CHICAGO – The Seattle Mariners don’t mind winning like this, no matter how stressful it is.
Willie Bloomquist singled in the go-ahead run with two out in the 13th inning, and the Mariners beat the Chicago Cubs 5-3 Tuesday night for their season-high fifth straight win.
All of the wins in the streak have come in their final at-bat, and the latest occurred after Chicago’s Michael Barrett drove in Derrek Lee with a single to tie it at 3 in the eighth.
“The great thing about it is it’s someone different every night,” Bloomquist said.
His turn came after Jose Vidro knocked a double off the ivy in left field with two out and Will Ohman (0-4) intentionally walked Yuniesky Betancourt. Bloomquist grounded a single to right, and Vidro ran through a stop sign at third as Jacque Jones unleashed a two-hop throw.
Barrett, who was trying to block home, deflected the ball and Vidro scored the go-ahead run after initially missing the plate.
Ohman intentionally walked Ichiro Suzuki, and Jamie Burke lined a single off first baseman Lee’s glove to drive in Betancourt.
Vidro said he “didn’t even come close” to touching the plate initially, but got it after the ball rolled away. And there was no way he was about to stop at third.
“In my mind, I thought if I have a chance I’ve got to score,” Vidro said. “I tried to get a big lead so I could score on anything.”
Barrett wasn’t sure if Jones’ throw arrived before Vidro.
“I know that when he came running in, it was going to be a bang-bang play,” he said. “Right before the ball came in, I felt like the only way we were going to get him out was to sacrifice my body and get everything on the plate.”
Eric O’Flaherty (3-0) pitched 2 2-3 scoreless innings for the win. J.J. Putz, pitching with the flu, worked the 13th for his 19th save in as many chances, but the Cubs didn’t go quietly.
Ryan Theriot and Felix Pie singled with one out, putting runners on first and second. Mike Fontenot then lined out softly to second, bringing up Alfonso Soriano – the centerpiece of the Cubs’ $300 million makeover in the offseason.
He walked, loading the bases for pinch-hitter Koyie Hill, who grounded to first.
Lee led off the eighth with a double off reliever Sean Green and Barrett tied it with a single off the glove of diving second baseman Jose Lopez. Mark DeRosa followed with a double to right-center that put runners on second and third and chased Green.
Brandon Morrow came in and intentionally walked Cliff Floyd to load the bases, before Theriot forced a runner at the plate for the first out. George Sherrill then caught Pie looking at a 3-2 pitch on the inside edge and struck out Mike Fontenot on four pitches to end the threat.
Although they’ve played better since that meltdown against Atlanta a week-and-a-half ago, the Cubs have not put together a long winning streak. They’re 6-4 since Carlos Zambrano left Barrett with a black eye and a cut on the lip that required six stitches and manager Lou Piniella kicked dirt on an umpire the following day.
They’re showing the fight management envisioned – the kind that brings teams back in games like this. But they’re not where they want to be.
“This is a game we should’ve won,” Lee said. “We need to do a better job of that in these games, create the big streaks. We’re not worried about getting people to believe in us.”
Mariners starter Jarrod Washburn allowed two runs – both in the first – and five hits, struck out four and walked five in six innings.
Jose Guillen tied it at 2 with a solo homer in the third, and Washburn helped himself with two out in the fourth, when he drove in Kenji Johjima with a single – his ninth hit in 32 career at-bats – to make it 3-2.
Rich Hill allowed three runs and eight hits in 6 2-3 innings for the Cubs. He struck out four and walked one.
Chicago used five relievers and the Mariners six.
DeRosa had three hits for Chicago, and Lee added two after going 4-for-31 in his previous eight games.
Johjima had three hits for Seattle, which looked like it was ready to be blown out early on.
Notes: Mariners 3B Adrian Beltre, who missed five games with a sprained left thumb, was lifted for a pinch hitter in the 11th because it was acting up. … Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said RHP Mark Lowe, on the 60-day DL following surgery on his right elbow, will throw two more bullpen sessions and one or two simulated games before beginning a minor league rehab stint next week. … TV cameras caught Barrett and Hill in a lively discussion after the top of the fourth. “It was the heat of the moment,” Barrett said. “Rich did a pretty good job overall, and I think he was pretty disappointed about hanging a slider to Washburn. It wasn’t even a big deal. We were just talking about pitch selection, what we were going to do next inning.”
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