M’s, Putz close door on Giants
SEATTLE – Barry was Barry.
Felix was Felix.
And, thankfully for the Seattle Mariners, closer J.J. Putz was himself again.
Putz delivered the finish that the Mariners needed, striking out Barry Bonds for the final out of a 5-4 victory Friday night over the San Francisco Giants at Safeco Field.
It was a game that delivered fine entertainment to 41,133 from the first pitch to the last.
“My heart still hasn’t slowed down,” Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said 10 minutes after Putz struck out Bonds.
The victory ended the Mariners’ three-game losing streak and improved them to 4-0 in interleague games this season.
The teams played a little home-run derby early and, yes, Bonds got his.
He crushed a 97 mph fastball from M’s starter Felix Hernandez 462 feet to right-center field in the second inning for his 718th career homer. It pulled the Giants within a run of the Mariners at 2-1 after the M’s had scored twice in the first inning on Ichiro Suzuki’s leadoff homer and Mike Morse’s sacrifice fly.
Two batters after Bonds, Steve Finley tied the score at 2 when he golfed a down-and-in pitch from Hernandez for a homer.
Former Mariner Randy Winn homered of Hernandez to start the third inning, giving the Giants a 3-2 lead, but the Mariners came back with what became their winning rally.
Raul Ibanez doubled with one out, Morse drove him home with a two-out double and Kenji Johjima scored Morse with a double. Willie Bloomquist drove in Johjima to make it 5-3.
The Giants stung Hernandez with another run in the fourth on back-to-back one-out doubles by Pedro Feliz and Mark Sweeney, making it 5-4.
Hernandez, who had pounded the Giants with fastballs, then backed off and got tougher.
He retired eight of the final nine hitters he faced, getting through six innings after it appeared he might not last five.
“I just tried to clam down a little bit,” said Hernandez, now 7-6. “Every time I threw hard, they hit it hard. So I had to slow everything down a little bit and that seemed to work.”
Hargrove put the lead in the relievers’ hands, and they did the job.
Eddie Guardado walked Winn to start the seventh but got the next two outs and intentionally walked Bonds with a base open.
Hargrove brought in right-hander Rafael Soriano, who got the final out with one pitch when Moises Alou flied out.
Finley led off the eight with a single, Feliz grounded into a force at second and Soriano walked Sweeney before striking out Mark Greene.
With two outs and two runners on base, Hargrove decided to bring in Putz.
He struck out Winn with a rising 97 mph fastball to end the eighth, got Vizquel on a grounder to start the ninth and struck out Ray Durham with a 96 mph fastball.
That brought Bonds to the plate for a confrontation Putz will never forget.
“I knew he was big, but once he was in the box, I had no idea how big he was,” Putz said. “I tried to stay under control the best I could. He’s one of the greatest hitters of all time and I have tremendous respect for him. You have to relax and focus on the mitt and try not to overthrow.”
The Mariners considered walking Bonds but decided not to put the tying run on base.
“There was discussion about it,” pitching coach Rafael Chaves said. “There were other things that prevented us from going there. If we walked him, they would put a (pinch) runner on base with more speed, and that may force J.J. to make a bad pitch up in the zone.”
With the decision made for Putz to pitch to Bonds, he challenged him with his best stuff – fastballs and split-fingers.
First pitch: 98 mph fastball that Bonds fouled away.
Second pitch: Ball one outside.
Third pitch: 91 mph splitter for strike two.
Fourth pitch: 97 mph fastball, high for ball two.
Fifth pitch: 89 mph splitter, outside for ball three.
On his sixth pitch, after shaking off his catcher three times, Putz threw a splitter that froze Bonds for strike three and his 11th save this season.