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Thomas drives in a run as A's top Mariners

Apr 26, 2008 - 6:56 AM SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Frank Thomas drove in a run and scored another and Dana Eveland turned in another solid performance to lead the Oakland Athletics to a 4-3 win over the Seattle Mariners on Friday.

Thomas, who was signed by the A's for the veteran minimum salary on Thursday after being released by the Toronto Blue Jays, singled in a run and scored on a wild pitch during a three-run first inning.

The Mariners had a chance to pull ahead in the bottom of the eighth, but righthander Andrew Brown got Yuniesky Betancourt to ground into a double play to escape the jam.

"It was a fastball down and thankfully he was a little aggressive and hit it at (shortstop) Bobby (Crosby), who made a good turn and we got out of it," said Brown, who extended his scoreless inning streak to 14 innings - the longest such string in the major leagues.

"Everyone picked each other up tonight really well," Brown said. "We got through that inning and Bobby makes (an) unbelievable play in the ninth to finish the game."

Eveland (3-1) allowed three runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings, striking out three and walking one before handing it off to the bullpen.

Three relievers bridged the gap to closer Huston Street, who tossed a scoreless ninth and was aided by a great defensive play by Crosby to help him earn his seventh save of the season.

Street walked Ichiro Suzuki to lead off the ninth, but Jose Lopez popped up his first pitch on a bunt attempt for an out. Ichiro stole second with two outs and Adrian Beltre lined a shot through the infield where Crosby made a diving stop and threw him out at first to end the game.

"Off the bat, I thought it might have a shot to get through the infield," Crosby said. "I just tried to get to it and, at worst, knock it down and keep it in the infield so Ichiro wouldn't score. But I was lucky enough to get up and make a good throw."

"It was a big play," Oakland manager Bob Geren said. "He's been playing just fantastic all season. It was nice to see that at the end of the game. It was nice to see any out, but one like that makes it extra special."

The A's jumped in front in the first, plating three quick runs as Miguel Batista (2-3) struggled to find any control and suffered through his shortest outing as a starter since June 28, 1999. Kurt Suzuki led off the game with a single to right field and Daric Barton walked before Mark Ellis popped out to Batista.

Thomas followed with a single, plating Suzuki to make it 1-0. After Jack Cust walked to load the bases, Batista walked Emil Brown to plate Barton and unleashed a wild pitch that allowed Thomas to score.

He walked Crosby before striking out Ryan Sweeney and Donnie Murphy to get out of the first down 3-0.

After issuing a leadoff walk to Suzuki in the second, Batista left the game with a right hip flexor injury and was replaced by Cha Seung Baek, who kept Seattle in the contest by allowing one run and one hit while striking out four in six innings. Baek, who had not pitched in 12 days, had an outstanding effort, retiring the final 15 batters he faced.

"Baek did a great job," Mariners manager John McLaren said. "We had something going there (in the eighth inning) and we swung at a bad pitch (on Betancourt grounding into a double play). It's been our Achilles heel for a long time with runners on third base and less than two outs.

"We just have to do a better job. I think some of the guys want to do so well that they lose focus and the other teams know this."

Lopez tied his career high with four hits and Raul Ibanez drove in a run and scored one for the Mariners.

"We're not running on all cylinders right now and I think that we definitely will," Ibanez said. "We're going to have a bunch of guys get hot at the same time and things are definitely going to turn around."

The A's have won seven of their nine road games.