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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, April 8, 2010

Suzuki's RBI double lifts A's over Mariners



Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Oakland's Kurt Suzuki, upper right, gets mobbed after his RBI double in the bottom of ninth inning beat Seattle, 6-5.

BEN MARGOT | Associated Press

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OAKLAND, Calif. — The night began with Justin Duchscherer's long-awaited return to the mound and was capped by a game-ending RBI double by Kurt Suzuki.

What made the postgame celebration possible was an impressive debut by a hometown kid.

Tyson Ross pitched 2[0xb0] scoreless innings and struck out Ken Griffey Jr. in his major league debut to help the Oakland Athletics rally behind a pair of RBI doubles by Suzuki to beat the Seattle Mariners, 6-5, last night.

"What stands out is Tyson Ross," manager Bob Geren said. "Here's a kid who makes his big league debut in a really tight game. Ideally you try to break a rookie in in a game that's not close."

With Kevin Kouzmanoff running from first with one out in the ninth, Suzuki hit a drive to the wall in left field off Mark Lowe (0-1). Milton Bradley reached up to try to make the catch, but the ball appeared to glance off his glove and hit off the wall. Kouzmanoff raced around to score easily on Suzuki's seventh career game-ending hit.

Suzuki, a Baldwin High alum from Maui, tied the score in the seventh at 4-4 with an RBI double.

YANKEES 3, RED SOX 1

Curtis Granderson led off the 10th inning with a tiebreaking homer off Jonathan Papelbon (0-1) and Mark Teixeira had an RBI ground out to lift New York over Boston.

RAYS 4, ORIOLES 3

Evan Longoria hit a two-out, two-run double in the fifth for a 3-2 lead and added a solo homer in the eighth, and Matt Garza allowed two runs and four hits over eight innings to lead host Tampa Bay.

BLUE JAYS 7, RANGERS 4

Vernon Wells, in his 12th season with Toronto, hit a two-run homer in the fifth for a 5-3 lead, and led off the ninth with another home run in a victory over Texas.

INDIANS 5, WHITE SOX 3

Fausto Carmona allowed one hit over six innings and visiting Cleveland rallied from a 3-0 deficit for its first win under manager Manny Acta.

ROYALS 3, TIGERS 2

Alberto Callaspo hit a tying homer to lead off the bottom of the 11th and pinch-runner Willie Bloomquist scored on an error on Rick Ankiel's double to lift Kansas City.

TWINS 4, ANGELS 2

Carl Pavano (1-0) allowed a run and six hits over seven innings, and Justin Morneau and J.J. Hardy each homered for the second straight game to lead visiting Minnesota over Los Angeles.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

GIANTS 10, ASTROS 4

Juan Uribe scored on a throwing error to break a 4-4 tie in the eighth and visiting San Francisco added four runs in the ninth to complete a season-opening three-game sweep of Houston and start 3-0 for the first time since 2003.

BREWERS 5, ROCKIES 4

Pinch-hitter Jody Gerut hit an RBI double to a break a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning and Trevor Hoffman earned his 593rd career save with a 1-2-3 ninth to help Milwaukee beat Colorado.

CARDINALS 6, REDS 3

Albert Pujols hit a tiebreaking single in the top of the seventh inning off reliever Logan Ondrusek and Matt Holliday followed with a two-run double to spur St. Louis.

BRAVES 3, CUBS 2

Martin Prado hit a one-out double off John Grabow (0-1) and Chipper Jones followed with a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to rally Atlanta.

PHILLIES 8, NATIONALS 4

Ryan Howard hit a two-run homer and an RBI double, and Cole Hamels (1-0) gave up three runs and five hits in five innings to lift visiting Philadelphia to its first 2-0 start since 2003.

PIRATES 4, DODGERS 3

Garrett Jones hit a three-run homer in the first and Ronny Cedeno singled over a drawn-in infield with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift Pittsburgh over Los Angeles.

MARLINS 7, METS 6

Wes Helms slid home headfirst to barely beat Rod Barajas' tag, scoring on Ronny Paulino's pinch-hit single in the top of the 10th as Florida held on to beat New York.

DIAMONDBACKS 5, PADRES 3

Kelly Johnson went 3 for 3 with two homers batting in the leadoff spot for the first time this season, and Chris Young and Justin Upton also homered to help host Arizona rally past San Diego.

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