Beltre battles back
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Adrian Beltre is finding success by being selective.
Beltre had three hits and five RBIs as the Seattle Mariners rallied from a six-run deficit and beat the Kansas City Royals 11-8 Friday night.
“The last two or three days I’ve been swinging a lot better,” Beltre said. “It’s more or less swinging at strikes. Everybody knows that I can get a little wild at times. Swinging only at pitches over the plate can make anybody a better hitter.”
Seattle starter Francisco Cruceta gave up Ryan Shealy’s first career grand slam, and the Mariners trailed 6-0 after two innings.
But Beltre started the comeback with a two-run single in the third off Luke Hudson. Beltre hit an RBI double in the fifth and scored on Kenji Johjima’s double, then tied the score at 7 with a two-run homer in the seventh off Ryan Braun (0-1).
“Adrian swung the bat well today,” Seattle manager Mike Hargrove said. “Really in the last couple of days he’s swung the bat well. His stroke is shorter, and he’s been more consistent. He hit the ball hard tonight.”
One out after Beltre’s homer, Raul Ibanez walked. Richie Sexson followed with a go-ahead double against Ambiorix Burgos.
“After a 6-0 lead,” Kansas City manager Buddy Bell said, and then shook his head. “Their guy (Jake) Woods did a pretty good job of shutting everything down for a while.”
Hargrove was pleased with the effort it took for his team to come back.
“The only good thing about getting behind by six runs that early is that it’s early,” Hargrove said. “You’ve got a lot of at bats to try to make up ground. Every inning you try to score one run. That’s our goal. AB (Beltre) got that big two-out soft liner that (Mark) Grudzielanek couldn’t handle and broke the ice for us.”
A run-scoring throwing error by shortstop Andres Blanco made it 9-7 in the eighth, and T.J. Bohn hit his first major league homer in a the ninth, a two-run drive off Scott Dohmann. Shane Costa had an RBI single in the bottom half off J.J. Putz.
Woods (5-3) allowed two runs and five hits in six innings for relief. Seattle topped last year’s victory total and reached 70 wins for the first time since the Mariners won 93 in 2003.
“Jake was outstanding,” Hargrove said. “Cruceta didn’t have command of any of his pitches, and it didn’t look like he was going to get any better.”
Shealy’s slam – Kansas City’s first since Mark Teahen’s against Cleveland on Sept. 22 last year – and Joey Gathright’s sacrifice fly put the Royals ahead 5-0 in the first, and Esteban German hit an RBI double in the second off Woods.
Hernandez faces shutdown
Felix Hernandez is coming up on the big nothing – a period of time between his last start and the end of the season – and is none too happy about it.
“I can’t imagine what he’s going to be like without another start,” pitching coach Rafael Chaves said.
Hernandez is more than the Mariners’ best young starting pitcher. He’s a 20-year-old burst of energy who hates not doing something.
On Monday in Texas, Hernandez will make his 29th start of the season. He is expected to make a 30th – either on this trip, in Chicago, or on the final Seattle homestand of the season.
Either way, there will be time to kill once he’s reached an innings limit set for him in spring training by the Mariners front office and staff.
“I don’t even want to think about what that will be like,” Hernandez said. “I’m not good at just sitting.”