By Larry LaRue
The News Tribune
BALTIMORE – Reggie Jackson was once asked to what he owed his reputation -given that other players had higher batting averages, more home runs, more RBI.
“Timing,” he said. “Win games in the first inning, you make a good living. Win them in the ninth inning, you become a star.”
Reggie could always be counted on for a quote in the clutch, but what he said had some validity – and the Seattle Mariners have adopted the Jackson Theory.
They went ahead in the first inning Thursday, but beat the Baltimore Orioles in the ninth, 5-4, on as technically perfect a small-ball rally as they’ve produced all year.
Having lost every bit of a 4-0 lead and taken a tie into the top of the ninth, the Mariners nearly made it look easy.
Desi Relaford singled.
Dan Wilson bunted him to second base.
Relaford stole third base.
Jeff Cirillo doubled him home.
Seattle handed that one-run lead to closer Kazuhiro Sasaki, who put the Orioles down 1-2-3, striking out two batters and running his own streak of innings without allowing an earned run to 20 2/3.
“What every team wants to be out of spring training is a complete team,” Relaford said. “You’d love to dominate everyone with pitching. You’d love to score seven runs a game. But no team does that every night, and to keep winning when you’re not hitting the ball great – that’s a complete team.”
Sasaki’s 12th save of the season was the final touch to a magnificent run by Mariners relievers.
Up to their elbows in trouble in the bottom of the eighth inning, with Baltimore runners at first and third bases and one out, a Camden Yards crowd of 30,287 smelled victory.
Shigetoshi Hasegawa struck out Tony Batista.
“Great pitch,” catcher Wilson said.
Against left-handed hitting Jay Gibbons, manager Lou Piniella brought in left-handed pitcher Arthur Rhodes.
“That situation, you can’t let that run score,” Rhodes said. “I went behind the mound, got my mind clear and threw him a slider. He swung and missed.
“Guess what? Another one coming, man.”
And another. And down went Gibbons, ending the threat.
“That’s the way we won a lot of games last year,” Rhodes said. “Sometimes you got to come out in the late innings and dominate. We did tonight.”
And once they had that point-blank chance to win in the ninth, with Relaford perched on third base and Orioles closer Jorge Julio on the mound, Cirillo could be forgiven for wondering – for an instant – whether he was going to get a chance to be the hero.
“Tough closer on the mound, Ruben Sierra on our bench, I wouldn’t have been totally shocked if Lou pinch-hit for me,” Cirillo said.
As he stood on deck, with his .232 batting average, Cirillo glanced once at the dugout and then walked to the plate and lined a double that proved to be the game-winning hit.
Fun?
“I’m happier than I have been,” Cirillo allowed.
But winning the game, driving in the key run – fun?
Cirillo grimaced.
“I contributed, that felt good. I don’t know if I’m ready to say I’m having fun yet,” he said.
Until he is, the Mariners will take the production – despite that low average he has 28 RBI.
“We need him, and maybe this will be the impetus he needs to get it going,” Piniella said.
For five innings, it looked like rookie Rafael Soriano, sore throat and all, might not even need a bullpen – or a ninth-inning rally. Through those first five innings, he allowed only an unearned run and had allowed a total of one hit.
“Basically, he’s got one major league pitch, the fastball,” Piniella said. “We need to get him sharper with his breaking pitch, his change-up, but this kid is a keeper. He has a great arm and he competes.”
Sixth inning, Soriano gave up his second hit, a one-out double to Gary Matthews Jr., and then his third – a home run to Jeff Conine that cut Seattle’s lead to 4-3.
Hasegawa came in, then gave up a first-pitch home run to catcher Brook Fordyce, his first homer of the season.
Top of the ninth inning, Piniella got two pitchers up in his bullpen. Ryan Franklin, in case the game went extra innings, and Sasaki – in case Seattle pulled ahead.
“I knew when we got our leadoff man on, we were going to score,” Sasaki said. “And I knew I was going to be in the game.”
Nearly two full months into the season, Sasaki has yet to give up an earned run. And he has done most of his work in the ninth inning.
Reggie Jackson can tell you just what that means in this game.
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