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  Monday, Aug. 14 10:05pm ET
Tigers score a Safeco-record 15 runs
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

SEATTLE (AP) -- After getting blown out for the third straight start, Jamie Moyer didn't have any answers.

"I threw a lot of good pitches," he said. "The results don't show it."

Willie Blair
Detroit pitcher Willie Blair had a pretty good idea he was headed toward his ninth victory when he had a 13-0 lead against Seattle in the fourth inning Monday night.

Bobby Higginson and Juan Gonzalez homered in an eight-run fifth inning as the Detroit Tigers beat Seattle and Moyer 15-4 Monday night.

It was the Mariners' third consecutive loss and Moyer's third straight defeat.

"I threw good pitches down in the zone and they hit them. That's all I can tell you," said Moyer, beaten 19-3 at the White Sox last Wednesday and 13-6 at the Yankees on Aug. 4. "The object for me is to pitch down in the zone."

Moyer (11-6) gave up 11 runs -- just six earned -- and 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings. In his previous start, he was pounded for 11 runs and 13 hits.

"We'd like to see him get straightened out," Mariners manager Lou Piniella said.

The 15 runs were the most scored by a team at Safeco Field, where the Mariners have played 102 games.

"We made him get the ball up and we didn't swing at his marginal pitches," Tigers manager Phil Garner said. "That's a fine line when you face him. If he's down three or four inches, it's a ball."

Wendell Magee had a career-high four hits, and the Tigers had 18 in all. Detroit won for the fourth time in five games overall and the third time in four games against the Mariners this season.

"That was a career high?" Magee said. "I thought I had four hits before. I guess that happened in the minor leagues."

Willie Blair (9-3) won for the first time in three starts since July 30, giving up four runs and 10 hits in seven innings. Blair had a 13-0 lead after 4½ innings.

"I don't know if I've ever had a 13 to 0 lead in a game," Blair said. "That was a new experience. It always helps to have a lead like that."

Before the White Sox start, Moyer had given up 10 runs in a start once his career; Aug. 20, 1987. Now, he's allowed 10 runs or more twice in six days.

Moyer's ERA in his last three starts is 14.79 (23 earned runs in 14 1/3 innings), raising his season ERA to 5.58.

"Chicago is over," Moyer said. "Tonight was tonight. I made a lot of good pitches."

Leading 5-0, the Tigers sent 11 men to the plate in the fifth, their biggest scoring inning of the season. Seattle second baseman Mark McLemore committed a fielding error and first baseman John Olerud had a throwing error that led to seven unearned runs.

Gonzalez hit a two-run homer and Higginson hit a three-run homer in the inning off Joel Pinero, recalled from the minors earlier in the day. Gonzalez homered in his first game at Safeco.

"It's a beautiful ballpark," said Gonzalez, sought by the Mariners before the July 31 trade deadline. "It's a lot harder to hit a home run here than in the Kingdome. But it's smaller than Comerica Park."

Detroit opened the game by loading the bases on singles by Damion Easley, Juan Encarnacion and Higginson. Dean Palmer walked with the bases loaded and one out, and Magee followed with a two-run single off Moyer's glove that went past McLemore at second into right field.

Brad Ausmus and Easley had RBI doubles in the fourth for a 5-0 lead.

Al Martin, acquired in a trade with San Diego on July 31, got his first AL homer in his 11th game for the Mariners, connecting off Blair in a three-run sixth.

Edgar Martinez had an RBI double in the innings, giving him 113 RBIs, which matched his career high.

Game notes
Seattle LHP Rob Ramsay was put on the 15-day disabled list because of a strained left biceps. ... Detroit's biggest win this season was 16-3 over Toronto July 13. ... Seattle gave up 10 runs or more for the ninth time this season. The Mariners were beaten by Cleveland 10-4 Sunday. ... Detroit has scored 10 or more runs 19 times this year, including three of their four wins. ... Dusty Allen of the Tigers doubled in the ninth for his first major league hit and then scored his first major league run.
 


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