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Toss in pitching and defense, the Mariners have a chance to hold their own.
That theory went untested Monday, when Texas got hitting – and help from the Seattle pitching and defense – as the Rangers rolled over the Mariners, 9-2.
“The plan was to get everyone out,” starter Charlie Furbush said. “Clearly that didn’t happen. I didn’t get ahead of the hitters.”
The first-place Rangers, American League champions a year ago, don’t need help offensively. They get their hits, especially at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. And they piled up 15 hits in this game.
What made those hits all the more damaging were the baserunners the Mariners simply handed the Rangers.
The Seattle defense committed two errors.
The Seattle pitchers allowed seven walks.
That’s 24 baserunners in eight innings, and if the Mariners hadn’t forced Texas to strand 11 of them, Texas might still be hitting in a few of their innings.
“Furbush battled a very good offensive club,” manager Eric Wedge said. “We stretched him out to 80-85 pitches, so that was good.”
Rookie Furbush made his second start for the Mariners – he had two with Detroit, along with 15 relief appearances – and never had an easy inning. As he approached his pitch limit in the fifth inning, he loaded the bases with no one out and departed, trailing 4-2.
Wedge went to Jamey Wright, who’s been a reliable reliever this season.
“Jamey was off tonight,” Wedge said.
“I’ve started and relieved and there’s no worse feeling than giving up a starter’s runs,” Wright said. “To come in and give up two singles … and then walk a man with the bases loaded?
“I got lucky on the double play. (Mike) Carp caught a line drive and tagged the runner before he could get back to the bag. If he doesn’t get the double play, I might still be out there pitching.”
After five innings, then, it was 7-2 – with both Mariners runs scoring on Jack Wilson’s two-run double in the third. It tied the game at the time, but Seattle never scored another run.
The Rangers seemed to score ’em at will.
The Mariners piled up a total of six hits and two runs. That means the only chances they had to win were to shut Texas out or win 2-1.
When Wedge went to the bullpen again in the sixth inning, he asked Tom Wilhelmsen to eat some innings. Wilhelmsen, who hadn’t thrown a pitch since being recalled on Aug. 2, was so amped up he could barely keep his feet on solid ground.
“I hadn’t faced a hitter in awhile,” Wilhelmsen said. “I tried to throw every pitch as hard as I could, and I tried to be perfect. It didn’t work.”
Wilhelmsen allowed two runs in that inning.
“He knocked the rust off a little bit, and he did a better job with his fastball in the second inning,” Wedge said. “He did a better job in his third inning, so he got something out of tonight.”
Wilhelmsen threw two scoreless innings after wobbling through that first one.
“I remembered not to overthrow,” he said. “I remembered to try and hit my spots. Location is the key, no matter what you’re going to throw.”
After sweeping Oakland in Safeco Field last week, the Mariners have lost two of three to the Angels and their first game of this three-game series. That has left them 15 games behind Texas in the American League West.
How big a difference is there between the two teams?
The Rangers have five pitchers with at least 10 wins. The Mariners have one.
The Rangers have four hitters with 60 RBI or more. The Mariners have none. They don’t have anyone with as many as 50 RBI yet.
These are two teams spending the final months of 2011 with far different ambitions.
The Rangers want to get back to the World Series.
The Mariners want to look at their farm system, watch their kids play and see what they’ve got to build on for 2012.
Rookie first baseman Carp extended his career-best hitting streak to nine games with a ninth-inning double, and now leads the team in batting with a .308 average. Who’s second? Another rookie, second baseman Dustin Ackley (.293).
“We’ve got to get guys like Franklin Gutierrez (.202), Justin Smoak (.221) and Ichiro (Suzuki) (.269) going these last two months,” Wedge said. “We can’t just count on the kids, we’ve got to have veteran players play like veterans.”
The fight doesn’t come down just to offense.
But against the Rangers, two runs isn’t going to win many games.
larry.larue@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/mariners
