Rodriguez Says ‘So Long Ball’ Reaches Outer Limits Of Yankee Stadium In Mariners’ 10-3 Rout

Alex Rodriguez’s 28 home runs are no surprise to Ken Griffey Jr.

“He’s using my bat,” Griffey said Saturday after Rodriguez hit a long two-run home run in the first inning, setting the tone for the Seattle Mariners’ 10-3 rout of the New York Yankees.

Rodriguez became just the fifth right-handed hitter and 10th player overall to homer into the “black” - the unoccupied center-field seats at Yankee Stadium - since 1977 with his shot off Kenny Rogers (10-6).

“I didn’t even see where it landed,” Rodriguez said. “I know I hit it good.”

The 21-year-old shortstop, who is leading the A.L. with a .361 average following a 2-for-4 performance, said he asked Griffey if he could borrow a bat about 2-1/2 months ago. He broke that one a month later, and because he was hitting so well, he asked Griffey if he could get a second.

“I begged Junior for another bat,” he said. “I think he’s pretty mad at me.”

Jay Buhner added a three-run homer and Griffey had a two-run shot of his own as the Mariners built a 9-0 lead in four innings to win their second straight road game after a 1-8 homestand.

Seattle manager Lou Piniella was watching television replays of other homers hit around the majors on Saturday when he said: “We had a few today, too. Alex hit a long one to get it started, then Buhner hit a long one, then Junior another… . There haven’t been too many (wins) like this one.”

Piniella, who played for the Yankees for 11 seasons, was asked how many players he has seen reach the “black.”

“Not too many,” he said. “But this year I have seen some further shots, more than in other years. Rodriguez is a very strong kid.”

Jamie Moyer (9-2) limited the Yankees to eight hits in 7 innings. The lefthander, acquired for the stretch in a July 30 trade with Boston, is 2-1 with Seattle.

New York, suddenly in a pennant race after leading the A.L. East by 12 games just three weeks ago, dropped to 14-18 since July 14. Thanks, though, to Baltimore’s 3-1 loss to Oakland, New York retained its 5-1/2-game lead.

“All I can say is that we’re one game closer to snapping out of this thing,” New York manager Joe Torre said. “We’re too good a club to play this way. We’re going to have to dig down and fight our way out of it.”

Following Rich Amaral’s single to open the first, Rodriguez connected on a 416-foot shot into the center-field bleachers. Earlier this year he hit a homer off the Windows restaurant in Toronto’s SkyDome.

“What is he - 6-3 and 205 pounds?” asked Griffey. “So no, he doesn’t surprise me. I love watching it. He may change the rule for No. 2 hitters. It’s no more get ‘em over and we’ll get ‘em in.”

Consecutive singles by Rodriguez, Griffey and Edgar Martinez made it 3-0 in the third before Buhner hit his 35th homer.

The Mariners added three more runs in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Rodriguez and Griffey’s 37th homer, which gave the Mariners a club record 183 this season.

Griffey went 3 for 5 and scored three runs. Buhner had four RBIs.

Rogers’ outing couldn’t have come at a worse time. With David Cone coming back, the left-hander will probably be used out of the bullpen if the Yankees make the playoffs, a move he didn’t exactly embrace earlier this week.

Rogers, who had won his last four starts, was charged with eight hits and eight runs in three-plus innings.

“Kenny didn’t have his good stuff tonight,” Torre said. “He was missing spots. Against a team like this you’re going to pay a price.”

Wade Boggs hit a two-run double in the fifth, and Bernie Williams hit his 23rd homer in the sixth for New York.

Coming up

In the third game of this four-game series, Terry Mulholland (1-1, 4.12) will start for Seattle, Dwight Gooden (10-5, 3.88) for New York. Game time is 10:35 a.m. and it will be televised Cox Cable channel 25 in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene cable channel 21.

Notes

Seattle scouts are quietly acknowledging that when the team traded Arquimedez Pozo to Boston for Jeff Manto, no one in the M’s organization knew Manto had been wearing a brace on his left knee because of a ligament injury… . Dan Wilson got home in time early Saturday morning - wife Anne gave birth about 10 a.m. to daughter Josephina, far ahead of her scheduled Sept. 11 delivery date. Mother and child are both in good condition in a Seattle hospital. Wilson could rejoin the team Monday, but more likely will meet the Mariners in Baltimore Tuesday… . Piniella was asked about the Mariners’ record in the Kingdome (31-33) and said one aspect is the newfound determination of visiting teams not to take Seattle lightly. “Teams don’t come to Seattle just to see Mount Rainier, anymore,” Piniella said. “We’re a visible team, we have marquee names and we won last year. People come in better prepared now.”