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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- The Seattle Mariners can now focus
solely on the Oakland Athletics.
Aaron Sele beat Tampa Bay for the fourth time this season as the
Mariners won their eighth straight game, 5-4 over the Devil Rays on
Wednesday night.
|  | | Mariners left fielder Al Martin hits the wall after leaping for a fly ball hit by Tampa Bay's Aubrey Huff. Huff settled for a double when the ball hit the top of the fence. |
Seattle leads Oakland, which split a day-night doubleheader at
Baltimore, by three games in the AL West.
The Mariners and Athletics begin a four-game series at Safeco
Field on Thursday night.
"We're just going to go out and play baseball, that's it,"
Seattle manager Lou Piniella said. "Now we go home and start an
important series. I'm happy it's our home ballpark."
Seattle's winning streak is its longest since a club-record 10
games from Sept. 12-21, 1996. The Mariners finished their first
undefeated road trip in franchise history, going 6-0 at Baltimore
and Tampa Bay.
"It's huge," Mariners catcher Dan Wilson said. "It's
everything, but momentum is only as good as your next ballgame."
Sele (16-10) went six innings, allowing four runs and nine hits.
The right-hander is 6-0 in his career against Tampa Bay.
"You get down to this time of the year, every game is
important," Sele said. "So you've just got to go out and play
hard and see what happens. We're going to take it a game at a time.
It's a cliche for a reason."
Kazuhiro Sasaki, who was unavailable the previous two days
because of back stiffness, got the final three outs for a
club-record 34th save.
"He's been rock solid for us," Piniella said. "He knows what
he wants to do out there. He's one of the reasons that we're in the
position that we're in."
John Flaherty and Ozzie Timmons hit solo homers for the Devil
Rays, who have dropped a season-high 10 consecutive games. It's the
longest skid in the American League this season and is one short of
the longest in the majors, an 11-game slide by Colorado from July
4-17.
"You just want to get it behind you, get a win and look forward
to the next day," Tampa Bay manager Larry Rothschild said.
The Devil Rays have gone 28 games since they scored more than
five runs. It's the longest stretch in the majors since the 1980
San Diego Padres went 29 games.
Albie Lopez (11-13) gave up five runs and 10 hits in eight
innings. He has lost four straight starts. Bothered recently by
a left calf strain, Lopez allowed 18 runs over 10 innings in his
three previous starts.
"I was just going out and trying to keep the game close,"
Lopez said. "It's a good hitting lineup, one through nine. They're a
good playoff team and they're going to be a force to be reckoned with
in the west."
The Mariners jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second inning.
Wilson had a run-scoring double and Mike Cameron added a two-run
single. Mark McLemore, who made his first appearance since
straining his left hamstring Sept. 11, added an RBI single.
Tampa Bay got within 4-3 in the fifth on Flaherty's homer, Randy
Winn's RBI single and Greg Vaughn's run-scoring double. Steve Cox,
the potential tying run was thrown out at the plate by shortstop
Alex Rodriguez's relay throw on Vaughn's hit.
"It was a really, really close play," Cox said. "We played
pretty good tonight. It was just a matter of coming up with that
big hit. We were never able to get it. I wish we could buy a break."
Seattle's David Bell and Timmons exchanged solo homers in the
sixth. Timmons' shot was hit his first since July 23, 1999.
"It just comes down to winning the game," Bell said. "It's
that much sweeter when you contribute. At this point, that doesn't
even really matter as long as we win. That was a big win for us."
Game notes
Mariners LF Rickey Henderson and RF Jay Buhner were given
the day off. ... After going 43-40 from May 31-Aug. 31, the Devil
Rays are 2-16 in September. ... Tampa Bay's longest losing streak
is 11 games, set June 30-July 13, 1998. ... Cameron reached base on
seven straight plate appearances before grounding out in the
fourth. ... Sasaki passed both Jose Mesa (1999) and Mike Schooler
(1989) for the Mariners' save record. ... The Devil Rays have 147
homers, two better than their previous best set last season.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Seattle Clubhouse
Tampa Bay Clubhouse
RECAPS
Baltimore 2
Oakland 0
Oakland 4
Baltimore 0
(2nd game)
Cleveland 2
Boston 1
Cleveland 5
Boston 4
(2nd game)
Chi. White Sox 13
Detroit 6
Toronto 7
NY Yankees 2
Seattle 5
Tampa Bay 4
Anaheim 7
Kansas City 4
Texas 6
Minnesota 4
Montreal 4
Florida 2
Pittsburgh 7
Philadelphia 6
NY Mets 6
Atlanta 3
Milwaukee 3
Chicago Cubs 2
St. Louis 11
Houston 6
San Diego 15
Colorado 11
Los Angeles 1
Arizona 0
San Francisco 4
Cincinnati 2
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