Ichiro Suzuki had a career-high five hits and scored the game-winning run on Bret Boone's single in the 13th inning Thursday to give Seattle a 6-5 victory over the Anaheim Angels and snap the Mariners' club-record 15-game road losing streak.
Suzuki, who extended his hitting streak to 21 games, doubled with one out against rookie Kevin Gregg (3-1) in the 13th. After Randy Winn struck out, Boone grounded a 1-2 pitch up the middle to score Suzuki.
Suzuki was 2-for-3 against Aaron Sele and is now 10-for-17 lifetime against him.
PHOTO: EPA
The Mariners won outside of Safeco Field for the first time since beating Pittsburgh 5-4 on June 20 to complete a three-game sweep.
The Mariners nearly let another one get away on the road, blowing a 5-0 lead.
Bengie Molina tied it in the ninth for the Angels with a two-run homer off closer Eddie Guardado, but Bobby Madritsch (2-0) allowed four hits over four scoreless innings in his third big-league appearance and Boone delivered the clutch hit.
The Mariners' losing skid was four short of the longest road losing streak in American League history, set in 1916 by the Philadelphia Athletics. The major league mark for road futility is 22 straight games by the 1962 New York Mets.
The Angels stranded a runner at third in the 12th after some bad baserunning by Vladimir Guerrero, who was tagged out in a rundown between first and second as Garret Anderson advanced two bases in Guerrero's single. Madritsch escaped the jam by striking out pinch-hitter John Paul.
The Angels, coming off consecutive shutout wins against the Texas Rangers, slipped 3 1-2 games off the pace in the AL West.
The Mariners were three outs away from ending the longest road losing streak since Oakland's 15-game slide in 1986, but Guardado couldn't hold the 5-3 lead.
Robb Quinlan led off with a sharp single to second off the glove of Boone, and Molina followed with his eighth home run, driving a 2-2 pitch to left field.
The blown save was the sixth in 24 attempts for Guardado.
Justin Leone hit a two-run homer for the Mariners and Suzuki was 5-for-7 with four singles.
The Mariners gave starter Ron Villone a 5-0 cushion in the third when Leone hit his fifth homer to left-center after a two-out walk to Jolbert Cabrera. The Mariners got three in the first on Boone's RBI single and Jolbert Cabrera's two-run double.
Molina had an RBI double in the fourth and Guerrero hit his 22nd homer in the fifth to make it 5-3.
Orioles 9, Yankees 1
Sidney Ponson pitched a four-hitter for his third straight win and Javy Lopez homered again, leading the Baltimore Orioles past the New York Yankees 9-1 Thursday night.
Melvin Mora drove in four runs, Lopez had three RBIs and Miguel Tejada hit a pair of RBI singles for Baltimore. The Orioles won for just the second time in 10 games against the American League East leaders this season.
"You might get knocked out in the first inning, who knows?" Ponson said. "That's why you play the games."
Ponson struck out five and walked none in his third complete game.
"He was dominating tonight. He was spectacular," Orioles manager Lee Mazzilli said. "I told him before that he was not a 3-12 pitcher. Since the break, he's really turned it around."
Jose Contreras (8-5) pitched on three days' rest without success. The Orioles roughed him up for seven runs in 6 2-3 innings.
Tigers 3, White Sox 2
In Detroit, Jason Johnson allowed three hits over six innings as Detroit handed Chicago its fifth straight loss.
Johnson (8-8) won for the fourth time in five decisions. Four relievers held the White Sox scoreless over three innings, with Ugueth Urbina pitching a perfect ninth for his 16th save in 18 chances.
Bobby Higginson grounded out with the bases loaded in the sixth, scoring Dmitri Young with the go-ahead run.
Scott Schoeneweis (6-8) allowed five hits and three runs -- two earned -- in 5 1-3 innings for the White Sox, who dropped four games behind idle Minnesota in the AL Central.
Eric Valent became the eighth player in Mets history to hit for the cycle, and Mike Cameron homered twice to lead New York over the Montreal Expos 10-1 on Thursday.
Valent went 4-for-4 with a walk and drove in three runs and scored three times in becoming the fourth player in the majors this season to hit a single, double, triple and home run in a game. He joined Milwaukee's Chad Moeller, Pittsburgh's Daryle Ward and Philadelphia's David Bell in the feat.
"It's cool," Valent said. "It's tough to do. You need a lot of luck. It's a nice thing you can say when you're done playing."
Valent singled following Cameron's two-run homer off Rocky Biddle in the second, and doubled after Cameron's solo shot put the Mets up 5-0 in the third. He tied his career high for hits with a two-run homer off a speaker against Kim Sun-woo in the fifth. Valent's RBI triple in the seventh off Roy Corcoran completed the Mets' first cycle since John Olerud did it on Sept. 11, 1997 -- also against the Expos.
Al Leiter (7-3) allowed three hits and one run in six innings, improving to 6-1 in his last 10 starts. Leiter has a 2.18 ERA, and 1.00 in three starts against Montreal this season, allowing just two runs in 18 innings.
Marlins 10, Phillies 1
In Miami, Alex Gonzalez hit the first grand slam of his career, Dontrelle Willis pitched seven innings as Florida swept Philadelphia at home for the fourth time in a row.
It was the Phillies' 14th consecutive loss in Miami, including seven this year. Most of the games have been close, but this time seven consecutive Marlins scored in the third inning against Paul Abbott (1-5), capped by Gonzalez's 15th homer for an 8-0 lead.
The Marlins are 11-1 against the Phillies this season and have won 23 of the past 26 meetings.
Willis (8-6) limited Philadelphia to five hits and one run.
Dodgers 3, Rockies 2
In Denver, David Ross and Jayson Werth homered and Wilson Alvarez pitched five solid innings as Los Angeles edged Colorado.
Wilson (6-3) allowed two runs and four hits to win his third straight decision, combining with Duaner Sanchez, Darren Dreifort, Guillermo Mota and Eric Gagne on the four-hitter. The Dodgers have won 13 of their last 17, and 10 of 13 on the road.
Gagne got the final out in the eighth, and pitched a perfect ninth for his 30th save in 31 chances.
Todd Helton hit his 22nd homer and Jamey Wright had another solid outing for the Rockies, who couldn't mount another late-inning comeback against Los Angeles' bullpen.
Scott Dohmann (0-1) gave up Ross' homer and took the loss.
Padres 7, Giants 4
In San Diego, Phil Nevin singled in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning to help San Diego overcome San Francisco and Barry Bonds' 684th career homer.
The Padres won three of the four-game series and remain 2 1/2 games behind the first-place Dodgers in the National League-West. San Diego is 10-3 this season against the Giants, who fell 4 1/2 games out of first.
Bonds hit a two-run shot, his 26th home run of the season, in the fourth inning off Ismael Valdez.
Yankees star Alex Rodriguez and Boston catcher Jason Varitek were suspended for four games apiece and fined on Thursday, and six other players were punished for their roles in a bench-clearing brawl last week between New York and the Red Sox.
Yankees pitcher Tanyon Sturtze and Red Sox outfielders Gabe Kapler and Trot Nixon were suspended for three games and fined by Bob Watson, major league baseball's vice president of on-field operations. Yankees outfielder Kenny Lofton, Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling and Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz were fined.
Rodriguez, the Yankees' All-Star third baseman, and Sturtze are appealing their suspensions. Varitek, Kapler and Nixon also plan to appeal, Red Sox spokesman Glenn Geffner said.
"I thought it was too much, four games," Rodriguez said before Thursday's game against Baltimore. "I was surprised it was that harsh. I've seen some harsher actions over the last month and it's five games."
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
RSS