Giambi Delivers Win For A's
Back in his hitting groove since being reunited with his younger brother, Jason Giambi provided just enough offense for the Oakland Athletics on Thursday night.
Giambi drove in five runs in the A's 7-6 victory over Seattle. He hit a three-run homer, a sacrifice fly and an RBI single, and also tripled, as Oakland survived a three-run homer by Jay Buhner and solo shots by Alex Rodriguez and David Bell.
Giambi, who leads the majors with 15 homers and 42 RBIs, is hitting .357 (10-for-28) since his brother, Jeremy, was recalled from the minors on May 5.
"It's nice to have him around and have that extra batting coach," said Giambi, who admitted he was depressed when Jeremy was demoted. "It makes it nice to come to the ballpark every day."
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Jason was hitting .328 when Jeremy was sent to the minors on April 24. While Jeremy was at Triple-A Sacramento, Jason hit just .212. Since his brother's return, Jason has four homers and 12 RBIs in seven games.
"I'm certain he's happy he's back. They help each other, they talk hitting all the time," A's manager Art Howe said.
Ramon Hernandez added a two-run double for te A's, who won at home for just the sixth time in 16 games.
Buhner, who has hit 18 homers at the Oakland Coliseum, hit his seventh of the season to give the Mariners a 5-4 lead in the sixth. His homer followed an RBI single by Edgar Martinez.
Buhner leads active players for most homers by a visitor in Oakland and is tied with Carlton Fisk for the career lead.
Rodriguez hit his 11th homer leading off the eighth, pulling the Mariners to 7-6, but three Oakland relievers protected the lead. Jason Isringhausen allowed a hit and a walk in the ninth, but held on for his seventh save in 10 opportunities.
Tim Hudson (4-2) allowed six runs on seven hits in seven innings, striking out seven, for the win. The loser was Gil Meche (0-4), who allowed six runs on eight hits in 5 2-3 innings and wasted his first significant run support of the season.
The six runs were the most Seattle has scored in a game pitched by Meche this season. Before Thursday night, the Mariners had scored just four runs in six games while Meche was in the game. They scored five while Meche was pitching Thursday.
"We score runs, I can't do my job. And when I pitch a good game we can't seem to score," Meche said. "That's the way my luck has been going."
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