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  Monday, Jun. 5 10:05pm ET
Rodriguez's homer breaks Yoshii
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

SEATTLE (AP) -- Alex Rodriguez and Edgar Martinez provided quite a 1-2 punch for the Seattle Mariners.

Rodriguez hit a three-run homer and Martinez followed with a solo shot as the Seattle Mariners beat the Colorado Rockies 6-2 Monday night.

Alex Rodriguez
Alex Rodriguez (3) is congratulated by Rickey Henderson (right) and Mike Cameron after homering off Masato Yoshii.
"Those guys can hit," Rockies manager Buddy Bell said. "Edgar is a Hall of Famer. Hopefully someone is taking notice. If he's not the best hitter in the last 10 years, he's right up there."

The game featured the American and National League players of the month in May -- Martinez and Todd Helton. Martinez had the better day with a double and his 18th homer. Helton went 0-for-4 to lower his major league-leading average to .410.

Rodriguez went 3-for-4 and is 5-for-8 with a double, a triple and a home run over the last two games.

"Alex's home run was huge," said Mariners starter Aaron Sele (6-2), who allowed one unearned run and five hits in seven innings to win his fourth straight decision. "Alex is a superstar. He's a money player, and you need those big hits."

Leading 2-1 in the fourth, the Mariners jumped on Colorado starter Masato Yoshii (1-7) for four runs after two outs.

Rickey Henderson singled, Mike Cameron doubled him to third and Rodriguez followed with his 16th homer.

"The count was 3-2. He hit a couple of fouls," Yoshii said of his nine-pitch battle with Rodriguez. "I wanted to pitch really hard, and as a result he hit a home run."

Martinez followed his homer, the third time the Mariners have hit back-to-back home runs this season.

"We got some timely hitting tonight," Mariners manager Lou Piniella said. "Edgar really hit a long home run."

Yoshii allowed six runs and eight hits in 3 2/3 innings as he lost his sixth straight decision. Scott Karl pitched the final 4 1/3 innings for Colorado, allowing no runs and two hits.

"Masato couldn't find his command tonight," Bell said. "His velocity was as good as it has been, but he just couldn't get the command."

Tom Goodwin opened the game with a single off Sele. He stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Dan Wilson. Neifi Perez followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0.

Seattle answered in the first with a run. Henderson walked, stole second, advanced to third on a flyout and scored on a wild pitch. Yoshii walked three in the first but escaped a bases-loaded jam by getting David Bell to foul out.

Rodriguez singled to start the third, advanced to third on a double by Martinez and scored on John Olerud's sacrifice fly.

The Rockies threatened Sele in the seventh. With runners on first and second with two out, Bubba Carpenter singled to center but Darren Bragg tried to score from second but was thrown out at the plate by Cameron to end the inning.

"It was a perfect throw, and it was a great tag by Dan Wilson," Rodriguez said.

Brett Mayne hit a solo homer in the ninth off Jose Mesa for Colorado.

The Rockies had won seven of their previous eight games.

Game notes
Helton is hitting .500 at home and .327 on the road. ... Martinez is hitting (11-for-29) with four homers and eight RBI against the Rockies. ... Martinez's first-inning walk was the 900th of his career. ... The crowd of 25,582 is the second smallest ever in 70 games at Safeco Field. ... Seattle's first five batters went 9-for-18 (.500). ... Yoshii's 3 2/3 innings matches his shortest outing of the season. ... The Rockies are 1-5 in Seattle, and this was their first game at Safeco Field.

 


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