Was It Pennant Fever Or Texas Heat? Mariners, Johnson Win Matchup That Plays Like A Late-Season Showdown

The fight for the American League West may come down to the final days of the season - the final innings - but the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners played a game Thursday night as if it were September instead of June.

Staff ace versus staff ace, defensive plays both spectacular and bizarre, another pair of solo home runs for the Mariners and, in the end, Bobby Ayala.

Cringe at his earned-run average.

Blanch when he walks the first man he faces after inheriting a one-run lead.

But give Ayala this - his fifth consecutive save came when he pitched through the heart of the Texas lineup and slammed the door on a 2-1 victory that gave Seattle a two-game division lead.

“I don’t know if there was a playoff atmosphere out there, but there was a lot of intensity on both sides,” manager Lou Piniella said. “We got two runs against a very good pitcher, and against a tough lineup, Randy Johnson and Bobby Ayala made it stand up.”

From the outset, this one was a gritty, sweaty affair played in 90-degree heat. Johnson said he felt “zapped” the minute he took the mound, and it was such a close affair that every play seemed critical - so much so that Texas manager Johnny Oates was ejected in the sixth inning for arguing over an infield single.

“It was a pitchers’ duel, a nail-biter for both managers that had a little of everything,” Johnson said.

A little of everything included:

Solo home runs by Paul Sorrento and Jay Buhner that gave Johnson a 2-0 seventh-inning lead.

The continuing dominance of Johnson, who has allowed 14 hits - 12 of them singles - in his past five starts.

A once-in-a-lifetime play in left field where defensive replacement Rob Ducey charged Will Clark’s double, picked it up barehanded and accidentally flipped it into the stands. The error pushed home the Rangers’ only run and put Clark on third base with one out.

A superb play by three Mariners - third baseman Russ Davis, first baseman Sorrento and catcher Dan Wilson - to turn a seventh-inning ground ball into a third-to-first-to-home double play, with Wilson blocking the plate on Clark to deny Texas the tying run.

“One thing about Danny, he protects that real estate at home,” Piniella said.

And then there was Ayala.

Summoned after Johnson simply wore down over a seven-inning, 101-pitch effort, Ayala jogged in from the bullpen with a 4.50 ERA and the memory of giving up an eighth-inning run a night earlier in a 4-2 loss to San Francisco.

“Randy was tired, and I knew if we went to a right-hander they were going to start pinch-hitting left-handed hitters,” Piniella said. “Bobby’s the best equipped of our right-handers to deal with left-handed hitters.”

The arsenal that includes a fastball, slider and split-fingered fastball that Ayala brought into the game with him promptly missed the strike zone and walked pinch-hitter Warren Newson to open the Texas eighth inning, and the Rangers bunted Newson to second base.

Pinch-hitter Lee Stevens grounded out, pushing the runner to third, and Mark McLemore lined a shot toward left field that shortstop Alvaro Espinoza snared with a diving catch.

On to the ninth inning, and the heart of the Texas offense.

Ayala retired Ivan Rodriguez, gave up a single to Rusty Greer, then struck out Juan Gonzalez with a pair of 94-mph fastballs and a wicked split-fingered pitch after first wild-pitching Greer to second base. That brought up the left-handed hitting Clark, and Piniella went with his heart and not the book - intentionally walking Clark and putting the potential winning run on base.

“It’s not something I wanted to do, but I thought with a one-run lead I didn’t want to face a guy hitting .350 if I didn’t have to,” Piniella said.

Ayala made it work, getting the right-handed hitting Dean Palmer on a fly ball to end the game.

Ayala got the save and Johnson (11-1) got his 7th consecutive victory, slicing his ERA from 2.34 to 2.19.

MEMO: Changed from the Idaho edition.

This sidebar appeared with the story: Mariners 2, Rangers 1 Seattle AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Cora 2b 3 0 1 0 1 0 .342 Cruz Jr lf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .276 Ducey lf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .222 Griffey Jr cf 3 0 1 0 1 1 .300 EMartinez dh 4 0 1 0 0 0 .333 Buhner rf 4 1 2 1 0 1 .236 Sorrento 1b 3 1 2 1 0 0 .288 a-Amaral ph-1b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .257 DaWilson c 4 0 0 0 0 0 .281 RDavis 3b 4 0 1 0 0 2 .301 Espinoza ss 4 0 0 0 0 0 .196 Totals 34 2 9 2 2 4

Texas AB R H BI BB SO Avg. McLemore 2b 3 0 1 0 1 0 .224 IRodriguez c 4 0 0 0 0 0 .339 Greer lf 4 0 1 0 0 2 .335 JuGonzalez rf 4 1 1 0 0 1 .244 WClark 1b 3 0 1 0 1 0 .355 Palmer 3b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .246 Simms dh 2 0 0 0 0 1 .254 b-Newson ph-dh 0 0 0 0 1 0 .255 Buford cf 2 0 1 0 0 0 .216 Gil ss 1 0 0 0 0 1 .233 c-LStevens ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .273 DCedeno ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 .253 Totals 28 1 5 0 3 7

Seattle 010 000 100 2 Texas 000 000 100 1 a-grounded into double play for Sorrento in the 8th. b-walked for Simms in the 8th. c-grounded out for Gil in the 8th. E-Ducey (1). LOB-Seattle 7, Texas 5. 2B-WClark (13). HR-Buhner (18) off KHill; Sorrento (11) off KHill. RBIs-Buhner (52), Sorrento (32). CS-McLemore (3). S-Buford, Gil. GIDP- EMartinez, Amaral. Runners left in scoring position-Seattle 2 (Cruz Jr 2); Texas 4 (McLemore, IRodriguez, JuGonzalez, Palmer). Runners moved up-McLemore, IRodriguez, LStevens. DP-Seattle 1 (RDavis, Sorrento and DaWilson); Texas 2 (Gil, McLemore and WClark), (Gil and WClark).

Seattle IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA RaJohnson W,11-1 7 4 1 0 1 6 101 2.19 Ayala S,5 2 1 0 0 2 1 25 4.29 Texas IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA KHill L,4-5 7-1/3 9 2 2 2 3 103 4.01 Vosberg 2/3 0 0 0 0 0 1 4.74 Patterson 1 0 0 0 0 1 7 1.30

Inherited runners-scored-Vosberg 2-0. IBB-off Ayala (WClark) 1. WP-Ayala. T-2:31. A-45,572 (49,166).