No Pitchers? No Problem; M’S Will Be Fine

This series is over.

Well, this series really is over if Lou Piniella doesn’t yank Jeff Nelson prematurely in the 12th inning a few nights ago, but that’s blood, sweat and tears under the bridge.

But it’s over today one way or another - and you’re going to have a hard time finding any money in this town on Team Other.

Of course, Andy Benes might have to start, relieve and close all by himself - they used to call those “complete games,” if memory serves - and Edgar Martinez might have to figure out how to hit a five-run homer. But figure on the Seattle Mariners to find a way.

Any way.

If all else fails, there’s always Win One for the Moose.

That’s right, the doofy mascot went on the disabled list Saturday night during the Mariners’ otherwordly 11-8 win over the New York Yankees in Game 4 of their American League Division Series - and that’s a real blow to Piniella, who had the Big Furry Unit penciled in for a couple of innings out of the bullpen.

Now he’s down to Bob Wells and the ghost of Cuffs Caudill.

But the lack of live arms seems so, well, trivial when you look at the big picture - and here the big picture is 57,000-plus fans blurring into one of those Magic Eye trickerations with the subliminal message that the Seattle Mariners can Get Away With Anything.

They did Saturday night.

They got away with sending out a starting pitcher whose needle was well right of “empty” and into the red indicating “batting practice stuff.” They got away with spotting the hottest team in baseball a five-run lead. They got away with their resurrected closer wild-pitching in the tying run in the eighth inning. They got away with running out of the basepath.

They got away with a 400-foot final out.

Refuse to Lose? Hah. This is the season that Adhered to Weird.

Get these guys off The Baseball Can’twork and on the Psychic Friends Network.

“You can call it anything you want,” said Jay Buhner. “But I don’t think it’s magic. I don’t think it’s destiny. It’s just 25 guys who don’t think they’re out of it until the last out and sometimes that belief is all you need.”

That and a bases-loaded fastball over the heart of the plate to the best hitter on the planet - and we’re not just talking about the non-Tony Gwynn division.

You can take your pick as to which of Martinez’s two home runs meant more this night - the three-run one-iron just inside the out-of-bounds stakes that launched Seattle’s comeback in the third inning, or the grand slam to dead center in the eighth which officially won it.

Either way, this was the night Edgar was finally discovered by the Gotham media - though all he’d done in the series to this point was hit .545. And all he’d done against the Yankees this year was belt seven home runs and hit .391.

This time, however, he did it on a stage.

“When the games mean more, the hits mean more,” acknowledged Martinez. “Always you want to do the things that help your team, but when you have to win to play tomorrow it’s very important that you do your best.

“I’m trying to hide my emotions right now. I feel very excited about the game, but more excited that we have a chance to play tomorrow again.”

But in a series in which the trademark has been two combustible bullpens, Seattle won Saturday night because one of their back-drafters played with fire and won.

Jeff Nelson’s four innings of relief were full of major-league anxiety - you can see why Piniella probably doesn’t fully trust him yet. He allowed six hits, walked a couple, stranded six runners and got ahead of hitters exactly twice. But nobody scored. And somehow his pregnant wife - whose due date passed Friday without a kick or a contraction - sat in the Kingdome stands through it all and didn’t go into labor.

“Without Nellie, we’re going home right now,” said Norm Charlton, the closer who couldn’t Saturday night. “He battled and made big pitches and shut them down and gave us a chance to come back.”

But after Nelson, Piniella had to use Tim Belcher, Charlton, Bobby Ayala - who should be relieved of his belt and razor blades to save him from his temptations - and Bill Risley. New York’s bullpen is similarly spent - and looking even more suspect - but the Yankees have David Cone going for them today.

“We have to have another one in us,” Nelson said. “Hopefully, we won’t be needed.”

Said Piniella, “Everybody will pitch, I guess.”

Now it’s down to one game - today at 4:05 - for the Yankees, the same way it’s been for the Mariners since Game 2 got away from them Wednesday night.

“We knew coming in here how tough it was going to be to win a baseball game,” said Yankees manager Buck Showalter, “but if someone told us in spring training that we had to win a single game to play for the American League pennant whether it be in Seattle or Japan we would have taken that opportunity.”

Yeah? How about in Shangri-La?

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = John Blanchette The Spokesman-Review