Mariners Capitalize on Opportunity, 5-4

Having already erased a four-run deficit, the Baltimore Orioles came tantalizingly close to taking the lead in the eighth inning.

Given the same opportunity in the ninth, the Seattle Mariners cashed in.

Desi Relaford scored the tiebreaking run on a double by Jeff Cirillo, giving the Mariners a 5-4 victory Thursday night at Baltimore.

Seattle went up 4-0 in the second inning against Scott Erickson, but Baltimore used home runs by Jeff Conine and Brook Fordyce to draw even.

The Mariners then earned their 18th win in 20 games against the Orioles by scoring a run in the ninth off Jorge Julio (2-3). Relaford led off with a single, took second on a sacrifice and stole third before Cirillo lined a double to left.

“We can beat you with the long ball, we can beat you with the stolen base, we can beat you with strong pitching,� Relaford said. “Tonight we did the little things in the last inning to win.�

The Orioles failed to convert a similar opportunity a half-inning earlier, and it cost them.

With the score 4-all, Brian Roberts opened the Baltimore eighth with double and took third on a sacrifice. But Shigetoshi Hasegawa struck out Tony Batista and Arthur Rhodes (3-1) retired Jay Gibbons on a grounder.

“They executed in the ninth and we didn’t. That’s the story of the game,� Oriole Manager Mike Hargrove said. “We just didn’t put the ball in play when we should have.�

Tampa Bay 4, Oakland 3--Greg Vaughn hit a game-winning double in the 13th inning at St. Petersburg, Fla., as the Devil Rays ended a seven-game losing streak against the Athletics.

Russ Johnson doubled off Chad Bradford leading off the 13th. Vaughn--who began the game hitting .120, lowest among major-league regulars--followed with his second run-scoring hit of the game.

Cleveland 11, Detroit 7--Ellis Burks and Jim Thome each homered twice and drove in four runs at Cleveland.

It was the 20th career two-homer game for Burks and Thome, who hit the Indians’ first consecutive homers of the season in the second inning.

Thome hit his 13th homer in the fourth. The 463-foot, three-run shot off Jose Lima (1-3) gave the Indians a 10-6 lead.