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  Wednesday, Jun. 21 10:05pm ET
Sele beats Devil Rays for third time
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

SEATTLE (AP) -- The Seattle Mariners got their revenge against Esteban Yan.

John Olerud
John Olerud's three-run double capped the Mariners' seven-run second inning.

Without Mark McLemore, serving a four-game suspension for charging the mound against Yan in his last start in Seattle, the Mariners scored seven runs in the second inning and beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 8-5 Wednesday night.

"I think that was a bit of a motivation for our ballclub," said Alex Rodriguez, who had one of two bases-loaded doubles against Yan in the second.

"I don't look at it that way, but certainly our hitters might have," Mariners manager Lou Piniella added.

Rodriguez hit a two-run double and John Olerud a three-run double in the Mariners' second, when they scored the most runs in an inning this season.

Yan (4-5) pitched to seven batters in the second without getting an out.

Yan said he didn't feel nervous being in a hostile environment.

"I pitched behind in the count and got in trouble," he said. "I walked a lot. I probably threw too quick to the plate."

Aaron Sele (8-3) improved his career record against the Devil Rays to 5-0, including 3-0 this season. But he left the game after he walked Fred McGriff and gave up a double to Bobby Smith to start the sixth.

Kazuhiro Sasaki pitched the ninth for his 12th save in 14 opportunities.

Yan triggered a bench-clearing melee in his last start at Safeco Field on May 20 when he threw a pitch between McLemore's legs after McLemore called time out and was out of the batter's box. McLemore charged the mound and was thrown out of the game. The Mariners second baseman began serving his suspension Tuesday night.

In his rematch with the Mariners, Yan had his worst control of the season, walking a season-high five and hitting a batter.

"He helped us with his control," Piniella said.

"He stuck it to us the last time," Rodriguez said. "We took it as a personal challenge."

The Mariners took their 7-0 lead in the second on second baseman Smith's fielding error on a grounder by John Mabry, a bases-loaded walk to Mike Cameron, Rodriguez's double over center-fielder Quinton McCracken's head and Olerud's bases-clearing double.

McGriff hit a two-run homer off Sele in the fourth, a 419-foot shot over the center-field fence.

Sele said he was just trying not to walk McGriff.

"Fred's been around the game a long time," he said. "He knew he was going to get a fastball. He was just waiting for the pitch."

The Devil Rays scored two runs in the fifth. Gerald Williams hit a grounder to third baseman Mabry, who committed two errors on the play. Mabry bobbled the ball and then threw the ball into the stands. Mike DiFelice scored from third base and Felix Martinez came home from second.

In the sixth, DiFelice's sacrifice fly cut Tampa Bay's deficit to 7-5.

Rickey Henderson singled in a run for Seattle in the seventh.

Sele, the highest-paid Mariners player at $7.5 million, gave up five runs, four earned, on five hits and four walks with six strikeouts.

"I don't walk a lot of guys. That's part of my game. I just threw too many balls tonight. I was behind in the count too much," Sele said.

Yan was charged with seven runs, six earned, on three hits and five walks in his one inning.

Game notes
Yan hit David Bell with a pitch in the second for his eighth hit batter of the season, the second-most in the AL. Doug Creek hit Jay Buhner in the fourth, giving the Devil Rays a major league-leading 32 hit batters. ... Yan averaged 2.4 walks in his first 14 starts this season. ... Yan was booed when he was introduced by the crowd of 27,555, and was booed when he left the game. ... When the Mariners batted around in the second, it was the ninth time they've done that in an inning this season. ... McGriff's homer was the 404th of his career and second of the series. It was his 18th career homer against the Mariners. ... RHP Freddy Garcia, a 17-game winner as a rookie for the Mariners last season, pitched four innings in Salem, Ore., for Single-A Everett in his first of two rehabilitation assignments in the minors. Garcia has been on the DL since April 16 because of a fractured right tibia. The Mariners hope Garcia can pitch July 1 against Texas.
 


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