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• Published August 27, 2011

Brent Lillibridge hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the fifth inning, Jake Peavy pitched six strong innings for just his second win since late June and the Chicago White Sox beat the Seattle Mariners, 4-2, on Friday night.

Lillibridge, a Seattle area native and former college star across town at Washington, snped a 2-all tie with his 12th homer deep into the bullpen in left-center field off Seattle starter Charlie Furbush. Lillibridge had struck out in his first two at-bats before taking Furbush (3-6) deep.

Peavy made it stand up, despite giving up seven hits to the Mariners and wiggling out of jams with runners on in nearly every inning. Peavy (6-6) left after the sixth, and three White Sox relievers closed out the victory.

Seattle left runners in scoring position in the first, third and fourth innings against Peavy, but the only damage Seattle’s offense could manage was Miguel Olivo’s solo home run leading off the second and Trayvon Robinson’s bloop single in the fourth.

Kyle Seager scored on Robinson’s single after doubling off the glove of Juan Pierre’s diving attempt to open the inning.

Otherwise, Peavy was strong. He matched his season high with eight strikeouts and retired the final six batters he faced. It was just the fourth start this season where Peavy allowed two earned runs or less.

Matt Thornton took over for Peavy and struck out Ichiro Suzuki and Dustin Ackley in the seventh, but gave up singles to Franklin Gutierrez and Mike Carp. Jesse Crain entered and walked Olivo but got rookie Seager swinging at strike three in the dirt to end the threat.

SMOAK ON THE MEND

It had been two weeks since the ground ball to first jumped up and hit Justin Smoak in the nose, landing the Seattle Mariners first baseman on the disabled list with a break in his nose and just below one eye.

On Friday, someone asked Smoak when he was going to be able to play.

“Sunday,” he said.

And what position?

“Left field,” he deadpanned.

For the first time since that game against Boston, Smoak was cleared to take grounders Friday, and understandably he seemed to sidestep a few rather than hunker down in front.

“He’s going to go full-out for a few days and we’ll see where we are,” manager Eric Wedge said.

6-MAN ROTATION

Wedge made it official: The Mariners will stick with a six-man starting rotation for at least another turn or two through, which was good news for rookie left-handed pitcher Anthony Vasquez.

Vasquez made his big league debut in Cleveland and won his first start. He allowed five earned runs in 5 innings, but the Mariners backed him with 10.

“If we’d scored one or two runs, no one would have been congratulating me,” Vasquez said of his first effort. “I was missing spots – a lot of spots – with my pitches. (Catcher) Josh Bard really helped me through it.”

A finesse pitcher who tops out at 84 mph, Vasquez will make his next start at Safeco Field next week against the Los Angeles Angels.

1,000 GAMES

Want to feel old? The game with the Chicago White Sox on Friday was the 1,000th played by the Mariners in Safeco Field – including four games against Florida in which Seattle was the “visiting” team.

Since opening in July 1999, the Mariners had gone 545-454 in the first 999 games.

In that time, the Mariners had managers Lou Piniella, Bob Melvin, Mike Hargrove, John McLaren, Jim Riggleman, Don Wakamatsu, Daren Brown and Eric Wedge working the home dugout.

SHORT HOPS

The Mariners began the homestand batting .283 as a team in August – nearly 50 points higher than their average in any other month this season. The previous best was in ril, when they hit .235. … Over his past 17 games, center fielder Franklin Gutierrez has raised his season average from .194 to .222.

ON T

Seattle hosts Chicago in a 7:10 p.m. game that will be televised on Root Sports. Probable starting pitchers: Chicago’s John Danks (5-9, 3.88 ERA) vs. Michael Pineda (9-7, 3.73).

larry.larue@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/mariners

SEATTLE () – Rookie Josh Reddick continued adding to his status in Boston with a two-run homer off the cafe windows in the second deck of right field and the Red Sox rallied for a 6-4 win over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.

Reddick’s 10th-inning, game-winning single against the New York Yankees last Sunday gave the Red Sox the lead in the AL East ahead of their rivals, and his homer on Friday extended the lead to two games. The Yankees lost to Tampa Bay earlier Friday night.

Reddick’s sixth homer was the c to a three-homer night by the Red Sox off Seattle starter Blake Beavan (3-3). David Ortiz and Jed Lowrie also homered for Boston.

Seattle knocked around Boston starter John Lackey for 10 hits, but Lackey (11-8) still managed to pick up his seventh straight victory.

Ortiz added an RBI single in the seventh that finally knocked out Beavan and concluded the worst start of his young career. Beavan was tagged for six runs and 11 hits, snping a string of six straight starts going at least six innings and giving up three earned runs or less. He struck out one and walked one but allowed a trio of costly homers.

None was more damaging than Reddick’s shot in the sixth. Beavan was ahead in the count 1-2 when he tried to sneak a fastball past Reddick down and in. Reddick quickly dropped the bat head and rattled the patrons eating dinner in the right field cafe.

Mike Aviles also had a sacrifice fly as the Red Sox won for the fifth time in six games.

Boston needed all the offense because Lackey again wasn’t sharp. For the third time in his last six starts, Lackey allowed double figures in hits and he was done after giving up a leadoff single to Mariners rookie Dustin Ackley leading off the seventh inning.

Mike Carp followed with a single off reliever Franklin Morales, but Morales later got Adam Kennedy looking and Daniel Bard struck out Miguel Olivo to end the threat.

Bard got through the eighth before Jonathan Pelbon worked the ninth for his 27th save in 28 chances.

Lackey’s been helped during his win streak by getting plenty of run support. His seven straight wins span eight starts and in those outings, the Red Sox have averaged six runs while Lackey is in the game.

Seattle loaded the bases in each of the first two innings thanks to six hits off Lackey. They managed only three runs as Lackey wiggled out of both jams without letting the game turn into a blowout early. Carp had a two-run single in the first, extending his hitting streak to 12 games, and Ackley had an RBI single in the second.

Carp also had a two-out RBI double in the fourth inning.

By the fifth, Lackey was setting down the Mariners in order for the first time and giving the Red Sox offense a chance to rally.

Seattle lost first baseman Justin Smoak in the second inning after he fractured his nose when Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s grounder bounced up and hit him in the face.

Smoak was down on the dirt for a couple of minutes and was bleeding after Saltalamacchia’s one-hop shot peared to hit off the bill of his hat and catch the bridge of his nose. Saltalamacchia ran to first with his hands on his head after seeing Smoak fall to the ground.

Smoak later underwent a CT scan at a local hospital. He had returned to the lineup Friday after missing five games with a sore left thumb.

Boston was also without third baseman Kevin Youkilis and shortstop Marco Scutaro. Both were in the original lineup only to be scratched later with stiff backs.

BY TIM BOOTH

The

SEATTLE — Colby Lewis missed pitching a four-hitter by an out and the Texas Rangers got a trio of sacrifice flies plus an RBI single from Michael Young in winning its ninth straight, 4-0 over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.

Lewis followed up Derek Holland’s stellar performance a night earlier when Holland took a perfect game into the sixth inning before settling for a shutout. Lewis wasn’t quite as good, giving up a third-inning single to Brendan Ryan, but was equally effective at keeping Seattle’s hless offense off the scoreboard.

Only three times did Seattle advance a runner to second base against the Rangers’ righty. Lewis (9-7) lived on the outside half of the plate and induced weak grounders and pop ups all night.

Seattle starter Doug Fister (3-11) retired 15 straight at one point, but again got no help from his offense. Seattle’s gone scoreless in 26 straight innings.

Lewis won his fourth straight decision and has dropped his ERA from 4.97 on June 11 down to 4.06. He allowed Ryan’s single in the third and a leadoff ground-rule double by Franklin Gutierrez in the fifth when centerfielder Endy Chavez was caught shading Gutierrez too much to right-center field. But Gutierrez was left standing at second as Kyle Seager and Carlos Peguero both struck out — Seager on a 10-pitch at-bat — and Ichiro Suzuki grounded out weakly to shortstop.

That was it for Seattle scoring chances until the ninth when Lewis fell one out short of his second shutout of the season. He gave up a one-out single to Dustin Ackley and then a two-out hit to Adam Kennedy. Manager Ron Washington decided not to risk anything and turned to Neftali Feliz, who got Jack Cust on a groundout to finish off the shutout for his 19th save in 27 chances.

Lewis struck out eight and walked only two in 82/3 innings. The Rangers pitching staff ran its consecutive scoreless innings streak to 29, not allowing a run since Coco Crisp homered in the seventh inning against the Rangers last Saturday. Texas now has 12 shutouts this season, second-best in baseball and the top mark in the American League.

Texas’ offense wasn’t overly powerful against Fister, but did enough. Ian Kinsler doubled to lead off the game and scored on Josh Hamilton’s sacrifice fly. Endy Chavez drove home Nelson Cruz in the second with a sacrifice fly before Texas did enough in the eighth to finally knock out Fister.

That came after Fister settled into an unhittable groove, retiring 15 straight following Elvis Andrus’ leadoff walk in the third. Ten of the 15 outs came on weak grounders in the infield.

But another Fister start was wasted by the Mariners offense. He’s given up four earned runs or less in each of his 12 starts since May 7, only to see the Mariners bats fail to give Fister a chance to win. He entered Friday night getting just 2.15 runs of support per start, the lowest number in the American League.

Seattle manager Eric Wedge was brutally honest about the Mariners offensive woes and that was before Friday’s effort. Before the game, Wedge noted the amount of positives going on with his club but that “hitting isn’t one of them.”

The trend continued against Lewis. Seattle hasn’t scored since the first inning of last Sunday’s loss to the Angels, its final game before the All-Star break.

NOTES: Seattle announced before Friday’s game that RHP David Aardsma will need Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. An MRI on Aardsma done Thursday determined the need for surgery.

He did not pitch for the Mariners this season. … Rangers INF Andres Blanco, on the DL since July 8 with a strained lower back, will start swinging a bat on Saturday and if there are no setbacks could head out on a rehab assignment sometime next week. … Friday was the 12th anniversary of the opening of Safeco Field.

——(equals)

Follow Tim Booth on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/tjbooth7

Colby Lewis missed pitching a four-hitter by an out and the Texas Rangers got a trio of sacrifice flies plus an RBI single from Michael Young in winning its ninth straight, 4-0 over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.

Lewis followed up Derek Holland’s stellar performance a night earlier when Holland took a perfect game into the sixth inning before settling for a shutout. Lewis wasn’t quite as good, giving up a third-inning single to Brendan Ryan, but was equally effective at keeping Seattle’s hless offense off the scoreboard.

Only three times did Seattle advance a runner to second base against the Rangers’ righty. Lewis (9-7) lived on the outside half of the plate and induced weak grounders and pop ups all night.

Seattle starter Doug Fister (3-11) retired 15 straight at one point, but again got no help from his offense. Seattle’s gone scoreless in 26 straight innings.

Lewis won his fourth straight decision and has dropped his ERA from 4.97 on June 11 down to 4.06. He allowed Ryan’s single in the third and a leadoff ground-rule double by Franklin Gutierrez in the fifth when centerfielder Endy Chavez was caught shading Gutierrez too much to right-center field. But Gutierrez was left standing at second as Kyle Seager and Carlos Peguero both struck out — Seager on a 10-pitch at-bat — and Ichiro Suzuki grounded out weakly to shortstop.

That was it for Seattle scoring chances until the ninth when Lewis fell one out short of his second shutout of the season. He gave up a one-out single to Dustin Ackley and then a two-out hit to Adam Kennedy. Manager Ron Washington decided not to risk anything and turned to Neftali Feliz, who got Jack Cust on a groundout to finish off the shutout for his 19th save in 27 chances.

Lewis struck out eight and walked only two in 8 2-3 innings. The Rangers pitching staff ran its consecutive scoreless innings streak to 29, not allowing a run since Coco Crisp homered in the seventh inning against the Rangers last Saturday. Texas now has 12 shutouts this season, second-best in baseball and the top mark in the American League.

Texas’ offense wasn’t overly powerful against Fister, but did enough. Ian Kinsler doubled to lead off the game and scored on Josh Hamilton’s sacrifice fly. Endy Chavez drove home Nelson Cruz in the second with a sacrifice fly before Texas did enough in the eighth to finally knock out Fister.

That came after Fister settled into an unhittable groove, retiring 15 straight following Elvis Andrus’ leadoff walk in the third. Ten of the 15 outs came on weak grounders in the infield.

The Rangers finally got to Fister again in the eighth when Chavez led off with a single and raced to third on Kinsler’s base hit. Chavez was cut down at home on an infield grounder by Andrus, and after Hamilton was intentionally walked, Adrian Beltre hit a flyball deep enough for Kinsler to score. Young then followed with a single to score Andrus.

But another Fister start was wasted by the Mariners offense. He’s given up four earned runs or less in each of his 12 starts since May 7, only to see the Mariners bats fail to give Fister a chance to win. He entered Friday night getting just 2.15 runs of support per start, the lowest number in the American League.

Seattle manager Eric Wedge was brutally honest about the Mariners offensive woes and that was before Friday’s effort. Before the game, Wedge noted the amount of positives going on with his club but that “hitting isn’t one of them.”

The trend continued against Lewis. Seattle hasn’t scored since the first inning of last Sunday’s loss to the Angels, its final game before the All-Star break.

NOTES: Seattle announced before Friday’s game that RHP David Aardsma will need Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. An MRI on Aardsma done Thursday determined the need for surgery. He did not pitch for the Mariners this season. … Rangers INF Andres Blanco, on the DL since July 8 with a strained lower back, will start swinging a bat on Saturday and if there are no setbacks could head out on a rehab assignment sometime next week. … Friday was the 12th anniversary of the opening of Safeco Field.

___(equals)

Follow Tim Booth on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/tjbooth7

The question, manager Eric Wedge acknowledged, was a legitimate one – who should be the cleanup hitter for the Seattle Mariners?

On Friday, it was Miguel Olivo, batting .208 with two home runs and 12 RBI. Right behind Olivo in the lineup was Justin Smoak, hitting .315 with five home runs and 20 RBI.

Wedge had said in spring training he didn’t want to push Smoak into that role, and he’s held to it.

“That’s a discipline that I need to maintain,” Wedge said. “He’s a young player, he’s where he needs to be right now and that’s where I’m going to keep him.”

Is there really that big a difference hitting fourth than fifth?

“There’s that thing with the four hole. Somebody put that ‘cleanup’ mark on it a long time ago, and I’d like to punch them in the face. But the bottom line is that there is that stigma with it,” Wedge said.

When will he know Smoak is ready for the job?

“A lot of it has to do with their personality, their experience level, their level of toughness,” Wedge said. “I’m not saying that Justin couldn’t do it, I’m saying that I don’t want to do it right now. I want him to continue where he’s at right now.”

Why is Olivo batting fourth?

“Miguel has done a hell of a job in the cleanup spot for us,” Wedge said. Then he laughed. “… You’ve got to be able to handle the failure that comes along with the territory. He’s done well.”

GUTI GETTING CLOSE

Franklin Gutierrez was playing in Tacoma with the Rainiers on Friday, and is scheduled to play again today and Sunday – and then the Mariners will determine whether he comes with them on their trip beginning Tuesday in Baltimore.

“I talked to him with trainer Rick Griffin,” Wedge said. “We’re going to go ahead and have him play seven innings (Friday) in center field and DH him (today), and we’ll probably have him play (the field) again on Sunday.

“He and I are going to talk after the game again (tonight) and go from there.”

SHORT HOPS

David Aardsma will throw a bullpen session today, be reevaluated and perhs rejoin the Rainiers for a rehab assignment. … Olivo started his 10th consecutive game at catcher Friday – his longest streak since 2005, when he was with the San Diego Padres.

ON T

Seattle hosts Chicago in a 6:10 p.m. game that will be televised on Root Sports. Probable starting pitchers: Gavin Floyd (3-2, 4.39) vs. Doug Fister (2-3, 2.70).

blog.thenewstribune.com/mariners

By Tim Booth,

SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners will come home on Friday night and debut in front of their home fans against the Cleveland Indians.

But in many ways, the debut of new Seattle manager Eric Wedge and the celebration of Felix Hernandez’s AL Cy Young Award will take a backseat on this night.

Friday will be the first time in franchise history the Mariners will open a season at home without Dave Niehaus behind the microphone. Niehaus, the Mariners’ Hall of Fame broadcaster from the first pitch in franchise history through the end of last season, died in November of a heart attack.

Niehaus’ wife, Marilyn, will throw out the first pitch Friday night.