Safeco

SEATTLE - Safeco Corp. said yesterday that it expects a wider-than-expected second-quarter operating loss of 25 cents to 30 cents a share, blaming rising claims from recent storms. Analysts had predicted that the Seattle-based insurer would report a loss of 18 cents a share, revised from 19 cents. Safeco posted earnings of $12 million, or 77 cents a share, in last year's second quarter. Including the three-month period that ended in June, Safeco's results have worsened in 11 of the 14 quarters since it acquired American States Insurance Group in October 1997.

Adrian Beltre's one-out, ninth-inning single off Jim Johnson scored Franklin Gutierrez as the Seattle Mariners won the rubber match of the series, 3-2, before an announced 18,650 at Safeco Field. Base-running blunders and a lack of timely hitting hurt the Orioles, who wasted a solid start by Brad Bergesen. Box score, PG 4.

Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox confirmed yesterday that he'll start Greg Maddux tonight in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series. Maddux will work on three days' rest after losing a 2-0 duel with Arizona's Randy Johnson in Game 1. Cox normally goes with a four-man postseason staff, the exception being 1992 when he used Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Steve Avery. "We've never had a bullpen this strong, either," Cox said. Atlanta's starters are rested after the Braves swept Houston in the division series and haven't been drawn into high pitch counts.

SEATTLE -- Two boys and a girl stand next to a massive promotional photo outside Safeco Field and smile widely for their father's camera. Five feet to the right of them looms a similar-sized picture of Ichiro Suzuki, currently the most popular athlete in the Emerald City. But Ichiro's pensive mug doesn't get a second glance. On this morning, the father wants to forever preserve the moment in which his kids first stood beside Erik Bedard's Seattle Mariners mural. In a city that hasn't tasted a World Series in the club's 31-year history, Bedard isn't just the new face, a quality left-handed starter acquired from the Orioles in February.

SEATTLE -- To open their new ballpark tomorrow, the Seattle Mariners and their supporters followed a now-familiar playbook. The team tantalized fans with a few sneak previews of the predictably dazzling park. Radio stations began broadcasting live and breathlessly from bars across the street, counting down the days. Ticket brokers asked -- and received -- 10 times face value for seats to the long sold-out game.But also increasingly familiar is the counterpoint that has risen in opposition to this carefully orchestrated buildup -- a rumbling, growing drumbeat of discontent from naysayers who wonder how much is too much for taxpayers to shell out for these lavish new playgrounds.

Adrian Beltre's one-out, ninth-inning single off Jim Johnson scored Franklin Gutierrez as the Seattle Mariners won the rubber match of the series, 3-2, before an announced 18,650 at Safeco Field. Base-running blunders and a lack of timely hitting hurt the Orioles, who wasted a solid start by Brad Bergesen. Box score, PG 4.

WHO'S UP Omar Vizquel of the Giants tripled, doubled, singled, drove in a run and stole a base on his 38th birthday. WHO'S DOWN The Mariners are 3-7 in their first 10 home games, their worst start in Safeco Field history. BATTING LINE OF THE DAY Johnny Damon, Red Sox CF AB R H RBI HR 5 2 4 2 0 PITCHING LINE OF THE DAY Jason Davis, Indians IP R H BB SO 1 1/3 2 0 5 1

At Safeco Field, Seattle Day ..................... Time ....... TV .............................. Starters Tonight ............... 10:05 ..... 54, 50 .................. Jose Mercedes (7-16, 5.90) .......................................................................... vs. Paul Abbott (14-3, 4.30) Tomorrow ...........10:05 ..... 54, 50 .................. Rick Bauer (0-1, 1.42) .......................................................................... vs. Joel Piniero (4-1, 2.08) Sunday .....

At Safeco Field, Seattle Day Time TV Starters Tonight 10:05 CSN Daniel Cabrera (1-0, 0.00) vs. Freddy Garcia (1-2, 2.34) Tomorrow 10:05 CSN Undecided vs. Ryan Franklin (2-3, 4.43) Thursday 10:05 CSN Undecided vs. Gil Meche (1-3, 5.63) Radio: All games on WBAL (1090 AM) Mariners update Viewed as a playoff contender when the season began, Seattle has spent 37 days in last place in the American League West. At least the Mariners have the best record of the AL bottom dwellers - small consolation for a team that's lost seven of eight games.

Quote: "I still love my job and I still love coming to work, but losing is tough. It's tough because you have to repeat yourself." -- Royals manager Tony Muser after yesterday's loss to White Sox.It's a fact: The Tigers have been outscored 23-6 during their four-game losing streak.Who's hot: Oakland's Scott Spiezio singled yesterday to extend his hitting streak to a career-best 13 games. It's also a season-high for an A's player.Who's not: The Rangers' Juan Gonzalez, who leads the majors with 73 RBIs, went 0-4 and is just 1-for-18 with eight strikeouts in his last four games.

SEATTLE -- While the rest of his teammates were slipping on their uniforms and preparing for last night's series opener against Seattle, Orioles pitcher Hayden Penn was at a local hospital to have surgery for appendicitis. Penn, the 21-year-old right-hander who was scheduled to pitch tonight in Daniel Cabrera's spot in the rotation, reported to the visiting clubhouse at Safeco Field complaining of stomach problems. He was redirected to an area hospital after speaking to team officials, where doctors made the discovery.

SEATTLE - It was eight weeks ago that the Orioles were here last, leaving this Pacific Northwest city with Rafael Palmeiro's place in history and the team's spot in the standings seemingly secure. Palmeiro had his 3,000th hit and the Orioles were just one game behind the Boston Red Sox for first place in American League East after a four-game split with the Seattle Mariners at the time. Just who - Palmeiro or the team he plays for - has taken a bigger fall? Without Palmeiro, who is at home in Texas rehabbing injuries and trying to keep from becoming any more of a distraction after his steroid suspension, the Orioles lost for the 15th time in 20 games last night, falling, 3-2, to the Mariners before 27,429 at Safeco Field, and watching the potential game-tying run get thrown out at the plate in the eighth inning.

SEATTLE - The emotionless cucumber-cool ballplayer, the man who never gets too high or too low, sat in the visitors' dugout with a towel draping his face. His chest heaved while he held that towel tightly to his mug, experiencing the most private of moments just minutes after being saluted by thousands of fans for making baseball history. On a breezy overcast night at Safeco Field, with cameras flashing throughout the stands, Orioles first baseman Rafael Palmeiro lined a fifth-inning double into the left-field corner against Seattle starter Joel Pineiro.

SEATTLE - On this night, with this chance at hand, his father and mother stayed home in Miami. "They"ll watch it on TV. It's too far for them to fly." Rafael Palmeiro said last night before Aaron Sele took the mound for the Seattle Mariners and everyone who understands anything about baseball knew what this night was about. If hit No. 3,000 for Palmeiro, the Cuban-born kid whose father and mother left behind the "regime' and settled in south Florida, was going to come in one of America's baseball outposts, it might as well be here.

SEATTLE - On this night, with this chance at hand, his father and mother stayed home in Miami. "They'll watch it on TV. It's too far for them to fly," Rafael Palmeiro said last night before Aaron Sele took the mound for the Seattle Mariners, and everyone who understands anything about baseball knew what this night was about. The cameras flashed in the fading Northwest dusk when Palmeiro stepped to the plate in the top of the eighth inning. And the 36,316 at Safeco Field moaned and groaned, wanting the moment, then growing fickle as Palmeiro fouled off two pitches, then saw ball two and ball three, and then, on a full count, ball four.

WHO'S UP Omar Vizquel of the Giants tripled, doubled, singled, drove in a run and stole a base on his 38th birthday. WHO'S DOWN The Mariners are 3-7 in their first 10 home games, their worst start in Safeco Field history. BATTING LINE OF THE DAY Johnny Damon, Red Sox CF AB R H RBI HR 5 2 4 2 0 PITCHING LINE OF THE DAY Jason Davis, Indians IP R H BB SO 1 1/3 2 0 5 1

SEATTLE - The Orioles have a new starting pitcher who runs from the dugout before each inning and misses the foul line, in the old superstition, with a leap that looks like it should be measured for distance at the Olympics. At 6 feet 7, Daniel Cabrera is all limbs, but he quickly channels that exuberance and turns into an unflappable force on the mound. When his work is finished, he returns to the dugout with a purposeful strut, pausing only to hop over the foul line again. "I don't see a kid who's scared at all," said Orioles right fielder Jay Gibbons.