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Mariners dominate Athletics, sweep series

Apr 18, 2008 - 6:09 AM By Al Barba PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- The Seattle Mariners had little trouble continuing their recent dominance against the Oakland Athletics.

Carlos Silva pitched seven outstanding innings Thursday night to lead the Mariners to a two-game series sweep with an 8-1 victory over the Athletics.

After losing 17 of 19 games to Oakland during the 2006 season, Seattle has turned its fortunes around against the A's, winning 16 of the last 21 meetings between the teams.

"Silva did a nice a job," Mariners manager John McLaren said. "He's a great competitor. I just like everything about him. He throw strikes, he's a big team player. He's been huge for us.

"We're starting to build a little momentum. We feel good about ourselves, we're playing good ball and just want to keep it going."

Silva (3-0) continued his impressive early-season pitching and improved his career record in the month of April to 14-5 by allowing just one run and four hits while walking two and striking out one.

"In our meeting we were talking about that they are patient hitters but they were swinging a lot," Silva said. "The only thing you have to do is make a quality pitch and I was able to do that."

The righthander's outing followed a complete game by Felix Hernandez and continued a trend of strong pitching by Seattle's starters, who entered the day third in the American League with a 3.53 ERA.

"Those guys did a phenomenal job," Mariners left fielder Raul Ibanez said. "They worked fast, they pounded the strike zone and they forced a very patient team to swing the bat."

Silva's only difficulty came in the fourth inning when he allowed a two-out RBI triple to right field by Emil Brown, plating Jack Cust for the Athletics' lone run.

Oakland starter Lenny DiNardo (1-1) struggled with his command in the third inning, surrendering five runs and four hits while walking three in the decisive frame.

"That inning was a mixture of things," DiNardo said. "A ball here and then I couldn't make an adjustment there and you guys saw what happened. ... This is something I am going to try to put out of my mind."

After retiring Ichiro Suzuki to lead off the third, DiNardo did not record another out as six straight batters reached base.

Designated hitter Jose Vidro drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single to left field before Kenji Johjima walked with the bases loaded to force home another run.

After Kirk Saarloos relieved DiNardo, Vidro scored on a fielder's choice by Willie Bloomquist, and Yuniesky Betancourt drove in the final run with a two-out single to right field, giving Seattle a 5-0 cushion.

DiNardo, who was making his second start of the season, allowed five runs and five hits while walking four and striking out two in 2 1/3 innings.

"I had trouble finding my release point," DiNardo said. "Why that is or why that happens I have no idea. I'm not going to over-analyze this or think about it anymore than I have to."