Mariners
M's make winning call with Blackley

By José Miguel Romero
Seattle Times staff reporter

JOHN LOK / THE SEATTLE TIMES Edgar Martinez watches the flight of his sixth-inning, pinch-hit single Thursday at Safeco Field. Martinez drove in John Olerud for the Mariners' final run of the game.

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For all of the frustration and difficulty winning games the Mariners have experienced this season, yesterday was a respite.

Seattle won in rare fashion — scoring early to back up its starting pitcher with the kind of offense envisioned in spring training. The Mariners pounded the first-place Texas Rangers 8-4, making a winner of 21-year-old Travis Blackley in his major-league debut.

For just the third time in 13 games against Texas in 2004, a Mariners starter retired the Rangers in order in the first inning. In fact, Blackley shut out the Rangers for the first three innings, just the second time that has happened for the Mariners in the 13 games.

"This is a highly touted kid in our organization," manager Bob Melvin said of Blackley, who lasted 5-2/3 innings and allowed four runs on six hits with four strikeouts.

"For him to go out there, and especially in the first inning go 1-2-3 like that, and show some composure right away, pretty impressive effort out of a young kid."

Blackley didn't falter until the last hitter he faced, Kevin Mench, launched a three-run home run off the scoreboard in left field in the sixth inning. Melvin lifted Blackley after the homer, but the Mariners led 7-4, thanks to a three-run first inning and four more runs in the third.

Blackley found out about his call-up after Wednesday night's game, and he stayed up until 3:30 yesterday morning after a phone call to his parents in Australia.

Mariners update Winning pitcher: Travis Blackley (1-0) Losing pitcher: John Wasdin (1-1) Key to the game: Blackley, just called up from Class AAA Tacoma, allowed Texas six hits and four runs in 5-2/3 innings. Tonight: Seattle @ St. Louis, 5:10 p.m., FSN, KOMO (1000 AM) Starting pitchers: M's Jamie Moyer (6-4, 3.80) vs. Woody Williams (5-6, 4.35)

"My first time out there, since I'm not very old, I didn't feel like there was much if any expectations to carry on my shoulders, so that didn't even play in my mind," Blackley said. "I just wanted to get through the first one well, and I was just happy they (teammates) put up some runs and I wasn't in a jam really that much."

Seattle scored seven of its eight runs with two outs. Drives into the outfield found the gaps, Ichiro paced the offense with three hits, and struggling Bret Boone went 3 for 4 with two doubles, two runs, a run batted in and his second intentional walk of the season.

The Mariners' bullpen, thin after a lot of work in recent days, held the Rangers hitless over the final 3-1/3 innings. Seattle (32-45) salvaged a split with the AL West leaders in the four-game series, and is now 12½ games out of first place.

Ichiro opened the bottom of the first by lining the first pitch from right-hander John Wasdin into right field for a single. Randy Winn followed with a hard double into the gap in right-center field, and Ichiro hustled around the bases to score the game's first run. Jolbert Cabrera laid down a good bunt for a sacrifice, and Boone's first double drove in Winn.

Dave Hansen, in the lineup yesterday as designated hitter, ripped a 98-mph fastball up the middle to drive in Boone, and the Mariners never looked back.

	Mariners reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa, left, hands the game ball to starter Travis Blackley, right, after the M's 8-4 victory as teammate Dave Hansen watches.

In the bottom of the third, the Mariners chased Wasdin with an infield single by Boone, a walk to Hansen, a one-out RBI single by Scott Spiezio and a two-out double off the wall near the right-field foul pole by Ichiro that drove in Hansen for a 5-0 lead.

"He's had good outings before, but today wasn't one of them," Texas manager Buck Showalter said of Wasdin, who lasted just 2-2/3 innings and allowed seven runs on eight hits.

Winn greeted reliever Ron Mahay with a two-run single, and the Mariners had all the runs they needed.

"When things go right, sometimes you can't explain it," Ichiro said.

"What was important was getting hits when we needed to get hits, I don't care if there's two outs or one out," Boone said. "It was just nice to jump on somebody early, and it seemed like we had control of the game the whole time.

"This year, it's been such a weird, bizarre year. Around here we've been used to being in control of games a lot, and this year for whatever reason we haven't been. It was nice to be in control of the game from start to finish."

The Rangers (44-32) got on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth when Blackley got into his first jam. He allowed a leadoff double to Michael Young, then walked Alfonso Soriano and Herbert Perry to load the bases with no outs.

Blackley got Mark Teixeira to hit into a 6-4-3 double play, but Young scored. Hank Blalock, the Rangers' hottest hitter, flied out to end the inning.

Texas opened the fifth with back-to-back singles off Blackley, but he retired the side thereafter. In the sixth, Blackley had two outs recorded before Teixeira and Blalock singled, bringing up Mench and the home run that ended his day.

The Mariners scored an insurance run with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, as John Olerud hit a ground-rule double, Boone was walked and pinch-hitter Edgar Martinez delivered a base hit.

Jose Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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