CHICAGO — The Seattle Mariners were having trouble scoring runs in Chicago until the sixth inning of series finale.
Miguel Olivo drove in three runs, including a go-ahead two-run double in the 10th inning, and the Mariners beat the White Sox 7-4 on Wednesday night.
“(Olivo) has a
lways been a guy that’s gotten big hits,” Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. “I’ve been on the other side against him for a lot of years and he’s a step-up kind of guy.”
Justin Smoak started the winning rally with a leadoff bloop double off White Sox closer Sergio Santos (2-2). Adam Kennedy drew a walk, then Olivo — who had a solo homer in the eighth against his former team — drove in both runners with a grounder just inside of third base and into the left-field corner.
“(Wedge) trusts me a lot and I don’t want to let him down,” Olivo said. “I just focused more and saw better pitches to hit.”
Seattle ended a 10-game losing streak at U.S. Cellular Field and salvaged the finale of the three-game series. The Mariners have played 32 games decided by two runs or fewer this season, going 16-16 in those contests.
“The guys showed up and got after it,” Wedge said. “We ran into a little bump in the road, but how you react to it means everything to me and I know it means everything to (the players).”
White Sox right fielder Carlos Quentin homered twice, hitting a solo shot in the first off Jason Vargas and a tying two-run shot in the eighth off reliever Jamey Wright.
Vargas said the home run pitch he threw to Quentin was well-placed.
“It went where I wanted it to go,” Vargas said. “He just put a good swing on it.”
Aaron Laffey (1-1) threw a scoreless inning to earn the win and Brandon League pitched a perfect 10th for his AL-leading 17th save of the season.
Vargas pitched 7 1-3 strong innings, but gave way to reliever Wright after allowing a single to Alexei Ramirez with one out in the eighth. Wright fell behind Quentin, who hit a 3-1 pitch into the left-field bleachers, tying the score at 4-all.
“When Carlos is where he is right now, he can carry a ballclub for a little while,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. “Hopefully he stays there for a few days. It’s fun to see him not swinging at many bad pitches.”
Vargas, who three a shutout against Toronto in his last start, allowed three runs, seven hits and one walk while striking out four.
“He pitched a heck of a ballgame,” Wedge said. “I didn’t want him to face the middle of the order again. He worked pretty hard his last start and we thought that was enough. It didn’t work out — Jamey had another tough night —-but everybody else stepped up and picked him up.”
The Mariners scored just one run in each of the first two games of the series, and White Sox starter Gavin Floyd cruised through the first five innings on Wednesday and extended his scoreless streak against the Mariners to 27 innings.
Seattle finally broke through in the sixth, scoring three runs to snap Floyd’s streak and take a 3-1 lead. Franklin Gutierrez’s two-run double highlighted the inning and Kennedy drove in the other run on a grounder.
That was the last inning for Floyd, who threw six innings and allowed five hits, three runs and three walks and struck out three.
Chicago pulled within a run on Gordon Beckham’s two-out RBI single in the bottom of seventh.
The Mariners tacked on a run in the eighth when Olivo’s homer made it 4-2. Olivo also scored Seattle’s last run, when he came home on Gutierrez’s squeeze bunt in the 10th.
Quentin erased that lead in the bottom of the inning.
“(Quentin) is just a professional hitter,” Vargas said. “He frustrates me as much as I frustrate him. … He puts you in a position where you have to come to him. You just try to keep guys off base for when he comes to the plate.”
The White Sox slugger came in leading the majors in extra-base hits (35) and doubles (20). His eighth-inning homer was his 17th of the season, and gave him 13 career multi-homer games, including three this season.
Chicago got to Vargas in the first inning. Quentin hit a 1-2 pitch into the back of the White Sox bullpen in left field, extending his hitting streak to 10 games.
Vargas retired the next nine Chicago batters, before Paul Konerko doubled in the fourth.
“I was pleased with the way I was able to throw the fastball, especially early,” Vargas said. “That kind of set the tone for me.”
NOTES: The White Sox placed RHP Jake Peavy on the 15-day disabled list (retroactive to Monday) with a mild groin strain. Peavy, who left his most recent start after four innings because of the injury, was replaced on the roster by RHP Lucas Harrell, who was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte. … Alex Rios was back in the starting lineup on Wednesday after sitting for three games for what White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen called a “mental break.” Rios is hitting .199 on the season. … Suzuki played his 1,353rd career game in right field for the Mariners, breaking Jay Buhner’s franchise record. … Jeff Marquez, designated for assignment on June 5 by the White Sox, was claimed off waivers by the Yankees on Wednesday.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
