Devil Rays No Match For M's

This is the Rickey Henderson that Lou Piniella remembers.

Henderson hit a leadoff home run for the second straight day, sending the Seattle Mariners over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 8-4 Sunday.

Henderson has started twice for the Mariners since being released by the New York Mets, and has homered in the first inning both times. His 77 leadoff home runs are a major league record.

"It's amazing," said Piniella, who managed Henderson with the New York Yankees from 1986-88. "That's two games in a row. I was mentioning to him during the game that his bat is quick. It's really quick."

"Ten years ago, I used to do that all the time," Henderson said. "Maybe it's now starting all over again."

Henderson homered on Steve Trachsel's second pitch, sending a drive to left field.

"It was a curveball," said Trachsel. "I don't know if it was down or up, but doing what he did is what Rickey is known for."

Dan Wilson and Mike Cameron hit consecutive homers for Seattle and Martinez later connected. Jhn Olerud went 4-for-4 with a walk and scored two runs and Henderson finished with two hits and also scored twice.

The Mariners signed the 41-year-old Henderson on Wednesday night. In his first game for Seattle, he raced home with the tying run as a pinch-runner Friday night.

After Henderson's homer, Seattle strung together four straight singles. Jay Buhner's hit scored Olerud for a 2-0 lead.

"To lead off with homers in two straight games, that's amazing," said Aaron Sele (4-2). "He's got a flair for the dramatic. He plays hard out there and he's obviously a wonderful addition."

Sele left in the seventh inning after Gerald Williams blooped a two-run double that made it 8-4.

Arthur Rhodes, ejected for his role in a bench-clearing brawl Saturday, relieved and, after walking Vinny Castilla to load the bases, struck out Greg Vaughn and Jose Canseco to end the threat.

"Rhodes challenged them with his best stuff, " said Piniella. "He really threw the ball well and got us out of a jam."

Trachsel (3-3) allowed 10 hits and four runs in 3 2-3 innings, his shortest outing of the year.

Mark McLemore, ejected from Saturday's game after charging the mound and tackling pitcher Esteban Yan, followed Henderson's sixth-inning single with an RBI double.

Alex Rodriguez then doubled and Martinez hit his 13th homer, a two-run drive, for an 8-2 lead.

The Devil Rays scored twice in the second on Bubba Trammell's RBI single and John Flaherty's sacrifice fly.

Henderson is definitely making an impact on the Mariners offense, and the Tampa Bay players took notice.

"He gets on base and everybody in the park is aware of him over there," said Flaherty. "He takes the pitcher's focus off the hitter. When that hapens, you probably don't make quality pitches to the hitter. Seattle already has a good lineup and you can't concentrate on the runners. There is no doubt in my mind that he will help them."

Sele, who has faced Henderson as an opponent in the past, says that Henderson is distracting.

"He really makes you split your concentration between first base and home plate. That makes it tough to make quality pitches. He has a little strike zone, and if you make a mistake he has the power to take you out of the park. I'm glad I'm on his side now."

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