Ibanez powers up in the 11th

SAN DIEGO — Rejuvenated by their first day off in more than three weeks, the Mariners seemed to have an extra bounce in their step Friday.

Until the seventh inning, anyway. That's when a seeming Seattle romp turned into a tense battle, and eventually the Mariners' first extra-inning game of the year.

In the end, however, the Mariners avoided the agonizing, head-down walk off the field that at various junctures seemed their destiny, edging the Padres, 6-5, in 11 innings at Petco Park.

It was a rare trot by Raul Ibanez that lifted them. Ibanez delivered just his second homer of the year — and his first since April 19, a span of 160 at-bats — off Padres reliever Cla Meredith leading off the 11th to win it.

"It came at a really good time," Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said. "If you could choose a time for Raul to do it, this was the time."

Ibanez wasn't sure if the opposite-field blast was going to leave the park, considering both his power drought this season and the fact the Mariners had already watched three well-struck balls hauled in at the warning track.

"I knew I hit it well, but I haven't hit one in awhile, so I wasn't sure," he said. "I know this is a tough park to hit, but I wasn't thinking about that. I was just trying to run in case it didn't go out."

All that was left was for closer J.J. Putz to do what has become automatic. He retired the Padres in order for his 16th save in 16 opportunities.

"When J.J. comes in, you expect the game to be over," Ibanez said. "It's a good feeling."

The Mariners, after watching the Padres explode for four in the seventh off starter Miguel Batista to erase a 5-1 lead, had averted disaster in the bottom of the ninth after an Adrian Beltre error and a sacrifice put Hiram Bocachica on second with one out against reliever Sean Green.

But Bocachica took off for third and catcher Jamie Burke gunned him down on an extremely close play, with Beltre putting down a sweeping tag, to defuse the rally.

"That was big," Hargrove said. "I'm glad he threw it, and I'm glad they did it."

The Padres also threatened in the 10th with a pair of one-out singles that put runners on first and second. But Green struck out pinch-hitter Rob Bowen on a nasty curve, and Eric O'Flaherty came in to get Russ Branyan on a hard grounder to Richie Sexson at first.

For six innings, Mariners starter Miguel Batista was savoring the opportunity to pitch again at a favored ballpark.

Batista came into the game with a 0.63 earned-run average at Petco (one run allowed in 14-1/3 innings), and breezed through the first six innings. He limited the Padres to one run on four hits as the Mariners opened their 5-1 lead.

That particular score was an ominous portent, however. The Padres had trailed by an identical margin after eight innings a night earlier against the Dodgers, and rallied for five in the bottom of the ninth for a stirring 6-5 victory.

The Padres struck again in the seventh on Friday, exploding for four runs to tie the score as the largest crowd of the season at Petco — 44,325 on Mike Cameron jersey night — went bonkers.

It was Batista's control that let him down, as three walks loaded the bases with two outs. Particularly frustrating was the final base on balls to former Mariner Jose Cruz, who fell behind 0-2. Balls three and four were extremely close pitches, but home-plate umpire Alfonso Marquez didn't give Batista either call.

The Mariners' frustration with Marquez was still evident two innings later when third-base coach Carlos Garcia was ejected while Jose Vidro was batting in the ninth.

"Carlos didn't agree with the call on Cruz, and he let the home-plate umpire know about it in Spanish a few times," Hargrove said.

After the Cruz walk, Marcus Giles delivered a grounder to the left side that shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt back-handed, but his off-balance throw was short and scooted by Sexson, two runs scoring. For Betancourt, his major-league-worst 14th error came on the same night he extended his hitting streak 19 games.

Hargrove then pulled Batista, but reliever George Sherrill was greeted by a booming double over Ichiro's head in center by pinch-hitter Kevin Kouzmanoff, two more runs scoring to tie the score at 5.

"Miguel was outstanding, and then all of a sudden in the seventh he was flying open," Hargrove said. "He lost his release point. Those three walks killed him."

The Padres, with the best record in the National League coming in, have been just about the hottest thing going in baseball, playing at a .676 clip (23-11) since May 1.

But the Mariners haven't been too shabby themselves. Since dropping six games in a row in April to fall to 5-9 and forge an early season crisis, the Mariners are playing .605 ball at 26-17.

Larry Stone: 206-423-0617 or lstone@seattletimes.com