Final
Mariners rally in eighth, top A's
Apr 12, 2009 - 1:03 AM OAKLAND, California (AP) -- It didn't take long for Jose Lopez to find himself in a pressure situation.An inning after entering for injured teammate Wladimir Balentien, Lopez hit a two-run double off Oakland Athletics closer Brad Zeigler in a four-run eighth inning to help the Seattle Mariners rally from two deficits for an 8-5 victory Saturday.
"I just wanted to get one run in somehow," Lopez said. "I had a great swing and got the ball around on an inside strike."
Kenji Johjima also had a two-run hit in the inning.
"We've seen him enough last year to know about him," Lopez said of Zeigler. "When you're on the bench you have to be ready for anything."
Balentien left the game with a sprained left wrist. He was injured diving for a ball in the bottom of the first but stayed in the game until after hitting in the sixth.
"It was painful when I swung the bat," he said. "I told the trainer because I didn't want to get worse."
Russell Branyan homered and Franklin Gutierrez drove in two runs for the Mariners, who won their third straight. Mike Sweeney added an RBI single in the ninth.
Seattle's eighth-inning rally began when Bobby Crosby, making his debut at third base, mishandled Sweeney's grounder leading off. Adrian Beltre singled and Casilla walked Branyan to load the bases.
Ziegler took over and gave up Lopez's two-run double and Johjima's two-run single.
Miguel Batista (1-0) pitched two innings in relief of Felix Hernandez. Brandon Morrow recorded three outs for his second save, striking out Nomar Garciaparra to end the game.
"I was a big fan of his when he was with the Red Sox," said Morrow of his first encounter with Garciaparra. "I wore No. 5 in high school but I didn't play much shortstop. He was my favorite shortstop at that point though."
Jack Cust hit a two-run homer and Landon Powell got his first major league hit, a two-run double for the A's, who lost their second straight.
"It was kind of hard to sleep last night," Powell said. "I was a little anxious and ready to go. I couldn't get to the park soon enough. It was kind of a cool moment to get out there and get that hit."
Santiago Casilla (0-1) allowed three runs -- two earned -- in one-plus innings.
Hernandez had his worst start against the A's and allowed more than one run for the first time in one of his first two starts of a season. He gave up seven hits and five runs in five innings, walking two and striking out eight. Hernandez has beaten the A's in six of his previous eight starts.
"I think his ankle was bothering him a little bit," Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu said. "You could see him favor it a little bit on a couple pitches. I don't think it was a huge issue but it was enough to throw his mechanics off."
A's starter Josh Outman lasted 4 1-3 innings, yielding three runs on six hits. He walked two and struck out three.
"I settled in early and hit my spots," Outman said. "Later on in the game I kind of got away from that, missing pitches and not throwing breaking balls for strikes."
The A's scored three times in the second. Cust and Mark Ellis walked around Travis Buck's strikeout and Powell doubled in two runs. Ryan Sweeney singled and Orlando Cabrera hit a sacrifice fly.
Branyan hit a towering shot into the right-field bleachers with one out in the fourth for his second home run and the Mariners added two more runs in the fifth on Gutierrez's two-run single to tie it 3-all.
Cust put the A's ahead with his two-run drive to left in the bottom half.
Endy Chavez singled in the ninth and became the first Mariners player to hit safely in the first six games since Ichiro Suzuki opened the 2005 season with a seven-game streak.
Notes: @Hernandez is third among active pitchers for strikeouts at age 23 and younger. He had 599 before turning 23 on Wednesday and now has 607. Only Jeremy Bonderman (623) and Scott Kazmir (617) had more. ... Mariners' OF Ichiro Suzuki missed his final rehab game because of inclement weather. ... Cabrera was 1-for-2 against Hernandez and is 16-for-32 (.500) lifetime, the best of any hitter with significant at-bats against the right-hander. ... The A's featured an all-shortstop infield the final two innings, with Crosby at third, Cabrera at short, Ellis at second (he came up with the Kansas City Royals as a shortstop) and Nomar Garciaparra at first.
- AL
FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
SEATTLE 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 4 1 8 12 1
OAKLAND 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 5 9 1 (FINAL)
BATTERIES: SEA - FELIX HERNANDEZ, MIGUEL BATISTA (6TH), MARK LOWE (8TH),
BRANDON MORROW (9TH) AND KENJI JOHJIMA
OAK - JOSHUA OUTMAN, MICHAEL WUERTZ (5TH), RUSS
SPRINGER (6TH)
Apr 11 7:13 PM - AL
AT OAKLAND - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY MIKE SWEENEY SCORED ENDY CHAVEZ.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, NONE ON, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: SEATTLE 8
OAKLAND 5 TOP, 9TH
DUE UP FOR SEATTLE: A BELTRE (.286, 1-FOR-4)
Mariners 8, Athletics 5 Top 9, 0 OutsApr 11 6:50 PM - AL
AT OAKLAND - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY KENJI JOHJIMA SCORED RUSSELL BRANYAN AND JOSE
LOPEZ.
SITUATION: 4 RUNS IN, K JOHJIMA ON FIRST, 0 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: SEATTLE 7
OAKLAND 5 TOP, 8TH
DUE UP FOR SEATTLE: R CEDENO (.200, 0-FOR-2, BB)
Mariners 7, Athletics 5 Top 8, 0 OutsApr 11 6:29 PM - AL
AT OAKLAND - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY JOSE LOPEZ SCORED MIKE SWEENEY AND ADRIAN BELTRE.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, J LOPEZ ON SECOND, R BRANYAN ON THIRD, 0 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: SEATTLE 5
OAKLAND 5 TOP, 8TH
DUE UP FOR SEATTLE: K JOHJIMA (.118, 0-FOR-3)
Mariners 5, Athletics 5 Top 8, 0 OutsApr 11 6:28 PM - AL
AT OAKLAND - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY JACK CUST (1) TO CENTER WITH 2 OUT IN
THE 5TH OFF FELIX HERNANDEZ SCORED JASON GIAMBI.
CURRENT SCORE: SEATTLE 3, OAKLAND 5
DUE UP FOR OAKLAND: T BUCK (.100, 0-FOR-2)
Mariners 3, Athletics 5 Bot 5, 0 OutsApr 11 5:43 PM - AL
AT OAKLAND - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY FRANKLIN GUTIERREZ SCORED RONNY CEDENO AND
YUNIESKY BETANCOURT.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, F GUTIERREZ ON FIRST, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: SEATTLE 3
OAKLAND 3 TOP, 5TH
DUE UP FOR SEATTLE: M SWEENEY (.143, 1-FOR-2)
Mariners 3, Athletics 3 Top 5, 0 OutsApr 11 5:27 PM - AL
AT OAKLAND - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY RUSSELL BRANYAN (2) TO RIGHT WITH 1 OUT IN
THE 4TH OFF JOSHUA OUTMAN.
CURRENT SCORE: SEATTLE 1, OAKLAND 3
DUE UP FOR SEATTLE: W BALENTIEN (.500, 0-FOR-0, BB)
Mariners 1, Athletics 3 Top 4, 0 OutsApr 11 5:08 PM - AL
AT OAKLAND - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY ORLANDO CABRERA SCORED LANDON POWELL.
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, R SWEENEY ON FIRST, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: SEATTLE 0
OAKLAND 3 BOTTOM, 2ND
DUE UP FOR OAKLAND: J GIAMBI (.313, 0-FOR-1)
Mariners 0, Athletics 3 Bot 2, 0 OutsApr 11 4:44 PM - AL
AT OAKLAND - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY LANDON POWELL SCORED JACK CUST AND MARK ELLIS.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, L POWELL ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: SEATTLE 0
OAKLAND 2 BOTTOM, 2ND
DUE UP FOR OAKLAND: R SWEENEY (.333, 0-FOR-1)
Mariners 0, Athletics 2 Bot 2, 0 OutsApr 11 4:41 PM
Related News
- Mariners Moose Tracks, 12/26/23: Kyle Keller, J.T. Realmuto, and Chad Smith Dec 26
- Elephant Rumblings: Post-Christmas lull at full throttle Dec 26
- Mariners Moose Tracks, 12/25/23: Mitch Garver, Yuki Matsui, and Joe Kelly Dec 25
- Mariners to sign Mitch Garver to 2-year, $24M contract Dec 24
- Twas The Night Before Christmas... Dec 24
- Elephant Rumblings: Luis Morales a prospect to watch in 2024 Dec 24
- 2023 Athletics Season in Review: Lawrence Butler Dec 23
- Mariners Moose Tracks, 12/23/23: Bryce Miller, Shelby Miller, and Ryan Minor Dec 23
- Elephant Rumblings: Giants Strike Out in Free Agency Once Again Dec 23
- ZiPS, Holidays & Mariner Malaise - Meet at the Mitt Podcast Dec 22
- 2023 Athletics Season in Review: Esteury Ruiz Dec 22
- Elephant Rumblings: MLB approves 2024 rule changes Dec 22