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  Friday, May 26 7:15pm ET
Henderson, Sele spark Seattle
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- It hasn't taken Rickey Henderson long to prove his worth to the Seattle Mariners.

Henderson's third leadoff homer against Tampa Bay in a week began a six-run first inning Friday night that helped Aaron Sele beat the Devil Rays 11-4.

"He's electric," Sele (5-2) said after scattering eight hits over seven innings to win his third straight game.

"He creates problems at the top of the lineup for other teams. You make a mistake and he can hit a home run. He gets on base, now you've got to think about him at first. He's a real weapon up there."

Henderson connected in the first inning off Steve Trachsel (3-4) for the second time in five days, extending his own major league record for leadoff homers to 78. He also hit one off Tampa Bay's Esteban Yan in his first game with Seattle last Saturday. "You're just trying to make contact. You don't really go up there looking for a home run," Henderson said. "If you make good contact your first at-bat, then you can feel relaxed up there."

Sele (5-2) beat Trachsel for the second straight outing and remained unbeaten in four career decisions against Tampa Bay. He allowed four runs, struck out seven and walked one.

Jay Buhner went 3-for-3 with a homer and four RBIs for Seattle, Mike Cameron, Dan Wilson and Mark McLemore drove in two runs apiece, and the Mariners also scored twice on bases-loaded walks to snap a three-game losing streak.

Steve Cox hit his first major league homer, and Vinny Castilla and Fred McGriff also drove in runs for Tampa Bay, which has lost 10 of 12 games. Devil Rays manager Larry Rothschild met behind closed doors with general manager Chuck LaMar for about 20 minutes after the game. LaMar shook up the roster by releasing pitcher Dwight Gooden and shortstop Kevin Stocker on Thursday, but no moves were announced Friday.

"There's ongoing discussions, obviously," Rothschild said. "We've got to try to keep tweaking things until we get them fixed."

Henderson signed with Seattle after being released by the New York Mets on May 13. He led off his first game with his new team with a homer off Yan and repeated the feat the following day against Trachsel.

Trachsel's pitching has gotten progressively worse in three outings since he won consecutive 1-0 decisions on the road over Boston's Pedro Martinez and New York's Orlando Hernandez.

The right-hander have allowed 16 runs, 21 hits and walked seven in 10 innings, while going 0-2 with one no decision in his past three starts. He gave up six runs on two hits and walked four in one-third of an inning Friday night, equaling the shortest outing of his career.

David Bell, who popped out after Henderson homered, was the only batter Trachsel retired. The Devil Rays starter walked the next four hitters before Cameron's bases-loaded, ground-rule double bounced over the wall in left center field. Wilson singled off Cory Lidle to drive in the fifth run of the inning, and McLemore finished the uprising with a sacrifice fly. The Mariners added run in the fifth on Buhner's RBI single.

The Mariners added three more in the ninth on Buhner's 10th homer of the season, a two-run shot, McLemore's RBI single.

Game notes
Tampa Bay's Greg Vaughn is day to day after leaving in the sixth inning with a strained right hamstring ... Trachsel, then with the Chicago Cubs, lasted one-third of an inning of a 16-3 loss to St. Louis on Aug. 7, 1998 ... The Mariners have outscored opponents 48-27 in the first inning this season, including a 19-4 advantage in the last 10 games ... Henderson argued unsuccessfully that interference should have been called on the fan who reached out and caught Cox's home run with a hat ... McLemore, suspended for charging the mound last Saturday after he felt Yan threw at him, was booed before each plate appearance. The second baseman remains in the lineup while he appeals the five-game penalty.

 


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