By Scott M. Johnson
Herald Writer
SEATTLE – The first game of the 2002 season was scheduled to start at 2 p.m., but the Seattle Mariners’ bats took about three more hours of extended vacation.
Due in large part to the pitching of Chicago White Sox left-hander Mark Buehrle, the Mariners spent the good part of seven innings slapping dribblers around the infield and watching third strikes cross the plate. Then, seemingly in one swing of the bat, everything came together Monday evening.
Edgar Martinez atoned for two earlier outs with runners in scoring position by delivering a bases-loaded single in the eighth inning. The two-RBI hit pulled the Mariners to within 6-3 and breathed some life into the Seattle bats. Three batters later, Carlos Guillen drove in two more runs with a double to left field.
“In rallies like that, you just want to keep the rally going,” Martinez said. “You try to hit the ball hard somewhere and hope for a base hit. When you get a base hit in that situation, it helps the momentum of the team, and that’s what happened in that inning.”
Unfortunately for the Mariners, it was a case of too little, too late. Unable to get another key hit in the ninth, they eventually lost 6-5 to the White Sox in front of a sold-out crowd at Safeco Field.
Martinez’s day was pretty typical of the Mariners. He struggled through the first seven innings, twice recording inning-ending outs with runners in scoring position, before getting hot against the White Sox bullpen. Buehrle, who won 16 games for Chicago last season, allowed just two hits and one run in six innings of work before leaving the game with a 6-1 lead.
“He pitched great, he really did,” Mariners second baseman Bret Boone said. “He mixed his pitches up. He had a little cutter, a two-seamer, a breaking ball. He pitched very well. How many hits we got off him showed how well he pitched. Give him credit, he pitched a great game, and we came up a little short today.”
As well as Buehrle pitched, the Mariners’ offense stalled at key moments after his exit. The most notable outs came in the final inning. Mark McLemore and Ichiro Suzuki led off the inning with singles, then moved to second and third, respectively, on a Jeff Cirillo bunt. Boone then stepped to the plate and swung at the first pitch from White Sox closer Keith Foulke, sending a ground ball back to the pitcher for the second out.
“I was looking at a fly ball in that situation. Anything else is a bonus,” Boone said. “He gave me a pitch that was good for me to hit a sacrifice fly on, and I didn’t get it done.”
After his heroics in the eighth inning, Martinez was in position to provide an encore with two outs and two runners on in the ninth, but Foulke intentionally walked him. The next batter, Mike Cameron, flew out to end the game.
Had Seattle’s offense gotten going earlier in the game, the Mariners might not have needed the late rally.
Suzuki led off the bottom of the first inning with a single, but 15 of the next 17 batters were retired. The only bright spot in between was Cameron’s solo home run in the second inning to give Seattle a 1-0 lead. While the White Sox responded with two runs in the sixth and four in the seventh, the Mariners looked as if they might never put a rally together.
“I don’t think we swung the bats particularly well, but (Buehrle) pitched real well,” said Seattle first baseman John Olerud, whose 0-for-3 performance included a fourth-inning groundout against Buehrle. “And then after the pitching change, we got some better swings. (The early lack of offense) was really a combination of things.”
Seattle did its damage against relievers Antonio Osuna, Gary Glover and Damaso Marte. Osuna pitched a scoreless seventh before allowing two runners in the eighth inning on a Suzuki single and an error by first baseman Paul Konerko. Glover came in and walked Boone before Martinez delivered the momentum-swinging single. After another walk, this time to Cameron, Chicago turned to Marte, a left-hander whose career includes stints with the Everett AquaSox and Mariners. He struck out Olerud, then gave up the double to Guillen.
Bob Howry then came on and induced pinch hitter Ruben Sierra into an inning-ending groundout.
The Mariners started another rally in the ninth behind the back-to-back singles, but eventually left the bases loaded to lose their fourth season opener in five years.
Although the Mariners came up short, they know there will be other opportunities. Martinez, whose four plate appearances Monday came with runners in scoring position, knows he’ll be in similar situations throughout the season.
“When you’ve got Ichiro, Cirillo, Boonie, all these guys are good hitters and will give me a lot of opportunities,” Martinez said. “I’m looking forward to the year having all these guys on base.”
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