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Young, Cameron lead Padres over Mariners in interleague opener

May 19, 2007 - 6:50 AM SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Chris Young continued to dominate opponents on the road.

Young pitched 6 2/3 strong innings and Mike Cameron drove in two runs as the San Diego Padres coasted to an 8-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday in the interleague opener for both teams.

Young (5-3) allowed one run and six hits with five strikeouts to improve to 16-4 all-time away from home. His .800 percentage leads all major league pitchers with at least 30 starts.

"(Seattle) got a good offensive lineup but Josh Bard did a great job calling the game," Young said. "We were right in sync and he led the way. It was a good win for us."

The 6-10 righthander has surrendered four earned runs in his last four starts, improved to 2-0 in his last three appearances at Safeco Field and is 3-1 all-time in the series.

"I'm just happy. It's a great win for the guys," Young said. "We came out and swung the bats well. I got the run support and we got the lead early. It makes pitching a lot easier."

Trailing 1-0 in the fourth, San Diego's offense came to life. Cameron ripped a run-scoring single and rookie Kevin Kouzmanoff delivered a two-run double off Seattle starter Miguel Batista to take the lead for good, 3-1.

"We're just solid. We've got a good pitching staff and we play good defense behind them," Cameron said. "We give ourselves and opportunity to win ballgames. We don't really get beat too bad. It's just a matter of getting a big base hit here or there."

Traded from Cleveland for Josh Barfield in the offseason, the struggling Kouzmanoff is 5-for-5 through his last two games.

"I'm starting to feel a lot better at the plate," Kouzmanoff said. "I've been working a lot with Merv (Rettenmund hitting coach) and he has simplified things a lot. He's been a huge help and I've applied what he's been telling me."

Marcus Giles had an RBI double in the seventh inning, Cameron added a run-scoring double one frame later and Russell Branyan belted a three-run homer - his fourth of the season - later in the frame to make it 8-1.

"We just kept getting guys on base and we were able to capitalize on it," Cameron said.

Batista (3-4) also lasted 6 2/3 innings, allowing four runs - one earned - and six hits in remaining winless over his past three starts.

Despite the setback, Batista bounced back after getting blasted for seven runs and 10 hits in just 2 1/3 frames in a 7-2 loss against the New York Yankees last Saturday.

Jose Vidro's RBI single in the third plated the lone run for Seattle, which has lost three straight games.

"We have got to start playing better baseball," Vidro said. "We ran into a guy (Young) who was throwing the ball pretty good. We just couldn't put much offense out there. If we want to compete we have got to be more consistent."

Seattle first baseman Richie Sexson mired in his horrific hitting slump, collecting just four hits over his last 27 at-bats. He is batting .162 on this season.

"The results aren't there, but I don't feel horrible up there," said Sexson, who struck out three times Friday. "It's been more down than up. I haven't had a lot of ups. I haven't had a stretch where I've been hot. Hopefully I can turn it around. Every day I come here and work hard to correct it and it just hasn't happened."