Mariner Winning Streak Hits 15

The Seattle Mariners extended their winning streak to 15 games, the longest in the American League in 10 years, powering past the San Diego Padres, 7-1, on Friday night.

Edgar Martinez, Bret Boone and John Olerud homered at Seattle for the Mariners, whose streak is the longest in the major leagues since Atlanta won 15 in a row from April 16 to May 2 last year.

At 47-12, Seattle is on pace to finish 129-32. The Mariners matched the 1907 Chicago Cubs for the second-best 59-game start since 1900, trailing only the 1912 New York Giants (48-11).

The Mariners’ streak is the longest in the AL since the 1991 Minnesota Twins won 15 in a row. The AL record is 19, set by the Chicago White Sox in 1906 and tied by the New York Yankees in 1947.

Paul Abbott (5-2) won his third consecutive start, giving up one run and five hits in 7 2/3 innings.

Kevin Jarvis (3-6) gave up seven runs and 10 hits in five innings as San Diego lost for the ninth time in 10 games.

Seattle Manager Lou Piniella returned after missing four games to attend his father-in-law’s funeral.

Boone raised his major league-leading total of runs batted in to 66, and Martinez went three for four with four RBIs. He’s the leading hitter in interleague play at .383 (64 for 166) with 14 homers and 40 RBIs.

Seattle scored in the first when Ichiro Suzuki singled, Martinez hit his ninth homer and Boone followed with his 14th.

Mark McLemore, returning after sitting out five games because of a groin injury, had an RBI double in the second and Martinez made the score 6-1 with a two-run double. Olerud homered in the fifth.

Suzuki, who leads the major leagues wit 98 hits, went two for four and raised his average to .363.

Chicago White Sox 7, Chicago Cubs 3--Carlos Lee hit a grand slam in the bottom of the 10th inning for the White Sox at Chicago.

The White Sox overcame a disastrous outing from David Wells, who gave up two runs--one earned--before leaving because of back spasms after facing only five batters in the shortest outing of his career.

Wells iced his back for the rest of the game, took a muscle relaxant and is listed as day-to-day.

After trailing most of the night, the White Sox tied the score in the seventh on an RBI single by Sandy Alomar Jr.

New York Yankees 7, Atlanta 4--Andy Pettitte (7-4) took a three-hit shutout into the sixth inning at New York before leaving because of tightness in his left groin and the Yankees won for the fourth time in five games.

Bernie Williams and Scott Brosius homered and Tom Glavine (6-4) walked seven.

New York won the first game between the teams at Yankee Stadium since its World Series sweep in 1999. Atlanta’s season-high six-game winning streak ended.

Minnesota 8, Pittsburgh 6--Torii Hunter hit a go-ahead grand slam in the fifth inning at Minneapolis, helping the Twins avoid their first four-game losing streak.

After dropping the last three of a four-game series against Cleveland, the Twins pulled back within half a game of the Indians in the AL Central.

Boston 3, Philadelphia 2--David Cone (1-1) won for the first time in 10 months, and Manny Ramirez led a three-home run attack for the Red Sox at Boston.

Cone pitched six strong innings for his first win in nine starts, struck out seven and gave up six hits, one run and no walks.

Randy Wolf (4-6) gave up solo home runs to Ramirez, Dante Bichette and Chris Stynes.

Oakland 4, San Francisco 2--Jason Giambi hit a solo home run and a go-ahead sacrifice fly and Terrence Long hit a two-run home run for the Athletics at Oakland.

Gil Heredia (4-5) gave up two runs and seven hits in six innings, and Jason Isringhausen pitched the ninth for his 11th save.

Barry Bonds, who leads the majors with 32 home runs, was hitless in two at-bats as the Giants’ designated hitter.

Houston 5, Texas 4--Moises Alou homered against Tim Crabtree (0-4) in the 11th inning to lead the Astros at Arlington, Texas.

Octavio Dotel (3-4) made things interesting by giving up a hit and a walk with two out in the bottom of the 11th, but Mike Jackson got his second save.

Texas has lost five in a row and seven of eight.

Cincinnati 7, Cleveland 4--Alex Ochoa went four for five with three RBIs at Cleveland and five former Indians teamed up to lead the Reds.

Ochoa drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning and added a two-run double in the ninth and the Reds rallied from a 3-0 deficit.

Tampa Bay 7, New York Mets 5--Ryan Rupe (3-5) gave up four hits in seven shutout innings at St. Petersburg, Fla., and Greg Vaughn and Fred McGriff homered on consecutive pitches, helping the Devil Rays build a 7-0 lead.

The Mets scored five runs in the ninth against reliever Rusty Meacham, getting a three-run home run from Mark Johnson.

Baltimore 5, Montreal 0--Rookie Josh Towers (3-1) pitched a six-hitter and Jerry Hairston went three for three with an RBI at Baltimore.

Towers got the first shutout for an Oriole rookie since Arthur Rhodes beat the New York Yankees on July 29, 1992.

Toronto 7, Florida 6--Shannon Stewart drove in the winning run in the 10th inning with the 14th double of the game, leading the Blue Jays at Toronto.