SEATTLE – Ryan Franklin remembered his grandmother and the better place he believes she is in. He thought about his little boy and the innocent advice only a 7-year-old can deliver.
Then, on the day when playing a baseball game became important again, Franklin re-discovered himself.
Franklin pitched one of the best games of his career Wednesday night, holding the Anaheim Angels to two hits with a complete game in the Seattle Mariners’ 1-0 victory at Safeco Field.
It had been more than three months since Franklin had won a game – June 5 when he beat the Chicago White Sox – and the days leading to Wednesday’s start strained Franklin’s focus.
His grandmother, 78-year-old Edna Franklin, had died late last week in his hometown of Spiro, Okla. Franklin pitched with that on his mind last Friday, a 13-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox that extended his losing skid to 11 games, then took a late-night flight to Oklahoma.
“It has been real tough. I was real close to her,” Franklin said. “We called her ‘Maw,’ and ever since I can remember we’d go over there every Sunday after church and she’d have lunch for us. She was the best cook I ever knew.”
Tuesday when Franklin and his family were returning to Seattle after the funeral, his 7-year-old son, Logan, asked a question.
“Why did they take you out of the game so early last time, Daddy?”
“I threw too many pitches,” Franklin answered.
“Then you should throw more fastballs,” Logan said.
Wednesday night, he threw more fastballs and dominated the Angels. Adam Kennedy’s second-inning single and Darrin Erstad’s third-inning triple were the only hits off Franklin, who walked two and, during one stretch of the game, retired 18 straight hitters.
“I probably threw 80 percent fastballs, and I put them where I wanted to,” Franklin said. “It was just like the old me.”
And just like the old him, the victory was in doubt because of a Mariners offense that managed the minimum for him.
Angels starter John Lackey shut down the Mariner with a gem of his own, allowing five hits in 72/3 innings. The last hit he allowed, a one-out single by Ichiro Suzuki (his only hit of the game, his 233rd of the season in his race to the record of 257) started the winning rally in the eighth.
Randy Winn followed with a fielder’s choice grounder before Edgar Martinez hit a single in the right-center field gap that pushed Winn to third with two outs. The Angels brought in star reliever Francisco Rodriguez, who made a rare mistake and hung a slider high in the strike zone against Raul Ibanez.
Ibanez pounded it into right field for a single that drove home Winn with the only run of the game.
With the top of the Angels’ order hitting in the ninth, Franklin got two quick outs, then walked Vladimir Guerrero.
Mariners manager Bob Melvin bolted from the dugout, drawing a thunder of boos from the crowd and a bewildered look from Franklin.
“He’s not taking me out is he?” Franklin asked catcher Miguel Olivo.
Melvin wasn’t.
“How bad do you want this?” Melvin asked Franklin.
“You don’t even know how bad I want it,” Franklin responded.
Melvin turned toward the dugout – drawing loud cheers – and Franklin finished his masterpiece.
He got Garret Anderson on a fly to left that ended the second complete-game shutout of his career, plus a losing streak that lasted more than three months.
“It has been tough,” Franklin said.
When his grandmother died, it got tougher.
“I think she’s looking down on me from heaven. She’s in a better place now,” he said. “It meant a lot to go back home and just kind of forget about things for a couple of days. I was able to hang out with my family, who I haven’t seen in a while. It’s a bad way to go back and hang out with them, but maybe it helped.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
