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Missing the boat Seattle fails to make the most of its opportunities
Updated: Saturday October 14, 2000 3:02 AM
SEATTLE (AP) -- The Seattle Mariners couldn't do the little things. A lot of little things. They got picked off. They hit into double plays. They had untimely strikeouts and groundouts. As a result, the Mariners lost 8-2 to the New York Yankees on Friday night to fall behind 2-1 in the best-of-seven series. "We just didn't get the big hits when we needed them," Mike Cameron said. "When we had a chance to bury them, we didn't do it." The little things didn't happen right from the start. Seattle took a 1-0 lead in the first inning but blew a chance to make it 3-0. After consecutive one-out singles by Cameron, Alex Rodriguez and Edgar Martinez produced a run, Jay Buhner grounded out to first before John Olerud popped out to shortstop. In the bottom of the second, David Bell and Joe Oliver led off with singles before Mark McLemore sacrificed them to second and third. But Rickey Henderson and Cameron grounded out. Another squandered chance. "The Yankees are doing it and we need to find a way to do it ourselves," Cameron said. "We have to find a way to turn it around before it's too late." Designated hitter Edgar Martinez, who is no threat to steal, didn't do the little things in the third after he singled with one out. Andy Pettitte caught Martinez leaning toward second in an effort to get the best jump he could and picked him off. "He does have a great move to first base," Martinez said. "I found that out. He made a move and got me. No excuses." In the fourth, Olerud led off with a single, but was wiped out when Oliver hit into a double play. In the eighth, Rodriguez singled off Jeff Nelson and stole second. But Nelson struck out Edgar Martinez before Mariano Rivera came in to get pinch-hitter Olerud on a fly ball to left. Rodriguez was stranded at third. "When you play the Yankees and you're going against a pitcher like Andy Pettitte, you have to take full advantage of your opportunities and we didn't do that tonight," Rodriguez said. "It's disappointing. We swung the bats better tonight, but we didn't swing them good enough." Aaron Sele, who helped pitch the Mariners into the wild card with four victories in September, pitched well -- but not well enough. He contributed to his own demise in the sixth by fielding Tino Martinez's dribbler up the line and failing to get the ball out of his glove. Martinez's grounder, which was ruled a hit, advanced Bernie Williams to second, and Paul O'Neill drove in Williams with a two-out single to put the Yankees ahead 4-2. "I don't know what happened on that play," Sele said. "But that really didn't matter. It all came down to making a bad pitch to O'Neill." Sele dropped to 0-3 in four postseason starts -- three of them losses to the Yankees. He denied the Yankees have his number. He lost 8-0 to the Yankees while pitching for Texas in the division series last season and 4-0 to New York when he pitched for the Rangers in the division series in 1998. "I've had three tough games with them," said Sele, who has a 5.82 ERA in his three postseason losses to New York. Sele said the Mariners can redeem themselves with a victory Saturday. "But if we lose tomorrow, we'll be down 3-to-1 and then it's going to be real tough," he said. "We need to hit better," Mariners manager Lou Piniella said before Game 3. They hit, but they didn't hit when they needed to. Seattle had nine hits in 6 1/3 innings off Pettitte before New York manager Joe Torre went to his bullpen. In three games against the Yankees, the Mariners have scored only five runs. In sweeping the Chicago White Sox in their division series, they scored 14 runs. They've been outhomered 7-3 in six playoff games. The Mariners might have thought they had a little extra going for them Friday night because Safeco Field's retractable roof was closed on a raw October night. They were 10-3 in games in which the roof was closed this season. That didn't work for them, either.
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