Mariners Outlast White Sox Charlton Slams Door In Ninth After Gates Stars With His Bat
Let’s see, the Seattle Mariners produced five runs on seven hits, including a home run from a guy who seldom hits one. Not bad results for the fourth inning.
It was enough offensive support to protect pitcher Jamie Moyer (3-0) and hold back a furious Chicago rally in the ninth inning to help safeguard a 9-7 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night in the Kingdome.
The Mariners moved up to 23-15 while the disenchanted White Sox, perhaps baseball’s biggest disappointment, continue to fall near baseball’s Skid Row at eight games below .500 (14-22).
Things got a little tricky in the ninth for the Mariners when Bobby Ayala allowed three Chicago runs on a three-run home run by Tony Phillips. But manager Lou Piniella lifted Ayala for Norm Charlton, who settled matters by retiring Ray Durham, Frank Thomas and Albert Belle in order to end the game.
Moyer kept the White Sox in check by scattering nine hits and surviving through six innings while constantly dismissing Chicago scoring opportunities. But recent free-agent acquisition Brent Gates, who flirted with the cycle, provided the biggest hammer with his fourth-inning shot offered by Jamie Navarro, who struggled and never found his control.
In the decisive fourth, Navarro surrendered a leadoff single to Paul Sorrento and a double to Dan Wilson before Gates knocked an 0-2 pitch into the right-field bleachers. It was Gates’ first home run as a Mariner.
Seattle finally chased Navarro in the fourth after Edgar Martinez hit a check-swing single.
Navarro’s performance was indicative of the White Sox’s pitching problems all season.
Featuring Thomas and Belle, Chicago has enough offensive firepower to make an opponent’s scoreboard look like someone’s social security number. The White Sox are supposed to be immune from long losing streaks. But the White Sox’s pitchers have been in the giving mood all season.
Their starting rotation is 8-16, including 5-5 from Doug Drabek, today’s probable starter, and Navarro. Just last Monday, five Chicago pitchers worked a 13-run seventh inning of a 16-8 loss to the Anaheim Angels.
Navarro, who has yielded 65 hits in 57-2/3 innings, allowed 10 hitters to reach base in only 3-2/3 innings on Wednesday. Only the Mariners failure to exploit run-scoring opportunities in each of the first three innings prevented him from being buried.
The Mariners piled on 15 hits in the game with every starter except Jay Buhner hitting safely. Gates served as the guide.
Gates finished 3 for 4 with a home run, double and single, to helped him break free from an 0-for-12 skid.
xxxx Mariners 9, White Sox 7 Chicago AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Phillips rf 4 1 1 2 1 0 .304 Durham 2b 5 1 1 0 0 1 .275 FThomas 1b 4 1 1 2 1 0 .338 Belle lf 5 0 1 0 0 0 .259 Snopek 3b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .233 Baines dh 4 1 2 1 0 1 .327 Cameron cf 4 1 1 0 0 1 .214 Pena c 3 0 3 1 0 0 .226 a-Kreuter ph 0 1 0 0 1 0 .233 OGuillen ss 4 1 2 1 0 0 .266 Totals 37 7 12 7 3 5 Seattle AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Cora 2b 5 0 2 1 0 0 .317 ARodriguez ss 3 1 2 1 1 0 .321 Griffey Jr cf 3 2 2 2 1 0 .347 EMartinez dh 3 0 2 2 2 0 .317 Buhner rf 4 0 0 0 1 1 .215 Sorrento 1b 5 1 1 0 0 2 .283 DaWilson c 5 1 2 0 0 0 .333 Gates 3b 5 2 3 3 0 0 .250 Ducey lf 3 2 1 0 1 1 .258 Totals 36 9 15 9 6 4 Chicago 200 001 013 - 7 Seattle 100 501 20x - 9 a-walked for Pena in the 9th. LOBChicago 6, Seattle 11. 2B-Cameron (1), OGuillen (5), Cora (11), Griffey Jr (8), DaWilson 2 (11), Gates (3). HR-Phillips (2) off Ayala; Baines (4) off Ayala; Griffey Jr (17) off CCastillo; Gates (1) off Navarro; FThomas (6) off Moyer. RBIsPhillips 2 (8), FThomas 2 (26), Baines (16), Pena (3), OGuillen (9), Cora (15), ARodriguez (22), Griffey Jr 2 (45), EMartinez 2 (26), Gates 3 (6). SB-ARodriguez (7), Griffey Jr (4). SF-ARodriguez, Griffey Jr. GIDPFThomas. Runners left in scoring position-Chicago 3 (Belle 2, Cameron); Seattle 7 (Buhner 4, Sorrento, Ducey 2). Runners moved up-EMartinez, Gates. DP-Seattle 2 (Buhner and Sorrento), (ARodriguez, Cora and Sorrento). Chicago IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Navarro L,3-2 3-2/3 10 6 6 2 2 98 4.37 CCastillo 2-2/3 5 3 3 3 2 52 4.22 Karchner 1-2/3 0 0 0 1 0 23 0.00 Seattle IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Moyer W,3-0 6 9 3 3 1 3 108 2.52 Ayala 2 3 4 4 2 2 47 6.00 Charlton S,10 1 0 0 0 0 0 13 5.23 Ayala pitched to 3 batters in the 9th. Inherited runners-scored-CCastillo 1-0, Karchner 3-1. IBBoff CCastillo (ARodriguez) 1. Balk-Navarro. T-3:27. A-31,374 (58,879).