Angels end M's streak with 5-4 win

ANAHEIM, Calif. — There would be no fairy-tale ending for the Mariners or the starting pitcher who used up plenty of them just to make it to the mound.

A jittery R.A. Dickey leapt up in the dugout with the rest of his teammates in the ninth inning as what looked to be the third home run of the night by Richie Sexson headed toward center field. But in the shadows of a Disney-themed rock garden and fountain display, situated just beyond the outfield fence, leaping outfielder Torii Hunter snatched away any remaining magic for the visitors.

Hunter's game-saving, two-out catch set off stadium fireworks and sealed a 5-4 defeat to the Los Angeles Angels for Dickey and his team in a Friday night thriller. Long before such an ending even seemed possible, Hunter's bat provided a rude awakening to Dickey's comeback dream with the first of three doubles that had the Mariners trailing all night long.

"That Torii is an incredible athlete," Dickey said after Seattle's three-game win streak came to an end. "It was kind of his night tonight."

While everything went right for Hunter in the game's key moments, especially the catch that brought 43,939 fans at a sold-out Angels Stadium to their feet, almost nothing went right when Dickey needed it most. He got ahead 1-2 on Hunter in the first inning with two good knuckleballs, then tried to sneak a 91 mph fastball by him, only to see the ball drilled to the left-field corner for three Los Angeles runs.

Sexson's first home run, to left-center off Angels starter Joe Saunders in the second inning, made it a 3-1 game.

But then, with Dickey throwing better and nearly through the sixth, a two-out double by Hunter and an intentional walk brought .104-hitting infielder Maicer Izturis to the plate. Dickey threw Izturis the "good knuckleball" he wanted, only to see it hit hard on the ground and past the glove of a diving Sexson at first base for another Angels run. An ensuing RBI single by Mike Napoli made it 5-1.

The Mariners looked cooked from there until Sexson hit a three-run homer in the seventh off Saunders to get Seattle within one. When Adrian Beltre singled in the ninth off Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez and Sexson hit his shot to deep center, the knuckleballing Dickey, who'd left after six innings, seemed to have one last shot at avoiding defeat.

But Hunter saved the night for Rodriguez, and for starter Saunders, now 3-0 after his eight-inning effort and second win over Seattle in five days.

"That's why his glove's got gold on it," said Sexson, who thought the ball was gone. "He made a great play."

A shrugging Dickey hadn't been as certain as he stood perched on the dugout steps.

"I thought it had a chance," Dickey said. "It wasn't a no-doubter, but I thought it had a chance."

Dickey's career was anything but a no-doubter after his last major-league start for the Texas Rangers on April 6, 2006. His two-year odyssey through the minors after that saw the bullpen-rotation swingman reinvent himself as a 33-year-old knuckleballer trying to keep his baseball dream alive.

The Mariners saw enough from Dickey after the Hunter-fueled first inning — he retired 11 of the next 12 batters — that he'll get another shot. Dickey admitted he'd "flogged himself" repeatedly for not shaking off catcher Kenji Johjima when he called for the first-inning fastball to Hunter, who'd ruined the Mariners on similar pitches while playing for Minnesota last season.

Dickey also knows his team might have emerged victorious had the Izturis grounder been a few inches closer to Sexson.

"It's tough," Dickey said. "You can't go back over stuff in your mind. You'll kill yourself over it."

And so, a pitcher who has made it a mantra not to harp on the trials and injustices of his 12-year pro baseball journey, will look forward and hope to fight another day.

So will Mariners manager John McLaren, who came away impressed with Dickey's outing after the mistake-pitch first inning. He's also impressed with the way an improving Sexson finally brought his biggest bat to the park.

"If you look at his Aprils, year-in and year-out, they're really not much to write home about," McLaren said. "We knew coming into the season that, if he didn't come out of the box, everybody would say this is the same thing as last year. But we knew different. Just because of the way he was working, the way he carried himself in spring training. He's getting after it pretty good."

So, no fairy-tale endings on this night for Dickey or Sexson. But, in McLaren's eyes at least, the makings of a beginning.

Geoff Baker: 206-464-8286 or gbaker@seattletimes.com