SEATTLE – Three games into his major league career, this much is apparent about Bucky Jacobsen.
Fastballs don’t bother him (ask C.C. Sabathia, whose 94 mph pitch became Jacobsen’s first home run Saturday) and curveballs aren’t a problem (Scott Elarton learned that in the first inning Sunday, when Jacobsen singled).
Brushback pitches to a 6-foot-4, 270-pounder? Yeah right.
Four pitches after Elarton threw a fastball behind him in the second inning Sunday, Jacobsen blistered another breaking ball over the center field fence for a home run that helped launch the Seattle Mariners’ 7-5 victory over the Cleveland Indians.
“That’s pretty impressive when a guy throws behind you, and then you do the ultimate payback,” Mariners manager Bob Melvin said.
There was a lot of payback Sunday.
The Mariners took a 3-0 lead before the Indians came back and tied the score 5-5 in the top of the eighth on pinch hitter Victor Martinez’s solo home run. It was his fourth homer of the series after he hit three on Friday.
The Mariners won it in the bottom of the eighth when Dan Wilson singled with one out, Ichiro Suzuki was intentionally walked with two outs and Randy Winn drove an opposite-field double to the left-field wall to score two runs.
Closer Eddie Guardado pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 17th save, aided greatly by Hiram Bocachica’s leap against the center field wall to pull back a potential home run by Casey Blake.
“You’re not going to find any better play all year. Edmonds-esque,” said Melvin, referring to St. Louis’ Jim Edmonds, a superb center fielder.
Melvin is into such labels these days, with Jacobsen as his primary inspiration.
“He’s like Bunyon-esque and Casey at the Bat,” Melvin said. “He’s locked in and he’s getting good at-bats every time up there.”
Jacobsen is 5-for-8 (.625) as a major leaguer, and he has drawn four walks and gotten hit once. Asked if the walks and purpose pitches are a sign of respect, Jacobsen treated that notion like a low outside curveball. He laid off.
“You can take it as respect, I guess,” he said. “But I don’t think I’ve done enough in my illustrious three-day career to earn respect yet.”
Besides his approach at the plate, what Melvin enjoys most it that his big rookie seems to be keeping it all in proper perspective without putting any pressure on himself.
“The past isn’t staying with him and the future isn’t staying with him,” Melvin said. “He’s playing for the moment, and that’s what we all need to do a little bit more.”
Jacobsen’s first-inning single drove in Raul Ibanez and capped a two-run start for the Mariners, and his home run in the third gave the M’s a 3-0 lead.
The third-inning at-bat also was further proof that Jacobsen isn’t intimidated by anything at this level after 7 years in the minor leagues.
The Indians, unable to find a hole in his swing, tried to see if Jacobsen’s knees are weak.
With two outs in the third inning, Elarton’s first pitch was a fastball behind him. Four pitches later, he homered.
“I guess there’s nothing better than a guy throwing one behind you and then you end up trotting around the bases,” Jacobsen said.
With one out and first base open in the fifth, Elarton walked Jacobsen on four pitches. With two outs in the seventh, Indians reliever Rick White hit Jacobsen with a pitch.
That one got White and Indians manager Eric Wedge ejected – plate umpire Marty Foster had warned both benches after Jamie Moyer hit Jody Gerut with a pitch in the sixth.
While White and Wedge beefed, Jacobsen simply glared at the mound briefly and took his base. He said he has charged the mound only once in his career, and that pitcher bolted toward second base.
“If he’s going to try to intimidate me, that’s OK because it’s part of the game,” Jacobsen said. “The part of the game that I bring is 6-4, 270. I don’t know how big he is, but he’s not 270.”
And besides, there’s no need to cause a ruckus when a guy has become the most popular thing in a Mariners uniform after just one home series.
“I’ve played a couple of decent games,” Jacobsen said. “I think the fans like it that I’m big and bald and Bucky. I’m going to roll with it while I can.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
