Leadoff Homer by Henderson Is Not Enough

It didn’t take Rickey Henderson long to make an impact as the Seattle Mariners’ new leadoff hitter.

Henderson led off the bottom of the first inning with a home run Saturday in his first at-bat for Seattle, but the Tampa Bay Devil Rays stopped their losing streak at six games with a fight-interrupted, 4-3 victory over the Mariners.

Henderson, who made his Mariner debut as a pinch-runner Friday night, hit his major league-record 76th leadoff home run.

Signed Wednesday night after being released by the New York Mets, he went one for three with two walks.

“I was once told if you come up to the plate in the first inning and take a good cut at it, you make the pitcher nervous,” Henderson said. “Usually, I hit a few home runs that way. I’m not really surprised about what I’ve been doing.”

Seattle trailed, 4-2, in the seventh when Mark McLemore charged the mound and tackled Tampa Bay starter Esteban Yan after an inside pitch. Plate umpire Bill Welke called time as Yan was delivering, which might have thrown off the pitch.

Players from both benches and dugouts emptied onto the field and there was about a five-minute melee at the mound. McLemore was ejected, as was Mariner reliever Arthur Rhodes. The skirmish interrupted play for about 15 minutes.

“I wasn’t throwing at him,” Yan said. “I threw the pitch because I didn’t want to stop. But I don’t want to throw at anybody.”

Said McLemore: “He was throwing at me and I didn’t like it. I did what I had to do.”

McLemore, 35, said it was the first time in his major league career that he had charged the mound. Yan said it was the first time he’d ever been charged.

McLemore said he thought Yan was mad at him for calling time.

“No, the ball didn’t slip,” McLemore said. “It was intentional.”

He said he expects to be suspended.

“I did something that was against the rules,” he said. “I’m going to have to suffer the consequences no matter what they may be.”

In the eighth, players came back on the field when Mike DiFelice of Tampa Bay squared to bunt and Jose Paniagua’s pitch was inside. DiFelice fouled it off and first base coach Jose Cardenal ran in to stop DiFelice from going out to the mound.

Roberto Hernandez pitched the final two innings and, despite giving up a run in the eighth on consecutive doubles by John Olerud and Edgar Martinez, got his third save.

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The Henderson Factor

Rickey Henderson hit his major league-record 76th leadoff home run Saturday in the Seattle Mariners’ 4-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Where he ranks in six other offensive categories:

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Category Active Rank All-time Rank Total Stolen bases 1st 1st 1,339 Walks 1st 3rd 1,999 Runs 1st 5th 2,122 At-bats 2nd 19th 10,010 Games 2nd 20th 2,766 Hits 3rd 39th 2,838

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