Mariners win in bottom of ninth

Despite what baseball traditionalists will tell you, there apparently is no art involved in manufacturing runs.

That much was proved by Ronny Cedeno and the Mariners in the bottom of the ninth inning of Sunday afternoon's 3-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

As far as art goes, this was more paint-by-numbers than Picasso. The .123-hitting Cedeno drew a leadoff walk, took second on a broken-bat infield single and later scored when first baseman Tony Clark dropped a throw for what should have been the third out.

But the Mariners weren't worried about art critics on a day their injury-plagued lineup, resembling a spring training split-squad, squeezed out just enough runs to secure a rare series sweep that lifted them over .500 (35-34), and left them 2 ½ games out of first place.

"I was trying to make him throw in the strike zone," Cedeno said of Diamondbacks reliever Clay Zavada, who sports a 1970s throwback mustache and just enough wildness to give any hitter a chance. "I'm trying to get a walk in that situation, with a tie game. Because I know if I get on-base, with Ichiro behind me, anything can happen."

And anything did happen, to the delight of 37,251 fans at Safeco Field for this Father's Day matinee, which ended in Seattle's first series sweep since early April. It wasn't always artful for a Mariners team that sat out Adrian Beltre with a bad shoulder, Russell Branyan with a swollen forearm, limited Ken Griffey Jr. to another pinch-hitting appearance because of his sore knee and already had Jose Lopez on bereavement leave in Venezuela.

The result was a lineup laden with Class AAA call-ups and backups, many of whom, like the struggling Cedeno, wound up playing decisive roles.

Mariners closer David Aardsma also wasn't available, meaning the team rode Felix Hernandez as far as he could go for 112 pitches. Hernandez took a 1-0 lead and 20-inning scoreless stretch into the eighth, only to lose it on a one-out, two-run homer by Mark Reynolds.

"I made just one bad pitch all day," said Hernandez, who has a 1.00 earned-run average in his last six starts. "I missed my location, but that was the only time."

The Mariners tied it when replacement first baseman Mike Carp scored on a Franklin Gutierrez grounder in the eighth, then saw their improbable attempt at manufacturing some offense in the ninth ultimately bear fruit.

As predicted by Cedeno, Ichiro followed his five-pitch walk by sending a broken-bat dribbler to shortstop and beating it out for a single. But the Mariners then flubbed what should have been the easy part for a team that never met a ball it couldn't bunt someplace.

An ailing Chris Woodward, who'd turned a saving double play at third base in the second inning but later tweaked his groin, failed to get a bunt down and wound up fouling out. A bounder to first by Carp then moved the runners up one critical base, but also resulted in the second out.

Zavada then walked Mike Sweeney intentionally, nearly throwing the game away on one errant pitch that catcher Miguel Montero saved with a leaping play. That only provided a different type of bizarre, game-ending conclusion moments later, when Clark dropped the throw after a Gutierrez chopper to third.

"I was surprised," said Cedeno, who was focused on sprinting for the plate and never saw the throw. "I was just trying to make it across the plate and all of a sudden, I hear everybody jump up and scream."

Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

"It's been a while, but I'll take it," Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said of the good luck.

"It was a great win, obviously, with all of the injuries going on right now," he added. "These guys keep pulling together."

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

For the record

Streak: W3

Home: 19-14

Road: 16-20

v. AL West: 13-14

vs. L.A.: 7-6

vs. Oakland: 6-3

vs. Texas: 0-5

vs. AL East: 8-4

vs. AL Cent.: 7-11

vs. NL: 7-5

vs. LHP: 11-8

vs. RHP: 24-26

Day: 13-11

Night: 22-23

One-run: 18-13

Extra inn.: 4-4

Home attendance

Sunday's crowd: 37,251

Season total: 905,449

Biggest crowd: 45,958 (April 14)

Smallest crowd: 16,002 (May 19)

Average (33 dates): 27,438

2008 average (33 dates): 28,248