Did clouds help Cleveland offense?

By Kirby Arnold and Rich Myhre

Herald Writers

SEATTLE — Did Mother Nature hand the Cleveland Indians a break in the fourth inning of Tuesday’s playoff opener when they scored the game’s first three runs?

Evidently so, said the Indians themselves.

Early in the game, with the sun shining brightly, a distinct shadow from the stadium’s upper deck appeared on the grass between home plate and the pitcher’s mound. Hitters on both teams later said it was difficult to see the ball clearly.

But with the Indians batting in the fourth inning, a passing cloud formation diminished the shadow. And Cleveland’s first six batters that inning reached base on five hits and a walk.

"Some of our hitters kept coming back and saying it was kind of hard to see," Indians manager Charlie Manuel said. "And I think in the third inning when we scored the runs it seemed like there were no shadows. And things kind of fell into place for us."

"I think that maybe helped us out in that inning, with no sun out there," agreed first baseman Jim Thome.

Mariners shortstop Mark McLemore made the prettiest play of the game, but Indians first baseman Jim Thome made perhaps the most important stop.

McLemore, starting at short because of Carlos Guillen’s illness, sprinted into shallow center field and made a full-layout dive to catch Juan Gonzalez’s bloop that led off the second inning.

Thome snuffed the Mariners in the fourth inning after John Olerud hit a scorching grounder down the first-base line with one out and Edgar Martinez on first. Thome caught the ball with a backhand swipe and started a first-to-shortstop-to-first double play.

The success Ichiro Suzuki had at the plate, with three hits off Bartolo Colon, turned sour when he reached base.

He didn’t try to run after a leadoff single in the first inning after Colon made five throws to first base, stepped off the rubber once and threw a pitchout.

In the third, after Suzuki had singled, he was burned. Colon pitched out with a 1-2 count to McLemore just as Suzuki broke for second base. The Indians caught him in a rundown and tagged him out.

Asked about his decision to run, Suzuki gave a curious answer.

"I was not surprised," Suzuki said of the pitchout. "That is the one play as a runner we should anticipate."

Everyone in the ballpark was startled when Seattle’s Edgar Martinez stole second base in the sixth inning. It happened with two outs and John Olerud at the plate. With Cleveland first baseman Jim Thome not staying close to the base, Martinez decided to dash for second.

He slid in safely, then hurried on to third when catcher Einar Diaz’s throw skipped past shortstop Omar Vizquel into center field.

Did Martinez get a steal sign? Nope, said Mariners manager Lou Piniella.

"Edgar was on his own. If you would have told me we were going to steal one base today and Edgar was the guy … yeah, that was a good play," Piniella said.

"I was surprised," said Fryman, Cleveland’s third baseman, "but (Martinez) is a smart player. That very easily could have turned the game. If I played for the Mariners, I think that would have inspired me. I thought it was a great play by a great veteran."

The Mariners may be ready to forget about the Vizquel-Arthur Rhodes earring incident in August, but their fans weren’t.

The folks who always showed their love for the former Mariner even after he went to Cleveland in 1994 booed him during pregame player introductions and razzed even more when he came to bat.

Tyler Hill, a 5-year-old from Marysville who is being treated for leukemia, performed the ceremonial run around the bases before Tuesday’s game.

Tyler was selected for the honor by the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants the wishes of children with life-threatening diseases. Tyler ran around the bases hand-in-hand with the Mariner Moose, then arrived at home plate to be greeted by Martinez and Jay Buhner.

Former Mariners pitcher Chris Bosio, who pitched one of two no-hitters in Mariners history, threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Bosio, now a special assignment pitching instructor in the Mariners’ minor league system, threw a no-hitter on April 22, 1993.

Before anybody asks, Vizquel didn’t catch the ceremonial pitch with his bare hand. He’d already done that once for Bosio, fielding a bouncer up the middle with his bare right hand before making the throw for the final out of Bosio’s no-hitter.

Pitcher Brett Tomko, who credits Bosio with his success this year while at Class AAA Tacoma, caught the first pitch and gave his teacher a warm embrace before they left the field.

Tuesday’s game drew a Safeco Field record crowd of 48,033, easily beating the old mark of 45,972 set Aug. 20 when the Mariners hosted Detroit.

Fryman prompted smiles from the media after the game with this comment: "Postseason baseball is all about winning," he said. "It’s as close to Little League baseball as you’re ever going to get."