Rough 10th Inning Costs White Sox A Sweep
CHICAGO (AP) Miguel Olivo drove in three runs, including a go-ahead two-run double in the 10th inning, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox 7-4 on Wednesday night.
Justin Smoak started the winning rally with a leadoff bloop double off White Sox closer Sergio Santos (2-2). Adam Kennedy drew a walk, then Olivo - who had a solo homer in the eighth against his former team - drove in both runners with a grounder just inside of third base and into the left-field corner.
White Sox right fielder Carlos Quentin homered twice, a solo shot in the first off Jason Vargas and a tying two-run shot in the eighth off reliever Jamey Wright.
Aaron Laffey (1-1) threw a scoreless inning to earn the win and Brandon League pitched a perfect 10th for his AL-leading 17th save of the season.
Seattle ended a 10-game losing streak at U.S. Cellular Field and salvaged the finale of a three-game series. The Mariners have played 32 games decided by two runs or fewer this season, going 16-16 in those contests.
Vargas, who threw a shutout in his last start, threw 7 1-3 strong innings, but gave way to reliever Wright after allowing a single to Alexei Ramirez with one out in the eighth. Wright fell behind Quentin, who hit a 3-1 pitch into the left-field bleachers, tying the score at 4-all.
Vargas allowed three runs, seven hits and one walk while striking out four.
White Sox starter John Danks cruised until Seattle scored three runs in the sixth. He extended his scoreless streak against the Mariners to 27 innings, but came out after losing the streak and the lead. He threw six innings and allowed five hits, three runs and three walks and struck out three.
Franklin Gutierrez's two-run double highlighted Seattle's sixth. Kennedy drove in the other run on a grounder. The Mariners tacked on a run in the eighth when Olivo's homer made it 4-2.
Quentin erased that lead in the bottom of the inning.
The White Sox slugger came in leading the majors in extra-base hits (35) and doubles (20). His eighth-inning homer was his 17th of the season, and gave him 13 career multi-homer games, including three this season.
Vargas was coming off a shutout against Toronto in his last start, but the White Sox got to him in the first inning. Quentin hit a 1-2 pitch into the back of the White Sox bullpen in left field, extending his hitting streak to 10 games.
Vargas retired the next nine Chicago batters in order, before Paul Konerko doubled in the fourth.
The Mariners twice got a two runners on base in an inning early, but couldn't score. With one out in the third, Floyd hit Mike Carp with a pitch and Chone Figgins singled. Floyd rebounded to get Ichiro Suzuki and Brendan Ryan to end the threat.
In the fifth, Carp doubled with two outs and Figgins walked. Floyd kept Seattle scoreless, getting Suzuki on a grounder to second on a nice backhand play by Chicago second baseman Gordon Beckham.
Seattle finally broke through in the sixth. Ryan and Smoak started the rally with back-to-back singles, giving the Mariners runners on the corners with nobody out. Kennedy's grounder brought home Ryan, breaking Floyd's streak. Carlos Peguero worked Floyd for a walk, then Gutierrez's double to left gave Seattle a 3-1 lead.
Chicago trimmed the advantage to one run on Beckham's two-out single in the bottom of seventh, which scored Brent Lillibridge.
Seattle got two baserunners in the top of the ninth against Santos. With runners on the corners and two outs, Santos got Ryan on a fly out to center.
NOTES: The White Sox placed RHP Jake Peavy on the 15-day disabled list (retroactive to Monday) with a mild groin strain. Peavy, who left his most recent start after four innings because of the injury, was replaced on the roster by RHP Lucas Harrell, who was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte. ... The Mariners recalled Carp from Triple-A Tacoma on Wednesday and optioned outfielder Mike Wilson to Tacoma. Mariners manager Eric Wedge said that he expects to play Carp 3-4 times per week. ... Alex Rios was back in the starting lineup on Wednesday after sitting for three games for what White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen called a "mental break." Rios is hitting .199 on the season. ... Suzuki played his 1,353rd career game in right field for the Mariners, breaking Jay Buhner's franchise record. ... White Sox reliever Jeff Marquez, who was designated for assignment on June 5, was claimed off waivers by the Yankees on Wednesday.
Copyright 2011 by STATS LLC and The Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and The Associated Press is strictly prohibited.
