Bumbling Mariners lose in 12th inning

BY RYAN DIVISH | The News Tribune • Published July 24, 2008

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SEATTLE — At first glance, Willie Bloomquist’s dropped fly ball in the top of the 12th inning could be seen as the most obvious reason for the Seattle Mariners’ 6-3 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday afternoon at Safeco Field.

Bloomquist tried to shoulder the blame for misplaying Kevin Youkilis’ long fly ball to the gap in right-center field, fueling the winning three-run rally for the Red Sox.

“I just flat out missed it,” he said when asked if it was a long way to run. “I can’t sit here and make an excuse. It’s a ball I should have caught.”

So the sun wasn’t a factor?

“No, no excuses,” he said. “I should have had it, and I am disappointed that I didn’t make the play.”

Instead, Youkilis was safe at first, J.D. Drew advanced to second and Jacoby Ellsbury, who singled off Sean Green to lead off the 12th, stood at third with one out.

Mike Lowell, as he always seems to do, came up clutch in the bases-loaded situation, singling home two runs. Sean Casey added another RBI single to turn a 3-3 tie into a 6-3 game.

“I hold myself accountable,” Bloomquist said. “I should have caught it. I didn’t, and it cost us.”

Fellow outfielder Raul Ibanez tried to lighten the burden a bit.

“The next hitter got a base hit anyway,” he reasoned. “It would have been a two-out hit, and they would have scored.”

Indeed, but the Red Sox might have scored only one run, not three — not that the Mariners would have been able to overcome even that deficit on this day.

After all, Seattle couldn’t score during the previous five innings, when a single run would have won the game — and spared Bloomquist’s his 12th-inning bumble.

In the end, that lack of offense might have been the biggest factor in the Mariners’ fifth straight loss.

“That’s baseball,” Jose Vidro said. “Sometimes it’s hard to get just that one out when you need it, and sometimes it’s impossible to get just one run. That’s why it’s a great sport.”

It was Vidro who gave the Mariners a chance to snap their losing streak. His two-run homer off Clay Buchholz in the bottom of the sixth tied the game at 3-3.