For the Mariners, 80 is Not Enough

Seattle’s jaw-dropping record may have the rest of baseball in awe, but it’s no big deal to the Mariners.

Dan Wilson hit a tiebreaking three-run home run in the seventh inning at Cleveland as the Mariners moved 50 games over .500 with an 8-5 victory Saturday over the Cleveland Indians.

“We don’t go for records, anything like that,” said Wilson, Seattle’s catcher and No. 9 hitter. “What motivates us is the next game. There’s no talk of, ‘Look where we’re at,’ or anything.”

Wilson’s homer off Danys Baez (2-1)--Seattle’s first since July 27, a span of 226 at-bats--broke a 3-3 tie as the Mariners won their fourth in a row to improve to an astounding 80-30.

Last season, Seattle didn’t get its 80th victory until Sept. 13. The Mariners won their 44th road game, matching their 2000 total.

Bret Boone hit his career-high 25th home run, a two-run shot, in the eighth for the Mariners, who have won eight of nine and are 17-6 since the all-star break.

Ichiro Suzuki had three hits for Seattle, which won despite stranding a season-high 13 runners.

“I think everyone in the room is aware this is a special season,” reliever Norm Charlton said. “It’s because nobody is selfish. It’s pick your poison.

“The whole lineup will get a key hit. Today, it was the ninth guy that won the game. Every game it’s somebody.”

With the score tied, 3-3, Carlos Guillen walked to open the seventh and Baez hit Mike Cameron with a 2-2 pitch. One out later, Wilson hit his seventh homer into the seats in left-center.

Minnesota 6, Kansas City 2--Eric Milton pitched 6 2/3 innings on his 26th birthday, and David Ortiz drove in four runs at Minneapolis as the Twins won their third in a row.

Ortiz and Doug Mientkiewicz hit home runs for Minnesota, which extended its lead in the American League Central to 1 1/2 games following Cleveland’s loss to Seattle. The Twins improved to 36-19 at home, equaling last year’s win total.

Former Twin Dave McCarty was three for four with a run batted in for the Royals, who fell to 8-15 since the all-star break.

Milton (10-4) gave up two runs and seven hits, striking out four and walking none.

Boston 10-6, Texas 4-2--Shea Hillenbrand’s single in the seventh inning drove in the winning run, and Mike Lansing had two home runs and three RBIs in the second game as the Red Sox swept a day-night doubleheader at Boston.

Trot Nixon and Troy O’Leary each had two home runs, and the Red Sox had a season-high six homers in the first game. Boston closed within 4 1/2 games of the first-place New York Yankees in the AL East, and moved one game ahead of Cleveland atop the wild-card race.

With the score tied, 2-2, in the second game, Dante Bichette and Scott Hatteberg hit consecutive one-out singles. Hillenbrand drove in Bichette with a single to left, then Hatteberg scored on Brian Daubach’s double.

Oakland 10, Detroit 1--Barry Zito gave up only Wendell Magee’s second-inning home run in eight innings and pitched the Athletics to an easy victory at Detroit.

Zito (7-7) walked two and struck out a career-high 10, retiring the last 20 batters he faced. The 23-year-old left-hander left after throwing 95 pitches (65 for strikes) and Jeff Tam worked the ninth to complete a combined two-hitter.

Jermaine Dye, Eric Chavez and Greg Myers hit homers to give Oakland its fifth win in six games.

Toronto 2, Baltimore 1--Brandon Lyon pitched into the eighth inning at Toronto to win his major league debut.

Lyon, recalled Friday from triple-A Syracuse, gave up one run on four hits in 7 1/3 innings.

Chicago 8, Tampa Bay 6--Rookie Aaron Rowand hit a three-run home run and Ray Durham added a two-run shot in a six-run fourth inning as the White Sox rebounded from a five-run deficit at Chicago.