Mariners sprint to victory

It doesn't sound much like the makings of a productive day at the ballpark for the Mariners.

Jamie Moyer takes a tumble on the first play of the game and has to be examined by the trainer. Richie Sexson is pulled in the second inning because of blurred vision in his right eye, and Adrian Beltre follows him to the sideline in the fifth with a bruised right kneecap — $114 million worth of Mariners muscle out of commission.

But productive it was, as the Mariners blasted former teammate Freddy Garcia, gave a clinic in aggressive baserunning and rode a strong, seven-inning effort by the resilient Moyer to a 9-2 victory yesterday over the Chicago White Sox.

The better news is that the ailments by Sexson and Beltre are not believed to be serious, and manager Mike Hargrove was hoping both might be ready today, when the New York Yankees open a four-game series at Safeco Field.

Sexson, however, said after the game that his vision was still blurred and he might have to undergo a series of tests today if the condition still exists.

"I'll know more [today], whether it's a scratch in the cornea or something that happened when I was sleeping," he said. "I had it when I woke up."

Meanwhile, the surprise star of the game for Seattle was Dave Hansen, who normally doesn't spring into action until the latter innings. Hastily replacing Sexson at first base, Hansen promptly knocked an RBI single off Garcia in the second, drilled his second homer of the season off him in the fifth and added another single in the sixth.

Mariners update


Winning pitcher:

Jamie Moyer (11-5)

Losing pitcher: Freddy Garcia (11-7)

Tonight:

New York Yankees

at Seattle,

7:05 p.m., FSN/KOMO (1000 AM)

Starting pitchers:

M's Ryan Franklin

(6-14, 5.29) vs. Mike Mussina (12-8, 4.21)

Hansen said he had no clue that Sexson was experiencing any problems until he was summoned into the game.

"I was in my usual spot, which is in the middle of the dugout, enjoying a major-league baseball game and preparing myself," Hansen said. "Usually, it ends up being the ninth inning, about 10 o'clock at night. But you have to be ready to go at a moment's notice."

It was Garcia's first game at Safeco Field wearing a uniform other than the Mariners', but the trend was the same — home or away, he doesn't fare well against the team that traded him last July and has gone 88-130 since then.

Garcia is now 0-3 with an 8.63 earned-run average against the Mariners in three starts this year. He is 1-3, 7.20 in four starts since the trade, the three previous starts all at U.S. Cellular Field.

He gave up 11 hits and eight runs in 4-1/3 innings, his shortest stint of the season.

"I threw pretty good, but I had a flat slider," Garcia said. "I felt great, but they hit me all over the place. I don't have any excuses. I tried hard — maybe too hard."

In what seemed to be an unintentional dig at the Mariners' last-place plight, he said he has had trouble against the American League's lesser teams this year.

"It's like when I face Kansas City or Tampa Bay — they get me," he said.

Indeed, the Mariners were facing the dismal prospect of getting passed in winning percentage by the Devil Rays had they lost the game. But they took care of that not just by scoring early and often, but by pressing the matters on the base paths.

"There were certain things they were giving us a chance to do, and we tried to take advantage of it," Hargrove said.

That included three stolen bases (two by Jeremy Reed and Willie Bloomquist's 14th in 15 attempts this year), advances on two wild pitches by Garcia, a stretch double by Bloomquist and several instances of the Mariners taking the extra base.

That's precisely the way that Bloomquist, generally considered to be the Mariners' most aggressive base runner, likes to play it.

"It's a heck of a lot more fun brand to play than sitting back and waiting for a three-run homer," he said.

There was also a rather puzzling bit of baserunning by Ichiro, who ran right past second base in the fifth inning as he was being forced out on a Bloomquist grounder for the third out. Hargrove and Ichiro were believed to be meeting in the manager's office after the game when reporters entered the clubhouse.

Hargrove also took notice, and not necessarily positively, of aggressive baserunning by Yuniesky Betancourt, who replaced Beltre in the lineup after the third baseman hurt his knee sliding back into first base after retreating on a fly out.

Betancourt ran right through the stop sign of third-base coach Carlos Garcia to score on Reed's single in the fifth — the second time Betancourt has ignored the coach.

"It's one of those, if you make it, it's great; if you don't, you're going to get about a half-pound in your butt," Hargrove said. "Then you talk to him after the game in a much more reasoned manner than you would have had he gotten thrown out."

Larry Stone: 206-464-3146 or lstone@seattletimes.com