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Mariners sneak past Tigers

May 10, 2012 - 5:35 AM Seattle, WA (Sports Network) - John Jaso knocked in the deciding run in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Seattle Mariners over the Detroit Tigers, 2-1, in the finale of a three-game set at Safeco Field.

Jason Vargas (4-2) tossed eight strong innings, allowing one run on five hits while striking out six for the Mariners, who won for the fourth time in five games.

"Vargas was fantastic tonight," Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. "Even the inning they scored one run, [Detroit had] a couple of jam shots, but he did a great job of controlling the ball game."

Brandon League faced the minimum in the ninth to record his eighth save of the season.

Luke Putkonen (0-1) gave up the deciding run to suffer the loss in relief of Drew Smyly, who allowed just one run on two hits and two walks in a six-inning start.

"Smyly did a great job, their guy (Vargas) did a great job, we just couldn't get any runs on the board," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said.

Austin Jackson supplied the offense for Detroit, which has alternated wins and losses over its last 10 games.

Seattle was held without a hit until Ichiro Suzuki slapped a base hit to center field with one-out in the fourth inning. Suzuki made it count by stealing second and coming home on a Kyle Seager double to give the Mariners a one-run advantage.

The Tigers, though, answered in the sixth inning after Gerald Laird led off the frame with a two-bagger to give Detroit a runner on second for the first time in the game.

Laird then moved to second on Danny Worth's single and crossed the plate on a Jackson sacrifice fly to deep center field.

Brennan Boesch followed with a broken-bat single to left to place runners on first and second, but Miguel Cabrera grounded into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play to keep it a 1-1 game.

The score remained tied until Michael Saunders led off the eighth with a double down the third-base line and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Chone Figgins, resulting in Putkonen getting replaced by Duane Below on the mound.

Jaso greeted Below with a base hit to left-center field to score Saunders for the game-deciding run.

League then walked Jackson to start the ninth, but Boesch grounded into a double play before Cabrera flied out to center to end the game.

Game Notes

The Mariners won the season series with Detroit, 5-1...Seattle has won 10 of the last 13 meetings between the teams...The Mariners improved to 3-2 in the deciding game of a series this season...Boesch has now hit safely in 20 of his 21 career games against Seattle.