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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
SEATTLE (AP) -- The Seattle Mariners will save their celebrating
for later.
|  | | David Bell rounds the bases after belting a second-inning homer. |
"Everybody in here has played baseball for a long, long time.
We can't get too high now," David Bell said after homering and
driving in the first three runs as the Mariners beat the Baltimore
Orioles 12-5 Wednesday night.
"It's just too long a season to get too excited right now," he
said.
Winning their seventh game in a row and their 14th of 17 series
this season, the Mariners improved their record to a major
league-best 39-12. After 51 games, only six teams in history had
better starts than the Mariners.
John Olerud and Bret Boone homered in a seven-run eighth inning.
"We've played 51 games and we've played awfully well," manager
Lou Piniella said. "But there's a lot of baseball left to be
played."
Mark McLemore had a career-best four stolen bases to tie the
Mariners' record, making him 16-for-16 for the season.
The Mariners got seven hits in the eighth, breaking away from a
5-3 lead.
McLemore hit an RBI single and Dan Wilson and Ichiro Suzuki had
RBI doubles in the eighth. Olerud hit a three-run homer and Boone
followed with a home run.
"The game was close until that inning," Olerud said. "So we
were really happy with it. We were looking for insurance runs."
Bell gave Seattle a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning with a two-out
single that scored Mike Cameron.
Going 2-for-4, Bell raised his batting average to .223.
"I've tried to be patient all year, but it's been tough when
you see guys who have been contributing like they have all
season," Bell said.
John Halama (4-4) went six innings, allowing two runs on nine
hits and two walks.
"I'm always going to give up hits so my job is damage
control," said Halama, a finesse left-hander who was a 14-game
winner for the Mariners last season. "Basically, I kept it close
enough until we started swinging the bats."
Jason Johnson (4-3) surrendered three runs on four hits and six
walks, tying a career high.
"I take responsibility for this loss," Johnson said. "There
were a lot of chances in this game where I could have made
different pitches."
The Orioles tied it at 2 with a run in the sixth. Melvin Mora
singled and scored on Jerry Hairston's single.
The Mariners took a 2-1 lead in the second on a walk to Carlos
Guillen and Bell's fourth homer of the season.
Baltimore made it 1-0 in the first when Delino DeShields
singled, stole second and scored on Cal Ripken Jr.'s sacrifice fly.
The Mariners scored two more unearned runs for a 5-2 lead in the
seventh after DeShields let Suzuki's fly ball to left field drop in
for a two-base error. Edgar Martinez and Boone had sacrifice flies.
Hairston's double-play grounder with the bases loaded brought in
Baltimore's third run in the eighth, making it 5-3. Mike Bordick
homered in the ninth.
Mariners reliever Norm Charlton had to leave the game with a
pulled groin when he got a 3-2 count on Jeff Conine with one out in
the ninth.
"We'll have to wait and see how he's doing," Piniella said.
Game notes
The 1928 New York Yankees and 1946 Boston Red Sox were
41-10 after 51 games. The 1907 Chicago Cubs, the 1912 New York
Giants, the 1939 Yankees and the 1953 Yankees started off 40-11.
Five other teams were 39-12. ... Seattle tied a team record with
five stolen bases. ... Boone leads the Mariners with 50 RBI. ...
Conine doubled in the third to give him a career-best 14-game
hitting streak. ... McLemore became the fourth Mariners' player to
steal four bases in a game. The last Seattle player to do that was
Henry Cotto on June 23, 1990, at Texas. McLemore also ran his
hitting streak to 10 games. ... Baltimore's Mike Kinkade delighted
the crowd of 34,753 in the sixth when he dropped a bunt down the
third-base line that was fielded by Halama. Kinkade stumbled and
fell, crawling the final 15 feet to the base. Halama didn't realize
Kinkade fell at first and, finally, made a throw to Olerud, but it
was too late. ... Boone has an AL-leading seven sacrifice flies. He
leads the Mariners with 10 home runs and 50 RBI.
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OTHER GAMES
Baseball Scoreboard
Baltimore Clubhouse
Seattle Clubhouse
RECAPS
Oakland 15
Tampa Bay 2
Boston 3
NY Yankees 0
Cleveland 8
Detroit 4
Chi. White Sox 4
Toronto 3
Kansas City 11
Texas 2
Minnesota 3
Anaheim 0
Seattle 12
Baltimore 5
Montreal 4
Atlanta 3
Philadelphia 6
NY Mets 3
Chicago Cubs 3
Cincinnati 1
Florida 9
Pittsburgh 7
Milwaukee 11
St. Louis 1
Houston 7
San Diego 4
Arizona 4
San Francisco 3
Los Angeles 4
Colorado 1
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