Baek delivers another solid outing for M's

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For a second straight night, a debate raged over whether the Mariners should allow a hot starting pitcher to keep on rolling.

But unlike the sparring on the mound involving Felix Hernandez on Friday, the verbal engagement over whether to pull Cha Seung Baek on Saturday night took place between coaches in the dugout. By the time manager Mike Hargrove lifted Baek in the eighth inning of an eventual 9-1 win over the Kansas City Royals, his pitcher seemed uninterested in any type of argument.

"Well, no," a puzzled-sounding Baek replied when asked afterward whether he'd pushed to stay in.

Baek may not battle with his mouth, but his arm keeps putting up a huge fight to remain part of the Seattle rotation. His seven-plus innings at Kauffman Stadium, during which his only run allowed was unearned, further demonstrated why the unheralded Korean may be the best addition made to this team's rotation since last season.

That's quite something, considering the Mariners paid Miguel Batista $25 million over three years, Jeff Weaver $8.3 million for one year and dealt away current Atlanta Braves closer Rafael Soriano to get Horacio Ramirez. But after four straight outings of six-plus innings, not to mention a shutout of the Detroit Tigers, no one is talking about Baek heading back to Class AAA once everyone gets healthy.

"I don't know," said Baek, called up to replace an injured Hernandez in late April and later kept in the rotation when Weaver went on the disabled list. "That's not my decision. I hope so, I'll try to stay. But I have to win."

The only time the Royals did anything off Baek came after throwing errors by Yuniesky Betancourt and Adrian Beltre gave the Royals a 1-0 lead in the third inning. But Kenji Johjima silenced the crowd of 21,138 in the fourth with the first grand slam of his career, deep into the left-field bleachers off Royals starter Brian Bannister.

The way Baek kept changing speeds, striking out a career-high seven and walking none, the game was over right there. But they played five more innings, with Baek landing 74 of his 98 pitches for strikes before his exit in the eighth.

Seattle blew things open with a five-spot in the ninth, capped by Richie Sexson's three-run homer off reliever Ryan Braun. Ichiro began the scoring by driving in a run on a slow roller misplayed by second baseman Mark Grudzielanek.

The official scorer ruled it an infield single, extending Ichiro's hitting streak to 19 games — the longest active stretch in the majors.

"It's not my job to judge that," he said of the call. "So, the only thing that was on my mind was, 'All right, I need to take a lead [off first base] right now.' "

A half-inning earlier, Sexson had been involved in the play that ended Baek's night. The first baseman scooped up a Tony Pena grounder, then got kicked in the head in a collision as he dove to touch the bag.

Pena's knee slammed into the back of Sexson's head, and he also stepped on Sexson's calf. Sexson was somewhat groggy afterwards, but stayed in the game.

Baek, on the other hand, came out once Pena reached base.

"He threw great," Sexson said of Baek. "He's given us quite a few quality starts and done a great job for us."

Hargrove wanted Baek to keep doing that job and spare his weary bullpen, the main reason he'd sent him out back out in the eighth on 94 pitches — but only after first agreeing during an "intense" debate with his coaches to pull the pitcher once anyone got on.

Baek went 4-1 down the stretch for the Mariners last season after a call-up from Class AAA. It was assumed that stint was good enough to earn him a fifth starter role this year until the Mariners signed Weaver two weeks before spring training.

"He hasn't changed," Hargrove said of Baek. "We're pretty much seeing the same things we saw last September. The thing that's changed from ... the two previous times I've seen him is the fact that he's throwing more strikes now. He's ahead of more hitters."

So much so that Baek may keep Weaver out of the rotation instead of the other way around. Weaver is working his way back from what the team calls "tendinitis" in his shoulder and could be ready to come off the DL soon.

But no one is suggesting that will have any impact on Baek.

"He's really establishing himself as one of our guys," Hargrove said. "You always talk about the guys who get an opportunity and do something with it. He's a perfect example of a guy who's doing that."

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

Read his daily blog at www.seattletimes.com/Mariners