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Mariners early power surge holds White Sox

Aug 12, 2007 - 5:36 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- The Seattle Mariners are enjoying August. Raul Ibanez and Yuniesky Betancourt are a big reason why.

Raul Ibanez belted a three-run homer and Betancourt hit a grand slam as the Mariners posted a 7-6 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday.

Ibanez, who had a career-high 33 home runs and 123 RBI last season, had not found his power swing all season - six homers through July - and struggled in general last month, batting .184 (19-for-103) with no home runs and 12 RBI.

This month has been a different story for the 35-year-old, however, batting .457 (16-for-35) and clubbing five homers and 12 RBI, helping the Mariners to 6-3 record in August.

"We're playing well this trip," Ibanez said. Tomorrow, we will try and win the series and, as a group, we'll give it our best shot."

With two runners on in Seattle's three-run first, Ibanez belted his fifth homer in five games to left off White Sox starter Gavin Floyd (1-2) for a quick 3-0 lead and later notched his fifth consecutive multiple-hit game and third three-hit contest in his last five with singles in the fifth and the ninth.

The light-hitting Betancourt, who matched his career high with his eighth homer, is also enjoying a power surge of his own. The 25-year-old Cuban effectively put an end to Floyd's outing, crushing a first-pitch fastball he saw from the White Sox hurler into the seats into left-center for his first career grand slam and a 7-1 lead.

"I haven't tried anything different in the past year, I think I have a little more experience and stick to my routine and be patient," Betancourt said through an interpreter.

Miguel Batista (12-8) benefited from the power show and set a new career high with his 12th win. The righthander won for the fourth time in his last five decisions, allowing two runs and six hits, striking out six over 5 2/3 innings.

"It feels good, I don't look at decisions like wins and losses," Batista said. "For us, it's quality starts. Especially for us, we're so close to the pennant race we're looking for performance and being able to be the winning team at the end of the game."

The game moved innocently enough into the ninth with the Mariners holding a 7-2 lead, but relievers Ed O'Flaherty and George Sherrill were unable to record an out and loaded the bases before handing it over to closer J.J. Putz, who yielded a first-pitch grand slam to Josh Fields to trim the Seattle advantage to 7-6.

Putz settled down and retired the next three hitters he faced to post his 34th save in 36 chances.

Richie Sexson and Jose Lopez each added two hits for the Mariners, who will be looking for their first series win against Chicago since May 2-4, 2003.

Floyd continued his stretch of good starts followed by poor starts, surrendering seven runs and seven hits over four frames, one start after tossing six scoreless innings against Detroit.