Mariners Win Early Battle for Supremacy

Ichiro Suzuki scored four runs and stole three bases as the Seattle Mariners ended Boston’s nine-game winning streak, defeating the Red Sox, 7-2, Friday night at Seattle.

Mark McLemore was three for four with a home run and three runs batted in to back Joel Pineiro (3-0), who gave up both runs and three hits in six innings.

Rookie Rafael Soriano, called up from double-A San Antonio this week to replace Jeff Nelson in Seattle’s bullpen, finished with two-hit relief and got the save in his major league debut.

Suzuki went two for three with a triple and a walk, and also got on base on an error by Boston (24-8), whose American League East lead was cut to four games over the second-place New York Yankees. Seattle, 14-2 on the road, improved to only 11-8 at home.

In the opener of a three-game series between the teams with the best records in the major leagues, Seattle took a 3-0 lead in the first with the help of two unearned runs.

In the sixth inning, Suzuki was the spark when he walked on 13 pitches--fouling off eight--stole second and third and scored on Sierra’s infield hit. Suzuki tripled in the seventh and scored on McLemore’s single.

Baltimore 6, Tampa Bay 5--The Devil Rays’ losing streak stretched to 15, the longest in the major leagues since Baltimore went 0-21 at the start 1988, as Melvin Mora drove in two runs for the Orioles at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Rookie Rodrigo Lopez (5-0) gave up three runs and four hits in six innings, leaving with a 6-3 lead, and Jorge Julio pitched the ninth for his seventh save in eight chances.

New York 5, Minnesota 3--Derek Jeter sparked a four-run fifth inning at Minneapolis with a two-run homer, and David Wells (5-1) struck out a season-high six as the Yankees overcame a 3-1 deficit to win their fourth in a row.

Wells gave up three runs--two earned--and nine hits in 62/3 innings, improving to 16-6 with a 2.44 earned-run average against the Twins.

Toronto 6, Oakland 2--Tom Wilson drove in a career-high three runs at Oakland to spoil Mark Mulder’s return to the mound as the Athletics lost their season-high fourth in a row.

Texas 2, Detroit 0--Kenny Rogers (4-1) gave up seven hits in eight innings, and Michael Young broke up a scoreless game with an RBI double in the eighth at Arlington, Texas.

Kansas City 9, Cleveland 0--A.J. Hinch hit a three-run homer to put the Royals ahead in the fifth at Kansas City, Mo., and Dan Reichert (1-3) won for the first time since July 16.