Tony Overman/The Olympian
Seattle's David Bell watches his solo home run fly away during the fifth inning of Thursday's 5-1 playoff win over the Cleveland Indians in Game 2. Seattle evened series at 1-1.

Tony Overman/The Olympian
Seattle's Bret Boone leaps over Cleveland's Travis Fryman as he turns a double play in the seventh inning of Thursday's American League Division Series game at Safeco Field.

Mariners even score

Seattle comes out swinging to tie ALDS at 1-1 with Cleveland

ELLIOTT SMITH, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published October 12

SEATTLE -- The noise you heard emanating from Safeco Field?

That was the sound of 48,052 people breathing a collective sigh of relief.

The Seattle Mariners are back.

Down 0-1 in their best-of-five American League Division Series against the Cleveland Indians, the Mariners put the worrywarts at ease with a big first inning en route to a 5-1 triumph that tied the best-of-five series at one game apiece heading to Cleveland for Games 3 and 4 Saturday and Sunday.

"It was huge," Seattle second baseman Bret Boone said. "After going down 0-1, this wasn't a crucial game, but it was important. Everyone was pumped up."

As if to prove to the baseball world that their 116-win season was no fluke after Game 1's disappointing defeat, the Mariners took control of this one after four batters.

Ichiro Suzuki stayed patient at the plate and worked a leadoff walk off Indians starter Chuck Finley, bringing up No. 2 hitter Mike Cameron.

Cameron struggled more than most during Game 1 -- going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts -- but when Finley tried to get an 0-2 fastball by him on the inner half of the plate, Cameron didn't miss, crushing the ball deep into the left-field seats for a 2-0 lead and a jolt of confidence the Mariners (and their fans) desperately needed.

"I wasn't really looking for a fastball in, but it just happened to run back over the middle of the plate," Cameron said. "And I was able to put us on the board and the rest is history."

Before anyone could relax, Seattle struck again.

Boone laced a pitch up the middle for a single, bringing out Cleveland pitching coach Dick Pole to try and settle Finley down.

But on the left-hander's next pitch, Edgar Martinez blasted a titanic, 421-foot shot to right center to put Seattle up 4-0.

"All you can do is just be aggressive at the plate when you are facing a pitcher that has been tough on you," Martinez said. "And that's what I tried to do -- take my chances."

Four batters, four runs. The Mariners had made their point loud and clear -- this series was far from over.

"It was nice to get those runs early," Jay Buhner said. "We had a breather. It took the pressure off of us."

The offensive outburst was more than enough for Jamie Moyer, who continued his masterful work over the season's second half and his domination of the powerful Cleveland lineup.

"Vintage Jamie," Seattle manager Lou Piniella said. "He gave us exactly what we needed, six good innings of baseball. He work on hitters' timing and that's what makes him successful. He's a professional pitcher."

The Indians looked utterly hopeless at the plate, flailing away at Moyer's off-speed selections at times and watching them float by at others.

Cleveland's hitters tallied an assortment of lazy fly balls and weak grounders, a sign that the Indians were way out in front against Moyer.

"He has tremendous command, uses both sides of the plate and keeps you off balance," Cleveland manager Charlie Manuel said. "Today we tried to hit some balls to right field, but it wasn't working for us."

After the first inning, Finley regrouped, getting the Mariners out in order in innings two through four.

But in the fifth, Seattle sent Finley to the showers after David Bell cracked a solo homer to left leading off the inning.

"He had kind of settled down," Bell said. "I was just trying to put the ball in play hard."

It was a discouraging outing for Finley, who was making his first playoff appearance since 1986.

"He got off slow in the game, he was having a hard time throwing strikes, he had trouble with his command and he made some mistakes," Manuel said. "We paid early for them."

Moyer exited in the seventh to a standing ovation after allowing singles to Ellis Burks and Jim Thome to start the inning.

Jeff Nelson came in and walked Travis Fryman, but induced Marty Cordova to hit into a 6-4-3 double play and got Einar Diaz to line out to Cameron to end Cleveland's only threat of the day.

"You can't let them rally," Nelson said. "Anytime you face a team in the postseason they're not going to quit, so I knew I had to get the next guy."

Arthur Rhodes pitched a perfect eighth and Kazuhiro Sasaki closed the door on the Indians in the ninth to finish off the huge victory.

As much as the Mariners downplayed their Game 1 loss, pointing to their regular-season record of bouncing back from series-opening defeats, it was critical for them to have a good showing heading into Cleveland.

"It's a resilient group of young men," Piniella said. "There's a lot of confidence in that clubhouse. I think it shows. After a loss, we come out an try to get it done as much as possible."

The Indians can take solace in the fact they achieved a road split -- the goal for any team in the playoffs -- against the best team in baseball.

"Do I like our position? Yeah, I like it," Manuel said. "It's a heck of a lot better than being 0-2."

The Mariners will head to Cleveland with the confidence achieved from a big gut-check in Game 2.

"Who has the momentum? I don't know," Nelson said. "I guess we do. We regrouped and won and we're a great road team. We'll see."

Elliott Smith covers sports for The Olympian. He can be reached at 754-5473.

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