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Guillen, Batista lead Mariners over Devil Rays

May 24, 2007 - 3:19 AM ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- Jose Guillen helped extend the Seattle Mariners' dominance over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Guillen went 4-for-5 with two RBI and Miguel Batista overcame a shaky start to lead the Mariners to a 5-1 victory over the Devil Rays.

Yuniesky Betancourt also drove in two runs and Ichiro Suzuki had two hits to extend his hitting streak to 16 games as Seattle sent spiraling Tampa Bay to its fifth consecutive defeat.

"Today was one of those games," Guillen said. "I was just trying to relax and they fell for hits. This team looks good when we play the way we played tonight. It looks like the team everyone expected us to be. We just have to stay consistent."

Batista (4-4) wriggled out of trouble in both the first and second inning and pitched six innings, allowing one run and seven hits as the Mariners beat the Devil Rays for the 10th time in the last 13 meetings. Batista walked five and struck out two in snapped a personal two-game losing streak.

Sean Green worked two scoreless innings, striking out three, before George Sherrill finished up in the ninth.

"(Green) threw awfully, awfully well," Seattle manager Mike Hargrove said. "It was a huge set up for the ninth for George."

The 36-year-old Batista got off to an inauspicious start when leadoff hitter B.J. Upton belted a towering home run to left in the first for a 1-0 lead. It was his eighth of the season and snapped a 10-game homerless streak.

"I thought we were on him and we had a chance to score," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "I thought Batista made better pitches as the game went on."

The Devil Rays threatened for more in each of the first two innings, but Batista struck out Greg Norton to end the first, and shortstop Betancourt saved a run in the second with a diving stab of Upton's hard grounder.

"The reason I thought that (play of Betancourt's) was possible was because it was Betancourt," Suzuki said through an interpreter. "Anyone else, it would have been a hit."

Batista settled down thereafter, breezing through the next three innings before escaping a mini-jam with two out in the sixth.

"He wasn't his best, but he found a way," Hargrove said. "His pitch count was so high in the first, I thought we'd be lucky to get five out of him. We ran out of gas in the sixth."

That allowed the Mariners to chip away at Devil Rays starter Casey Fossum (3-4), who yielded three runs - one earned - and five hits in 5 1/3 innings. The lefthander walked four and struck out three.

"I just need to get my curveball going," Fossum said. "My curveball is my changeup. I told myself I was going to throw it today until I threw it for strikes. I threw a lot of strikes with it and got some good results with it."

Fossum, who had allowed 14 runs in his previous two starts, was hurt by a defensive miscue and his own wildness in the fourth inning.

After a one-out error by third baseman Josh Wilson allowed Guillen to reach, Fossum walked Richie Sexson and Kenji Johjima to lead the bases with two out.

Betancourt followed with a two-run double to left to give the Mariners a 2-1 lead.

Seattle tacked on another another in the fifth, helped by another walk and a wild pitch by Fossum. Johjima had the key hit, an RBI double to left to bring home Guillen, who led off the frame with a single.

Guillen was in the middle of another rally in the seventh, delivering a two-run single off reliever Brian Stokes for a 5-1 cushion.

"We have had a lot of ups and downs," Batista said. "If we're going to make it we need to get more consistent. We can't expect Ichiro to get five hits every night. It's not about getting 10 hits a game, it's about scoring."

It was the third game of a four-city, 10-game road trip for Seattle.

The Devil Rays have scored only eight runs in their past four games.

"We're not hitting the ball," Maddon said. "We're just not hitting the ball well. We've got to get back and play the game we were offensively early."