Wednesday, September 25, 2002
Mariners stay alive - barely
The Associated Press
SEATTLE — Down to their last few outs, the Seattle Mariners rallied to keep their faint playoff hopes alive Tuesday night, with Scott Podsednik's RBI single giving them an 8-7 win over the Oakland Athletics.
A loss would have eliminated the Mariners from postseason contention. Instead, Podsednik's two-out single capped a four-run comeback in the eighth inning and kept Seattle in the wild-card race.
The Athletics blew a five-run lead and had their five-game winning streak stopped. They still lead the AL West by three games over Anaheim, and their magic number is two.
The defeat, however, dropped the A's behind the New York Yankees in the chase for home-field advantage throughout the AL playoffs. Both teams are 99-58, but the Yankees hold the tiebreaker.
Barry Zito was poised to pick up his league-leading 23rd victory before the Athletics' bullpen wasted a late 7-4 lead. Oakland had been 81-1 when leading after seven innings.
The Mariners, who set an AL record with 116 victories last season, were in first place as late as Aug. 22, when the A's took their place.
Jeff Cirillo hit an RBI single off Ricardo Rincon with one out in the eighth inning and rookie Willie Bloomquist had an RBI double with two outs that made it 7-6.
Jeff Tam (1-2) relieved and gave up Bret Boone's tying double and Podsednik's single.
Shigetoshi Hasegawa (8-2) got the win and Arthur Rhodes got his second save.
Jermaine Dye and Eric Chavez each had three hits for Oakland. Fans booed and started leaving Safeco Field after Dye scored on a wild pitch in the top of the seventh, giving Oakland a 7-2 lead.
Zito, who has won seven straight decisions, allowed three earned runs in 6 1-3 innings.
Ismael Valdes lasted only four innings, leaving with a 4-1 deficit after allowing eight hits.
Zito escaped a sixth-inning jam with only an unearned run that got Seattle within 5-2. He loaded the bases with one out, but struck out Mike Cameron looking, walked Carlos Guillen to make it 5-2, then got Ben Davis to fly out.
The Mariners finally chased Zito in the seventh, scoring twice with one out to pull within 7-4 after singles by Ichiro Suzuki, Bloomquist, Boone and Edgar Martinez.
Through five innings, Zito efficiently limited the Mariners to four hits. Suzuki's first-pitch home run leading off the game put Seattle ahead 1-0, but Oakland took over with three runs in the third.
Notes: Guillen's walk was Seattle's 17th this season with the bases loaded, most in the majors. ... Oakland is trying to become the 18th team to win 100 games in consecutive years. The last was the Atlanta Braves in 1997, 1998 and 1999. ... David Justice was batting when play was interrupted by a streaker in the top of the fifth. ... Suzuki has five leadoff homers this season. It also was the sixth of his career, breaking Joey Cora's team record.
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Mariners stay alive - barely 
