| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
GAME LOG
SEATTLE -- The Oakland Athletics and closer Jason
Isringhausen aren't feeling the pressure of being in a division
race, they're loving it.
"We're having fun over here," Isringhausen said after the A's
outlasted the Seattle Mariners 8-7 Tuesday night in Alex
Rodriguez's return from the disabled list.
|  | | Seattle's Jay Buhner gets a kick out of his 300th career home run. |
"You've got to have pretty much a short-term memory," said
Isringhausen, who surrendered a two-run homer to Jay Buhner in the
eighth inning. "I was still up by one. I was still ahead of the
game."
While Gil Heredia beat the Mariners for the fifth consecutive
time, the third this year, Buhner homered twice to reach 300 in his
career, including his 18th of the season in a three-run eighth that
also included Edgar Martinez's run-scoring single off Jeff Tam.
Isringhausen got four outs for his 22nd save and 26 chances,
retiring Rodriguez on a game-ending flyout with a runner on second.
Jeremy Giambi caught the ball on the run as it was slicing into the
right field corner.
"I wasn't for sure on that last one," Isringhausen said.
"Jeremy came up big."
Rodriguez, Seattle's All-Star shortstop, was sidelined for 14
games because of a concussion and a sprained right knee. He went
1-for-5 with a double in his first at-bat and scored his American League-leading
85th run. The Mariners were 9-5 without Rodriguez.
Rodriguez thought he had won the game or at least tied it.
"I definitely knew the game was tied when I hit it," he said.
"I looked up and thought it would hit the middle of the wall. I
didn't believe he was playing me there. You've got to give their
coaching staff credit."
Buhner enjoyed his 300th home run, but not as much as the 1995
season, when the Mariners overtook the California Angels at the end
to win the AL West.
"But there's no doubt this is real big," he said.
Oakland, which has won 13 of its last 14 one-run games, broke
out of a 4-all tie in the seventh on Ben Grieve's run-scoring single and
Matt Stairs' run-scoring double off Aaron Sele (11-6) and Jeremy
Giambi's two-run double off Jose Mesa.
Heredia (12-7) gave up four runs and seven hits, including
homers by John Olerud and Buhner, in 6 1/3 innings. Heredia, who is
9-1 in 11 starts on the road, trailed 3-1 after four innings.
"Even when you're down, pitching for this team, you can't let
your guard down because we're a team that can score a lot of runs,
and we proved it again tonight," Heredia said.
Martinez got his 96th RBI of the season, most in the majors.
Buhner had the 23rd multihomer game of his career, his first since
June 13, 1998.
Sele, 0-3 against Oakland this year, allowed eight runs and nine
hits in 6 2/3 innings, dropping to 0-3 with a 7.50 ERA since the
All-Star break.
Oakland took a 1-0 lead in the first on an run-scoring single by Randy
Velarde, who went 3-for-5.
Martinez's run-scoring groundout and Olerud's two-run homer put Seattle
ahead in the bottom half.
Miguel Tejada hit a run-scoring grounder in the fourth, but
Buhner's first homer made it 4-2 in the bottom half.
Jason Giambi's 25th homer, a two-run drive, tied the score in
the fifth.
Game notes
The Mariners launched the countdown to the 2001 All-Star
game with the unveiling of the logo. The game will be played at
Safeco Field on July 10, 2001. ... Heredia is 5-2 against Seattle. His
last defeat to the Mariners came Sept. 16, 1998, in Oakland. ...
Rodriguez committed an error on Tejada's grounder in the fourth,
his fourth error in 85 games. ... Buhner hit his 297th career homer
for the Mariners. His first three came with the New York Yankees.
... Buhner delighted the crowd of 42,377 when he caught Velarde's
drive in the fifth and threw on the fly to catcher Dan Wilson, who
tagged Sal Fasano trying to score from third. Buhner had ligament
replacement surgery in his right elbow in September 1998. ... Jason
Giambi walked twice, raising his major league-leading total to 88.
| |
ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Oakland Clubhouse
Seattle Clubhouse
RECAPS
Minnesota 4
Boston 2
Detroit 6
Tampa Bay 4
Cleveland 10
Toronto 3
NY Yankees 19
Baltimore 1
Kansas City 6
Chi. White Sox 1
Texas 9
Anaheim 6
Oakland 8
Seattle 7
Milwaukee 4
Pittsburgh 1
NY Mets 5
Montreal 0
Houston 7
Cincinnati 4
Chicago Cubs 8
Philadelphia 7
Atlanta 6
Florida 5
St. Louis 7
Arizona 3
Los Angeles 6
Colorado 4
San Diego 3
San Francisco 2
|
