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 And closer John Axford wasn't going to fastball his way to the
finish.
Having touched 100 mph on his fastball earlier in the inning, Axford
turned to his rarely used curveball to strike out Seattle third
baseman Kyle Seager for the final out of the Rockies' 4-2 win on
Friday night.
"The curveball off an elevated heater," Garneau said, "that's a
tough pitch to hit."
Garneau broke a scoreless tie with a three-run homer in the seventh
inning and Bettis threw seven scoreless innings before Axford
finished off Colorado's second consecutive victory -- and his 22nd
save of the season -- by stranding two runners on base with the
Seager strikeout.
"Seager's a threat; he's dangerous," Axford said of the Seattle
third baseman who had cut the deficit to 3-2 with an eighth-inning
homer. "Anything you can do to throw him off. I'd only thrown three
or four curveballs all year, so that was the time to do it."
Garneau's second career home run -- his first came Wednesday night
-- also snapped a string of 24 consecutive scoreless innings by
Mariners pitchers. He gave the Rockies a 3-0 lead during a five-run
seventh inning that chased Seattle starter Hisashi Iwakuma from the
game.
"I lucked out," Garneau said with a chuckle. "I don't really know
what happened, and it went over the fence."
Bettis (7-5) allowed three hits without giving up a run in seven
innings and left the game with a 3-0 lead. Reliever Christian
Friedrich came on in the eighth and walked the first batter he faced
before Seattle third baseman Kyle Seager hit his 24th home run of
the season, a two-run shot that pulled the Mariners within 3-2.
Five Colorado relievers finished off the win, with Axford posting
his 22nd save of the season after a 27-pitch bottom of the ninth.
After the Rockies added an insurance run on a wild pitch, scoring
shortstop Daniel Descalso, in the top of the ninth, Axford took over
with a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the inning. He gave up a one-out
single to Seattle shortstop Brad Miller and a two-out walk to put
the tying run at first base. Seager drew a full count before Axford
struck him out with the curveball.
"We had the guys at the plate we wanted," Mariners manager Lloyd
McClendon said. "We just couldn't get it done. That's baseball."
The Rockies (59-82) used five seventh-inning hits, the biggest
coming on Garneau's three-run homer, to take a 3-0 lead.
The Mariners came back to score two runs on Seager's homer in the
eighth. His 24 home runs this season are one short of his career
high, which he accumulated last year.
Iwakuma was every bit as dominant as Bettis for six innings before
he hit a wall in the seventh. The Rockies had five one-out hits in a
row to chase Iwakuma from the game after 97 pitches.
Iwakuma (7-4) allowed eight hits and three runs in 6 1/3 innings.
"I don't think he hit a wall," McClendon said. "He elevated some
pitches -- obviously, the backup slider. He'd been throwing
extremely well; he just couldn't keep the ball down (in the
seventh)."
Seattle (68-74) lost for only the third time in 10 games and is now
one loss from matching its total from the 2014 season.
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Colorado left fielder Corey Dickerson, designated hitter Justin
Morneau and Descalso all had two hits as the Rockies piled up 11 of
them on Seattle pitchers.
Neither offense could get much going in the early innings. The
Mariners left runners stranded at second base in the second and
third innings, and Colorado wasted a leadoff double in the fourth.
Seattle got a leadoff runner on in the second, courtesy of an error
on Colorado third baseman Nolan Arenado, but ended up leaving
runners stranded at first and second base.
One inning later, center fielder James Jones got an unconventional
double with one out, having squibbed a ball up the middle and under
the glove of Descalso before legging out two bases, but the Mariners
couldn't bring in a run.
The Rockies' best early chance came in the top of the fourth when
Dickerson led off with a double. Iwakuma intentionally walked
slugger Carlos Gonzalez with one out and then got out of the inning
as the game remained scoreless through the fifth.
Bettis threw 98 pitches in seven innings and admitted afterward that
he was tiring.
"I would have liked to stay out in the eighth, but at the same time
I was running out of juice," he said. " ... It was probably the
right call."
The announced crowd was 19,876, marking the fourth time in as many
games during the current homestand that Safeco Field has failed to
hit 20,000.
NOTES: Colorado SS Jose Reyes was not in the lineup Friday because
of a left Achilles' tendon strain, marking the second consecutive
day he did not start. It's the first time since Reyes was traded
from Toronto that he's been out of the lineup on back-to-back days.
... Seattle still hasn't officially named a starter for Sunday's
series finale, but LHP James Paxton is the most likely candidate.
Paxton has been on the disabled list since May 29 and would have to
be activated before making the start. "It's trending toward Paxton
starting on Sunday," Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said before
Friday's game. ... The Mariners shut out Texas on Wednesday and
Thursday and went into the Colorado game seeking their first
three-game shutout streak in club history. ... Mariners OF Franklin
Gutierrez, who had been out of action for six days because of a
pelvic condition, was not in the lineup Friday but was available to
pinch-hit. McClendon said he hoped to have Gutierrez in the lineup
this weekend.
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reserved.]
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