SEATTLE – As the Seattle Mariners take a glimpse into at their future, it looks like the present will have its moments.
A rookie pitcher like Clint Nageotte will show why all the high expectations are warranted. But he’ll also show just how young and inexperienced he is.
Wednesday was one of those days, when the Texas Rangers battered the 23-year-old Nageotte for four runs in the third inning and had him out of the game before he could finish the fourth.
The Rangers rode that early uprising, and the pitching of 39-year-old Kenny Rogers, to a 9-6 victory over the Mariners at Safeco Field.
“It’s just what happens,” Mariners manager Bob Melvin said of Nageotte. “He had a couple of good outings. He’s got good stuff and down the road he’s going to be a big-time starter for us.”
Like Rogers is now for the Rangers.
Rogers gave up Randy Winn’s two-run home run and Rich Aurilia’s RBI double in the third, and Rangers relievers Frank Francisco, Brian Shouse and Carlos Almanzar finished them off, surviving a three-run Mariners ninth.
Rogers became the major leagues’ first 11-game winner, pushing his record to 11-2.
It was the Mariners their 45th loss this season and drove them back to 131/2 games out of first place in the American League West.
That, of course, isn’t the point anymore.
The Mariners are looking at the young pitching talent in the organization to see where they stand for the future.
Today, rookie left-hander Matt Thornton gets the ball in the series finale.
Nageotte had his day Wednesday and it was a rough one. He needed 95 pitches to get through 32/3 innings and was behind 5-0 when he came out.
“It was one of his tougher ones,” Melvin said. “He threw a few more pitches and got into some counts he didn’t really want to get into.”
Nageotte, now 1-4 with a 6.85 earned run average, pitched around a one-out walk and a wild pitch in a scoreless first inning. When the Rangers started swinging the bats in the second, he wasn’t long for the game.
The Rangers started undressing Nageotte with singles back up the middle – Mark Teixeira, David Dellucci and Gary Matthews Jr. did it back-to-back-to-back before Rod Barajas hit a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
It continued in the third, when Nageotte hit Hank Blalock to start the inning and Alfonso Soriano singled. Nageotte got the next two hitters, but Texas unleashed another up-the-middle barrage that had Nageotte flailing to stay out of the way.
Dellucci scorched a single over Nageotte’s head that drove in two runs, Matthews went over his shoulder for a hit, Barajas did the same to drive home Dellucci and Jason Conti singled to left to score another run. That made it 5-0 before Nageotte got Michael Young on a ground out to end the inning, on his 75th pitch of the game.
Nageotte got the first two outs in the fourth before Brad Fullmer singled – up the middle – and Teixeira walked.
Melvin brought in left-hander Ron Villone, whose last outing was a June 26 start against the San Diego Padres. Villone retired five straight before the Rangers loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth.
Right-hander reliever Julio Mateo ended that threat by getting Kevin Mench on a grounder, then pitched a 1-2-3 seventh.
The eighth wasn’t so pretty.
Young led off with a single and Hank Blalock smashed his 21st home run over the center field fence. Two outs later, Teixeira launched a high fly to right that carried into the seats for his 12th homer and an 8-3 Rangers lead.
Until that inning, the Mariners made it close.
They didn’t get their first hit off Rogers until Suzuki’s leadoff single in the fourth. It was 5-0 by then, but Winn followed with his fourth homer of the season, cutting Texas’ lead to 5-2.
Two outs later, Bret Boone singled and Aurilia doubled him home to make it 5-3.
With Villone and Mateo maintaining the two-run margin through the top of the seventh, the M’s came within feet of tying the score in the bottom of the inning. Dan Wilson walked with two outs and John Olerud, pinch hitting for Willie Bloomquist, hit a drive off Francisco that the Rangers’ Conti caught against the center field fence.
The Rangers broke the game open with their three-run eighth, plus another in the ninth on Barajas’ double – his third RBI of the game – before the M’s put together a too-little, too-late rally in the ninth.
Edgar Martinez and Boone hit back-to-back singles off Almanzar, who walked Aurilia to load the bases. Almanzar struck out Scott Spiezio before pinch hitter Dave Hansen grounded into a fielder’s choice that drove in Martinez.
Olerud walked and Suzuki singled home two more runs, making it 9-6, before Winn lined out to left field to end the game.
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