Texas Rally Beats Mariners 9-8

In a wacky game in which a fan ran on the field to argue with an umpire and the winning pitcher did not retire a batter, the Texas Rangers rallied past the Seattle Mariners 9-8 Thursday night.

While Rangers manager Johnny Oates was involved in an animated argument with third-base umpire Brian O'Nora over a call on a stolen base in the top of the ninth, a fan holding onto his cap like Earl Weaver came out of the third-base stands to join the discussion. The man was promptly escorted away by security and was arrested by Arlington police for disturbing the peace.

The argument proved to be immaterial when Bobby Ayala (0-3) gave up three runs in the bottom of the inning as Seattle blew its second lead in two nights.

The Mariners' 10th blown save of the season overshadowed Ken Griffey's 17th homer, one shy of teammate Alex Rodriguez's AL lead. Griffey also tripled and doubled.

The Rangers rallied from a six-run deficit Wednesday night against the Mariners bullpen and pulled out an 8-7 victory.

Texas completed a three-game series sweep of Seattle. The Rangers' last sweep of the Mariners from April 6-9, 1992 in a four-game series.

"We come in here and lose three games and we should have been 2-1," Mariners manager Lou Piniella said. "They hit us, no matter who we sent out there. Ayala had good success against this team."

Griffey refused to rip his team's bullpen, saying, "You know me. I don't say anything bad. When we have a team meeting, I just listen."

Juan Gonzalez homered, doubled and drove in three runs, giving him a major league-leading 54 RBIs for the Rangers.

"It was a great comeback last night and a great comeback tonight," Gonzalez said. "It's awesome. You see everything in baseball. We never quit. It was a great moment for this club."

Scott Bailes (1-0) got the win without retiring a batter. After throwing two pitches to Rob Ducey, Bailes picked Russ Davis off first base to end the ninth.

The Mariners scored what looked to be an insurance run earlier in the inning to make it 8-6. Glenallen Hill hit his third double of the game, pinch-runner Rich Amaral stole third, prompting the argument from Oates and the fan, and scored on Davis' single.

In the bottom of the inning, Domingo Cedeno hit a one-out double and scored on Rusty Greer' triple off the left-field scoreboard. Gonzalez doubled Greer home.

One out later, Ayala intentionally walked Ivan Rodriguez, setting up Luis Alicea's game-winning single to right center. Alicea entered the game as a pinch hitter in the eighth.

"The game was already tied, so there was no pressure on me," Alicea said. "We just won't quit."

Oates does not comment on ejections. He did say the consecutive victories against a team that has been Texas' nemesis over the last five years boosts his team's confidence.

"It's exciting," Oates said. "You see the confidence building and you never think you're out of a ballgame. I don't want to change the ending of the script, but I'd like to change the beginning."

Griffey's towering 425-foot blast to right in the fourth was his ninth at The Ballpark in Arlington, tying him with Jose Canseco for the most by a visiting player.

Trailing 7-2, the Rangers rallied for three runs in the sixth. Gonzalez had a two-run homer, his 11th and Kevin Elster added an RBI single to make it 7-5.

Texas scored one more in the eighth against Ayala on an RBI single by Alicea.

The Rangers scored in the first after Tom Goodwin reached on a two-base error by second baseman Joey Cora and scored on Greer's sacrifice fly.

But Seattle took a 3-1 lead in the second off John Burkett as Cora atoned for his error with a two-run single and scored on Rodriguez's RBI single.

Texas made it 3-2 in the third on Domingo Cedeno's RBI single.

Seattle scored three in the fourth on an RBI groundout by Rodriguez and Griffey's two-run homer. Seattle made it 7-2 in the fifth on Wilson's sacrifice fly.

Seattle starter Jeff Fassero allowed five runs and 10 hits in seven innings.

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