The Associated Press
Seattle's Bret Boone prepares to throw to first and turn a double play after forcing out Anaheim's Benji Molina (left) in the fourth inning on Sunday as the Mariners won a 5-0 shutout over the Angels.

M's, Garcia go the distance

Seattle starter posts complete game shutout

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Originally published July 2

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Freddy Garcia helped Seattle manager Lou Piniella with his plan to rest the Mariners bullpen.

One day after Piniella spoke about not wanting to overuse his relievers with a big lead in the AL West, Garcia went the distance.

Garcia pitched an eight-hitter for his second career shutout, and Bret Boone hit a two-run homer as the M's completed a three-game sweep with a 5-0 win Sunday over the Anaheim Angels.

"Complete-game shutouts are hard to come by," Piniella said. "Freddie really made pitches when he needed to. He has good stuff and he throws a heavy ball. When he's getting his fastball over the plate and pitching to both sides of it, he's awfully tough."

Garcia (9-1) struck out two and walked two as he beat the Angels for the third time in as many starts this season. The right-hander, obtained in the July 1998 trade that sent Randy Johnson to Houston, pitched his third complete game in 70 career starts.

"Seattle gave me a big opportunity to show what I can do, and I'm trying to do the best I can," Garcia said. "Every time out I try to go as long as I can. I wanted to be aggressive and go after every hitter, keep the ball down and make them hit ground balls."

Anaheim rookie Matt Wise (1-2) struck out nine over 5 1-3 innings, allowing four runs -- three earned -- and five hits. The loss put the Angels a season-worst 21 games behind the Mariners.

"You have to play solid baseball against them," manager Mike Scioscia said. "We had some plays that we didn't execute yesterday and today, and it's not like us to tilt the doors open a little bit. When you've got a club playing as well as they are, you can't even crack it open an inch."

Seattle opened the scoring with an unearned run in the third inning. Dan Wilson led off with a single, took second on a groundout and scored when second baseman Adam Kennedy fielded Mark McLemore's grounder and threw wildly past first for an error.

Seattle increased the margin to 4-0 in the sixth with an RBI single by John Olerud and Boone's 21st homer, which chased Wise. Boone, who had gone a season-worst five games without driving in a run, leads the AL with 80 RBIs.

"I really made just two mistakes -- the back-to-back 0-2 pitches to Martinez and Olerud in the sixth," Wise said. "They're good hitters who took advantage of the mistakes I made. But you've got to give the credit to Freddy. He threw a great game tonight, and he's been tough against us."

Seattle's fifth run also was unearned. Third baseman Troy Glaus fielded Olerud's grounder and threw home for a force on Ichiro Suzuki, but catcher Bengie Molina's relay to first ricocheted off Olerud, allowing McLemore to score.

The Angels, who have stranded more baserunners than any AL team except the Mariners, had two in scoring position with one out in the second when Garret Anderson got trapped off third base on Molina's comebacker and was tagged out by shortstop Carlos Guillen during the ensuing rundown.

Moments later, Guillen left the game with a mild concussion after a collision with teammate Al Martin in short left field.

Both players raced after Larry Barnes' popup near the foul line, and Guillen caught the ball for the third out -- just as Martin's left forearm struck him flush on the right side of the head. It was the second collision between Martin and Guillen this season.

"We're going to have to put some bells on the shortstop's ankles," Piniella said.

Guillen, who has missed only one game all season after replacing departed All-Star shortstop Alex Rodriguez, lay on the ground for several minutes before walking off the field with trainers Rick Griffin and Tom Newberg each holding onto one arm.

Guillen is expected to sit out at least two games.

"He knew where he was and he was able to answer questions," Griffin said. "We stabilized his head to make sure there wasn't anything wrong, and he was fine. He was a little bit dizzy coming off the field, so we just tried to go real slow with him."

M's 5, Angels 0

- Record: 59-21.

- Today: Seattle (Abbott 7-2) at Texas (Davis 3-6), 5:30 p.m. (FSN).

On the web:

Seattle Mariners.

The Olympian Copyright 2001

back to main Mariners: June 26-July 2 index