Seattle romps in return

By Larry LaRue | The News Tribune • Published July 19, 2008

SEATTLE - The four-day All-Star break agreed with the Seattle Mariners, who scored as many runs on the night it ended as they had in the three games before it began.

In Kansas City last week, eight runs translated to two losses.

Against Cleveland on Friday, eight runs pummeled the Indians and helped make a seven-game winner of Felix Hernandez as the Mariners won, 8-2.

A team for whom offense has been a year-long disappointment, the Mariners got a grand slam from outfielder Raul Ibanez, a three-run home run from Jose Lopez and the kind of pitching they've come to expect from Hernandez and their bullpen.

And it didn't hurt that they were playing the Indians - the team with the second-worst record in the American League.

When it was over, Cleveland was stuck on 41 wins, Seattle had its 38th.

Yes, Virginia, that's what the second half of the 2008 season has become for the Mariners - a race to avoid being the worst team in the league. A festive Safeco Field crowd of 42,570 didn't seem to mind a bit.d

"That's the way we have to play every night," Lopez said. "It's hot in Seattle right now, the ball carries well when it's warm.

"We've played so many games where we've scored one run, two runs. This is a lot more fun, with everybody swinging well."

The first run of the game came in the Seattle second inning, which featured a fairly complete Indians meltdown. With two outs and no one on, the Mariners put this one away.

Reserve catcher Jamie Burke singled, the first of his three hits. Yuniesky Betancourt was hit by an Aaron Laffey pitch, and Ichiro Suzuki loaded the bases when he was safe on an error.

In the least dramatic but just as important at-bat, Willie Bloomquist walked to force home a run and set up Ibanez.

"I grounded into a double play in the first inning on a slider, and when Willie walked on four pitches, I figured he'd try to get ahead of me with a slider," Ibanez said.

He got it, hammering it deep beyond right field for his sixth career slam.

Afterward, the questions were about whether Ibanez expected to be traded.