SEATTLE — In one of those games where every inch counts, eighty were not enough to keep the Seattle Mariners from the inevitable pounding on Sunday afternoon.
When 6-foot-8 first baseman Richie Sexson watched a foul ball off the bat of Vladimir Guerrero sail just out of reach near the Mariners’ dugout in the third inning, it turned out to be just the break the Los Angeles Angels needed. Instead of popping into the inning’s final out, Guerrero lined the next pitch from starter Cha Seung Baek into right field to drive in a pair of runs and set the L.A. offense in motion.
Guerrero’s two-run double ignited the Angels, and L.A.’s bats kept driving the ball from there, pounding out 16 hits in a 10-5 win over the Mariners. In the process, Seattle’s hopes of a sweep over its AL West rival were dashed.
“That’s a great ball club over there,” catcher Jamie Burke said after the short-handed Mariners had to scratch two key players from the afternoon game at Safeco Field. “We had to mix and match things, but we battled as much as we could.”
Playing without injured starters Erik Bedard and Adrian Beltre, the Mariners fell behind in the third inning and quickly fell apart. Left-handed reliever Eric O’Flaherty replaced Baek in the fifth and got rocked for six runs off eight hits in 22/3 innings of work as the Mariners eventually fell behind 7-0.
“Eric’s struggling,” McLaren said after leaving O’Flaherty in the game in effort to let the lefty pitch his way out of trouble. “… We believe in Eric, but it’s just not happening right now.”
Baek, an 11th-hour starter after Bedard complained of tightness in his left hip, was somewhat effective in just 41/3 innings of work. He gave up seven hits before giving way to the Mariners’ short-handed bullpen. O’Flaherty got knocked around as the Angels piled up 13 hits and seven runs in the first six innings alone.
Los Angeles had scored seven runs before Seattle’s offense got on the board in the bottom of the sixth. One day after piling up a season-high 15 hits and eight runs, the Mariners’ bats had trouble getting to Los Angeles starter Joe Saunders on Sunday afternoon. Saunders got out of a bases-loaded jam in the second inning and then kept Seattle’s offense at bay until the pinch hitter Greg Norton drove in a Seattle run in the bottom of the sixth. Norton’s bases-loaded single ended the shutout bid but wasn’t enough to make up for the Angels’ offensive onslaught.
The Angels continued to pound O’Flaherty while padding their lead with three more runs in the seventh to pull ahead 10-2. Jeff Mathis hit a two-run homer to left field before the Mariners finally got another reliever up in the bullpen. Roy Corcoran finally ended O’Flaherty’s misery by coming into the game in the seventh.
“We want Eric to work through it,” McLaren said. “He was a valuable part of our team last year.”
As a testament to how much O’Flaherty has struggled this season, his season ERA held steady at 20.25 after giving up six earned runs in 22/3 innings of work Sunday.
“My bad pitches are getting hit, and when I make a good one, they’re finding a hole,” an obviously frustrated O’Flaherty said afterward. “I’m not catching too many breaks.”
It was a tough way for Seattle to end a series that had started so promising. The Mariners (6-7) did take two of three from the team favored to win the West, perhaps setting the tone for an important division rivalry.
“We won the series, and we feel good about that,” McLaren said. “That’s a step in the right direction.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
