SEATTLE — Josh Wilson had opportunities to sign last offseason with other teams who could have given him a better chance of making a big-league roster than the Seattle Mariners.
But he preferred the Mariners, knowing he’d probably start the season at Class AAA Tacoma but that for the longterm benefit of his game, especially as a hitter, they were the best organization for him.
The reason? Mariners hitting coach Alan Cockrell.
He’d worked with Wilson in 2006 with the Colorado Rockies’ Class AAA Colorado Springs team. With Cockrell in his second season as the Mariners’ hitting coach, this is where Wilson wanted to be.
And that’s why Sunday, when he we went 3-for-3 with a three-run home run in the Mariners’ 8-1 victory over the L.A. Angels, Wilson couldn’t help but think about Cockrell.
Hours before the game, the Mariners fired Cockrell, believing a change would revive a Mariners offense that had wallowed in last place in most American League offensive statistics.
To Wilson, Cockrell was the difference.
“I’ve never been around a better hitting coach,” Wilson said. “I’m going to miss him big time.”
Michael Saunders hit his first big-league home run, a solo blast to center field that came just after Wilson’s three-run shot broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning. The Mariners went on to score four more runs, finishing with more runs Sunday than their previous three games combined.
That, along with another quality outing by starting pitcher Jason Vargas, helped the Mariners end an eight-game losing streak and end their nine-game homestand with a victory.
Wilson wouldn’t get so sappy as to say his breakout game was a tribute to Cockrell. But he made it clear how badly he felt for his hitting coach.
“It’s nice that we finally produced on offense,” Wilson said. “But I know if I’m the hitting coach and I’m gone, I’m looking around thinking, ‘Where the hell was that last week?’ To me, it’s bittersweet. It’s great that we go out there and produce, but by the same token it’s a little too late for Alan’s sake.”
Wilson was batting .333 with the Tacoma Rainiers and led the Pacific Coast League with 11 doubles when the Mariners called him up last Monday. He has started the past four games after No. 1 shortstop Jack Wilson experienced tightness in his right hamstring, and has made an immediate impact.
Josh Wilson is batting .286, a mammoth average on this team that was produced with one great game Sunday. He singled in the second inning, homered in the fourth, tripled in the sixth and needed a double in his eighth-inning at-bat to hit for the cycle.
Before the at-bat, bench coach Ty VanBurkleo told Wilson, “I don’t care if it’s a hustle double, you’d better be going for two.”
Wilson’s response: “If I hit a grounder to short, I’ll be rounding it.”
Instead, Angels reliever Brian Stokes walked him.
Saunders followed that with an RBI single to center, giving the Mariners’ seventh and eight hitters six RBI. Catcher Adam Moore, who batted ninth, also drove home a run in the eighth with a single.
The Mariners’ last three hitters went 6-for-11, and even the top and middle of their order produced. Ichiro Suzuki went 3-for-4 and stole three bases, and No. 3 hitter Franklin Gutierrez drove home a run with a fifth-inning double and drew two walks, including one in the eighth with the bases loaded.
Sunday was a special day for Saunders, also recently called up from Tacoma. He hit his first big-league home run on Mother’s Day with his mother, Jane, sitting behind home plate. She has battled cancer for years.
“She’s a strong woman and she’ll keep fighting,” Saunders said. “It wasn’t the biggest thing to get my first home run, but to have her in the stands when I did it made it special.”
Vargas pitched a season-high 71/3 innings and allowed four hits, two walks and an unearned run. It was his fifth straight quality start (at least six innings with three or fewer earned runs).
And, for the first time in the homestand, the Mariners celebrated with a beer shower. This was a double, with Wilson and Saunders being doused.
“It’s always fun when you can come in and hear music after the game,” Vargas said. “I think everybody’s going to back off a bit and relax and just play baseball.”
Read Kirby Arnold’s blog on the Mariners at www.heraldnet.com/marinersblog
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