Suzuki, Boone Offer a Study in Contrast

They sit in opposite corners of the Seattle Mariner clubhouse, right fielder Ichiro Suzuki and second baseman Bret Boone, a contrast that mirrored the first-round playoff performances of the players who are leading candidates for American League most valuable player honors this season.

Suzuki, the Japanese import who was playing in his first U.S. postseason, was an offensive force against the Indians, going 12 for 20 for a division series-record .600 batting average, scoring four runs and knocking in two.

Boone, who batted .331 with 37 homers and 141 runs batted in, was an offensive farce, managing only two singles in 21 at-bats for a .095 average and striking out 11 times, a major league record for a five-game series.

“They pitched me different, and for whatever reason, my swing got out of sync, it got a little long,” Boone said. “I didn’t get the job done. I let the team down. But when you win the series, you throw that all away. Hopefully, I can get my swing right for the next series.”

The Mariners don’t want Suzuki to change a thing. The leadoff batter reached base in his first at-bat in all five games. He beat out three infield singles Monday and scored a key insurance run in the seventh inning to give Seattle a 3-1 lead. He played solid defense.

“You really can’t point your finger at any part of the game he doesn’t excel at,” Seattle center fielder Mike Cameron said. “Mentally, he’s like the Statue of Liberty. He never gets fazed by anything. He puts the ball in play hard, and God has given him the gift of great speed. He takes advantage of it every day.”

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As difficult as their 17-2 loss to the Indians in Game 3 was to digest, what the Mariners did in the wake of that embarrassment may have gone a long way toward them winning the series.

“We all went into the training room and just shot the [breeze] for about an hour,” outfielder Jay Buhner said. “We’ve always had a unique way of taking the positive out of a situation instead of dwelling on the negative, and there weren’t a lot of positives in that game. So we sat in there and picked on each other and had a little fun. A lot of our success has been because we’re able to bounce back the next day.”

Buhner said Boone was a big contributor to that postgame rap session.

“He’ll pick on himself as much as anyone else,” Buhner said. “He knows he had a tough series, but he never hung his head. He didn’t hit, but he played some good defense. We’re moving on, and he may be the hero in the next series.”

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Manager Lou Piniella said right-hander Aaron Sele, who was rocked for four runs on five hits in two innings of the Game 3 loss, will start Game 1 of the AL championship series Wednesday at Seattle. He will likely add either Joel Pineiro or Ryan Franklin to the staff for the ALCS....Cleveland leadoff batter Kenny Lofton had two hits in 19 at-bats for a .105 average in the series. Jim Thome, who had 49 homers and 124 RBIs during the regular season, batted .158 with no homers and one RBI.