Suzuki, Mariners Roll Past Red Sox

Ichiro Suzuki drove in three runs and scored once as the Seattle Mariners defeated the Boston Red Sox, 10-3, Tuesday night at Seattle.

Desi Relaford, who came to Seattle and vowed to contribute any way he could this season, was a home run shy of hitting for the cycle.

Relaford drove in two runs and scored twice while filling in for injured shortstop Carlos Guillen. Guillen sat out for the third consecutive game because of a strained left thigh muscle.

Dan Wilson had three hits with a double for the American League West leaders, and Suzuki doubled and singled.

The Red Sox fell five games behind New York in the AL East.

Joel Pineiro (12-4) won his second consecutive decision and eighth out of nine, but made things tough on himself early. It took him until the sixth to get a 1-2-3 inning but he was able to turn a rocky start into a solid outing. John Burkett (10-6) lost his third consecutive start.

The Red Sox had seven baserunners in the first three innings on five singles, but managed only one run. Nixon singled to center to lead off the third inning and then scored on a single by Ramirez for a 1-0 lead.

Oakland 5, Toronto 4--Eric Chavez broke a tie with a two-run single in the seventh, and Barry Zito rebounded from consecutive losses for his 16th victory as the Athletics won at Oakland.

After losing two in a row for the first time all season, Zito (16-5) pitched eight innings of four-hit ball, striking out seven and giving up only one earned run. Zito joined Boston’s Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe for the AL lead in victories.

Jermaine Dye hit an early three-run homer for the A’s, who ended their five-game losing streak to Toronto and won for the ninth time in 13 games.

Orlando Hudson doubled and tripled for the Blue Jays, who tied it, 3-3, with two unearned runs on Vernon Wells’ double in the sixth. Toronto lost for the fifth time in seven games.

Billy Koch pitched the ninth, giving up a run-scoring grounder to Brian Lescher before striking out pinch-hitter Tom Wilson for his 29th save in 34 chances.

New York 10, Kansas City 5--Bernie Williams homered, doubled and drove in four runs and Roger Clemens got his 290th career victory as the Yankees won at Kansas City, Mo. Clemens (10-3) won despite giving up five runs, 10 hits and four walks in five-plus innings. The Yankees have won 11 of the last 12 games against Kansas City.

Mike Sweeney hit a double in his first at-bat in nearly a month, and went two for five for the Royals. He was activated from the disabled list before the game after missing 30 games because of a back and hip strain.

Minnesota 6, Baltimore 0--Rick Reed pitched a five-hitter and Doug Mientkiewicz homered twice as the Twins won at Minneapolis. Reed (10-6) struck out four and walked one in his sixth career shutout. Mientkiewicz had three hits and drove in three runs. David Ortiz also homered and added a two-run double in Minnesota’s four-run fourth inning.

Chicago 12, Texas 3--Jose Valentin homered twice, including his sixth career grand slam, and drove in six runs to power the White Sox at Arlington, Texas. It was the 11th multihomer game for the switch-hitter, who homered from both sides of the plate in the same game for the third time.

Cleveland 9, Tampa Bay 5--Karim Garcia hit his second career grand slam during a seven-run fifth inning to help the Indians win at St. Petersburg, Fla.