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Piazza, A's send Seattle to another loss
2007-09-12
The free-falling Seattle Mariners lost manager John McLaren during a heated argument, then lost for the 15th time in 17 games when they were beaten by the Oakland Athletics 7-4 Tuesday night. The Mariners dropped 6 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees in the AL wild-card race with 19 games left. McLaren was tossed in the fourth inning after Jarrod Washburn walked Donnie Murphy with the bases loaded, tying at 1. Plate umpire Chris Guccione called ball four on a pitch that appeared well off the plate and Washburn shouted "that's not inside!" and punctuated it with an expletive. McLaren got ejected while yelling from the dugout, and he came out to confront the umpire, who rolled his eyes and looked away. McLaren pointed both his index fingers toward Guccione's chest. When crew chief Tom Hallion intervened, McLaren yelled at him, too, before stomping off to the night's loudest cheers from the home crowd. Washburn then walked Kurt Suzuki to force in a second run and Shannon Stewart's two-run single made it 4-1. Mark Ellis tied a career high with four hits while Mike Piazza and Stewart each had three hits and two RBIs. Relievers Ruddy Lugo (6-0), Andrew Brown, Alan Embree and Huston Street shut out the Mariners over the final 4 2-3 innings. After walking Jose Lopez to load the bases in the seventh, Brown struck out Yuniesky Betancourt on three pitches to strand the tying runs. Street got his 14th save in 18 chances by finishing the ninth. Washburn (9-14) allowed six runs on eight hits and a season high-tying five walks in 5 2-3 innings. He is 17-28 with a 4.58 ERA in 60 starts over his first two seasons in Seattle. Not quite what the Mariners were seeking when they gave him $37 million for four years. Washburn would have escaped having allowed only four runs and a no-decision -- but reliever Eric O'Flaherty walked Nick Swisher to load the bases and Piazza blooped a two-run single that put Oakland up 6-4. Sean Green entered and promptly allowed Ellis' fourth hit, which scored Swisher to make it 7-4. That was the 10th hit in 14 at-bats for Ellis. Seattle took a 1-0 lead on Adrian Beltre's 24th home run off a changeup from Dallas Braden in third, a drive into the third row of the second deck. The Mariners tied it in the fifth after Ichiro Suzuki led off with a single and Braden balked him to second. Raul Ibanez singled one out later to make it 4-2. Ibanez scored following consecutive singles by Jose Guillen and Kenji Johjima. Johjima created the tying run when he extended both arms skyward to break up a potential double-play grounder by Jose Vidro. Shortstop Murphy's throw banged off Johjima's left wrist, resulting in only a force out and an RBI for Vidro that tied it at 4. Johjima left the game with a bruised left wrist. The Mariners said he is day-to-day. Notes:@ Braden allowed eight hits and four runs in 4 1-3 innings. He struck out one and still has not had a victory since his first start of the season, April 24. ... An MRI exam showed that the left hamstring that kept Seattle 1B Richie Sexson out for the ninth time in 11 games has tendinitis. He will continue physical therapy.
Red Sox defeat A's 6-5 in MLB opener (2008-03-25)Red Sox to play, go to Japan (2008-03-19)Piazza, A's send Seattle to another loss (2007-09-12)Indians back in first in AL Central (2007-08-16)Angels sweep Tigers, T-Bay tops Boston (2007-07-30)
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