SEATTLE – Mike Hargrove predicted this more than a month ago.
In the early days of spring training when the Seattle Mariners’ aggressive baserunning approach occasionally looked comical, Hargrove shook his head and, in the least, applauded the effort.
“Some days,” the Mariners’ manager said then, “we’re going to look bad.”
Take Friday, for instance.
Foiled twice by baserunning blunders that erased scoring opportunities, the Mariners lost 2-1 to the Detroit Tigers when following the baseball textbook might have been enough to win.
Kenji Johjima rounded second base too far in the second inning and was thrown out, just before a base hit would have produced a run.
Three innings later, with Richie Sexson at the plate with a two-out opportunity to pad his team RBI lead, a botched double steal took the bat out of his hand.
Ichiro Suzuki stood on second base, Raul Ibanez on first and Sexson had a two-ball, no-strike count against Tigers starting pitcher Mike Maroth.
In a classic no-steal situation, Suzuki made like the bobblehead doll given to the first 25,000 fans and ran. He got a huge break off second base and broke for third, and Ibanez decided to follow but was thrown out at second by a wide margin. It ended the inning and left Sexson perplexed at the plate.
“It was kind of different, especially with a 2-0 count,” Sexson said. “It’s a different move, one I hadn’t seen before. But it’s kind of Ichiro’s style, to try to catch people off guard when he goes to s teal bases. It caught me off guard.”
Hargrove wasn’t sure what to call it.
“It was not a double steal,” he said. “It was a steal and …”
There’s no baseball theory, at least in the major leagues, that calls for someone to run at a time like that, especially with the team’s top run-producer having worked a prime hitter’s count.
“If it does work, then there’s a base open and they’re going to walk me anyway,” Sexson said. “I don’t understand the theory why he stole there. It doesn’t seem to be a good green-light situation with two outs. I’d rather there not be a base open and give me a chance to drive in the run.”
That missed opportunity, plus the one in the second inning when Johjima was trapped off second base, made the difference.
Maroth never gave the Mariners another good opportunity, lasting six innings and running his string of scoreless innings to 16. He’s 3-0 with a 0.49 earned run average.
Right-hander Joel Zumaya blew away the Mariners in the seventh and eighth, mixing fastballs anywhere from 97 to 99 mph with offspeed pitches that kept the M’s quiet. He struck out four in two innings and allowed only Suzuki’s infield single in the eighth.
Meanwhile, Mariners starter Jarrod Washburn pitched his best game of the year, allowing five hits and two runs in 82/3 innings. The Tigers scored in the sixth when Brandon Inge led off with a double and scored on Placido Polanco’s sacrifice fly, then in the ninth when Ivan Rodriguez hit a first-pitch home run with two outs.
“I don’t think I made a bad pitch all night, including the first pitch in the ninth,” Washburn said. “He never swings first pitch off me and I decided to throw a fastball for strike one, but he went up there and decided to swing at the first pitch.”
The Mariners, who’d come back in the ninth inning their previous two games, nearly did it again.
Against Tigers closer Doug Jones, activated off the disabled list earlier Friday, the Mariners loaded t he bases with one out. Carl Everett blooped a single, Adrian Beltre got his second hit of the game and Jones walked pinch hitter Roberto Petagine.
Jeremy Reed hit a sacrifice fly for the Mariners’ first run, and Beltre tagged and went to third with two outs.
Suzuki then grounded out to end a game the Mariners knew they could have won.
“It’s a loss. It’s frustrating,” Sexson said. “No matter how close it is, it still goes into the loss column.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
