M's bring out the big bats

ANAHEIM, Calif. — If Richie Sexson and Raul Ibanez keep up their act, there could be a new term added to the baseball lexicon — the suicide intentional walk.

Ten times this season, the opposition has walked Ibanez to get to Sexson, including Saturday.

Twice, including Saturday night's 12-6 Mariners victory over the Angels, Sexson has followed with grand slams. In fact, Sexson has wrecked the strategy more than that.

By unofficial count he is 4 for 9 with a bases-league walk after intentional walks to Ibanez, whose leads the league in intentional walks.

"Frankly, I'd say it's nothing but pure luck," said Sexson, who has a dozen career slams, of his output in that particular situation. "I don't feel any exceptional emotion when they walk Raul in front of me. I don't think it's a bad move. It's not rocket science to have a right-hander face a righty hitter instead of a lefty, and possibly set up a double play at the same time."

Sexson also has two singles and a fielder's choice that got a run home, for a total of 13 runs batted in in 10 such plate appearances. Those numbers do not count two times opponents have walked Ibanez while pitching carefully, and Sexson has followed with a sacrifice fly and the third of his three grand slams.

As bizarre as the Ibanez/Sexson scenario has become, it was only part of the support Seattle's offense provided Gil Meche.

In addition, Ichiro hit a three-run homer to cap another three-hit game, his sixth straight multi-hit game, a span in which he has gone 18 for 30.

Adrian Beltre followed Ichiro's homer in the seventh with a solo shot, giving Seattle its second back-to-back homers of the season.

"We swung the bats well tonight, against a good pitcher in John Lackey," manager Mike Hargrove said. "No swing was bigger than Richie's slam, of course. That blew the game open."

The timing for the outpouring of run production couldn't have been better timed since Meche was struggling.

"He felt something in his side stiffen up," Hargrove said. "But as bad a game as he had he gave us what he had, and he kept the Angels from having a big inning, even when he gave up the two runs in the second."

Before Sexson, Ichiro and Co. cut loose, Meche staggered. The right-hander was bruised in all five innings he pitched.

His cleanest escape came in the fifth, and only because Jeremy Reed leaped at the wall in center to turn an extra-base hit by Orlando Cabrera into the third out.

"I just wanted to get back to the wall and see if I had a chance, and when I got there I did," Reed said. "I think it was important to get Gil off the field, give him a chance to rest and giver the hitters a chance to do their thing."

Meche was in the soup from the start, when he walked Chone Figgins to open the first inning.

After the Angels got their pair in the second, Seattle countered with three runs in the third. Yuniesky Betancourt belted a double into the right-center gap for a run that made it 2-1. Jose Lopez came through with a two-out double over Juan Rivera in left to give Seattle a 3-2 lead.

Ichiro led the fifth with a single and Lopez doubled with one out. That's when the Angels chose to walk Ibanez and three pitches later, Sexson crushed a fastball out over the plate to center for a slam that made it 7-2.

"All I'm looking for in those situations is a sacrifice fly," Sexson said. "Anything more is gratifying, but that's the only gratification. Walking a guy intentionally is baseball. I'm not looking into the other dugout if I'm able to deliver and saying, 'Hey, hey, bad move.' "

It went to 8-2 on Reed's single but with Meche out and his replacement, Emiliano Fruto, getting hit around, it was questionable how much fun it was.

Mike Napoli made it 8-3 with a homer in the sixth and the Angels had two on before Fruto got three straight outs.

While Ichiro and Beltre did their 1-2 smash to make it 12-3, Napoli came back with his second homer in the seventh for two more and again the Angels had two on when Julio Mateo came in to end the inning.

Bob Finnigan: 206-464-8276 or bfinnigan@seattletimes.com