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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, July 11, 2008

Suzuki spurs A's' rally

 •  Slumping Sexson released by Seattle

Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Oakland's Kurt Suzuki watches his fourth homer of the season, a solo shot that tied the score at 2 in the ninth inning against Seattle.

ERIC RISBERG | Associated Press

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OAKLAND, Calif. — Emil Brown rounded the bases, then grabbed A's hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo and nearly smothered him in a hug — a good student acknowledging his teacher.

Brown hit a solo homer in the 11th inning, after Jack Cust and Kurt Suzuki hit solo shots in the ninth inning to tie the score, and Oakland rallied for a 3-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners yesterday.

Brown's first career game-winning home run also gave Caesar Jimenez (0-1) his first career decision, after Huston Street (2-2) pitched two scoreless innings for the Athletics.

"I swung the bat, but Ty got me better prepared for that at-bat than any before," Brown said. "He told me exactly what the guy would do and I kept that in the back of my mind like a game plan. He did exactly what Ty told me he would."

Cust led off the ninth with his 17th home run, and second in as many games, off Brandon Morrow. The Mariners' new closer came back to strike out Brown and Carlos Gonzalez, but Suzuki, a Baldwin High alum from Maui, hit his first career pinch-hit homer on a 1-0 delivery to send the game to extra innings.

"I got myself loose just in case I would pinch hit," Suzuki said. "It's not easy to pinch hit against a guy who throws 100 miles an hour. You wait for the fastball and if you get one for a strike, you better not miss it."

It was Morrow's first career blown save and spoiled a stellar performance by R.A. Dickey, who gave up four hits over seven scoreless innings.

"It took me a moment to adjust," Dickey said of working out of a bases-loaded jam in the first. "The bullpen mound is in the opposite direction of the game mound and that makes a big difference for a knuckleballer. It took me an inning to get used to it."

A's starter Greg Smith allowed four hits over six innings, but his offense failed to support him with a run for the seventh time — and with two or fewer for the 12th time in 18 starts.

"He's pitched great for us all year," Cust said. "It seems like he's always on the short end of a pitcher's duel. He's doing everything he can to keep us in it and the best thing is that we won the game."

Brad Ziegler worked an inning of relief for Oakland, extending his scoreless inning streak to 19 to start his career. He's three shy of Boston's Dave Ferriss for the American League record set in 1945.

Seattle took a 1-0 lead in the eighth on Jose Vidro's single and made it 2-0 in the ninth on Jose Lopez's double to deep left field.

INDIANS 13, RAYS 2

Ben Francisco homered and drove in a career-high four runs and David Dellucci, Shin-Soo Choo and Casey Blake also went deep as host Cleveland snapped a 10-game losing streak, while handing Tampa Bay its fourth straight loss.

TWINS 7, TIGERS 6

After Minnesota tied the score with two runs against closer Todd Jones on two singles, an error and Joe Mauer's sacrifice fly, Justin Morneau hit an 11th-inning homer, tying a career-high with his fifth hit, to help the visiting Twins halt a three-game losing streak.

ANGELS 11, RANGERS 10

Pinch-hitter Maicer Izturis drove in the go-ahead run with a single in the top of the 11th inning and Francisco Rodriguez, who blew a save Wednesday night, pitched out of a no-out, two-on jam in the bottom of the 11th to earn his 36th save as Los Angeles held off Texas.

BLUE JAYS 6, ORIOLES 5

Lyle Overbay tied it with a sacrifice fly and Adam Lind drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth off closer George Sherrill (2-4) as Toronto completed a three-game sweep by handing Baltimore its fifth straight loss.

ROYALS 4, WHITE SOX 1

Mark Teahen's inside-the-park, two-run home run capped a four-run rally in the bottom of the eighth inning as Kansas City avoided a three-game sweep by rallying past Chicago and Mark Buehrle (6-8), who spaced four hits over seven shutout innings.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

PHILLIES 4, CARDINALS 1

Ryan Howard homered twice, a two-run shot in the first and a solo blast in the sixth to increase his NL-leading total to 27, in support of Jamie Moyer (8-6) as host Philadelphia beat St. Louis.

METS 7, GIANTS 3

Fernando Tatis homered, doubled twice and drove in four runs, and David Wright doubled twice and scored the go-ahead run in a four-run seventh as host New York beat San Francisco for its sixth straight victory.

BREWERS 11, ROCKIES 1

Dave Bush (5-8) allowed one run and four hits over eight innings with a career-high 13 strikeouts, and Corey Hart celebrated making the All-Star team through Internet balloting with his 15th homer to lead host Milwaukee's rout of Colorado.

REDS 12, CUBS 7

David Ross hit two homers, Ken Griffey Jr. homered for the 605th time, and Edwin Encarnacion, Brandon Phillips, Adam Dunn and Joey Votto also went deep as visiting Cincinnati outslugged Chicago to avoid a three-game sweep.

DIAMONDBACKS 7, NATIONALS 5

Stephen Drew had an RBI double and Chad Tracy a run-scoring single in the top of the 11th inning as Arizona, which blew a two-run lead in the ninth and a three-run lead in the 10th, beat Washington.

MARLINS 4, DODGERS 4

Hanley Ramirez, the starting shortstop in Tuesday's All-Star game, homered with two outs in the top of the 11th inning off Brian Falkenborg (1-2), capping the first five-hit game of his career and helping Florida beat Los Angeles.

INTERLEAGUE

PIRATES 4, YANKEES 2

Nate McLouth hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh, and Paul Maholm (6-5) allowed two runs and five hits over eight innings as Pittsburgh rallied to beat New York in the last game of interleague play this season. It was a makeup of a June 26 rainout.

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