Mariners 5, Athletics 2
Ichiro Suzuki drove in the go-ahead run with an infield single in the ninth inning that made him the club’s all-time hits leader as the Seattle Mariners defeated the host Oakland Athletics 5-2 on Saturday.
Ichiro’s single to the right side scored Jack Wilson and the Mariners added two insurance runs against Brian Fuentes (0-1) to defeat the Athletics for the second straight game.
Ichiro went 2 for 5 to pass Edgar Martinez as the Mariners’ career hits leader. Ichiro has 2,248.
Seattle plated runs on a wild pitch and a Chone Figgins’ sacrifice fly after Ichiro’s hit, and Brandon League got the save with a perfect ninth.
Oakland had tied the score 2-2 in the bottom of the eighth on Josh Willingham’s run-scoring single to right-center field off Mariners reliever Chris Ray (1-0).
The Athletics took a 1-0 lead in the third when Cliff Pennington scored on David DeJesus’ infield grounder. Seattle tied it in the sixth on Jack Cust’s run-scoring single, and took a 2-1 lead in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Michael Saunders.
Daric Barton had three hits for Oakland.
Seattle’s Jason Vargas struck out six and walked one in 6 2/3 innings, and Oakland’s Brett Anderson struck out five and walked one in six innings. Both allowed one run on five hits.