Martinez Sets DH Record in Victory

Ichiro Suzuki, Jamie Moyer and Edgar Martinez all did what they do best.

Suzuki had four hits, Moyer pitched seven strong innings and Martinez set another designated hitter record as the Seattle Mariners sent the Cleveland Indians to their season-high seventh consecutive loss, 7-3, Wednesday night at Cleveland.

Martinez hit his 236th homer as a designated hitter, passing Harold Baines as the career leader among DHs.

“This record is not like Pete Rose or anything,” said Martinez, who has 301 lifetime homers. “It’s nice when it happens, but anybody can do it.”

Mariner Manager Bob Melvin said there were few like Martinez.

“Edgar gets accolade after accolade and deserves them,” he said. “To me, he’s a Hall of Famer, no question. He’s as quality a right-handed hitter as I’ve ever seen.”

Suzuki and Raul Ibanez also homered as the Mariners roughed up C.C. Sabathia (2-3). The left-hander gave up a career-high 11 hits in 6 2/3 innings.

Boston 9, Oakland 6 -- Jason Varitek hit a three-run homer at Boston and the Red Sox took advantage of an error by shortstop Bobby Crosby.

Crosby, who made three errors in his first 36 games, committed two Wednesday. The costly one came in the fourth when he bobbled a grounder, then threw wildly to second with the bases loaded, allowing three runs to score.

Minnesota 4, Tampa Bay 2 -- Jacque Jones had a go-ahead, two-run double at St. Petersburg, Fla., and the Twins ended the Devil Rays’ winning streak at five games, their longest streak in four seasons.

Joe Nathan worked the ninth for his 14th save in 15 opportunities. He has not given up a run in his last 18 appearances, covering 19 innings.

Kansas City 7, Detroit 3 -- Matt Stairs and Mike Sweeney hit two-run homers for the Royals at Kansas City, Mo.

Sweeney, who hit his fourth homer in eight games, also had two singles and scored three runs for the Royals, who have won 15 of their last 20 against Detroit.

Chicago 4, Texas 0 -- Esteban Loaiza gave up two hits and struck out nine in eight innings at Chicago. Loaiza (6-3) struck out Alfonso Soriano in the fourth inning for his 1,000th strikeout.