Little Cause for Alarm as Mariners Keep Winning

Freddy Garcia was trying to concentrate on pitching to the San Francisco Giants in the first inning Saturday when the fire alarms went off at Safeco Field.

“I didn’t know what was going on,” he said.

Undeterred, Garcia won his fifth consecutive decision and the Seattle Mariners won their 22nd series of the season with a 3-2 victory.

There wasn’t any fire, but the game was delayed twice for about two minutes each time when an exhaust fan in a concession stand caused the fire alarms to go off. It was not known if the fan was not turned on or if it was faulty. The 45,809 fans were advised to stay in their seats because there was no fire.

“I didn’t want to lose my rhythm because sometimes you can lose your rhythm when you have a delay for three or four minutes like that,” Garcia said.

Garcia (11-1), the winning pitcher in Tuesday night’s All-Star game at Safeco Field, gave up two runs on three hits in six innings. He walked one, hit a batter and struck out two.

“Freddy’s pitching with a lot of confidence, obviously,” Mariner Manager Lou Piniella said. “To me, he’s getting better and better.”