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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
SEATTLE (AP) -- Joe Oliver knows better than any of Seattle's
players what Lou Piniella has been going through the past two weeks
because he was with the Mariners' manager in 1990 in Cincinnati
when the Reds won it all.
|  | | White Sox center fielder Magglio Ordonez leaps in a failed attempt to catch a solo home run by Mariners shortstop Alex Rodriguez in the fifth inning Saturday. |
"It hasn't been fun for him," Oliver said after the Mariners
finally found some offensive pop again Saturday night, an 11-5
victory over the Chicago White Sox for just their second win in 13
games. "Lou wants to win this thing as much as anybody in this clubhouse."
Alex Rodriguez homered and Mike Cameron had three RBIs as
Seattle scored 10 runs in a game for the first time since Aug. 8.
The Mariners were held to four singles in a 4-1 loss to the White
Sox on Friday.
"We played like a first-place team is supposed to play,"
Piniella said. "Let's hope we can build on it and get back on track."
The Mariners, snapping a six-game losing streak at home,
increased their lead to 2½ games over second-place Oakland in the
AL West. The Athletics lost to the New York Yankees 10-6 Saturday.
"You know they're eventually going to break out of the thing
they are going through right now," Chicago manager Jerry Manuel
said. "They are too good a club to continue to lose 11 out of 12
ballgames."
John Halama (11-6) gave up a single to Frank Thomas with two out
in the first inning and then retired 16 straight batters before
Tony Graffanino opened the seventh with a single.
Trailing 7-0, Chicago scored five runs in the seventh on a
two-run double by Paul Konerko, an RBI single by Herbert Perry and
a two-run single by Charles Johnson.
After the game, Piniella wasn't happy with Halama and Halama
wasn't happy with Piniella. "He got in trouble in the seventh and couldn't get out of it,"
Piniella said. "I was hoping he'd go deeper in the ballgame."
Halama was unhappy about not making a start in 10 days. "It's not that easy," he said. "In fact, it's hard. I tried
to go out and do the best I could, but being in the bullpen is not
the same as being out on the mound."
The Mariners took a 3-0 lead after Rocky Biddle got two outs in
the fourth. Edgar Martinez, John Olerud and Carlos Guillen singled
with Martinez scoring from third on Guillen's hit. After Cameron
walked to load the bases, Oliver had a two-run single.
"I got a big hit and this was a big win for us," Oliver said.
"When you're playing like we've been playing, it just adds a
little pressure to everybody. Everybody wants to be the guy to get
the ballclub out of its funk."
Seattle made it 5-0 in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Al Martin
and Rodriguez's team-leading 32nd homer. The Mariners added two more runs in the sixth on an RBI double
by Cameron and Henderson's sacrifice fly to go ahead 7-0.
The Mariners added three insurance runs in the seventh on
Guillen's sacrifice fly and Cameron's two-run double. Raul Ibanez
homered in the eighth to make it 11-5.
Halama allowed five runs and five hits in 6 2-3 innings. Biddle
gave up seven runs and nine hits in 5 1-3 innings. "I lost control tonight," Biddle said. "I didn't know where I
was throwing the ball and made a lot of mistakes up in the zone."
Said Oliver: "If we lose this game, it's a whole different
atmosphere in this clubhouse. We're so close. We can't let it slip
away. We're in a great position."
Game notes
White Sox 2B Ray Durham was ejected by home plate umpire
Tony Randazzo after getting called out on strikes in the ninth
inning. ... The Mariners have been in first place since June 29,
with a record of 27-27 since then. ... Rodriguez homered for the
24th time at Safeco Field. ... In the seventh, the White Sox batted
around for the 28th time this season. ... With the score 7-5, Jose
Paniagua ended the seventh by striking out Thomas with the bases
loaded. Thomas struck out for the sixth time with the bases loaded
this year. With the bases loaded, he also has a homer, double, two
singles, two walks and three sacrifice flies for 12 RBIs.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Chi. White Sox Clubhouse
Seattle Clubhouse
RECAPS
Tampa Bay 4
Baltimore 1
Baltimore 2
Tampa Bay 0
(2nd game)
NY Yankees 10
Oakland 6
Detroit 8
Minnesota 2
Toronto 9
Texas 3
Boston 5
Kansas City 3
Seattle 11
Chi. White Sox 5
Cleveland 9
Anaheim 5
Chicago Cubs 6
Los Angeles 4
Colorado 11
Pittsburgh 4
Philadelphia 5
San Francisco 2
Cincinnati 3
Florida 2
Montreal 5
Houston 4
St. Louis 6
Atlanta 3
Arizona 5
NY Mets 1
Milwaukee 6
San Diego 5
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