News / Clark County News

Mariners leave Oakland with series split

A's win last two games of four-game set

The Columbian

Published: April 3, 2013, 5:00pm

Oakland Athletics' Josh Reddick (16) and Coco Crisp (4) celebrate after Crisp scored against the Seattle Mariners in the eighth inning Thursday. The Athletics won the game 8-2.

OAKLAND, Calif. — Josh Reddick and Yoenis Cespedes gave Brandon Maurer a rude welcome to the big leagues by hitting two-run homers off the Seattle rookie that led the Oakland Athletics to an 8-2 victory over the Mariners on Thursday.

A.J. Griffin (1-0) allowed two runs in six innings and John Jaso drove in a run against his former team as the Athletics won back-to-back games to earn a split of the season-opening series.

Michael Morse homered for the third straight day and joined Ken Griffey Jr. in 1997 as the only Mariners to homer four times in the first four games. But that wasn’t enough as Maurer (0-1) struggled in his major league debut.

Maurer made the jump from Double-A to the majors based on a strong spring training, becoming the first Mariners pitcher to make the opening-day rotation without pitching in Triple-A in 20 years.

Maurer was Seattle’s minor league pitcher of the year last season and is being counted on to perform in the majors this season. He got off to a rough start in his debut when Coco Crisp led off with a single and Reddick hit a one-out blast into the seats in right-center to make it 2-0.

Reddick had been hitless in his first 10 at-bats this season after hitting 32 homers last season when he was a major part of Oakland’s surprising success. He finished this game with a homer, double and four RBIs.

Maurer didn’t give up another hit until the fifth when Chris Young doubled and scored on Jaso’s single.

Maurer ran into more trouble in the sixth when Jed Lowrie and Reddick opened the inning with doubles and Cespedes followed with his second homer of the season to make it 6-2. Maurer allowed six runs and eight hits in six innings with no walks and one strikeout.

Six of Oakland’s 10 hits on the day went for extra bases, including two doubles for Lowrie. He has four doubles and a home run the past two games.

Griffin retired the first seven batters in his first start of the season and didn’t allow a run until the fifth when Dustin Ackley started a rally with an infield hit. After a hit by Kelly Shoppach and a sacrifice bunt by Robert Andino, Michael Saunders drove in Seattle’s first run with a sacrifice fly.

Griffin stranded two runners in the fifth when he got Raul Ibanez to pop out. The Mariners added another run in the sixth on Morse’s homer and had two on with two outs when Griffin escaped by striking out Robert Andino.

Griffin allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings to improve to 3-0 in his brief career against Seattle.

NOTES: The A’s head to Houston to play their first AL series ever against the Astros when Dan Straily takes on Brad Peacock, who was sent to Houston by Oakland this offseason in the deal for Lowrie. … The Mariners open a three-game series in Chicago on Friday with Blake Beavan taking on Jose Quintana. … Oakland RHP Josh Stinson was claimed off waivers by Baltimore. 1B Daric Barton cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Sacramento.

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