SEATTLE – Now the Seattle Mariners have another option.
With struggling starter Jeff Weaver either in or out of his scheduled start on Friday at New York, right-hander Cha Seung Baek planted himself firmly into consideration Sunday.
Baek didn’t allow a hit until Mark Grudzielanek singled with one out in the sixth inning, and even though he didn’t get the decision in the Mariners’ 5-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals, there’s another one the M’s must make later this week that may favor Baek.
There’s a chance the Mariners will start Baek on Friday in New York in place of Weaver, who is 0-4 with an 18.26 ERA and averaging less than three innings per start.
“I’m not going to comment,” manager Mike Hargrove said. “That will work its way out. It’s a legitimate question, but it’s not fair to anybody if I comment on it. Baek was awfully, awfully good today.”
It was literally a night-and-day difference from Saturday, when Weaver allowed six runs and got only one out in the first inning before being pulled. Baek didn’t allow a baserunner until he walked David DeJesus to start the fourth inning, and his no-hitter became the focal point of the game even though Royals starter Brian Bannister also was pitching a gem.
Baek got the first out of the sixth inning and threw a first-pitch strike to Grudzielanek, then couldn’t get the next pitch past him. Grudzielanek slapped it to center field for a clean single, and most in the crowd of 26,019 at Safeco Field cheered Baek loudly.
“After that, I went to the mound and told him to relax and keep doing what he was doing,” catcher Jamie Burke said. “Let’s have some fun and get some outs.”
Baek, who had a 1-0 lead after Burke’s RBI double in the second inning, wore down in the seventh when Mike Sweeney led off with a double and Reggie Sanders blooped an RBI single to right field that tied the score. After Alex Gordon doubled to put runners on second and third with one out, Hargrove turned to hard-throwing rookie Brandon Morrow.
“We needed a strikeout there,” Hargrove said.
Morrow gave him more than that. He blew Tony Pena Jr. away with a 96 mph fastball, then did the same to pinch-hitter Jason Buck in a three-pitch at-bat, throwing nothing but fastballs to end the inning. That drew a huge roar from the crowd as well.
“I was far more pumped up than they were,” Morrow said. “Then, I had to calm down and get ready for the next inning.”
He did that with ease, retiring the Royals 1-2-3, including a strikeout of Mark Teahen for the third out.
“He’s fun to watch,” closer J.J. Putz said. “When he goes out there and trusts his stuff and goes after guys instead of trying to nibble, it’s fun to watch.”
Morrow got his second major league victory when the Mariners finally reached Bannister in the bottom of the seventh, getting a break from the rulebook after Willie Bloomquist foul-tipped a pitch that Buck appeared to catch for the third out.
Plate umpire Chris Guccione said Buck smothered the ball in his chest protector before it settled into his mitt, ruling it a foul ball. With new life, Bloomquist hit the next pitch to center for a two-run double that put the Mariners ahead 3-1.
The Royals were upset – not with the umpire’s call on Bloomquist’s foul tip but with the rule itself. Rule 6.05-B states that a two-strike foul tip that touches the catcher’s mitt first and then is caught off any part of his body before hitting the ground should be ruled an out. Umpires said the ball didn’t touch Buck’s mitt first, although the catcher said it did.
“They’ve got to simplify the rule,” Royals manager Buddy Bell said. “That play happens too fast for the home plate umpire to call it, it happens too fast for the second-base umpire to call it. If he fouls the ball off and it doesn’t hit the ground, it should be a strikeout, plain and simple.”
Bloomquist later scored on Ichiro Suzuki’s single and the Mariners added another run in the eighth for a 5-1 lead. Putz, in a non-save situation, gave up a one-out bloop single but finished off the Royals with two strikeouts, including Alex Gordon on a 98 mph fastball that ended the game.
It gave the Mariners a 10-10 record after a weather-stricken first month of the season, and they’re satisfied with that.
“Based on the obstacles we’ve had to overcome, I’ll take it,” Bloomquist said. “I think we can be better.”
The question now is whether they’ll carry on with Baek or Weaver remaining in the rotation.
“I don’t know,” Baek said. “They haven’t told me anything. They might send me down tomorrow. Of course, I want to stay here. If the club needs me I’ll stay here but if not, I’ll go down.”
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