By Scott M. Johnson and Kirby Arnold
Herald Writers
SEATTLE — Seattle Mariners shortstop Carlos Guillen received a warm reception in his first game back, even when he least expected it.
New York Yankees left fielder Chuck Knoblauch paused during the top of the first inning to shake Guillen’s hand during a steal attempt that was aborted by a foul ball.
"He asked me how I feel," Guillen said. "That’s it."
It was a pretty legitimate question, considering the fact that Guillen has missed the past 14 games after being diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis.
As Guillen showed Wednesday, he has fully recovered from the illness. Although he went 0-for-3 while batting second in the Mariners’ lineup, Guillen played near-flawless defense at shortstop.
His only questionable play came on a throw from right fielder Ichiro Suzuki in the top of the fourth inning. Suzuki appeared to have Jorge Posada thrown out trying to stretch a base hit into a double, but Guillen missed the tag.
Mariners manager Lou Piniella came running out of the dugout to argue the call, but it was apparent from the replays that Guillen simply tagged Posada too high.
"It was a heck of a throw," Piniella said. "(The umpire) said (Posada) got his foot in. To me, it looked like the throw beat him, obviously. (Whether) the infielder got the glove down in time or not, I can’t tell. He looked out to me, anyway."
Guillen was non-committal about whether or not he thought Posada was safe. Guillen appeared to set up too far away from the base, and his tag landed on Posada’s thigh after the baserunner had already slid safely into second base.
The Yankees’ Paul O’Neill homered on the next at-bat, so the call at second ended up looming large.
Of course, Knoblauch wasn’t the only person to welcome Guillen back. The crowd gave him a standing ovation when he stepped into the batters’ box for an at-bat in the bottom of the first, and his teammates were obviously relieved to see Guillen playing again.
"That’s huge to have him out there," left fielder Jay Buhner said. "He’s a gamer. He hasn’t complained all year about (the illness). It’s a big lift to have him out there. He’s done the job all year, and he deserves to be here."
Piniella said he started Guillen on Wednesday because of the 26-year-old’s success against New York starter Andy Pettitte, but added that Mark McLemore will probably play shortstop today.
"We got him out there," Piniella said. "He got his feet wet."
It was nice to get back on the field, but Guillen would like the return tour to last a little bit longer.
"I feel really good right now," he said. "I feel like I can play every day."
One right, one wrong: Gary Cederstrom, the umpire who called Posada safe at second, missed a call at second two innings earlier, when the Yankees turned a double play.
When John Olerud grounded to Yankees second baseman Alfonso Soriano with one out and Mike Cameron on first base, Soriano threw high and wide to shortstop Derek Jeter. Cederstrom called Cameron out, but what he didn’t see was that Jeter had pulled his foot well off the base in order to reach the throw.
Sele not good enough: Mariners starter Aaron Sele looked much better than he did in a two-inning start at Cleveland, but his outing Wednesday was far from perfect. Sele gave up seven hits, three walks and three runs in six innings of work, and even the outs were an adventure. At least two Yankees flew out to the warning track, and David Justice hit a long shot down the right-field line that just curved foul.
"My fastball was running off the plate a little bit," Sele said. "I just didn’t put it on the plate as much as I needed to early in the game."
Sele’s worst pitch may have been the one that O’Neill drilled to right field for a fourth-inning homer.
"He gave up one pitch to Pauly," teammate Bret Boone said. "If you ask him, that’s the one he would want to have back. But other than that, he pitched well. He kept us close, but we couldn’t get anything going offensively."
Sele is still winless in the postseason, with all four of his losses coming against the Yankees. Pettitte has outdueled him in Sele’s past two postseason starts, including an 8-2 Yankees win in Game 3 of the 2000 ALCS.
Sele’s lack of postseason wins aren’t totally his fault, however. He’s never had more than two runs of support in six career starts. His teams have scored a total of five runs with Sele on the mound.
Shaky ninth: Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera earned his 20th postseason save Wednesday, but it wasn’t easy. The typically sharp Rivera threw two wild pitches and allowed a run during the ninth inning. It marked only the second run scored on Rivera in 20 career innings of ALCS work.
Rivera’s career postseason ERA went up 0.13, to 0.84, after Wednesday’s outing.
The two wild pitches were even more remarkable, as Rivera had only thrown one all season — a span of 71 appearances and 80 2/3innings.
Rivera overcame any wildness Wednesday by getting Edgar Martinez to ground into a game-ending out at first base. Martinez also grounded out against Rivera to end Game 6 of last year’s ALCS.
Pineiro over Franklin: The Mariners, as expected, decided to use 11 pitchers on their ALCS roster and chose right-hander Joel Pineiro as the extra man in the bullpen. The Mariners also considered right-hander Ryan Franklin for the final spot.
To make room for Pineiro and Carlos Guillen, the Mariners left reserve infielders Ramon Vazquez and Ed Sprague off the 25-man roster. They both played in the division series.
Rosters can be adjusted before each series, but if someone is injured during the series the team is not allowed to add another player.
Same old song: Boone brought up a familiar argument when assessing the team’s poor hitting Wednesday.
"I’ll reiterate it again," Boone said: "It’s no walk in the park out there hitting in the shadows. I’m going to tell you that right now. It’s tough; it is really tough."
In four postseason games at Safeco Field — all played during the day — the Mariners have scored just 10 runs and gotten 28 hits. Their opponents haven’t fared much better, scoring 11 runs with 30 hits.
Admiring his … oops: A funny thing happened during Alfonso Soriano’s home-run trot in the ninth inning. He didn’t hit a home run.
Soriano lined a pitch from Jose Paniagua into the left field corner, where it banged off the Yankees’ logo on the hand-operated scoreboard. Soriano, thinking the ball was headed for the seats, made like Sammy Sosa and took two hops out of the batter’s box, then jogged to first base and got no farther after Jay Buhner quickly threw the ball back to the infield.
It might as well have been a double. Soriano stole second base and scored the Yankees’ fourth run on David Justice’s single.
Around the horn: The Yankees are now 29-7 in postseason road games since 1996. … Pettitte became the fifth pitcher in ALCS history to throw no-hit ball for four or more innings. Pettitte’s bid for a no-hitter ended when Martinez led off the fifth with a single. Only Roger Clemens, with a no-hitter through six innings against the Mariners in Game 4 of last year’s ALCS, has gone further than four innings. … Norm Charlton’s 1 1/3innings of scoreless work extended his postseason scoreless streak to eight innings over seven games. The last time Charlton gave up a run in the playoffs was the 1995 AL Division Series, when his Mariners defeated the Yankees in five games.
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