Road Tested

Jamie Moyer walked off the Kingdome mound in the fifth inning Thursday, unable to continue because of a strained left elbow, and with him went the Seattle Mariners’ American League pennant hopes.

Seattle Manager Lou Piniella was forced to turn the game over to his bullpen, which is like turning a bunch of toddlers loose in a big mud puddle--you know they’re going to make a mess of things.

A one-run lead quickly became a one-run deficit; a close, tense, affair soon turned into a 9-3 Baltimore victory, and the Orioles took a convincing two-games-to-none lead in the best-of-five division series, which heads to Baltimore for Game 3 Saturday.

Brady Anderson hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning and an RBI double in the eighth, and No. 9 batter Mike Bordick keyed a four-run eighth with a two-run single, as the Orioles silenced the Kingdome crowd of 59,309.

Right-hander Scott Erickson followed Mike Mussina’s Wednesday night gem with a solid 6 2/3-inning, three-run, seven-hit effort, he was backed by half a dozen or so outstanding defensive plays, and Oriole relievers Armando Benitez, Jesse Orosco and Randy Myers combined for 2 1/3 hitless innings.

“It’s real nice to be two games up, but it’s not over,” said Oriole second baseman Roberto Alomar, who greeted reliever Paul Spoljaric with a two-run double that gave Baltimore a 3-2 lead in the fifth.

“Seattle is a great team, and you can’t be overconfident against them. We just have to continue to play like we did here, relax, have some fun, play great defense, get good pitching . . . “

Piniella’s reaction: What, me worry? Asked if he was stunned, confused or baffled by what transpired in Seattle, where the Orioles outscored the powerful Mariners, 18-6, in two games, Piniella said:

“My mind-set is on having some crab cakes [tonight] in Baltimore, and a little Chardonnay to go with it. We knew Baltimore was a good team. I kind of chuckled when I heard their players talk about how tough it would be having to play the first two games here. . . . But we’re definitely in a hole.”

It’s a familiar trench. Seattle lost the first two games of the 1995 division series in New York and came back to win the next three games in dramatic fashion.

But the Mariners came back to Seattle for Game 3 and had Randy Johnson in peak form waiting for the Yankees. This time they have to travel to Baltimore with Jeff Fassero on the mound.

“We’ve been in this position before--things could change,” said Mariner center fielder Ken Griffey Jr., who just missed making a spectacular catch at the wall of Alomar’s fifth-inning double. “You don’t like to be in this position, but nobody is down on anybody.”

That can’t be easy with the way Seattle’s bullpen has performed. Mariner relievers actually outplayed Baltimore’s vaunted relief corps in September, combining for a 4-4 record, 3.79 ERA and seven saves compared to the Orioles’ 3-5 record, 5.65 ERA and six saves, and the playoffs was their chance to redeem themselves for their 27 blown saves this season.

But in two games, the Seattle bullpen has given up 10 runs on 15 hits in 8 1/3 innings.

“Our bullpen threw the ball well in September and we have a good mix down there,” Piniella said. “They’re just not getting the job done.”

Moyer had stifled the Orioles with the exception of Harold Baines, who homered in the second and singled in the fifth, and Seattle led, 2-1, when Moyer suffered an injury that most likely will end his season.

With two runners on, Alomar greeted Spoljaric with a long drive to center. Griffey raced straight back and leaped at the wall, but the ball caromed off the heel of his glove and Baltimore led, 3-2.

Bobby Ayala replaced Spoljaric to start the seventh, walked Bordick and gave up the two-run homer to Anderson, which put the Orioles ahead, 5-2.

Seattle cut it to 5-3 on pinch-hitter Rob Ducey’s RBI single in the bottom of the seventh, but Oriole left fielder B.J. Surhoff made a perfect one-hop throw to second to nail Ducey trying to stretch the hit into a double, snuffing out a potential rally.

Baltimore loaded the bases in the eighth on Geronimo Berroa’s single, Cal Ripken’s double and an intentional walk. Ayala walked Lenny Webster to force in a run, Bordick hit a two-run single, and Anderson added an RBI double off left-hander Norm Charlton for a 9-3 lead.

“When Moyer left, that was a turning point for us,” Alomar said, trying his best to be diplomatic. “He was throwing a lot of off-speed stuff, hitting the corners, and kept us off-balance. But after he left, it seemed like we were able to capitalize on every little thing.”