez 2 (34), Griffey Jr (64), EMartinez 3 (43), Buhner 4 (45), Sorrento (25), DaWilson 2 (26), RDavis (22), Nieves (29), Casanova 2 (6), Higginson 2 (34), DCruz (16).

Runners left in scoring position-Seattle 4 (Ducey, Buhner, DaWilson, Cruz Jr); Detroit 3 (BLHunter, ToClark, Nevin).

Runners moved up-Sorrento, Easley, DCruz.

Seattle IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Fassero W,5-2 7 5 3 3 3 5 122 4.10 Charlton 1 1 3 3 3 3 35 7.14 MMaddux 1 1 0 0 0 2 11 9.64 Detroit IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Lira L,4-3 3-1/3 5 6 6 3 3 70 5.88 Bautista 3 5 3 3 1 0 48 5.47 JCummings 1-2/3 6 5 5 0 1 35 5.47 Brocail 1 1 0 0 0 0 10 6.75 Inherited runners-scored-Bautista 2-2, JCummings 2-1. T-3:07. A-12,572 (52,416).

MEMO: These 2 sidebars appeared with the story:

1. TODAY ON TV Mariners at Tigers, 4 p.m., TCI channel 25

2. A DAY AT THE OFFICE Seattle’s Alex Rodriguez hit for the cycle Thursday against Detroit. A recap: Single: Fourth inning. Double: Ninth inning. Triple: Eighth inning. Home run: Solo shot in the first inning.