Mariners Slam Door on Angels

If, as several Angels say, the road to the American League West championship goes through here, they may need a vehicle with a little more horsepower.

The one they drove to the Kingdome this week had a few knocks but way too many pings, and by the time the Mariners completed a two-game sweep with Tuesday night’s 5-3 victory before 25,404, the Angels came sputtering home in last place after a 2-6 trip.

“Give them two stars early in the year, they’re hot right now,” Angel utility player Rex Hudler said. “They’re the team to beat, no question.”

Angel center fielder Jim Edmonds didn’t put too much stock in the sweep. “This series indicated we’re playing horrible baseball right now, that’s all,” he said. “You can’t tell anything from it. We have 140-something games left . . . I think we measure up fine.”

Not this week in the Kingdome, where everything the Angels did, the Mariners did better. Angel starter Jim Abbott (0-3) pitched his best game of the season Tuesday night, but Seattle ace Randy Johnson (3-0) was better, limiting the Angels to one run on four hits and striking out nine in eight innings.

Angel third baseman George Arias made two diving stops, but Mariner center fielder Ken Griffey dwarfed him with a spectacular defensive play, robbing Arias of a three-run homer with a leaping catch over the wall in the fourth inning.

Hudler hit a home run off Johnson in the top of the seventh, tying the score, 1-1, but Seattle catcher Dan Wilson responded with a grand slam in the bottom of the seventh, giving the Mariners a 5-1 cushion.

The Angels scored twice in the ninth on J.T. Snow’s single and Mike Aldrete’s home run--his second in two nights. Then Gary DiSarcina singled with two outs.

But Mariner reliever Mike Jackson struck out Randy Velarde to snuff out the uprising, a night after Seattle staged the biggest comeback in its 20-year history, rallying from eight runs down to beat the Angels, 11-10, Monday.

“We have way too many weapons, and once our regulars start to find their swings, we’ll be fine,” Hudler said. “It’s so early . . . fast starts are overrated. We know that better than anyone.”

Hudler, who entered with a career .400 average off Johnson, had stunned--and silenced--the Kingdome crowd in the top of the seventh when he lined a bases- empty home run into the left-field bleachers.

But the Mariners loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh on Edgar Martinez’s walk, Jay Buhner’s bloop double and, after Arias’ diving grab of Ricky Jordan’s shot to third, Russ Davis reached on an infield single.

Abbott, whose sharp-breaking sliders had baffled Mariner hitters for much of the night, got ahead of Wilson, 1-2. But his next slider remained flat and Wilson pounced on it, drilling it into the left-field bleachers for a grand slam, his fifth homer and 12th RBI in the last six games.

How improbable is Wilson’s 1996 April power exhibition? He entered the season with no home runs and three RBIs in 69 career April at-bats. Wilson, whose RBI single in the fifth gave Seattle a 1-0 lead, now ranks second in the league in homers (five) and RBIs (15) and still leads the league in . . . sacrifice bunts.

“It has been like a dream,” Wilson said.

So was Griffey’s catch in the fourth. The Angels had runners on first and third when Arias drove a Johnson fastball to deep center field, where Griffey, after timing his jump perfectly, leaped and planted his right foot into the wall to gain some extra elevation.

With his back toward home plate, Griffey reached about a foot above the fence and made the catch, bouncing off the wall and holding onto the ball, as the Kingdome crowd rose to its feet.

“He looked like Luke Skywalker,” Seattle Manager Lou Piniella said. “I’ve seen some great plays in my career, and that was a great play.”

Added Johnson: “He’s a human highlight film. It’s a relief he’s on our side.”

Griffey, who has won six Gold Glove awards, wouldn’t rank it among his all-time great catches, but admitted, “That’s what we outfielders live for.”