Suzuki strikes again to lead Mariners, 9-5

Ichiro Suzuki extended his hitting streak to a career-high 24 games and the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers, 9-5, on Thursday night.

Suzuki was three for five with two runs batted in and Kenji Johjima, Adrian Beltre and Yuniesky Betancourt each had two hits for Seattle.

Gerald Laird hit a three-run homer and Frank Catalanotto had a two-run double for Texas, which lost for the eighth time in nine games. The Rangers lost a team-record 20 games in May.

Texas slugger Sammy Sosa struck out four times and remains stuck on 598 homers.

Suzuki led off the bottom of the first with a base hit to center field. His hitting streak is the longest in the majors this season and tied with Joey Cora (1997) for the best streak in team history.

Jose Guillen reached on a one-out single off Vicente Padilla (2-8), who then walked Raul Ibanez to load the bases. Richie Sexson followed with a two-run single, and Johjima’s base hit made it 3-0.