O’s rookie Cabrera stymies M’s
SEATTLE – Rookie Daniel Cabrera won for the second time since he was brought up from the minor leagues last week, leading the Baltimore Orioles over the Seattle Mariners 7-2 Tuesday night.
Larry Bigbie homered and drove in three runs for the Orioles, who won for only the fourth time in 23 games at Safeco Field.
Seattle has lost eight of nine, dropping to 13-25 and falling 12 games under .500 for the first time since Sept. 14, 1998.
Cabrera (2-0), a 6-foot-7 right-hander called up from Double-A Bowie last Thursday, allowed two runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings, giving up solo homers to Raul Ibanez in the second and Bret Boone in the fifth. Cabrera has a 1.42 ERA in 12 2/3 innings over two starts.
Bigbie broke out of a 1-for-16 slump in the sixth when he hit his sixth homer of the season, a two-run shot off Freddy Garcia (1-3) that followed a double by Luis Matos and made it 5-1.
Baltimore’s Melvin Mora, who leads the AL with a .377 batting average, went 3-for-5 and had two RBIs.
Boone, who went 1-for-3, returned to Seattle’s starting lineup at second base after being held out for five games because of a strained left hip flexor. Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki increased his hitting streak to 16 games with a fifth-inning single.
Baltimore built a 3-0 lead on Miguel Tejada’s RBI double in the first, and Bigbie’s RBI groundout and Mora’s run-scoring single in the second.
Garcia allowed five runs, seven hits and three walks in six innings.
Brian Roberts and Mora hit RBI singles in the ninth.
Mental change for Meche
When Meche starts his next game, the Mariners are hoping to see a more aggressive pitcher. Pitching coach Bryan Price had a frank discussion with Meche after he couldn’t get out of the first inning last Friday in New York, telling the right-hander he must toughen his mindset.
“We’ve got to create some aggression and a real sincere attitude on the mound,” Price said. “It’s similar to having your back against the wall. You’re not taking the punches, but you’re coming out swinging.”
The Mariners considered pulling Meche from the rotation after his problems against the Yankees. Instead, his next turn will be pushed back one day to Friday against the Tigers.
“I don’t want to be taken out of the rotation,” Meche said. “I’ll do what I have to do and see what happens.”
Notes
Fans in Seattle, where Randy Johnson pitched from 1989-1998, cheered and applauded as the final inning of Johnson’s perfect game at Atlanta, which was shown on Safeco Field’s big screen.
Johnson holds Mariners’ records for victories (130), shutouts (19), starts (266) and strikeouts (2,162), and he won the 1995 A.L. Cy Young Award with Seattle. He pitched the franchise’s first no-hitter in the Kingdome against Detroit on June 2, 1990.
The Orioles are 3-1 against the Mariners this season… . Mariners designated hitter Edgar Martinez did not start because of a sore back but was used as a pinch hitter in the eighth and struck out.