GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: AL: SEATTLE (48-36) at OAKLAND (44-43)

AL: SEATTLE at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">AL AT OAKLAND - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: Y Betancourt at shortstop.
SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: SEATTLE 7
OAKLAND 3 BOTTOM, 9TH

DUE UP FOR OAKLAND: B Crosby (.227, 0-FOR-3)</div>

 

AL: SEATTLE at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">AL AT OAKLAND - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: W Bloomquist in left field.
SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: SEATTLE 7
OAKLAND 3 BOTTOM, 9TH

DUE UP FOR OAKLAND: B Crosby (.227, 0-FOR-3)</div>

 

AL: SEATTLE at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">AL AT OAKLAND - PITCHING CHANGE
SEA: J.J. PUTZ (1-0, 0.90) STARTING THE 9TH
CURRENT SCORE: SEATTLE 7, OAKLAND 3

DUE UP FOR OAKLAND: B CROSBY (.227, 0-FOR-3)</div>

 

AL: SEATTLE at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">AL AT OAKLAND - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: J Putz relieved G Sherrill.
SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: SEATTLE 7
OAKLAND 3 BOTTOM, 9TH

DUE UP FOR OAKLAND: B Crosby (.227, 0-FOR-3)</div>

 

AL: SEATTLE at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
SEATTLE 1 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 1 7 16 1
OAKLAND 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 6 1 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: SEA - RYAN FEIERABEND, ERIC O'FLAHERTY (5TH), SEAN GREEN (6TH),
GEORGE SHERRILL (8TH), J.J. PUTZ (9TH) AND KENJI JOHJIMA

OAK - JOE BLANTON, SANTIAGO CASILLA (7TH), ALAN EMBREE
(9TH) AND JASON KENDALL

HOME RUNS: SEA - JOSE LOPEZ (8) OFF JOE BLANTON IN THE 5TH, 0 ON

OAK - ERIC CHAVEZ (13) OFF RYAN FEIERABEND IN THE 2ND, 0 ON</div>

 

AL: SEATTLE at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
SEATTLE 1 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 1 7 16 1
OAKLAND 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 6 1 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: SEA - RYAN FEIERABEND, ERIC O'FLAHERTY (5TH), SEAN GREEN (6TH),
GEORGE SHERRILL (8TH), J.J. PUTZ (9TH) AND KENJI JOHJIMA

OAK - JOE BLANTON, SANTIAGO CASILLA (7TH), ALAN EMBREE
(9TH) AND JASON KENDALL


WP - SEAN GREEN (2-1)
LP - JOE BLANTON (8-5)
SAVE - NONE

HOME RUNS: SEA - JOSE LOPEZ (8) OFF JOE BLANTON IN THE 5TH, 0 ON

OAK - ERIC CHAVEZ (13) OFF RYAN FEIERABEND IN THE 2ND, 0 ON


TIME: 2:51 ATT: 27,059

PROBABLES: OAK - CHAD GAUDIN (8-3, 2.88)
MIN - SCOTT BAKER (3-3, 5.71)

PROBABLES: SEA - FELIX HERNANDEZ (5-4, 3.72)</div>

 

AL: SEATTLE at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">SEATTLE (7) VS OAKLAND (3) - FINAL

SEATTLE ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
I Suzuki dh 5 2 2 0 0 1 5 .359
J Lopez 2b 5 2 3 2 0 0 1 .284
R Ibanez lf 5 1 1 3 0 0 1 .275
Y Betancourt ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .271
J Guillen rf 5 1 3 1 0 0 1 .283
R Sexson 1b 5 0 0 0 0 3 4 .205
A Beltre 3b 5 0 2 1 0 1 1 .277
K Johjima c 5 0 1 0 0 0 3 .292
W Bloomquist ss-lf 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 .272
J Ellison cf 4 1 4 0 0 0 0 .237

Totals 43 7 16 7 0 5 18

BATTING: 2B - R Ibanez (20, J Blanton). 3B - I Suzuki (4, J Blanton). HR - J
Lopez (8, 5th inning off J Blanton 0 on, 0 Out). RBI - J Lopez 2 (47), R Ibanez
3 (53), J Guillen (52), A Beltre (43). 2-out RBI - A Beltre. Runners left in
scoring position, 2 out - I Suzuki 2, J Lopez 1, K Johjima 1. Team LOB - 9.

BASERUNNING: SB - J Guillen 2 (3, 2nd base off A Embree/J Kendall, 2nd base
off S Casilla/J Kendall), J Ellison (2, 2nd base off S Casilla/J Kendall).

FIELDING: E - A Beltre (9, throw). DP: 1 (E O'Flaherty-K Johjima-R Sexson).



OAKLAND ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
S Stewart lf 5 1 1 0 0 0 1 .309
M Ellis 2b 5 0 1 0 0 2 1 .267
N Swisher cf 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 .263
J Cust rf 2 0 0 0 2 0 2 .267
B Kielty dh 3 0 0 0 1 0 2 .154
E Chavez 3b 4 1 1 1 0 0 5 .247
D Johnson 1b 3 0 0 0 1 1 1 .260
B Crosby ss 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 .226
J Kendall c 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 .227

Totals 32 3 6 1 5 3 15

BATTING: 2B - N Swisher (20, R Feierabend). HR - E Chavez (13, 2nd inning off R
Feierabend 0 on, 1 Out). RBI - E Chavez (43). Runners left in scoring position,
2 out - M Ellis 1, E Chavez 2, B Crosby 2. GIDP - B Kielty. Team LOB - 8.

FIELDING: E - B Crosby (11, throw).


----------------------------------------------------
SEATTLE - 100 010 401 -- 7
OAKLAND - 010 020 000 -- 3
----------------------------------------------------

SEATTLE ip h r er bb so hr era
R Feierabend 4 5 3 3 4 1 1 9.31
E O'Flaherty 1 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.08
S Green (W, 2-1) 1 2/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.53
G Sherrill (H, 13) 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1.29
J Putz 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0.88

OAKLAND ip h r er bb so hr era
J Blanton (L, 8-5) 6 12 6 5 0 1 1 3.28
S Casilla 2 2 0 0 0 3 0 0.45
A Embree 1 2 1 1 0 1 0 4.15

R Feierabend pitched to 5 batters in the 5th.
J Blanton pitched to 4 batters in the 7th.

HBP - N Swisher (by R Feierabend). Pitches-strikes: R Feierabend 90-50; E
O'Flaherty 9-6; S Green 21-14; G Sherrill 13-6; J Putz 14-9; J Blanton 92-66; S
Casilla 27-20; A Embree 24-19. Ground balls-fly balls: R Feierabend 2-9; E
O'Flaherty 4-0; S Green 3-1; G Sherrill 0-3; J Putz 1-1; J Blanton 9-8; S
Casilla 2-1; A Embree 1-1. Batters faced: R Feierabend 22; E O'Flaherty 3; S
Green 5; G Sherrill 4; J Putz 4; J Blanton 30; S Casilla 8; A Embree 5.

UMPIRES: HP--Travis Reininger. 1B--Ted Barrett. 2B--Tim Mcclelland. 3B--Marty
Foster.
EJECTIONS: OAKLAND's Blanton by Reininger (7th), SEATTLE's Batista by Reininger (7th).
T--2:51. (Plus other delay totaling 4 minutes in the 7th). Att--27,059.

Weather: 66 degrees, sunny. Wind: 7 mph, in from center.</div>

 

AL: SEATTLE at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
AL
SEATTLE 7
OAKLAND 3 FINAL</div>

 

Mariners head into All-Star break with a win, top A's

<h3>SEATTLE 7, OAKLAND 3</h3><div class="pre">OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- Jose Lopez had three hits,</div>including a home run as the Seattle Mariners beat the OaklandAthletics, 7-3, on Sunday in a game that was delayed during abenches-clearing incident in the seventh inning.


Seattle enters the All-Star break just two games behind the LosAngeles Angels of Anaheim following the win.


Sean Green (2-1) earned the win, pitching 1 1/3 innings ofscoreless relief of starter Ryan Feierabend.


The Mariners scored four times in the seventh inning to take thelead. Three consecutive hits loaded bases, and Raul Ibanezfollowed with a double to left-center field to clear the bases.

On a relay throw back to the infield, the ball got by the cutoffman and trickled near the Seattle dugout. Ichiro Suzuki waswatching the ball go by and Joe Blanton shoved Suzuki, whoattempted to get to the ball which was in play. Jason Ellisontook exception to the shove and pushed Blanton causing bothbenches to empty, delaying the game for several minutes.

Blanton had to be escorted off the field and was ejected fromthe game. Santiago Casilla replaced the A's starter and pitchedthe remainder of the inning, allowing an RBI single by JoseGuillen to score Ibanez.


Mariners pitcher Miguel Batista would also be ejected forparticipating in the fracas. Blanton (8-5) took the loss. Hewent six innings, allow a career high-tying 12 hits for the A's,who have dropped four of their last six games and are ninegames back in the American League West.


On the first pitch of the game, Suzuki lined a triple to leftcenter. Lopez followed with an RBI groundout to make it 1-0.

The A's would answer in the bottom of the second. On an 0-1pitch, Eric Chavez hit his first home run since June 15 to knotthe score.


Lopez put Seattle ahead 2-1 with a solo homer to left in the topof the fifth.


The A's then got a huge break in the bottom of the fifth.Consecutive singles to center by Jason Kendall and Stewart putrunners on first and second. Mark Ellis caught the defense offguard by bunting for a single. Seattle third baseman AdrianBeltre threw the ball past first baseman Richie Sexson and theball rolled around in the Seattle bullpen, allowing Kendall andStewart to score to put Oakland ahead 3-2.


At that point, Feierabend unraveled. He hit Nick Swisher with apitch and then walked Jack Cust before he was removed for EricO'Flaherty. O'Flaherty would induce Bobby Kielty to hit into adouble play and Chavez grounded out to end the threat.

George Sherrill and J.J. Putz pitched the final two innings toclose the game out for the Mariners.

 

AL: SEATTLE at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SEATTLE (7) AT OAKLAND (3) - HOW THEY SCORED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SEATTLE 1ST: I Suzuki tripled to deep center. J Lopez grounded out to
shortstop, I Suzuki scored. R Ibanez grounded out to second. J Guillen
singled to left. R Sexson lined out to second. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)
SEATTLE 1, OAKLAND 0.

OAKLAND 2ND: B Kielty popped out to second. E Chavez homered to right.
D Johnson struck out looking. B Crosby popped out to third. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) SEATTLE 1, OAKLAND 1.

SEATTLE 5TH: J Lopez homered to left center. R Ibanez flied out to left.
J Guillen flied out to left. R Sexson struck out swinging. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) SEATTLE 2, OAKLAND 1.

OAKLAND 5TH: J Kendall singled to center. S Stewart singled to center,
J Kendall to second. M Ellis reached on bunt single to third, J Kendall to
third, S Stewart to third, J Kendall and S Stewart scored, M Ellis to third on
throwing error by third baseman A Beltre. N Swisher hit by pitch. J Cust
walked, N Swisher to second. E O'Flaherty relieved R Feierabend. B Kielty
grounded into double play, pitcher to catcher to first, M Ellis out at home,
N Swisher to third, J Cust to second. E Chavez grounded out to second. (2 Runs,
3 Hits, 1 Error) SEATTLE 2, OAKLAND 3.

SEATTLE 7TH: J Ellison reached on infield single to shortstop. I Suzuki
singled to right, J Ellison to second. J Lopez singled to center, J Ellison to
third, I Suzuki to second. R Ibanez doubled to deep center, J Ellison,
I Suzuki and J Lopez scored, R Ibanez to third on throwing error by shortstop
B Crosby. Oakland's J Blanton ejected by T Reininger. Seattle's M Batista ejected
by T Reininger. S Casilla relieved J Blanton. J Guillen singled to left, R Ibanez
scored. R Sexson struck out swinging. J Guillen stole second. A Beltre struck
out swinging. K Johjima grounded out to pitcher. (4 Runs, 5 Hits, 1 Error)
SEATTLE 6, OAKLAND 3.

SEATTLE 9TH: A Embree relieved S Casilla. R Ibanez flied out to left.
J Guillen singled to left. J Guillen stole second. R Sexson struck out swinging.
A Beltre singled to center, J Guillen scored. K Johjima grounded out to
second. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 7, OAKLAND 3.</div>

 

AL: SEATTLE at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
SEATTLE 1 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 1 7 16 1
OAKLAND 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 6 1 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: SEA - RYAN FEIERABEND, ERIC O'FLAHERTY (5TH), SEAN GREEN (6TH),
GEORGE SHERRILL (8TH), J.J. PUTZ (9TH) AND KENJI JOHJIMA

OAK - JOE BLANTON, SANTIAGO CASILLA (7TH), ALAN EMBREE
(9TH) AND JASON KENDALL


WP - SEAN GREEN (2-1)
LP - JOE BLANTON (8-5)
SAVE - NONE

HOME RUNS: SEA - JOSE LOPEZ (8) OFF JOE BLANTON IN THE 5TH, 0 ON

OAK - ERIC CHAVEZ (13) OFF RYAN FEIERABEND IN THE 2ND, 0 ON


TIME: 2:51 ATT: 27,059

PROBABLES: OAK - CHAD GAUDIN (8-3, 2.88)
MIN - SCOTT BAKER (3-3, 5.71)

PROBABLES: DET - UNDECIDED
SEA - FELIX HERNANDEZ (5-4, 3.72)</div>

 

AL: SEATTLE at OAKLAND

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SEATTLE (7) AT OAKLAND (3) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seattle Starting Lineups -- I Suzuki DH, J Lopez 2B, R Ibanez LF, J Guillen RF,
R Sexson 1B, A Beltre 3B, K Johjima C, W Bloomquist SS, J Ellison CF,
R Feierabend LHP.

Oakland Starting Lineups -- S Stewart LF, M Ellis 2B, N Swisher CF, J Cust RF,
B Kielty DH, E Chavez 3B, D Johnson 1B, B Crosby SS, J Kendall C, J Blanton RHP.

Umpires -- Travis Reininger (HP), Ted Barrett (1B), Tim Mcclelland (2B),
Marty Foster (3B).

Gametime Weather: 66 degrees, Sunny, wind in from center at 7 mph.


SEATTLE 1ST: I Suzuki tripled to deep center. J Lopez grounded out to
shortstop, I Suzuki scored. R Ibanez grounded out to second. J Guillen
singled to left. R Sexson lined out to second. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)
SEATTLE 1, OAKLAND 0.

OAKLAND 1ST: S Stewart flied out to right. M Ellis grounded out to third.
N Swisher walked. J Cust grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
SEATTLE 1, OAKLAND 0.

SEATTLE 2ND: A Beltre reached on infield single to third. K Johjima
grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, A Beltre out at second.
W Bloomquist popped out to second. J Ellison reached on infield single to
shortstop, K Johjima to second. I Suzuki flied out to center. (0 Runs, 2 Hits,
0 Errors) SEATTLE 1, OAKLAND 0.

OAKLAND 2ND: B Kielty popped out to second. E Chavez homered to right.
D Johnson struck out looking. B Crosby popped out to third. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) SEATTLE 1, OAKLAND 1.

SEATTLE 3RD: J Lopez reached on infield single to third. R Ibanez flied
out to left. J Guillen popped out to first. R Sexson grounded into fielder's
choice to shortstop, J Lopez out at second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 1,
OAKLAND 1.

OAKLAND 3RD: J Kendall flied out to left. S Stewart flied out to center.
M Ellis popped out to first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 1, OAKLAND 1.

SEATTLE 4TH: A Beltre grounded out to shortstop. K Johjima reached on
infield single to shortstop. W Bloomquist grounded into fielder's choice to
third, K Johjima out at second. J Ellison singled to left, W Bloomquist to
third. I Suzuki grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 1,
OAKLAND 1.

OAKLAND 4TH: N Swisher doubled to left. J Cust lined out to second.
B Kielty walked. E Chavez flied out to left. D Johnson walked, N Swisher to
third, B Kielty to second. B Crosby flied out to center. (0 Runs, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) SEATTLE 1, OAKLAND 1.

SEATTLE 5TH: J Lopez homered to left center. R Ibanez flied out to left.
J Guillen flied out to left. R Sexson struck out swinging. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) SEATTLE 2, OAKLAND 1.

OAKLAND 5TH: J Kendall singled to center. S Stewart singled to center,
J Kendall to second. M Ellis reached on bunt single to third, J Kendall to
third, S Stewart to third, J Kendall and S Stewart scored, M Ellis to third on
throwing error by third baseman A Beltre. N Swisher hit by pitch. J Cust
walked, N Swisher to second. E O'Flaherty relieved R Feierabend. B Kielty
grounded into double play, pitcher to catcher to first, M Ellis out at home,
N Swisher to third, J Cust to second. E Chavez grounded out to second. (2 Runs,
3 Hits, 1 Error) SEATTLE 2, OAKLAND 3.

SEATTLE 6TH: A Beltre flied out to left. K Johjima grounded out to second.
W Bloomquist grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 2,
OAKLAND 3.

OAKLAND 6TH: D Johnson grounded out to second. S Green relieved
E O'Flaherty. B Crosby grounded out to third. J Kendall grounded out to third.
(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 2, OAKLAND 3.

SEATTLE 7TH: J Ellison reached on infield single to shortstop. I Suzuki
singled to right, J Ellison to second. J Lopez singled to center, J Ellison to
third, I Suzuki to second. R Ibanez doubled to deep center, J Ellison,
I Suzuki and J Lopez scored, R Ibanez to third on throwing error by shortstop
B Crosby. Oakland's J Blanton ejected by T Reininger. Seattle's M Batista ejected
by T Reininger. S Casilla relieved J Blanton. J Guillen singled to left, R Ibanez
scored. R Sexson struck out swinging. J Guillen stole second. A Beltre struck
out swinging. K Johjima grounded out to pitcher. (4 Runs, 5 Hits, 1 Error)
SEATTLE 6, OAKLAND 3.

OAKLAND 7TH: S Stewart grounded out to shortstop. M Ellis struck out
looking. N Swisher flied out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 6,
OAKLAND 3.

SEATTLE 8TH: W Bloomquist grounded out to shortstop. J Ellison singled to
left. J Ellison stole second. I Suzuki struck out swinging. J Lopez flied out
to center. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 6, OAKLAND 3.

OAKLAND 8TH: G Sherrill relieved S Green. J Cust walked. B Kielty flied
out to right. E Chavez flied out to left. D Johnson popped out to shortstop.
(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 6, OAKLAND 3.

SEATTLE 9TH: A Embree relieved S Casilla. R Ibanez flied out to left.
J Guillen singled to left. J Guillen stole second. R Sexson struck out swinging.
A Beltre singled to center, J Guillen scored. K Johjima grounded out to
second. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 7, OAKLAND 3.

OAKLAND 9TH: Y Betancourt at shortstop. W Bloomquist in left field. J Putz
relieved G Sherrill. B Crosby grounded out to third. J Kendall singled to
center. S Stewart flied out to left. J Kendall to second on fielder's
indifference. M Ellis struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 7,
OAKLAND 3.</div>

 

Mariners head into All-Star break with a win, top A's

<h3>SEATTLE 7, OAKLAND 3</h3><div class="pre">OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- Jose Lopez had three hits,</div>including a home run, as the Seattle Mariners beat the OaklandAthletics, 7-3, on Sunday in a game that was delayed during abenches-clearing incident in the seventh inning.


Seattle enters the All-Star break just two and 1/2 games behindthe Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim following the win.

Sean Green (2-1) earned the win, pitching 1 1/3 innings ofscoreless relief of starter Ryan Feierabend.


"It was a big win, especially after we lost two (games) toKansas City," Green said. "We came in here losing the firstgame. It was a big team victory to come out of here with theseries and today was a big game and all the guys came around."

The Mariners scored four times in the seventh inning to take thelead. Three consecutive hits loaded bases, and Raul Ibanezfollowed with a double to left-center field to clear the bases.

On a relay throw back to the infield, the ball got by the cutoffman and trickled near the Seattle dugout. Ichiro Suzuki waswatching the ball go by and Joe Blanton shoved Ichiro, whoattempted to get to the ball which was in play. Jason Ellisontook exception to the shove and pushed Blanton, causing bothbenches to empty and delaying the game for several minutes.

"I don't have anything against the A's, Joe or anybody on thatteam but just the way things panned out, I just didn't like it,"Ellison said. "Ichiro doesn't bother anybody. If he justpushed him out of the way and not said anything about it,probably nothing would have went wrong but the way it he wentabout it was pretty (bad)."


"I was going after the ball and there were a lot of guys aroundthere," Blanton said. "I was going full speed and I hitsomebody. I had no idea who was around, I was just going afterthe ball. Someone I didn't hit, hit me. That's how itdeveloped."


Blanton had to be escorted off the field and was ejected fromthe game. Santiago Casilla replaced the A's starter and pitchedthe remainder of the inning, allowing an RBI single by JoseGuillen to score Ibanez.


"It's great, we kept battling and battling we know we're playingagainst a great team with great pitching," Guillen said. "Ifwe're going to be contending for this division we have to beatthe teams in our division. That's what we've been doing, we'vebeen taking care of business, playing hard, playing smart, andwinning some tough games.


"I worry about Oakland because they know how to get it done andI've seen it before because they've got the pitching to do it."

Mariners pitcher Miguel Batista would also be ejected forparticipating in the fracas. Blanton (8-5) took the loss. Hewent six innings, allow a career high-tying 12 hits for the A's,who have dropped four of their last six games and are ninegames back in the American League West.


"We've got some guys on the mend with Huston Street, EstebanLoaiza and the pitching staff," A's manager Bob Geren said."To give them a little bit more time is always good too. Ithink the hitters get to a point of the season where you get acouple of days off and their bodies will feel better and we'llget that offense going in the second half."


On the first pitch of the game, Suzuki lined a triple to leftcenter. Lopez followed with an RBI groundout to make it 1-0.

The A's would answer in the bottom of the second. On an 0-1pitch, Eric Chavez hit his first home run since June 15 to knotthe score.


Lopez put Seattle ahead 2-1 with a solo homer to left in the topof the fifth.


The A's then got a huge break in the bottom of the fifth.Consecutive singles to center by Jason Kendall and Stewart putrunners on first and second. Mark Ellis caught the defense offguard by bunting for a single. Seattle third baseman AdrianBeltre threw the ball past first baseman Richie Sexson and theball rolled around in the Seattle bullpen, allowing Kendall andStewart to score to put Oakland ahead 3-2.


At that point, Feierabend unraveled. He hit Nick Swisher with apitch and then walked Jack Cust before he was removed for EricO'Flaherty. O'Flaherty would induce Bobby Kielty to hit into adouble play and Chavez grounded out to end the threat.

"The storyline for me on the game was O'Flaherty coming in andgetting that double play," Mariners manager John McLaren said."That was huge...huge. He's been spectacular for us."

"I was thinking get a ground ball," O'Flaherty said of Kielty'sat-bat. "It was a slow chopper so I had time to gather myself.We've been getting a strong effort from everybody in the bullpenthe whole season."


George Sherrill and J.J. Putz pitched the final two innings toclose the game out for the Mariners.


"It was nice ending the first half on a good note," McLarensaid. "Now its time to catch our breath."