OAKLAND – They jumped out in front after one inning – and after that, all the Seattle Mariners did was threaten. They did that well, putting at least one runner on base in all but one inning, but threats are not runs, and the Oakland Athletics wound up winning, 4-3.
“That’s a game we have to win,” said manager Jim Riggleman, and no one argued. “We jump ahead 3-0, we’ve got to add on and we had the opportunities. We just didn’t do it.”
Oakland, meanwhile, fielded as anonymous a lineup as it has shown the Mariners in years. The Athletics’ best-known hitters – Eric Chavez, Frank Thomas, Bobby Crosby and Mike Sweeney – were all on the disabled list.
“I didn’t know a lot of their hitters except for reading the scouting reports,” M’s starter Jarrod Washburn said. “But Oakland always finds guys to plug the holes and get the job done.”
In the inning Oakland took the lead, the fifth, Washburn came up against rookie first baseman Wes Bankston and went on experience.
“Most Oakland hitters are patient, good fastball hitters,” Washburn said. “I threw him a first-pitch, backdoor breaking ball, and he looked like he was waiting for it. So now I know.”
Bankston’s home run tied the game, and Oakland took the lead moments later.
Some might see that as the key to the game. It wasn’t.
Time and time again – even in the ninth inning – the Mariners put men on base, pushed them into scoring position and failed to get them home. They had one runner thrown out at the plate, another called out for missing a base.
Through it all, they finally had a starting pitcher go eight innings. Given a first-inning lead on Richie Sexson’s 11th home run, a three-run shot, Washburn and the Mariners had all the best chances.
And Oakland got more runs.
Washburn pitched well and economically, getting the Mariners deep into a game when their bullpen – yes, again – was short of manpower. On 102 pitches, he went eight innings.
Washburn tried to contain the pesky, no-name Athletics lineup and got to the fifth with a 3-1 lead. Then things went south.
Carlos Gonzalez nubbed a ball in front of the plate and catcher Kenji Johjima picked it up. A good throw would have gotten the runner, but Johjima’s throw missed Sexson at first base by about two stories – and by the time Seattle ran it down, Gonzalez was at third.
Bankston followed with the first home run of his major league career, and it was tied.
With one out, No. 9 hitter Gregorio Petit doubled. With two outs, Ryan Sweeney singled him home.
And that was that. The Mariners, who had runners on base all evening, could push none home after the first inning. In fact, they couldn’t keep their runners on the bases.
Willie Bloomquist was thrown out at the plate in the second inning on a marvelous throw from Gonzalez, leaving the Mariners with three hits but no runs in the inning.
That was routine. What happened in the fifth inning wasn’t.
Adrian Beltre had singled with one out, the third of his four singles Monday. Sexson walked, pushing Beltre to second base. Johjima flied to center field, and Beltre rounded third base by a few feet.
When the ball was caught, Beltre quickly retreated to second – without touching third base on his way back.
Can’t do that.
The Athletics noticed, threw the ball to third and Beltre was correctly ruled out, ending another Mariners threat.
“One of the keys to this one was the sixth, when we had the bases loaded and one out and they brought in (Brad) Zeigler,” Riggleman said. “The kid has a tough motion, gets a lot of ground balls.
“Jose Lopez took the first pitch for a strike, so now he’s going to swing at the next strike he sees …”
Lopez did, grounding sharply into a double play.
One out into the ninth inning, the Mariners were at it again. Ichiro beat out an infield single and took second base on a throwing error. Lopez walked.
Raul Ibañez, the team RBI leader, popped out against closer Huston Street, bringing up Beltre, who’d gone 4-for-4 to that point.
Beltre flied out.
“We got a great effort from Washburn and should have won,” Riggleman said, standing in the middle of the clubhouse. “It’s a shame to lose that game.”
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