Rangers Lose At Seattle
SEATTLE — Dae-Ho Lee does not speak English, but applause is an international language that Lee clearly understood as he circled the bases with a smile on his face after clubbing a pinch-hit, walk-off home run Wednesday afternoon at Safeco Field.
Lee, a 33-year-old major-league rookie out of the pro leagues of South Korea and Japan, drilled a two-run homer with two outs in the 10th inning of the Seattle Mariners’ 4-2 victory over the Texas Rangers. It was Lee’s second homer and third hit in 13 at-bats with the Mariners.
Lee’s blast to left field came on a high, 0-2 fastball from Texas reliever Jake Dietman (0-1).
“That was terrible,” Dietman said. “Put it right where he could hit it.”
Seattle manager Scott Servais seemed far more impressed with Lee’s homer than Dietman.
“I don’t know how he got on top of that pitch, but it says a lot for his ability,” Servais said.
The victory snapped Seattle’s five-game losing streak — all at home. The 0-5 home start was the worst in Mariners history, prompting a players-only meeting after Tuesday’s 8-0 loss to Texas.
Since he doesn’t understand English, Lee didn’t gain much from
the meeting. Fortunately for Lee, his bat spoke volumes Wednesday.
“He cuts down his swing to make contact,” Servais said. “He’s plenty strong enough that if he does square it up, he’s got enough power.”
“I faced him before so I was expecting a fastball,” Lee said through an interpreter.
The Rangers tied the score at 2 in the eighth when Delino DeShields greeted Mariners reliever Joel Peralta with a leadoff homer to left field.
Robinson Cano pushed Seattle ahead 2-1 in the fifth with a solo homer to right off Texas starter A.J. Griffin. The hit snapped an 0-for-15 skid for Cano, who set a club record with four homers in the Mariners’ first three games. Five of Cano’s seven hits have been home runs.
Former Mariner Adrian Beltre singled in DeShields to open the scoring in the third. Seattle answered in the bottom of the inning when leadoff hitter Norichika Aoki reached second on a dropped fly ball by inexperienced left fielder Ian Desmond, then scored on a Seth Smith single.
Seattle closer Steve Cishek evened his record at 1-1 with two innings of perfect relief. Seattle starter Taijuan Walker limited Texas to one run and five hits in six innings.
Griffin, making his second major league appearance since 2013 because of arm issues, gave up two runs (one earned), three hits and four walks in five innings. He struck out five.
The loss spoiled a fine performance by 32-year-old rookie reliever Tony Barnette of Texas. Barnette, who grew up in the Seattle suburb of Federal Way, threw 2 1/3 innings of one-hit, shutout relief before making way for Dietman in the 10th.
Barnette spent the past six years in Japan’s Central League following four years in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. Barnette said he felt no added pressure from having plenty of family members in the stands in Seattle.
“You’ve just got a job to do,” he said.
Dietman didn’t do the job Wednesday, but he had not allowed a run in his previous 14 appearances, dating back to Sept. 12. Lee brought a sudden end to Dietman’s success streak.
“Baseball being baseball, he’ll erase it,” Barnette said.
