The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 49

The Boston Globe THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2003 Last gasp for Mariners Elimination nears after loss to Angels By Ken Peters ASSOCIATED PRESS ANAHEIM, Calif. Another poor second half is havent beaten a lot of teams that we felt like we should have beaten." Seattle's seventh loss in 11 games meant the Red Sox clinched no worse than a tie for the AL wild-card berth. The Sox lost to the Orioles, 7-3, last night For the Mariners to tie the Red Sox, they would have to sweep a three-game series from Oakland, and Boston would have to lose its final four games. The Red Sox wasted a chance to clinch outright when they lost, 7-3, to Baltimore. "Boston definitely played good when they needed to, and we didnt Thaf the difference," Seattle's Bret Boone said.

The Mariners led Oakland by eight games in the AL West on June 13. By Aug. 27 the Athletics overtook them, and Oakland clinched the division when it de feated Texas and Anaheim beat Seattle in 11 innings Tuesday night Last season, the Mariners were up by five games in the division on July 4 before losing the lead for good on Aug. 23. The Athletics used a 20-game winning streak to win the division, and Anaheim took the wild card.

After the Mariners' loss to the Angels dropped Seattle to 11-11 this month, manager Bob Melvin was not available for interviews for the first time this season. Lackey (10-16) struck out four and walked two in his second career shutout and second complete game this season. He had lost his previous three starts. Seattle's Gil Meche (15-13) pitched because Ryan Franklin had a stiff neck yesterday morning. Meche allowed three runs and six hits in five innings.

likely to leave the Seattle Mariners out of the playoffs for a second straight season. John Lackey pitched a five-hitter and rookie Tom Gregorio had a two-run single as the Anaheim Angels beat Seattle, 4-0, pushing the Mariners to the brink of postseason elimination. "We didn't play well coming down the stretch, and we didnt play well in the second half at all," Seattle's John Olerad said. "We've lost a lot of close games and GLOBE STAFF PHOTOJIM DAVIS Sox fans thank the Mariners for their earlier loss that gave Boston at least a tie for the wild card. Batting race a wild one A- ByBobHohler GLOBE STAFF Should the Red Sox clinch the wild card, one of the final dramas of the regular season could shape up as the race between Manny RED SOX NOTEBOOK a I i (he has 87).

Stealing spotlight When Damon stole second base in the first inning, he became only the third Sox player with 30 or more steals in consecutive seasons. He swiped 31 last year, Tris Speaker stole 30 or more for the Sox in 1909 and '10 and from 1912 to 1914, and Harry Hooper pulled it off in 19 10 and '11. Damon's 30-steal season is the 8th in club history. He also topped 30 steals for the Royals in 199936) and 2000 (a league-leading 46) Ortiz bolstered his MVP candidacy with a pair of homers (Nos. 30 and 31).

He also reached the 100-RBI plateau in 441 at-bats. In comparison, Ramirez has knocked in 102 runs in 561 at-bats and Nomar Garciaparra has driven in 100 runs in 648 at-bats. Ortiz leads the Sox with 24 go-ahead RBIs and ranks second in the AL in winning RBIs with 16, trailing only Oakland's Eric Chavez and New York's Hideki Matsui, who each have 17 Moving Garciaparra to the second spot in the or-' der has yet to pay dividends for the shortstop, who is batting .125 (3 for 24) in the 2-hole, dropping his September average to .167 (14 for 84). Walker has responded well this month to batting third, batting .320 (8 for 25). Walker is batting .359 (23 for 64) in September The Sox broke the major league record for total bases in a season with 2,750, eclipsing the 2001 Rockies (2,748) The seven runs John Burkett surrendered in the first marked the fourth time this season the Orioles have scored seven in an inning against the Sox, who have allowed seven seven-run innings Scott Williamson pitched a scoreless ninth inning with one strikeout Millar on the October classic: "My dream-team World Series as a fan and a player would be the Cubs against the Red Sox.

You've got to have appreciation for what those cities have gone through and how long they've Longtime baseball writer Larry Whiteside, who covered the 1975 and '86 World Series during a career that has spanned more than 30 years with the Qobe, tossed a ceremonial first pitch. ti.TZt.t'ia-ffw',-.v m. AP PHOTO Seattle's Bret Boone is tagged out at home by Angels catcher Tom Gregorio in the fourth inning. Loaiza reaches milestone win Ramirez and Bill Mueller for the American League batting crown. With Mueller (.324) holding a slim lead over Ramirez and the White Sox" Magglio Ordonez (both the Sox have a chance to finish the season with the league's top two hitters for only the third time in franchise history.

On both previous occasions, Ted Williams captured the title, batting .328 in 1958 to edge Pete Runnels (.322) and hitting .356 in 1942 to outdistance Johnny Pesky Pesky is siding with the infield-er over the superstar left fielder, despite Pesky's affinity for Ramirez, who enveloped him in a bear hug before the game. Ramirez hit .349 last year to win his first batting title. "I like both of them very much," Pesky said, "but I'm kind of pulling for the third baseman." Beyond Mueller's underdog status, Pesky was struck by his unselfishness Tuesday night in purposely grounding out to second base to advance Kevin Millar from second to third with none out and the Sox trailing the Orioles, 3-2, in the sixth inning. "He's not a selfish kid," Pesky said. "He gave himself up and sacrificed a chance to go ahead in the batting race.

Deep down in his heart, he has a winning attitude. He's understands the game and what has to be done." Indeed, some of Mueller's teammates consider him the club's MVP, though David Ortiz also has considerable support "It seems like every time you need a big hit or a big at-bat, he's the one who gives it to you," Johnny Damon said of Mueller. As for the four remaining games, Ramirez is batting .270 against the Orioles this season, .364 against Tampa Bay. Mueller has raked Baltimore pitchers for a .383 average, but against the Devil Rays he is hitting .311. Mueller has struggled (1 for 14) since missing two games because of back spasms.

Mueller was 1 for 4 last night with two strikeouts. Ramirez was GLOBE STAFF PHOTOJIM DAVIS Longtime Globe sports writer Larry Whiteside returned to Fenway to fire the first pitch. 0for4. Nixon forced out As the Sox feared, Trot Nixon suffered a minor setback in his recovery from a slight tear in his left calf. He awakened with some soreness and tested his leg before the game, only for the Sox to decide during batting practice to scratch him from the lineup.

The Sox had tried to wait until Nixon's injury was fully healed, wary of him aggravating it apparently to no avail. The relapse occurred just before the Sox hoped to clinch a wild-card berth and start resting some players. "If going to be day to day," manager Grady Little said. "We dont want to take any chances, so well give him a day or two to get it going again." While Gabe Kapler, who replaced Nixon, has filled in admirably in 10 starts since the right fielder was injured Sept. 9, the Sox prefer to have Nixon in the lineup.

They are 75-44 when Nixon starts in right field, 18-21 when he's out The injury also was a personal setback for Nixon, who naturally would like to finish with 30 homers (he has a career-high 28) and top his career best of 94 RBIs tlllllMIIHIIIIIIIIllMIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIMIII AL notables Rangers shortstop Alex Rodriguez didn't play against Oakland, ending his consecutive games streak at 545. Yankee Mike Mussina gave up a season-high eight runs and 11 hits in SYi innings. Chicago's nine hits in the sixth were the most allowed by the Yankees in a single inning this year. The White Sox have hit 217 homers, tying the club record set last year. Texas's Jason Jones snapped an 0-for-22 slump with a single in the fifth.

Oakland's Mike Edwards got his first major league hit in the eighth. The Tigers won consecutive games for the first time since taking three straight from Cleveland from Sept. 2-4. washed out his first try. The Yankees were tied, 1-1, with Baltimore last Thursday when the game was called in the fifth inning.

Athletics 5, Rangers 3 Jose Guillen, playing with a broken bone in his left hand, hit a two-run homer and bunted home the go-ahead run to lead host Oakland. Blue Jays 5, Devil Rays 3 Kelvim Escobar tied a career-high with 10 strikeouts in what might have been his last start for Toronto, leading the Blue Jays over visiting Tampa Bay. Tigers 4, Royals 3 Visiting Detroit remained two losses short of the modern major league record with 118, beating Kansas City as Shane Loux earned his first major league victory. Twins 3, Indians 2 Michael Cuddyer hit a tiebreaking home ran in the eighth inning and Minnesota won its 1 1th straight game, beating Cleveland in Minneapolis. ASSOCIATED PRESS Esteban Loaiza got his milestone victory.

Mike Mussina will have to wait until next year for an-other shot at his. Loaiza became roundup the fifth 20-game winner in the majors yesterday in Chicago, and the White Sox roughed up Mussina on their way to a 9-4 victory over the New York Yankees. Mussina's second bid for his 200th career victory was ruined when he gave up eight runs in the sixth inning. Jose Valentin hit a three-run homer, and Carlos Lee drove in a pair of runs in Chicago's big inning. The White Sox rapped out nine hits in the sixth, their most for a single inning this season.

It was only the fourth loss in the last 18 games for the Yankees, but it doesnt matter much. They clinched their sixth straight AL East title Tuesday night but are still competing with Oakland for the best record in the league. Still, the Yankees wanted to get Mussina (17-8) his 200th victory, especially after Hurricane Isabel BEE 1 I ii i i ills a v. a i a bb 1 ja''. rillllllllllll II II a I tu Jl1.Zrt NESN BE? COVERAGE.

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