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Batista, Mariners rally past Athletics

Apr 27, 2007 - 1:33 AM OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- Miguel Batista finally gave the Seattle Mariners their money's worth.

Batista allowed just two runs in 5 1/3 innings and Jose Lopez drilled a two-run homer in the sixth inning to help the Mariners rally for a 4-2 victory over the division rival Oakland Athletics.

Jose Vidro had three hits and an RBI and Richie Sexson also drove in a run for Seattle, which has won three straight following a six-game losing streak.

"We had six tough games, especially the three (losses) in Anaheim, and we bounced back with three great Ws," Vidro said. "I think everybody's contributing so it's great to see that."

Batista (2-2), who signed a three-year, $24-million dollar contract with the Mariners on December 14, had been a disappointment in his first few appearances with the club. The veteran righthander had allowed 17 runs in 17 1/3 innings over three starts to begin the 2007 season.

"For me, I know I'm a big league pitcher," Batista said. "I've been in the league for over 11 years now, so my pitching is not a fluke."

Against the A's, the 36-year old from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic yielded two hits and two walks while striking out a season-high six batters.

"It's always important to have a good outing," Batista added. "I just needed to keep going and execute my game plan and keep helping this team win. The fact is we all wanted to win on this road trip more than anything because its against our division."

He is now 3-3 lifetime vs. Oakland and 10-10 all-time in April.

Seattle sent Eric O'Flaherty, Chris Reitsma, George Sherrill and rookie Brandon Morrow to the mound to work two innings before J.J. Putz pitched the final 1 2/3 innings to record his second save of the season.

"The way the game played out we went to Reitsma and Sherrill a lot sooner than what we had wanted to or would have liked to in a normal scenario," Seattle manager Mike Hargrove said. "We felt we had to do that in order to have a chance to win the ballgame and it paid off."

The Athletics got on the board first with one out in the bottom of the third, when Shannon Stewart hit an infield single and moved to second on a wild pitch by Batista. Mark Ellis doubled down the left field line to score Stewart, giving Oakland a 1-0.

Eric Chavez then followed with a double into the right field gap, plating Ellis and putting the A's ahead by two.

However the Mariners cut into the lead in the top of the fifth. After Adrian Beltre singled to center field, Vidro hammered a double over the head of center fielder Dave Putnam, scoring Beltre and cutting Seattle's deficit to 2-1.

After replacing starter Joe Kennedy to start the sixth, Calero drilled Jose Guillen with a pitch before surrendering a blast to Lopez on a 2-2 count. The homer, Lopez's second of the year, cleared the left field wall giving Seattle a 3-2 lead.

"It's small for me but big for the team," Lopez said. "We got lucky. I swung hard and the ball went over the warning track. I thought it would be a double."

In the seventh, with one out and a man on, Sexson belted a double off the center field wall, driving in Vidro to increase the Mariners' lead to 4-2.

"We're up by one right there so its nice to get that add-on run so it's a little breathing room," Sexson said.

Seattle, which snapped a 10-game losing streak here with a a 2-0 win on Tuesday, has now beaten Oakland four out of five in 2007.

"The A's are a little beat up but they're still a really good ball club from top to bottom," Putz said. "To come here and win two is big for us mentally. "It was a good two-game series for us."

Kennedy allowed one run, seven hits and two hits in five innings.

"I definitely didn't have my best fastball, but I was able to get some offspeed pitches over," Kennedy said.

Stewart, Ellis and Dan Johnson each had two hits for the Athletics, who have scored just four runs in their four losses to the Mariners.

"It seems like we struggle early every year," said Ellis of his team which dropped to .500 (11-11). "We just have a bunch of guys that are slow starters. We'll turn it around, we do it every year and hopefully we'll do it sooner rather than later."