SEATTLE – On yet another day for young players to make an impression at Safeco Field, the one who did it Thursday wasn’t wearing a Seattle Mariners uniform.
With family and friends from New Westminster, B.C., chanting his name as they had all week, Justin Morneau sent them back up I-5 with something to brag about.
Morneau (pronounced “more-no”) smacked two-run home runs in the first and fifth innings, leading the Minnesota Twins to a 6-3 victory over the Mariners.
It was about time.
The Morneau gang had worn his No. 27 jersey and chanted “Let’s go Morneau” for two days, and all he gave them in return was one bloop single in eight at-bats Tuesday and Wednesday.
Thursday, the 23-year-old first baseman unveiled the home-run swing that convinced the Twins to trade popular veteran Doug Mientkiewicz to Boston on July 31.
Morneau launched a first-inning fastball from Ryan Franklin into the right-field seats for a 2-0 Twins lead, and did it again in the fifth with another two-run homer that made the score 6-1.
They were his ninth and 10th home runs this season – which covers just 33 games since being called up from Class AAA Rochester – and gave Morneau the first multi-homer game of his brief big-league career.
The second homer was a show of strength, when Morneau hit a down-and-away changeup from Franklin 417 feet to left-center field.
“He showed why they think a lot of that kid,” Mariners manager Bob Melvin said. “He’s got power to all fields and he’s the reason they can trade a guy like Mientkiewicz.”
With Franklin’s control wobbly and Twins starter Johan Santana as sharp as he’s been all season, the Mariners’ fate seemed sealed early.
Franklin, 3-11 and without a victory since June 5, walked the first two hitters in the second inning before Shannon Stewart drove them both home with a two-out triple, making the score 4-0.
The M’s scored in the third on Hiram Bocachica’s home run, but Morneau’s fifth-inning homer put the game out of reach on a day the Mariners had hoped to complete a three-game sweep of the Twins.
“It would have been nice to beat them three, but the first inning had a little effect,” Melvin said. “Suddenly, you’ve got a guy like Santana on the mound who’s probably been as hot a pitcher as anybody in the American League the last couple of months. We had our work cut out for us.”
Santana, keeping the Mariners off balance with a fastball, changeup and slider, gave up seven hits in seven innings and raised his record to 12-6.
“He’s probably the only guy I know who at times has a 20 mph differential between his fastball and his changeup,” said Bret Boone, whose home run in the eighth inning off reliever Jesse Crain extended his hitting streak to 16 games.
“He throws strikes and he’s got three plus pitches. If you’ve got three, you’ve got a chance to compete.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
