By Kirby Arnold and Larry Henry
Herald Writers
PEORIA, Ariz. – Former Everett AquaSox pitcher Rett Johnson earned the victory as the Seattle Mariners defeated the Anaheim Angels 10-6 in a Cactus League baseball game Tuesday afternoon at Tempe Diablo Stadium.
Bret Boone, Charles Gipson and Carlos Guillen each hit a home run in a four-run sixth as the M’s improved their record to 13-14. Gipson’s homer – his first – was a two-run shot on the first pitch.
He’s in a battle to make the team. “I told Gipson before the ballgame this could be the determining game,” manager Lou Piniella said.
Johnson, one of five minor league pitchers used in the game, worked three innings, giving up seven hits and three runs. “He threw the ball OK,” Piniella said. “He needs an offspeed pitch, but he showed a good arm.”
The 22-year-old right-hander was 5-4 for the AquaSox two years ago and a combined 11-7 for Wisconsin and San Bernardino last year.
Two other former AquaSox also pitched. Brian Fitzgerald worked a scoreless fourth inning and Glenn Bott, who was 2-3 for the Sox a year ago, gave up two hits in 1 1/3 innings.
The encouraging news was that Ben Davis caught seven innings and wasn’t bothered by his rib cage strain.
“He didn’t feel anything, so that’s a good sign,” Piniella said.
Knuckle under: It’s one of Ryan Franklin’s best pitches, but he’s afraid to throw it.
“I’ve got a knuckleball that will add five more years to my career,” he said.
Someone chuckled, but Franklin wasn’t joking.
“I’m serious. Every day I work on it,” he said. “It’s self-taught. I threw it in high school but I’ve thrown it in a game once since I’ve been playing pro ball.”
How far did it go?
“They didn’t even touch it,” he said. “The catcher didn’t even catch it, and he knew it was coming. I’m telling you, it’s a good pitch. Ask Arthur (Rhodes). I hit him with it at least once a day. Jamie (Moyer) gets on me all the time for not using it. He says, ‘Throw it in a game.’”
So why doesn’t he?
“I’m scared. I’m just scared at what Lou might say,” Franklin said.
“I can see that,” M’s reliever Jeff Nelson said. “Lou would say, ‘Son, you’ve got too many other good pitches to be throwing that.’”
Sign in, please: The task looked daunting, given the three-foot-tall stack of baseballs that sat beside Bret Boone’s locker. Thirty-two boxes, 384 balls, all waiting for the Mariner second baseman’s signature for charity use.
He finished them off in about a half hour, slickly penning his way through a dozen balls in less than a minute while talking to a couple of reporters.
“Look at Boone,” bench coach John McLaren chided. “He can hold a press conference AND sign balls at the same time.”
Free lunch: The longer Brett Tomko remained in the Mariners organization last year, the better Tacoma Rainiers catchers Blake Barthol and Jim Horner seemed to eat.
“We would always get on him about the trade rumors,” Barthol said. “The best time was around the trade deadline when he thought he was going to get traded. Horner and I would call his room and tell him he needed to take us out to lunch because it might be the last time we’d all have a meal together.”
The deadline passed with out a trade, and Tomko remained in the Seattle organization until being sent to San Diego in December.
“But the good part was that me and Horner got a few meals out of it,” Barthol said.
Just be like John: Bryan Price knows John Halama isn’t the best answer to the Mariners’ second-lefty need in the bullpen, but he says Halama can be effective there if he just pitches like himself.
The Mariners still are searching for someone to fill the void left when Norm Charlton was injured.
“We’re in a dire need, but not of Norm Charlton,” Price said. “One of the things that sends up a red flag for John is the thought that he has to replace the Norm Charlton innings that we had last year. That’s not the case. The case is that he pitched effectively in the bullpen last year. He gives us a chance possibly early in a ballgame to turn some hitters around and create a better opportunity for our late-inning guys.”
Today in camp: Mariners vs. Padres at Peoria, 12:05 p.m. (PST) on KNWX radio (770 AM). Left-hander Jamie Moyer will start for the Mariners, followed to the mound by right-hander Jeff Nelson and left-hander Arthur Rhodes. The Padres haven’t named a starter. Because it’s the Padres’ home game and the designated hitter rule won’t be used, Edgar Martinez is expected to hit in a minor-league game.
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