Recap: Seattle vs. Oakland
Sports Network | September 27, 2008
Seattle, WA (Sports Network) - Jose Lopez launched two homers to give the Seattle Mariners a 10-8 victory over the Oakland Athletics in the first of three games to finish out the season at Safeco Field.
Lopez finished with four RBI while Luis Valbuena went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI for Seattle, which, despite the win, has lost 14 of 16.
Brandon Morrow (3-4) earned the win despite a lousy start, allowing six runs on six hits and five walks for Seattle in five innings, with eight strikeouts. Roy Corcoran notched his third save of the year after pitching the ninth.
Travis Buck homered and drove in four runs while Jack Cust also went deep for Oakland, which has lost three straight.
Sean Gallagher (2-3) was tagged for eight runs on 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings for the A's.
The Mariners put up their second five-spot in the fifth to go up 10-6. Lopez hit his second homer of the game with one out -- a solo shot. Jeremy Reed walked and scored on Miguel Cairo's triple two batters later. Jerry Blevins was brought in to pitch for Oakland, but Valbuena greeted him with an RBI single. Rob Johnson followed with a two-run blast to cap the inning.
Daric Barton and Buck each doubled for the A's in the eighth, and Kurt Suzuki hit an RBI groundout in the ninth to cap the scoring at 10-8.
Cust gave Oakland a 1-0 lead in the second, blasting his 33rd home run of the year off Morrow. Carlos Gonzalez worked a walk later in the inning, moved to second on a Barton walk and scored on Jeff Baisley's single to center.
Seattle took the lead with a five-run third. Valbuena hit a one-out double and scored on an Ichiro Suzuki base hit. Yuniesky Betancourt and Raul Ibanez singled in succession to plate Suzuki, and Lopez followed with a three-run blast to make it 5-2.
The Athletics tied the game in the fourth on Buck's two-out three-run homer off Morrow. Oakland regained the lead in the fifth on Gonzalez's RBI single, scoring Ryan Sweeney, who led off with a walk.
Despite the loss, the A's lead the season series 10-7...Seattle pitcher Erik Bedard had arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder, revealing that there are no tears in the labrum or rotator cuff. Bedard is expected to miss six months... Johnson's homer was the first of his career...Cust's homer was his fourth in five games...Suzuki now has eight straight seasons with 100 runs and 200 hits, tying Lou Gehrig's record.
