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OAKLAND, Calif. (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.
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