M’s beat Jays in 10

By Kirby Arnold

Herald Writer

SEATTLE – It’s amazing, Lou Piniella says, what a little contact and a lot of offensive execution will do.

“Bunt base hit, sacrifice, walk and a ground ball,” Piniella said. “That’s all it takes. When you put the ball in play, you’ve got a chance.”

In Piniella’s short-hand description, that’s how the Seattle Mariners finally rustled up enough offense to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 in 10 innings Wednesday night at Safeco Field.

Ichiro Suzuki dropped a perfect drag bunt for a base hit to start the bottom of the 10th inning and advanced to second on Desi Relaford’s sacrifice bunt, then raced to third on a one-out double steal after the Jays intentionally walked Bret Boone.

Jays reliever Scott Eyre got John Olerud into a two-strike hole and nearly had strike three past him. Olerud lunged and threw his bat, getting just enough of the ball to ground it to second baseman Joe Lawrence.

Suzuki broke on contact and slid into the plate just ahead of Lawrence’s throw to catcher Tom Wilson for the winning run.

That, at least, was the call of plate umpire Phil Cuzzi.

“Tom Wilson had his foot on the plate and Suzuki never got there,” Jays manager Buck Martinez said. “He did a great job of blocking the plate. Ichiro still hasn’t touched home.”

Suzuki’s view?

“On a play like that, I’ve got to go,” he said. “After I go, it’s the umpire’s judgment.”

The victory took the sting from another long night of offensive frustration. The Mariners drew 10 walks and left 16 runners on base.

None of the dramatics would have been possible without the Mariners’ two-run seventh, an offensive output which qualified as a monstrous moment for a team that spent the previous 15 innings stringing together little more than outs.

With the Mariners trailing by a run, Mike Cameron lined a leadoff double into the left-field corner. Cameron scored on Dan Wilson’s single to left, and Wilson went to third when Mark McLemore singled – the Mariners’ first back-to-back hits at Safeco Field in 24 innings.

Luis Ugueto replaced Wilson as a pinch-runner and Suzuki pushed him home with the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly to center.

Those two runs, and Freddy Garcia’s seven innings of bend-but-don’t-break pitching, enabled the Mariners to turn to what remained of their greatest strength: the bullpen.

With Jeff Nelson and Paul Abbott the disabled list and three rookies nervously awaiting their opportunities in middle relief, Garcia took the game to Arthur Rhodes in the eighth.

Rhodes retired the Jays 1-2-3, including two strikeouts that gave him eight straight to tie the franchise record set by Mark Langston over a two-game period in 1986.

Kazuhiro Sasaki couldn’t keep it going in the ninth, however, and the Jays tied the score 4-4 when Raul Mondesi led off with a single, stole second and reached third on catcher Ben Davis’ throwing error, then scored on Vernon Wells’ sacrifice fly.

With the score tied again – 4-4 – the Mariners went quietly in the ninth.

Still, they pushed the game to a place they haven’t lost this season – extra innings – and won it in the 10th when perfect execution and Suzuki’s speed beat the Blue Jays. Suzuki dragged his bunt toward first baseman Carlos Delgado, who was so fixated on the speedy Mariner that the ball rolled under his glove.

“That’s the first time I’ve seen him drag one to first base,” Piniella said of Suzuki. “He laid it down perfect. Now there’s something else for them (opponents) to think about.”

Suzuki said he has drag bunted before, last year in New York.

“Lou sometimes is asleep,” Suzuki said.

On a day when reliever Nelson learned he’ll be out 4-6 weeks and Edgar Martinez suffered a setback in his comeback from injury, third baseman Jeff Cirillo didn’t finish the game after he was hit by a pitch.

Cirillo was plunked in the second inning by Jays starter Michael Smith and Relaford replaced him in the top of the fourth.

“It got him on the bone. He might be stiff and sore for a couple of days,” said Piniella, who thought Cirillo may need a game or two off. If that happens, Relaford will play third.