Blackley has very G'day

Blackley has very G'day

Aussie wins major league debut as Mariners knock off Rangers

By Aaron Coe

Everett Herald

SEATTLE - When the "206" area code popped up on Travis Blackley's phone at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday night, he wasn't sure what to think.

Yes, the Seattle Mariners are within the confines of that prefix, he thought. He answered the phone as he watched Mariners manager Bob Melvin's post-game interview on television. The voice on the other end, as it turned out, was also Bob Melvin.

Blackley, who had pitched for the Tacoma Rainiers all season, put aside wonderings of how Melvin could be in two places at once and listened to what the manager of the big club had to say.

"He said he had a proposition for me," said Blackley, a member of the 2001 Everett AquaSox, after he led the Mariners to an 8-4 victory over Texas on Thursday at Safeco Field. "He asked me how would I like to pitch for him (on Thursday). I was calm. I said, 'Good, sure, why not.' "

He spent the next five hours trying to reach his parents in Australia. As he began to drift off to sleep, a dog started barking. He slept for "about three hours" and arrived at Safeco 12 hours after learning of his promotion.

Blackley, who has been dominant at every level, showed on Thursday why he is so highly regarded. Aside from his final pitch - a slider he left over the plate that resulted in Kevin Mench's three-run home run in the sixth - Blackley kept one of the league's best hitting teams in check.

Melvin, who referred to Blackley as "the crown jewel of the organization" both before and after the game, liked what he saw.

"Very impressive effort,"said Melvin, whose team split the four- game series and pulled to within 111/2 games of the West Division- leading Rangers. "Especially against a team like this. If you're watching the box scores - and watching our team against these guys and the way they swing the bats against us - they can be a little intimidating."

Not much gets to Blackley, an Australian who was 7-2 with a 2.63 earned run average in 14 starts for the Rainiers.

"Ten-year veterans are more nervous than him,"said 41-year-old catcher Pat Borders, who caught Blackley on Thursday and several times for Tacoma earlier in the season. "It's a combination of both (mental and physical). He showed a bit of both today."

In the first inning, the Mariners sent all nine batters to the plate and took a break from their season full of offensive struggles, giving Blackley a 3-0 lead.

Ichiro Suzuki - who hit two doubles and a single in the first three innings, led off with a single, and sprinted home for a 1-0 lead when Randy Winn doubled to right-center field. Bret Boone and Dave Hansen followed with RBI hits.

The Mariners tacked on four more runs in the bottom third to give Blackley an easier afternoon.

"It was a good day,"said Boone, who finished the afternoon 3 for 4 with two doubles and two runs scored. "We swung the bats - finally."

Boone reached on an infield single that was initially ruled an error after Texas catcher Ken Huckaby bobbled the ball in front of the plate. Hansen walked, and Spiezio drove in Boone with a single to right. Suzuki's two-out double off the right-field wall gave the Mariners their fifth run. Winn's single up the middle scored Spiezio and Suzuki for a 7-0 advantage.

A solid lead might calm most young pitchers. Blackley, however, suddenly realized where he was.

"When it started to sink in was the middle of the game - the fourth inning or so,"said Blackley, who allowed six hits in 52/3 innings.

Blackley ran into some trouble in the fourth - loading the bases with none out - but managed to escape with only one Texas run scoring. He induced a double-play ball from Mark Teixeira. A run scored during the double play, but Hank Blalock flied to center to end the threat.

"All I ever see when I do watch Sportscenter is Teixeira and Blalock going yard,"said Blackley, who struck out the first batter he faced on Thursday and did not allow a hit until the fourth inning.

Blackley finally met his match in the sixth. He allowed two-out singles to Teixeira and Blalock. Mench then drove Blackley's 2-2 pitch over the Texas bullpen in left field for a 3-run homer that cut the Rangers' deficit to 7-4. Blackley departed after the homer to a standing ovation from a crowd of 35,966.

Edgar Martinez pinch-hit for Hansen in the sixth and drove in the game's final run.

Mariners 8

Rangers 4

___

Copyright c 2004 The Spokesman-Review
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.