Mariners Double Their Pleasure

Alex Rodriguez came up a triple short of hitting for the cycle for the second time at Tiger Stadium. That was about the only thing that went wrong for Seattle in its first doubleheader sweep in nine years.

Rodriguez was three for five with his 34th homer as the Mariners defeated the Tigers, 7-1, on Friday night to complete the sweep and hand Brian Moehler his first home loss of the season.

In the first game, Raul Ibanez, recalled from triple-A Tacoma earlier in the day, hit a tie-breaking two-run double in the eighth inning in Seattle’s 6-3 victory.

The Mariners, who have won four of their last five, swept a doubleheader for the first time since beating Baltimore twice on May 6, 1989.

“Really?” Seattle Manager Lou Piniella said. “This is a year of firsts in a lot of ways.”

Rodriguez, who hit for the cycle June 5, 1997, at Detroit, was five for nine in the doubleheader. In the second game, he singled and scored in the first inning, doubled and scored in the second, and homered in the fourth.

“It’s difficult to hit a triple in this ballpark unless you hit it over [center fielder] Brian Hunter’s head, and that’s pretty tough to do,” Rodriguez said.

Ken Griffey Jr. was one for five with two runs batted in in the second game after going one for three in the first. Griffey, who leads the league with 41 homers, hasn’t homered in 34 at-bats over his last seven games since July 30.