A’s poke jolts M’s
Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, June 20, 2001
By Larry LaRue
The News Tribune
OAKLAND – For most of nine innings, the home run was Seattle’s weapon of choice Wednesday – and three of them had given the Mariners a 4-3 lead two outs into the bottom of the ninth.
Those who live by the homer … well, you’ve heard the rest , and Oakland third baseman Eric Chavez hit a three-run shot off Kazuhiro Sasaki to give the Athletics a 6-4 victory that stunned a crowd of 40,439.
Having come from behind again to stake themselves to a lead, the Mariners 11th blown save of the season wasted a pair of home runs by Bret Boone, a two-run home run by Edgar Martinez and a marvelous game by Freddie Garcia.
Garcia was the victim of one mistake and one error, although its hard to call a 94 mph fastball at the thighs a huge mistake. Not many hitters do much with that pitch. Jason Giambi hit it about a mile in the first inning, and Oakland had a 2-0 lead.
“Bad pitch, too high,” Garcia said. “It made me mad.”
Garcia took it out on the A’s lineup. After Giambi’s home run, he didn’t allow a hit until Johnny Damon’s two-out double in the eighth inning.
As Garcia pitched, the Mariners crept back.
Boone’s first home run, a solo shot in the fifth inning that was his 17th of the season, cut the A’s lead to 2-1. An inning later, Martinez – hitting .440 against Oakland this season – hit a two-run shot against left-handed Mark Mulder to put the Mariners ahead, 3-2.
Some nights, that might have been enough, but not this time. Unable to hit Garcia, Oakland tied the game anyway in the sixth inning. Garcia walked No. 9 hitter Jeremy Giambi, and when Johnny Damon laid down a sacrifice bunt , third baseman David Bell threw it into the right field bullpen.
Giambi scored from first base, Damon made third and, with no one out, Garcia was in a major jam.
He pitched out of, stranding Damon at third base by getting a pop fly and – after an intentional walk to Jason Giambi – a double play ground ball from cleanup hitter John Jaha.
Boone, having the finest season of a career that began in 1992, snapped that tie in the eighth inning with his 18th home run. In 69 games this season, Boone has four two-homer games, a league-leading 73 RBI and a batting average (.326) that is 71 points above his career average.
And he hit that second homer Wednesday after ducking back into the clubhouse between innings to get treatment for a mild strain in his rib cage.
“I tweaked it the other day in San Diego, and it stiffens up sometimes,” Boone said, his chest wrapped in a heat pack. “How bad could it be? I hit a home run after the treatment.”
Garcia’s 109 pitches got him four outs from a victory, but after giving up a two-out double in the eighth inning, Jeff Nelson was called in to close the inning and did, getting a pop fly.
As for the ninth, that remains Sasaki-time, and Sasaki came in to face the heart of the Oakland order for the second time in as many nights. On Tuesday, he set them down in order and earned his 26th save.
On Wednesday, they beat him.
“Kaz is human,” Boone said. “He’s pitched great all season, but he’s still human. He left a few pitches up tonight.”
Jason Giambi, a strikeout victim a night earlier, singled to open the ninth. Sasaki then struck out John Jaha, but gave up a single to Terrence Long on a knee-high fastball.
Miguel Tejada flied out to shallow left field and Chavez, a left-handed hitter, worked the count to 2-1 – then hit an opposite-field home run that stole a victory from the Mariners.
“It happens to everyone who’s ever pitched the ninth inning,” Arthur Rhodes said. “You give up a home run like that, your heart just drops. Then you come in here, you stomp around a little and forget it.
“Kaz will be ready tomorrow, if it comes to that. That’s the way you have to be.”
So a night after winning their first game of the year when trailing after eight innings, the Mariners lost for just the third time when leading after eight innings.
It left Seattle with a 5-4 record on this 10-game trip, with the final game this afternoon. It doesn’t figure to be a low-scoring affair, and both teams may pull out the long ball again.
“You play a day game here when it’s hot – and it’s going to be hot – and the ball just flies out of here,” Art Howe said.
