Seattle Eyeing Now or Never

There is no hiding the urgency here. This is a must-win season for the Seattle Mariners.

While the Angels eagerly await the off-season, the Mariners dread it. The Angels pledge to spend and reload this winter, but the Mariners have made no such promises, not to their fans and certainly not within a clubhouse packed with players in tenuous contract situations.

“Now is the time,” Seattle second baseman Bret Boone said. “We ain’t thinking about next year. With this group of guys, it’s right now.”

A trio of guys who might not return next year led the Mariners to a taut 5-1 victory over the Angels on Saturday. With a sellout crowd of 45,552 serenading the Mariners, Edgar Martinez snapped a scoreless tie with two out in the eighth inning, doubling home the winning run. Three batters later, Randy Winn slugged a grand slam, supporting the eight-hitter of starter Freddy Garcia and closer Shigetoshi Hasegawa.

The Mariners crept within one-half game of the Boston Red Sox for the American League wild-card lead, with 14 games left for Seattle and 15 for Boston. In the AL West race, Seattle trails the Oakland Athletics by 2 1/2games.

Angel starter Aaron Sele pitched four shutout innings before leaving because of back stiffness, but Manager Mike Scioscia said Sele is expected to make his next start. Ben Weber contributed two scoreless innings and Francisco Rodriguez one more, but the Mariners tagged Rodriguez with defeat in the eighth.

Rodriguez got the first two outs, then two strikes on Boone, then walked him.

“That’s what cost us the game,” Rodriguez said. “You cannot walk anybody, especially with two out and the top dogs coming up.”

Martinez doubled, scoring Boone. After an intentional walk to John Olerud, and after Rodriguez loaded the bases by hitting Mike Cameron, Winn crushed the first pitch from Rodriguez for the slam.

Rodriguez gave up five runs in that one inning, after giving up five in his previous 27. The Angels scored their run in the ninth.

The Mariners occupied first place in the AL West, alone or shared, from April 15 through Aug. 26. They led the A’s by eight games in June, seven in July, five in August.

But the A’s surged and the Mariners stumbled, and now the Mariners must rally for a final chance at glory, at least with this roster.

Seattle should win 90 games for the fourth consecutive season, but this core never has advanced to the World Series, even after winning a league-record 116 games in 2001. For this core, time might be up.

The Mariners face a financial quagmire this winter. There is not enough money for all, or so the players expect to be told.

“A lot of guys aren’t going to be here next year,” Boone said. “Well, I’m not the front office. Maybe they will be, but we’ve got a lot of guys on the other side of 36.”

Martinez, 40, the designated hitter, could retire. If he wishes to return, how much of a discount from his $4-million salary might the Mariners reasonably expect a franchise icon to accept?

Center fielder Mike Cameron is headed toward free agency. So is Hasegawa, who replaced Kazuhiro Sasaki as the Mariners’ closer. So are Mark McLemore, the utilityman, and Arthur Rhodes, the left-handed relief specialist. The long list of players eligible for arbitration includes Garcia, Winn, outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, infielder Carlos Guillen and starters Ryan Franklin and Gil Meche.

And the Mariners’ most prominent potential free agent is General Manager Pat Gillick, 66, who is undecided about returning. Gillick builds winners wherever he goes, in Toronto and Baltimore and now in Seattle.

“I don’t even know if Pat Gillick is going to stay here,” Hasegawa said. “If they change the GM, that’s a big difference.”