June 8, 2001: Seattle Mariners extend winning streak to 15 games

The Seattle Mariners, winners of 14 consecutive games dating back to May 23, took on the San Diego Padres in the first game of a three-game series on June 8, 2001, at Safeco Field in Seattle.

In front of a crowd of 45,293, the starting pitchers were Paul Abbott for the Mariners and Kevin Jarvis for the visiting Padres.

In the top of the first, singles by César Crespo, Mark Kotsay, and Ryan Klesko loaded the bases for the Padres. Phil Nevin popped out to third and Mike Darr hit a ground ball to first baseman John Olerud, who threw to shortstop Carlos Guillén to force Klesko at second, allowing Crespo to score. Ben Davis tapped one back to Abbott, who threw to first to retire the side and limit the damage to just one run.

In the bottom of the first, the Mariners wasted no time getting into the scoring column themselves as Ichiro Suzuki singled, Mark McLemore flied out to Kotsay in center, and Edgar Martínez drove in Suzuki with a two-run homer to make the score 2–1. After Olerud flied out to Santiago Pérez in left, Bret Boone connected for a solo shot to give the Mariners a 3–1 lead. The pair of homers were the ninth on the season for Martínez and the 14th for Boone.

Abbott took care of the Padres in order in the top half of the second. In the bottom of the second, Dan Wilson hit a two-out single and then stole second. The next man up, Suzuki, grounded to second baseman Crespo, who bobbled the ball for the error, allowing Wilson to advance to third. A double by McLemore drove in both Wilson and Suzuki, and a double by Martínez scored McLemore, extending the Mariners’ lead to 6–1 after two innings. Because of the two-out error by Crespo, all three runs in the inning were unearned.

Abbott retired the side in the third for the Mariners, and the Mariners stranded two in the bottom of the inning but failed to score. Both pitchers went three up, three down in the fourth, and then Olerud homered to lead off the fifth to give the Mariners a 7–1 lead. That was also the final score.

For the Mariners, Abbott pitched 7 2/3 innings to pick up the win, improving his record to 5–2. Arthur Rhodes and Jeff Nelson each pitched 2/3 of an inning of no-hit baseball to close out the game. For the Padres, Jarvis gave up nine hits and all seven runs, four of which were earned, while taking the loss. San Diego relievers David Lee and Brian Lawrence kept the Mariners’ bats quiet, allowing only one hit over the last three innings.

On May 23, the first game of this 15-game winning streak, the Mariners were 32–12, with a 10-game lead over the second-place Oakland Athletics, and an 11 1/2-game lead over the third-place Anaheim Angels.

After the win on June 8, the Mariners had a record of 47–12, a winning percentage of .797, and a 17-game lead over the second-place Anaheim Angels.

Abbott had started the last Mariners loss on May 22, allowing eight runs in 2 2/3 innings while taking the loss. During the winning streak, Abbott fared better. On May 28, Abbott pitched a complete game as the Mariners trounced the Kansas City Royals, 13–3. In his next start, on June 2, Abbott pitched five innings in Seattle’s 7–4 win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

The Mariners’ streak was the longest in the American League since the 1991 Minnesota Twins won 15 in a row. As of 2025, it had been surpassed by the 2002 Oakland Athletics (20-game win streak) and 2017 Cleveland Indians (22-game win streak).

In the win against the Padres, Suzuki went 2-for-4, adding to his major-league-leading 97 hits while raising his season batting average to .359.

Following their June 8 victory, which brought the Mariners’ record to 47-12, The Mariners’ starting pitchers stood out with exceptional individual records by the time the streak reached 15 wins. Freddy García, at the age of 24, was 6–0 but lost the June 9 game that ended the streak. Thirty-one-year-old Aaron Sele was 8–0 at the time and did not record his first loss until June 22. Jamie Moyer, at 38 years of age, was 8–1 after the Mariners’ victory on June 6. Abbott, at the age of 33, was 5–2 after his victory on June 8. Even though his record after the June 8 game wasn’t overly impressive compared to his teammates’, Abbott finished the season with a 17–4 record.

Despite the starting pitchers’ great start, Mariners general manager Pat Gillick was searching for a No. 1 starting pitcher. “If you want to go to the end, you have to have a number one starter,” Gillick said before the Friday, June 8 game. “A number one starter is somebody that when you get in a playoff situation, you need to have to win,” he added.1 He ultimately did not find that pitcher.

The Mariners’ 47–12 record was tied for wins with the 1907 Cubs, who were 47–11–1 after 59 games. Only the 1912 New York Giants, led by future Hall of Fame pitchers Rube Marquard and Christy Mathewson, had a better start at 48–11–1 after 60 games.2

Padres manager Bruce Bochy, seeing the Mariners for the first time since spring training where the Padres and Mariners share the same complex, was quite impressed with the Mariners’ season so far. “I will say they have surprised the baseball world with what they have done up to this point,” said Bochy. He added, “It is hard to believe. I don’t care how good you are. To have the record they have playing on the road and here. I don’t think anybody saw that coming.”3

During the Mariners’ win streak, there were some interesting stats. They had a run differential of +122 (356 RS, 240 RA). Seattle’s pinch-hitters were batting .419, with an OPS of 1.264, while the rest of the American League pinch-hitters were batting .186 with an OPS of about .600. The relief pitchers had a 16–4 record with 31 saves in 38 opportunities and an ERA of 2.51.4

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author relied on Baseball-Reference.com and Stathead.com for game and statistical information.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SEA/SEA200106080.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2001/B06080SEA2001.htm

Photo credit: Paul Abbott, courtesy of Seattle Mariners.

Notes

1 Jim Cour, “Gillick Looking for No. 1 Starting Pitcher,” Columbian (Vancouver, Washington), June 10, 2001: 13.

2 Thomas Boswell, “Magical Mariners: Seattle’s sizzling start: more captivating by the moment,” Austin (Texas) American-Statesman, June 10, 2001: 33.

3 Jim Cour, “M’s leave Padres in dust,” Columbian, June 9, 2001: 7.

4 Greg Jayne, “Depth, balance fuel amazing M’s,” Columbian, June 9, 2001: 11.