Bradley’s big night sparks M’s

Published 11:27 pm Tuesday, May 25, 2010

SEATTLE — Milton Bradley was having so much fun, he had to celebrate it with his teammates.

Never mind that he still had some base running to do.

So while the game was briefly paused for a pitching change in the eighth inning, Bradley, who had just driven in what ended up being the game-winning run in Seattle’s 5-3 win over the Detroit Tigers, ran back into the Mariners dugout to celebrate with his teammates.

It was certainly an odd scene, a player leaving the field for a victory lap through his dugout immediately after a single, but the Bradley, who also homered in the first inning, couldn’t wait to enjoy the moment with his teammates.

“The way I was feeling, I needed to share it with my teammates,” he said. “It was a good feeling. I came through.”

During the unusual scene and the postgame celebration that followed, it was hard to imagine that not long ago there were questions about Bradley’s future with the team. Earlier this month, Bradley was placed on the restricted list after leaving the stadium during a game following a benching. He sought help from the team to deal with personal issues and since coming back last week, Bradley has admitted in interviews that thoughts of suicide had crept into his head.

But on Tuesday night, Bradley was all smiles, having as much fun, in his own estimation, as he has since the 2006 playoffs when he played for Oakland.

“Honestly I’ve got to say yeah,” he said when asked if it was the most fun he’d had in a while. “I was full of joy. The whole day, I just felt right. I had the right attitude, I had the right approach, and my mind was clear. I didn’t have a worry at all up there, and I was able to come through.”

First, however, another struggling Mariner, Chone Figgins, had to come through. He did, hitting a one-out double, then Franklin Gutierrez then drew a walk off Detroit starter Justin Verlander and Bradley delivered a line-drive single to right.

Figgins scored and Gutierrez went to third on the throw. He scored on a Jose Lopez sacrifice fly, providing an insurance run that closer David Aardsma wouldn’t need. Aardsma, who hadn’t pitched since last Wednesday, threw a perfect ninth for his first save since May 14.

Shawn Kelley earned the victory for Seattle with a shutout eighth inning, and Doug Fister had to settle for a no decision despite allowing just two earned runs over seven innings.

The Mariners jumped ahead in the first on a two-run home run by Bradley, his third of the season and first since coming off the restricted list. Bradley struck out in his next two at bats, but quipped that it was easier to get over those strikeouts because of that first-inning homer.

“It helps when you go deep on the first pitch,” he said. “You can live with a couple of strikeouts after that.”

That lead was quickly erased an inning later, however, when the Tigers scored a pair of runs, one of which was unearned, off of Fister. Prior to a pair of RBI singles, Josh Wilson misplayed a hard-hit ball that could have been an inning-ending double play, and every hit in the inning either hit a Mariners infielder in the glove, or was just out of reach of a diving player.

After that somewhat unlucky second inning, Fister allowed just two hits over five innings.

“Doug Fister, I can’t say enough about him,” Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said. “… The key for him in this game was the second inning. Three ground balls, one of them should have been a double play, and he keeps his composure when that game could have gotten out hand in the second inning.”

Brandon Inge gave Detroit a 3-2 lead in the sixth, driving a 1-1 pitch into the Mariners’ bullpen to end a streak of eight straight hitters retired by Fister. It was just the second home run allowed by Fister this season. Like the Tigers did earlier in the game, Seattle was quick to answer after giving up the lead, tying the score at three on a Gutierrez opposite-field home run.

And from there, the score remained tied until Bradley came through with a clutch hit, followed by a nontraditional celebration.

“He’s got the ability to ignite a club, we’ve always said that,” Wakamatsu said, noting that he had never seen a player do what Bradley did following the go-ahead single. “No, but I hope to see that a lot.”

Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com.