Many Mariners heroes in 3-2 win over Boston

BOSTON – A team that lost 101 games last season hit the portion of its 2009 schedule that looked like a built-in losing streak – a trip to play the Dodgers, Yankees and Red Sox.

Then, the Seattle Mariners lost Adrian Beltre.

The first eight games that might have shown them to be pretenders have now produced five wins for Seattle, the latest a 3-2 victory over Boston in which the heroes outnumbered the runs scored.

Roy Corcoran, the last man on a 12-man Mariners pitching staff, worked 12/3 scoreless innings to help an exhausted bullpen – on the same day he’d walked into the manager’s office to ask if he had a future with the team.

“Probably not a coincidence I pitched well on the same day we talked,” Corcoran said.

And the game-winning hit, Chris Woodward’s two-out RBI single, was a harmless looking little pop fly that fell in no man’s land beyond first base, just out of reach for a diving Dustin Pedroia.

“Not only didn’t I see the ball after I hit it, I didn’t see the pitch that jammed me,” Woodward said, shaking his head. “Until I saw Pedroia going for it, I had no idea where it was.”

It fell to earth, scoring Wladimir Balentin, who was running for Ken Griffey Jr.

All the Mariners had to do then was close out the ninth inning against the Red Sox while holding yet another one-run lead. A night after he couldn’t go because of a mild strain in his lower back, David Aardsma trotted to the mound.

Former Red Sox pitcher David Aardsma.

“I was comfortable, I’d certainly pitched here before,” Aardsma said, “and we played Boston in Seattle earlier this year, so whatever extra adrenaline there might have been was over with.”

Until he got the third out, his 17th save and let loose a quiet little fist pump.

“To come into this park, against this team, and win two one-run games? These players believe in each other,” manager Don Wakamatsu said. “You look at today’s game. Garrett Olson pitches into the seventh inning. Corcoran gets us to the ninth inning. (Ken) Griffey works for a leadoff walk. (Ryan) Langerhans throws a patient at-bat in there, gets another walk.”

And Aardsma?

“We wouldn’t be in the position we’re in without David,” he said. “He deserves to be an All-Star.”

For Seattle, this was just another one-run game – their 34th of a season now 80 games old. It was their 21st victory in those games. Woodward thinks he knows one reason why.

“Look at the lineups teams like the Dodgers, Yankees and Red Sox have, they’re used to blowing teams out, getting six, seven, eight runs a night,” Woodward said. “They don’t play these kinds of games that often.

“We play them all the time. We grind for every run, and our pitching keeps the opposition down, sets the tone. We’ve been through a lot of these games, so we might have an advantage in them.”

As for Corcoran, the right-hander with the 7.90 earned-run average hadn’t pitched in a week. Before the game he walked into Wakamatsu’s office.

“Don’s probably the easiest guy in the world to talk to, and he doesn’t beat around the bush,” Corcoran said. “I asked him where I stood with the team, and he told me. Then he put the ball in my court. He said throw strikes, get outs, work your way back into this thing instead of pitching defensively. He basically told me to get out there and throw the ball.”

Against Boston, on a day when relievers Mark Lowe, Sean White and Chris Jakubauskas weren’t available, Corcoran threw the ball – topping out at 94 mph, throwing strikes and retiring all five batters he faced.

“Kind of nice to feel like I contributed something,” Corcoran said, beaming.

Olson, one of the can-you-start-for-me-tomorrow guys on the staff, got a no-decision despite pitching deeper into a game than he had all season and allowing two runs in 6 innings.

“I’m probably prouder of this game than any game I’ve won this season,” Olson said. “I added my change-up more, I was more economical with my pitches, I got deeper into the game.”

Ichiro singled and scored on Russell Branyan’s double in the third inning. Woodward and Ronny Cedeno singled in the fifth inning to set up Branyan’s sacrifice fly to tie.

Ah, and then the ninth inning. Griffey walked. With one out, Langerhans walked for the second time and Kenji Johjima walked on four pitches against Takashi Saito.

Then Woodward … well, let him tell it.

“Someone said I couldn’t have thrown the ball and have it work out better, but I could have,” he said. “I’d have thrown it far enough so Pedroia couldn’t almost catch it. You always have more line drives caught than bloops drop in, but that one was worth about four line drive outs.”

larry.larue@thenewstribune.com

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