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Sexson, Balentien go deep to power Mariners past Rangers

May 6, 2008 - 6:18 AM SEATTLE (Ticker) -- As bad as the Seattle Mariners were during their five-game losing streak, they were that good on Monday.

Richie Sexson and rookie Wladimir Balentien each homered, powering the Mariners to a 7-3 win on Monday over the Texas Rangers, snapping their five-game losing streak.

In five straight road losses to the Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees last week, Seattle batted just .215 and scored nine total runs, hitting just one homer over the final three games. Likewise, the pitching staff also suffered a major letdown, walking 18 batters on their way to compiling a 5.70 ERA.

On Monday, all of that changed.

The Mariners pounded out 10 hits, belted two homers and provided Jarrod Washburn (2-4) with sufficient run support to snap his four-game winless drought and give him his first win at Safeco Field since June 29, 2007.

"I know Wash enjoyed pitching tonight," Mariners manager John McLaren said. "We got him some run support. He did a nice job. He's a great competitor and he demands a lot out of himself. He responded very nicely tonight. He threw strikes and mixed his pitches up. He was very determined tonight."

The lefthander had a 7-0 lead and had allowed just one hit entering the seventh before surrendering three consecutive hits to open the seventh.

"(Run support) means a lot," Washburn said. "The guys came out and did a great job of being patient and waiting for a good pitch to hit and when they got that pitch, they didn't miss it. They made (Rangers starter Kevin) Millwood throw a lot of pitches in the first three innings and when he made a mistake, they capitalized on it."

He left the game after the final hit - a two-run double by Milton Bradley - complaining of tightness in his right calf. Washburn said after the game that he didn't think the injury would prevent him from making his next start, but said he would know more on Tuesday.

In his seven-plus innings, Washburn allowed three runs and four hits with three strikeouts and collected his first win against the Rangers since October 1, 2005.

After staking Washburn to an early 3-0 advantage after two innings, Sexson hit a solo shot and, four batters later, Balentien hammered his second home run of the season - a three-run blast off Millwood (2-3).

Balentien joined the Mariners last week after hitting six homers and driving in 20 runs with Class AAA Tacoma. He has started all six games in right field since then, but was just 3-for-18 entering Monday's game.

"I just tried to do too much in the first couple of games when I got called up," Balentien said. "I tried to swing on everything, but tonight was different. I was looking for my pitches and not for the pitcher's pitches."

The homers fueled a 10-hit effort for the Mariners (14-19).

"It's a good start to the homestand and, hopefully, we can get this thing snowballing," McLaren said. "Right now, our thoughts are (reaching) .500. Let's get to .500 and we'll go from there."

Millwood allowed nine hits and seven runs over three innings in his shortest start of the season. He lost his 10th consecutive road decision, giving him the dubious distinction of tying the franchise record in that category set by Joe McClain of the Washington Senators in 1961-62.

"He didn't have his good stuff tonight and we all knew that," Rangers catcher Gerald Laird said. "He battled, but you aren't always going to go out there with your good stuff. He got through three innings and these guys are good hitters. When you make mistakes, they're going to hurt you and that's what they did tonight."