M’s lose game, Martinez
SEATTLE – Through all the missteps the Seattle Mariners have taken this year, they avoided the one that seemed certain – Edgar Martinez remained healthy.
Until Saturday.
Martinez fouled a ball off his right foot in the seventh inning of Saturday’s 7-4 loss to the Oakland A’s, and his retirement tour will be put on hold for at least a day because of a bruised toe.
It could be longer.
Manager Bob Melvin said Martinez won’t play in today’s homestand finale against the A’s.
“Hopefully, that’s all it is,” trainer Rick Griffin said. “But we’ve got to keep him off it so he doesn’t hobble around.”
Martinez, who broke the big toe on his left foot last season, fouled a pitch from Oakland’s Tim Hudson off his right foot and crumpled to the ground. He finished the at-bat, lining out to right field, but limped back to the dugout and was in the clubhouse when his turn to bat came around in the ninth inning.
“It’s swollen up and bruised,” Melvin said.
Jolbert Cabrera batted for Martinez in the ninth inning and grounded into a fielder’s choice that ended the game.
As the Mariners took another step toward 100 losses – this was their 92nd, with 14 to play – Ichiro Suzuki maintained his pursuit of the major league single-season hit record.
He went 1 for 4, getting his 236th hit with a fifth-inning single. He needs 22 hits to break the 84-year-old record of 257 by former St. Louis Browns star George Sisler. Ichiro’s average dropped a point to .368.
When Ichiro got his hit, the Mariners were still in the game, trailing 2-1 behind the strong pitching of rookie right-hander Cha Seung Baek.
Baek, in his fourth major league start, held the A’s to two hits and a walk in the first four innings and led momentarily when Greg Dobbs’ RBI single gave the Mariners a 1-0 edge in the fourth inning.
The A’s got to Baek in the fifth on Mike Scutaro’s two-run double, then scored three runs in the sixth when Eric Chavez led off with a home run before Baek yielded a one-out double to Jermaine Dye and walks to Erubiel Durazo and Bobby Crosby.
Melvin brought in right-handed reliever Scott Atchison, who walked in a run and gave up an RBI groundout to Scutaro as the A’s took a 5-1 lead.
“Baek pitched really well early on,” Melvin said. “We’re seeing each and every time he’s getting more comfortable out there and pitching better.”
The Mariners came back with Randy Winn’s two run homer in the seventh to cut the lead to 5-3, but the A’s scored two in the ninth off M’s right-hander Masao Kida to secure a victory that pushed them back to two games ahead of Anaheim atop the American League West.
Hudson said he has been through too many must-win games to start feeling the pressure now.
“The pressure is no more than any other year,” said Hudson, who has helped pitch the A’s into the playoffs in four consecutive seasons.
“We’re kind of used to it,” he said. “The races around here are always tight and they always go down to the last couple series of the season. I don’t know if it puts more pressure on you.”
Hudson said he wasn’t at his best in his third start of the season against the Mariners.
“I didn’t feel great out there. I just didn’t feel real sharp,” he said. “I pretty much threw them my sinker and hopefully they hit it in the ground somewhere. But I was able to make some big pitches when I needed to. It wasn’t one of my best, but I’ll take it.”
Melvin said Hudson won despite not being at the top of his game.
“That is probably as vulnerable as we’ve seen him in my two years here,” Melvin said. “But he’s still a horse out there.”
The Mariners, 30 games out in last place, absorbed their 41st loss at home to ensure they won’t have a winning record at Safeco Field. They’ll need to win all four remaining home games to finish 41-41 and avoid the first losing home record since they were 38-43 in 1992.
RHP Julio Mateo pitched in his first game for Seattle since July 28. He was on the DL from July 29-Sept. 16.