By Larry LaRue
The News Tribune
OAKLAND – They road the first trip of the season into first place, and then the Seattle Mariners road it a little further – into history.
Running their winning streak to 10 games with a 7-4 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday, the Mariners return home with a 4 1/2game lead in the AL West.
And a bit more.
That 10-game road winning streak is the longest in franchise history, and it matches the second longest streak – home, away or combined – in Seattle history.
Close into the eighth inning, when the Mariners held a one-run lead, Seattle broke it open when Ichiro Suzuki doubled home three runs to extend his hitting streak to 11 games.
When this trip began, the Mariners had lost two in a row and sat 1 1/2games behind the Athletics. Then they swept the Angels in four games, took four more in a row from Texas and came to Oakland hoping to do more damage.
That they did.
A year after breaking out to a nine-game April lead in the division, the Mariners have improbably gotten off to a better start – 13-3 compared to 12-4 after 16 games.
Like each game on their trip, this one was close throughout.
“They’ve all been there for the taking somewhere in the sixth, seventh, eighth innings,” manager Lou Piniella said. “I don’t want to complain, but I wouldn’t mind getting a nice lead early and sailing through a game.”
The Mariners had the chance to do just that but couldn’t against Tim Hudson. Matched against Jamie Moyer, Oakland never did get a lead.
John Olerud’s two-run first-inning home run, his fourth of the year, put Seattle ahead – and Moyer pitched out of a jam in the bottom half of the inning, leaving the bases full of A’s.
Seattle had the chance to pull away in the second, when Ruben Sierra and Carlos Guillen singled. Catcher Ben Davis, asked to bunt the runners over, failed to do so.
It cost the Mariners a run. After Davis struck out, Mark McLemore’s ground ball – a fielder’s choice that pushed Sierra to third base – would have scored him had the sacrifice worked.
Rookie Carlos Pena tied it in the fourth inning, doubling home two runs against Moyer.
It wasn’t tied long.
Jeff Cirillo beat out an infield single and Bret Boone’s second single of the night got him to third base. When Olerud tapped the ball to the right side, the best the A’s could do was throw him out as Cirillo scored.
Oakland came back again, scoring a run again Moyer in the bottom of the fifth and after five innings and 109 pitches, the veteran left-hander was done. He got credit for the victory when the Mariners scored in the top of the sixth inning on Cirillo’s two-out RBI single, but when 12 outs left to the Athletics, a 4-3 lead didn’t appear insurmountable.
In Moyer’s place, Piniella went with rookie lefty Brian Fitzgerald, the 26-year-old who’d impressed everyone with his success in brief spring outings. Making his major league debut, Fitzgerald retired the first two batters he faced.
The third, Jeremy Giambi, battled Fitzgerald through a 12-pitch at-bat – fouling off eight consecutive pitches at one point – before singling into right field.
The kid sighed on the mound, then got the third out. Scrapbook city.
From there, it was the Mariners’ usual cast of relievers. Arthur Rhodes got two outs, Jeff Nelson got five more. After giving up a solo home run and infield single in the ninth, Nelson gave way to Kazuhiro Sasaki.
Goodnight, Oakland.
When it was over, when the Mariners were shaking hands and slapping backs, the Athletics quietly left the field. With months to play, the story of the AL West is far from played out – and both teams know it.
What they also know is the Mariners’ fast start last year, coupled with a sluggish opening for the A’s, forced Oakland to play catchup baseball all year.
In the end, not even winning 102 games could get the A’s closer than 14 games.
Now the Mariners are home again, and any further road history will have to wait. Their 10-game streak matches the fourth longest in major league history to open a season, though the longest – 17 consecutive games, by the 1984 Tigers – seems unlikely.
Seattle’s next six games on the road are in Chicago and New York, and back-to-back sweeps against those teams in those cities would still leave them a game short of the record.
Truth is, the Mariners could care less. The only record that matters for them is 13-3. It’s the best start in franchise history, and it’ll do – at least until Friday in Safeco Field.
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