ANAHEIM, Calif. — With the Elias Sports Bureau checking on Sunday, Emiliano Fruto's first-game/first-save outing Sunday was thought to be one of the few such performances for a Mariners reliever — if not the first.
Fruto was called up from Class AAA Tacoma with the Mariners down to three relievers after the short start by Joel Pineiro on Friday and the long game that ended in a 5-4 win in 13 innings Saturday.
The 6-foot-3, 235-pound right-hander got the call at 1:30 a.m. Sunday at home.
"I was awake when they called me, on the computer listening to music," said Fruto, who got his save for working the final 3-2/3 innings of the 9-4 win over the Los Angeles Angels. "I called my mom in Colombia to tell her I was going to the big leagues, then I went to bed. But I couldn't sleep."
He was on an early flight, got to Angels Stadium about 20 minutes before the game, dressed in five minutes and hurried out to the bullpen.
About two hours later, he was pitching.
"We went with Fruto because in case we went into extra innings, we could push [Jake] Woods easier," Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said.
Hargrove estimated he could get two innings from Woods, who worked the 13th Saturday night for his first major-league save, one from J.J. Putz and one from Eddie Guardado, who actually was in the closer slot for the first time in two weeks. But Seattle needed only Fruto.
Left-hander Bobby Livingston was optioned to the Rainiers to make room for Fruto on the 25-man roster.
Had the game gone as Saturday's, Pineiro would have been the Mariners' emergency long man. "It's his throw day anyway," Hargrove said. "We'd only use him two innings, 35 to 40 pitches."
The right time
When it comes to timing, it would be tough to top that of Richie Sexson breaking his 11-game homerless streak with a solo shot in the 13th inning Saturday.
"It was just good to win the game," the first baseman said. "There have been homers I was happier to get, but this one ranked up there. It doesn't get better than helping the team win."
He also could have done so with his shot to the track in left field in the fifth inning, with two on and two out, a ball caught by Garret Anderson at the wall.
"It was weird — I thought I hit that one much better than the one that went out of the park later," Sexson said. "At least one of them did."
Catching on
While the focus Saturday was on the bullpen's shutout pitching for the last 7-1/3 innings, the game also almost saw the return of Raul Ibanez to catching for the first time since 1999.
With Kenji Johjima out of the game earlier, No. 2 catcher Rene Rivera was hit on the back of the right hand.
"If we had to go to a third catcher it would have been Ibanez," Hargrove said. "We could have put Matt Lawton in left."
Ibanez, a catcher in his early pro years in the 1990s, was surprised to hear that.
"If they put me back there, I'd have to have come to the clubhouse for a [protective] cup," he said. "Other than that, I think I could remember how to play back there.
"I could catch in the majors, where they throw strikes," he said. "You can catch Jamie Moyer with a hand over your eyes, because he hits the glove. But down in Class A, you put up a target and they'd miss by three feet at 93 [mph]. That's tough."
As it turned out, the only near injury of the situation was when Rivera was given a few throws and nearly hit Willie Bloomquist out near second base.
"I was standing talking with Robb Quinlan when he yelled, 'Heads up!', and here was the ball coming at me," said Bloomquist.
Rivera confessed he had been trying to throw the ball to George Sherrill on the mound.
"My hand was numb, I couldn't feel the ball, so it went out to short," he said. "I thought, 'Uh-oh.' But I kept throwing and the feeling came back and I was OK. Down to one catcher, no way I was coming out of the game."
Notes
• Adam Kennedy and Carl Everett hit their home runs with the pink bats several players were using as part of Major League Baseball's effort on Mother's Day to promote breast-cancer awareness.
Sexson and Adrian Beltre started the game using pink bats. After lining out twice to third and striking out, Sexson went back to his black bat.
Jose Lopez also used a pink bat for three hits — a homer, double and a single.
• After going all of April without an error, SS Yuniesky Betancourt muffed a backhand in the first for his fourth miscue in six games.
• Seattle's first seven runs came via homers. The team mark for all runs scored on homers is nine, done twice: July 31, 1996, with homers by Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr., Jay Buhner and Brian Hunter; and May 11, 2005, with homers by Sexson, Ibanez, Ichiro and Bret Boone.
How the runs scored Sunday
Mariners first: Ichiro grounded out, third baseman Figgins to first baseman McPherson. Lopez doubled to center. Ibanez homered to right on a 2-2 count, Lopez scored. Sexson lined out to third baseman Figgins. Everett grounded out, shortstop Cabrera to first baseman McPherson. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on. M's 2, Angels 0.
Mariners third: Betancourt popped out to third baseman Figgins. Ichiro singled to center. Lopez homered to left on the first pitch, Ichiro scored. Ibanez flied out to center fielder Murphy. Sexson lined out to third baseman Figgins. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on. M's 4, Angels 0.
Angels third: Figgins singled to center. Cabrera walked on four pitches, Figgins to second. Guerrero singled to center, Figgins scored, Cabrera to third. Anderson grounded into fielder's choice, second baseman Lopez to shortstop Betancourt, Cabrera scored, Guerrero out. Rivera flied out to center fielder Reed. Kennedy homered to right on a 1-0 count, Anderson scored. McPherson flied out to right fielder Ichiro. 4 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on. M's 4, Angels 4.
Mariners fourth: Everett homered to right on the first pitch. Beltre singled to left. Johjima grounded out, shortstop Cabrera to first baseman McPherson, Beltre to second. Reed struck out. Betancourt homered to left on a 2-1 count, Beltre scored. Gregg pitching. Ichiro infield single to short. Lopez lined out to right fielder Guerrero. 3 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. M's 7, Angels 4.
Mariners seventh: Romero pitching. Ichiro walked. Lopez singled to right, Ichiro to third. Lopez to second. On Figgins' error, Ichiro scored, Lopez scored. Ibanez popped out to first baseman McPherson. Sexson struck out. Everett flied out to center fielder Murphy. 2 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 0 left on. M's 9, Angels 4.
Mariners statistics (through Sunday)
|
| BATTERS |
Avg |
AB |
R |
H |
2B |
3B |
HR |
RBI |
SB |
| Bloomquist |
.327 |
49 |
6 |
16 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
5 |
| Lawton |
.304 |
23 |
5 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Ichiro |
.293 |
164 |
27 |
48 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
11 |
13 |
| Ibanez |
.289 |
159 |
19 |
46 |
10 |
3 |
4 |
20 |
0 |
| Lopez |
.288 |
160 |
21 |
46 |
8 |
3 |
5 |
28 |
0 |
| Johjima |
.269 |
119 |
16 |
32 |
5 |
0 |
3 |
19 |
0 |
| Petagine |
.267 |
15 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
| Betancourt |
.260 |
123 |
15 |
32 |
7 |
2 |
2 |
16 |
5 |
| Everett |
.250 |
132 |
17 |
33 |
7 |
0 |
6 |
20 |
0 |
| Beltre |
.218 |
142 |
16 |
31 |
5 |
0 |
2 |
11 |
9 |
| Reed |
.209 |
86 |
9 |
18 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
7 |
2 |
| Sexson |
.196 |
143 |
15 |
28 |
8 |
0 |
4 |
18 |
0 |
| Rivera |
.167 |
18 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| Team |
.257 |
1344 |
172 |
346 |
61 |
13 |
31 |
158 |
34 |
|
| PITCHERS |
W-L |
ERA |
SV |
IP |
H |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| Fruto |
0-0 |
0.00 |
1 |
3.2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Putz |
1-0 |
1.83 |
4 |
19.2 |
13 |
4 |
6 |
28 |
| Soriano |
0-1 |
2.66 |
1 |
20.1 |
15 |
6 |
8 |
25 |
| Sherrill |
1-1 |
3.09 |
1 |
11.2 |
9 |
4 |
9 |
15 |
| Moyer |
1-3 |
3.29 |
0 |
52.0 |
52 |
19 |
11 |
31 |
| Washburn |
2-5 |
3.91 |
0 |
53.0 |
47 |
23 |
9 |
23 |
| Hernandez |
2-4 |
4.58 |
0 |
39.1 |
43 |
20 |
16 |
43 |
| Pineiro |
4-3 |
4.59 |
0 |
49.0 |
51 |
25 |
14 |
24 |
| Meche |
3-2 |
4.84 |
0 |
44.2 |
48 |
24 |
23 |
32 |
| Green |
0-0 |
5.06 |
0 |
5.1 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
| Woods |
1-1 |
5.29 |
1 |
17.0 |
14 |
10 |
12 |
16 |
| Guardado |
0-2 |
5.93 |
4 |
13.2 |
16 |
9 |
8 |
15 |
| Mateo |
2-0 |
7.11 |
0 |
12.2 |
16 |
10 |
8 |
7 |
| Livingston |
0-0 |
18.00 |
0 |
5.0 |
9 |
10 |
6 |
3 |
| Team |
17-22 |
4.41 |
12 |
351.1 |
341 |
172 |
138 |
267 |
The week ahead
Mon
Off day
Tue @ Oakland
7:05 p.m., FSN
RH Felix Hernandez (2-4) vs. RH Joe Blanton (3-4)
Wed @ Oakland
7:05 p.m., FSN
LH Jamie Moyer (1-3) vs. LH Barry Zito (2-3)
Thu @ Oakland
12:35 p.m.
RH Joel Pineiro (4-3) vs. RH Kirk Saarloos (1-1)
Fri
San Diego
7:05 p.m., Ch. 11
RH Jarrod Washburn (2-5) vs. RH Chris Young (3-2)
Sat
San Diego
7:05 p.m., FSN
RH Gil Meche (3-2) vs. RH Clay Hensley (2-2)
Sun
San Diego
1:05 p.m., Ch. 11
RH Felix Hernandez (2-4) vs. RH Chan Ho Park (2-1)
For the record
W/L streak: W-2
At home: 9-13
On the road: 8-9
vs. AL West: 6-7
vs. Angels: 4-2
vs. Oakland: 1-3
vs. Texas: 1-2
vs. AL East: 5-5
vs. AL Cent.: 6-10
vs. NL: 0-0
vs. LHP: 4-7
vs. RHP: 13-15
Day: 5-8
Night: 12-14
1-run games: 3-8
Extra-inning games: 2-1
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