Mariners Win to Maintain Slim Lead Over Athletics

Aaron Sele is leading the Seattle Mariners when they need it most.

Sele pitched a six-hitter to win his fourth consecutive September start, and the Mariners held on to first place in the AL West by beating the Texas Rangers, 5-0, Tuesday night.

“My temperament is even keel,” Sele said. “I learned a long time ago that I’ve got to go out and keep my poise. When you make a bad pitch, you’ve got to go make another one.”

Seattle (88-69), which remained one-half-game ahead of Oakland in the AL West, won its second straight.

Sele (17-10) struck out four and walked three in his second shutout of the season, the sixth of his career. He has a 2.55 ERA in September after going 1-4 with a 7.03 ERA in August.

Sele didn’t think about coming out on a cool night when he was pitching on six days’ rest. It was Seattle’s fourth complete game of the season.

“Nobody said anything, so I kept on pitching,” Sele said.

Seattle is 16-8 in September after an 11-17 record in August.

“I said in August when we were struggling that our pitching would come back in September and I’ve been right,” Manager Lou Piniella said.

The Mariners took a 3-0 lead in the third off Ryan Glynn (5-6) on Rickey Henderson’s RBI single, which stopped an 0-for-18 slide, and Mike Cameron’s two-run double.

Seattle made the score 5-0 in the fifth on Joe Oliver’s homer and Edgar Martinez’s run-scoring double, which gave him 140 RBIs.

If the Mariners don’t finish ahead of Oakland, they can go to the playoffs as the wild card. They’re two games up on the Indians (86-71) with five to go.

“I would rather be in our situation than Cleveland’s situation,” Oliver said. “But you can’t take anything for granted..”

Texas played with only two starters from its regular lineup: Royce Clayton and Rafael Palmeiro.

“It’s obvious we are a little short out there now,” manager Johnny Oates said. “We’d like to win a couple games and be professional about it.”