Chicago walks past Mariners
CHICAGO – The new-look Seattle Mariners lost a game Saturday, and while the result might have seemed all too familiar, the process was not.
Against Chicago, the Mariners threw two young pitchers – Matt Thornton and J.J. Putz – and limited the White Sox to three hits. Seattle played marvelous defense using maximum effort, with Hiram Bocachica pursuing one foul fly ball beyond the field and well into the stands in right field.
And still, they lost to the White Sox, 3-2.
The difference in game No. 85 was that the loss was the result of not enough offense – an old complaint – and the inconsistency of youth.
“Matt Thornton threw fastballs by major league hitters looking fastball,” manager Bob Melvin said after Thornton’s first major league start. “He hit 97-98 mph a few times. The issue with Matt is going to be control.”
Given leads of 1-0 and 2-1, Thornton got to the fifth inning with a one-run lead and an apparent case of rookie jitters.
“This is going to sound strange, but I felt in control of all my pitches,” Thornton said. “The numbers won’t show that, but that’s how I felt.”
With one out and no one on, Thornton walked Juan Uribe. Aaron Rowand grounded a single into left field, and Thornton got Magglio Ordonez on a soft grounder that moved both runners up. First base was open, so the Mariners put Carlos Lee there with a walk that loaded the bases with two outs. Thornton walked Paul Konerko, who’d homered earlier in the game, and forced home the tying run.
In the bullpen, Putz was warming up. Thornton walked Joe Crede to force home the go-ahead run.
“I threw a couple of good pitches that didn’t go my way, but I never thought ‘Man, I can’t throw a strike,’ ” Thornton said. “I just missed. You can’t walk three guys and force in two runs.
“I’ve got to be better than that. I’ve got to stop that inning, but I didn’t. I’ve got to adjust, and I didn’t.”
Melvin said Thornton went through some growing pains against the White Sox.
“When he made them put the ball in play, they only got three hits and one run,” Melvin said. “The walks were the difference in winning and losing tonight.”
Down 3-2 after five, Putz pitched three hitless innings to give Seattle every chance to come back.
And chances, there were. The Mariners ruined three of them when Edgar Martinez, Pat Borders and Jolbert Cabrera each grounded into inning-ending double plays – and on a hit-and-run play, Borders left first base too soon and was picked off.
The runs the Mariners did get came on RBI singles by Bret Boone in the first inning and Cabrera in the second.
On a night when the team designated shortstop Rich Aurilia for assignment, Boone could be forgiven an odd moment in the first inning – when he looked around the Seattle infield and did a bit of a double-take. At first base was Cabrera. At third base, rookie Justin Leone. At shortstop, Willie Bloomquist.
“It was a little weird for a minute,” Boone admitted. Those “new” faces in the infield supplied the majority of Seattle’s offense. Cabrera had two hits, Leone one and Bloomquist three hits and a stolen base. None of it was enough, but the game Seattle produced against Chicago was a close, well-played affair in which the Mariners had a chance until their final out. For Thornton, it was an erratic game – seven walks in five innings, the last three in a row to force home two runs.
Afterward, Melvin and general manager Bill Bavasi were asked if Thornton had earned the spot as the fifth man in the rotation.
“We’ll decide that during the All-Star break,” Bavasi said.
In an organization that prides itself on young pitching, the Mariners want to send a reminder to all those young arms.
Yes, we’re going to take a look at what we have.
No, that doesn’t mean you get a free pass – especially if you issue too many free passes.
“You can’t walk seven guys in five innings,” Melvin said. “You can’t walk four hitters in one inning in a one-run game. There were a few pitches he didn’t get, but when you’re all over the place, you don’t get the borderline pitches. He’ll learn.”