By Larry LaRue
The News Tribune
OAKLAND – The Athletics aren’t sure whether to go with a three- or four-man rotation once the postseason begins, but if the Seattle Mariners get a vote they’ll say “three.”
Against Oakland’s No. 4 starter, Cory Lidle, the Mariners’ offense went belly up in the butter dish Friday, slipping quietly into the night during the Athletics’ 5-1 victory.
As statements go, the A’s insisted it didn’t mean much, that this series is just three games sitting on the schedule for two teams headed for the playoffs. For the Mariners, there were the usual excuses available – Bret Boone and David Bell were out, and this is Seattle’s least-favorite ballpark.
No one mentioned that after this one, however. What the Mariners did was shrug off their second consecutive loss, grit their teeth and admit they’d simply been beaten.
And not even by one of Oakland’s top three pitchers.
Oakland has three deadly arms in its rotation – Tim Hudson, Barry Zito and Mark Mulder – and then a nice little right-hander named Lidle, who in three previous appearances against the Mariners owned a 6.97 earned run average.
This time around, he was Cy Young, and for seven innings Seattle was overmatched.
When they had chances, the Mariners stumbled. Jay Buhner, for instance, was waved home by third base coach Dave Myers and, trying to score from first base, was thrown out at the plate in the second inning. There were ground ball double plays in the seventh and eighth innings.
For all that, the Mariners made life uncomfortable for a crowd of 30,387 in the Coliseum.
There was the third inning, with Seattle trailing 2-0. With two outs, Mark McLemore tripled and both Edgar Martinez and John Olerud walked. That brought up Mike Cameron with the bases loaded – sitting on 99 runs batted in for the season.
Cameron flied out.
From there, Lidle sailed through seven, only to have the Mariners rise up against Oakland’s bullpen.
And Cameron got his 100th RBI of the season for the first time in his career, hitting a solo home run in the ninth inning. The A’s and their fans shrugged that off, but then Carlos Guillen walked and Jay Buhner banged a single off the left-field wall, sending Guillen to third base.
The A’s stopped shrugging, and manager Art Howe went to his closer, Jason Isringhausen. In the stands, the cheering quieted a bit.
“The one thing you can say about both these teams is that they never give up,” said Jason Giambi, who hit his 34th home run of the year Friday. “You’ve got to play nine innings to beat us. You’ve got to play nine innings to beat them.”
With two on in the top of the ninth inning, Isringhausen struck out pinch-hitter Tom Lampkin on a sweeping curveball. Pinch-hitter Stan Javier, batting for rookie Ramon Vazquez, grounded out.
“Our lineup is a little bit short right now,” manager Lou Piniella said. “We’ve got a week to get guys at-bats, get guys innings, and then we’ve got to get ready for the postseason in earnest.”
Like Lidle and every other pitcher in the majors, the Mariners’ staff didn’t get much work during the seven off-days of last week, and in some cases hadn’t pitched in nearly two weeks.
For Lidle, it didn’t show. For Paul Abbott and rookie Ryan Franklin, the rust was obvious, and Oakland made them pay.
Abbott hadn’t pitched since Sept. 7, and in five innings couldn’t get the ball down – except for a run-scoring wild-pitch that bounced in front of the plate. The usually reliable Franklin hadn’t been in a game since Sept. 7 – and lost the strike zone in the sixth inning, walking three consecutive batters and giving up a pair of runs.
“It’s been awhile and that’s going to show, all we can do is get them innings, let them pitch,” Piniella said. “We’re trying to get as many guys into games as we can, get them sharp. It takes time. Against a formidable team like Oakland, you don’t get away with much.”
And without Boone in the heart of the lineup, the Mariners are missing a huge chunk of offense. Would one man have mattered in this one?
Maybe not, but Boone’s spot – No. 3 in the lineup – came up twice with runners on base, and Edgar Martinez drew a walk and grounded into a double play in those opportunities.
The A’s, meanwhile, beat the Mariners at their own game, twice using hit-and-run singles to set up run-scoring rallies.
Did it matter? Did either team learn much?
“Probably not,” Piniella said. “We know how good Oakland is, we know how good we are. If this was a postseason game, it would have meant more to both teams.”
“They’re in the playoffs, we’re not yet,” Howe said.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
