Mariners Stay Ahead of Pace

Ichiro Suzuki hit his second homer in three games and Seattle starter John Halama won again as the Mariners beat the Texas Rangers, 7-2, Thursday night at Seattle.

Rafael Palmeiro hit his 26th homer of the season for the last-place Rangers, who lost their sixth consecutive series. It was Palmeiro’s 473rd career home run, good for 22nd all-time. Willie Stargell and Stan Musial are next on the career list with 475 homers apiece.

Staying a game ahead of Angels in the AL West, the Mariners scored five runs in the second inning off Aaron Myette (0-2). After a walk to Mike Cameron and a single by Ben Davis, Suzuki homered to right field to give Seattle a 4-1 lead. It was Suzuki’s sixth homer of the season and fourth since the All-Star break.

Mark McLemore walked and John Olerud singled before Bret Boone doubled for Seattle’s last two runs in the second.

Halama (5-3), improved to 4-0 in six starts as the second left-hander in Seattle’s rotation behind Jamie Moyer. In five innings, he gave up two runs, seven hits and two walks, with no strikeouts. Halama has spent most of the season in Seattle’s bullpen.

Palmeiro, tied for third in the AL in homers, hit his 17th consecutive solo shot in the second to tie the score at 1-1. It was his 38th homer against the Mariners, the most by a player against Seattle.

The Rangers got their second run in the fifth on consecutive singles by Gabe Kapler, Alex Rodriguez and Juan Gonzalez.

Suzuki went three for four to raise his batting average to .363, tops in the majors. He has a 10-game hitting streak.

Boston 6, Tampa Bay 0--Pedro Martinez struck out 11 and gave up two hits in eight innings, and the Red Sox won at Boston.

Trot Nixon hit his 15th homer of the season, a two-run shot in the first, and Manny Ramirez and Jason Varitek hit consecutive homers off Luis De Los Santos (0-2) in the third.

Martinez (13-2) is 5-0 in his last seven starts. In his last five, his ERA is 0.79 with 50 strikeouts, eight walks, 20 hits and three earned runs in 34 1/3 innings.

Detroit 5, Kansas City 2--Robert Fick hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the sixth inning and had a two-run homer as the Tigers completed a three-game sweep at Detroit.

Fick also made a key defensive play in right field to preserve the Tigers’ edge.

With the Royals trailing, 3-2, in the eighth, Carlos Beltran tripled with one out, Joe Randa walked and Raul Ibanez hit a line drive that Fick caught. But before Beltran could tag up and score, Fick doubled Randa off first base.