Slocumb Makes It ‘Interesting’ Mariners Hang On To Beat Brewers After New Closer Struggles To A Save

When it came down to the ninth inning, with the tying run at second base and the potential winning run at first, there was one little thing Heathcliff Slocumb didn’t want to mention Sunday to manager Lou Piniella.

The Mariners were ahead by a run, there were two outs and the man at the plate - Milwaukee’s Jeff Cirillo - had faced Slocumb not that long ago, in the days when he was the Boston closer.

What happened in their last meeting?

“Jeff hit a two-run home run to beat me,” Slocumb said.

The right-hander didn’t pass that information on, promptly fell behind in the count (3-0) and then struck out Cirillo to preserve a 6-5 Seattle victory and earn his first save in a Mariners uniform.

Piniella was immediately asked if it had been an interesting ninth inning - and he grabbed his chest and rolled his eyes.

“Interesting I don’t need,” he said. “But our pitching is in a much better situation now than it’s been all season. Heathcliff struck two men out with the tying run at second base.”

Of course, Slocumb had also put that man on base, walking one Brewers hitter and then allowing an infield single. What was he thinking on the mound when he fell behind Cirillo, three balls and no strikes?

“Been there, done that,” Slocumb said. “You ask for help from a higher power and you go after the hitter.”

Slocumb’s 18th save preserved Randy Johnson’s 15th win and sent the Mariners flying home with a 7-5 record on their most grueling road trip of the season.

“It was a good trip and if we’d hung on to that 7-2 lead in the eighth inning in Boston, it would have been a great trip,” Piniella said. “But after losing four in a row, we beat the Brewers twice - and they’d just won nine in a row.”

Seattle’s 62nd victory of the season came on a day when outfielder Lee Tinsley made his first start in more than three months and used his afternoon to single and triple home two runs while filling in for Rob Ducey, who sat out with a tender ankle.

And if that’s not enough depth off the bench, reserve catcher John Marzano had to fill in for Dan Wilson (stiff neck), catching Johnson, Mike Timlin and Slocumb - three men he’d never caught in regular season games.

“Tough, tough day,” said Marzano, who had two hits and scored a run. “Slocumb’s ball was moving so much, I don’t think he had any idea where it was going. It was nasty stuff. If I can barely catch, how do you think a hitter feels trying to hit it?”

In a game played during a typical Midwestern rainstorm - Sunday began sunny, then it poured, then it turned sunny again - Jay Buhner also made his presence felt. He made another acrobatic catch in right field, robbing Gerald Williams of extra bases and an RBI in the second inning while sliding on his back near the warning track.

With Milwaukee leading 3-2 in the fifth inning, Buhner came up with the bases loaded and one out and doubled home two runs to put Seattle ahead for good.

“It’s the time of year when you’ve got to win,” Buhner said. “Whatever it takes - pitching, defense, hitting - you put together every day, and today we did that.”

In most of his 23 starts this season, six Seattle runs would have made for a Johnson cakewalk. Not this time. The “Big Unit” lost his last start, 4-0, and hadn’t been beaten in back-to-back games since May of 1994.

Against a Brewers team filled with contact hitters, Johnson took the mound without his best fastball.

“I wasn’t happy with my outing, but I can’t go out there with my good stuff every time,” Johnson said.

“Sometimes when you walk away from a win like this it makes you happy, because I had to pitch a little bit more today. I worked out of some jams.”

After six innings and 113 pitches, Johnson’s day was done. He left with a 6-3 lead.

“I was up in my pitch count because I went deep in the count with so many guys, but I only threw 113 pitches,” Johnson said. “That’ll probably help me in my next couple of starts because I’ve been getting tired lately.”

Mike Timlin worked a scoreless seventh inning, got the first two batters in the eighth, walked Dave Nilsson and gave up a pinch-hit home run to Jeromy Burnitz that cut Seattle’s lead to one.

Slocumb was brought in for the ninth inning, struck out Jeff Huson on three pitches - then walked Jesse Levis on four pitches and gave up a hit that Russ Davis stopped at third base but couldn’t make a play on.

“The ball was really moving for me today and I didn’t know where it was going,” Slocumb said. “When I threw strikes to Jose Valentin, he kept fouling them off.”

Valentin fouled off eight consecutive pitches, then struck out on a fastball that exploded down. In the bullpen, Paul Spoljaric was warming up as Slocumb missed the strike zone with three consecutive pitches.

“Believe me, I’ve been there,” Slocumb said.

So have the Mariners, who have watched 15 blown saves cost them lead after lead this season. This time, Slocumb held on.

“We scored six runs today and this team can hit with anybody,” Piniella said of his team. “But if you don’t have enough pitching, you can never have enough offense. I’d like our ninth innings to be a little easier, but as long as there’s a ‘W’ that follows the ninth, I could care less.”

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Mariners 6, Brewers 5 Seattle AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Cora 2b 5 0 2 1 0 1 .329 ARodriguez ss 3 1 2 0 2 0 .315 Griffey Jr cf 4 1 0 0 1 2 .295 EMartinez dh 2 1 0 0 2 1 .328 Buhner rf 5 1 1 2 0 1 .242 Sorrento 1b 5 1 1 0 0 1 .273 Tinsley lf 4 0 2 2 0 0 .232 RDavis 3b 3 0 1 1 1 0 .290 Marzano c 4 1 2 0 0 1 .315 Totals 35 6 11 6 6 7

Milwaukee AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Loretta 2b-1b 5 0 1 0 0 2 .290 JsValentin ss 5 0 0 0 0 2 .256 Cirillo 3b 3 0 0 0 2 1 .278 Nilsson dh 3 1 0 0 1 2 .285 Voigt 1b-lf 2 2 1 0 1 0 .269 c-Burnitz ph-rf 1 1 1 2 0 0 .272 Mieske rf 3 1 2 2 0 0 .256 d-Vina ph-2b 1 0 1 0 0 0 .300 GeWilliams cf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .262 Dunn lf 2 0 0 0 0 1 .264 a-Huson ph-1b-lf 2 0 0 0 0 1 .224 Matheny c 2 0 1 1 0 0 .244 b-Levis ph-c 1 0 0 0 1 0 .286 Totals 34 5 7 5 5 9

Seattle 001 140 000 6 Milwaukee 010 200 020 5 a-flied out for Dunn in the 7th. b-grounded out for Matheny in the 7th. c-homered for Voigt in the 8th. d-singled for Mieske in the 8th. LOB-Seattle 9, Milwaukee 7. 2B-Buhner (14), Sorrento (16), Voigt (7), Mieske 2 (15). 3B-Tinsley (2). HR-Burnitz (19) off Timlin. RBIs-Cora (44), Buhner 2 (78), Tinsley 2 (6), RDavis (56), Burnitz 2 (52), Mieske 2 (20), Matheny (22). SB- ARodriguez (22), RDavis (6), Voigt (1). CS-JsValentin (6). GIDP-ARodriguez, Buhner, Marzano. Runners left in scoring position-Seattle 4 (Griffey Jr, Buhner, Marzano 2); Milwaukee 2 (Cirillo, Matheny). Runners moved up- Tinsley, GeWilliams. DP-Seattle 1 (Marzano and RDavis); Milwaukee 3 (Cirillo, Loretta and Voigt), (Cirillo, Loretta and Voigt), (Cirillo and Huson).

Seattle IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA RaJhnsn W,15-3 6 4 3 3 3 6 113 2.48 Timlin 2 2 2 2 1 0 25 3.06 Slocumb S, 18 1 1 0 0 1 3 30 5.55 Milwaukee IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA JMercedes 4 4 2 2 3 3 66 4.47 AReyes L, 0-1 2-2/3 5 4 4 3 2 66 7.71 Villone 1/3 2 0 0 0 0 14 5.28 DoJones 2 0 0 0 0 2 24 2.55 Villone pitched to 2 batters in the 8th. Inherited runners-scored-Villone 1-0, DoJones 2-0. HBP-by JMercedes (EMartinez). WP-RaJohnson 2, JMercedes. T-3:12. A-31,297 (53,192).