Mariners
Guillen, Tigers top M's in 11

By Dana Wakiji
Special to The Seattle Times

DUANE BURLESON / AP The Mariners' Willie Bloomquist, right, scores in the second inning last night to give the Mariners a 3-0 lead.

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DETROIT — You don't suppose the Mariners wish that they hadn't traded Carlos Guillen, do you?

The All-Star shortstop had a career-high six runs batted in, stole two bases and scored the winning run on Craig Monroe's single in the 11th inning as the Tigers beat the Mariners 11-10 last night.

"Carlos is having an outstanding year," Mariners manager Bob Melvin said. "I don't think anyone envisioned him having the type of year he's had, but it certainly, probably, isn't our best trade ever."

The Mariners traded Guillen to Detroit for shortstop Ramon Santiago and minor-leaguer Juan Gonzalez last Jan. 8.

They nearly traded him to the Cleveland Indians, but Omar Vizquel failed a physical and the deal was voided.

Guillen has said he was happy to come to Detroit, a team that lost 119 games last season, because the Tigers showed they wanted him. Ever since, he's made them happy they did not acquire Rich Aurilia, who did not want to play for the Tigers and signed with Seattle as a free agent.

Mariners update Winning pitcher: Jamie Walker (2-4) Losing pitcher: Scott Atchison (1-1) Key to the game: Craig Monroe's run-scoring single in the 11th inning won it for Detroit. How Ichiro did: M's right fielder went 4 for 7 to raise his batting average to .372. Today: Mariners at Tigers, 10:05 a.m., FSN/KOMO (1000 AM) Starting pitchers: M's Gil Meche (3-5, 5.63) vs. Mike Maroth (10-7, 4.39)

"It was just one of those nights. Pretty good one, huh?" Guillen said of his performance yesterday. "I want to show those guys that I'm an everyday player, so this was nice."

Guillen is now batting .314 with 18 home runs and 91 runs batted in.

"It's always fun when you win, but especially a game like this," Guillen said. "We're a young team and this is the way we play. We just keep battling."

Guillen's night overshadowed an impressive performance by Ichiro, who went 4 for 7 with two RBI and was a home run shy of the cycle.

Randy Winn, who tied a career high and a club record with five hits, homered for the second consecutive game and had four RBI.

"Since maybe two months into the season, he's been, other than Ichiro, as good offensively, and defensively for the most part, as any outfielder in the league," Melvin said of Winn. "He's gotten big hits, he hits from both sides of the plate, he steals you a base. Randy's a very good player. To hit in the 2-hole and be where he is RBI-wise on our team, it's pretty impressive."

Winn's 57 RBI are second on the club to Bret Boone's 62.

After Friday's game, Ichiro said he felt like he had had four beers because he was so dizzy running to first base. He had three infield hits and said that by the end of the night, he had gotten down to one beer.

Before last night's game, when asked how many beers he felt he'd had, Ichiro smiled and said, "Nothing."

In his first at-bat, Ichiro dispensed with the dizziness and the infield singles and belted a triple that went off the right-center-field scoreboard.

Winn followed that with a run-scoring single, giving the Mariners a 1-0 lead.

Ichiro is now batting .526 in August and is 11 for 16 with four runs, a double, a triple, a home run and seven RBI in his past four games. He has 11 multihit games in his past 14 starts and leads the majors with 62.

In the second, Scott Spiezio led off with a triple and scored on Dan Wilson's sacrifice fly. Willie Bloomquist, Santiago and Ichiro hit singles and the M's led 3-0.

At that point, Detroit starter Jason Johnson had to leave because of a left-hip strain. Rookie Roberto Novoa replaced him.

	DUANE BURLESON / AP Detroit starting pitcher Jason Johnson, center, left after 1-1/3 innings with a hip strain.

The Tigers got to Mariners starter Jamie Moyer in the third. Monroe reached on Santiago's error, then Carlos Pena hit a home run to right. Omar Infante singled, Bobby Higginson walked and Ivan Rodriguez singled to drive in Infante, tying the score at 3.

Raul Ibanez broke the tie with a leadoff home run in the fourth inning, his first since July 31 at Anaheim.

In the fourth, Winn homered and Ibanez walked and scored on Bucky Jacobsen's double.

With their much improved offense, the Tigers came right back in the fifth. Rodriguez, Dmitri Young and Rondell White singled to load the bases. Guillen unloaded them with a double to left-center, tying the score at 6.

In the sixth, Guillen cleared the bases again with a double, putting the Tigers up 10-7.

"It's frustrating when I see anybody hurt us like he did tonight," Boone said of Guillen. "Of course, when we're facing him I want to see him make outs and us get him out in those situations. Other than that, I wish Carlos nothing but the best."

In the Mariners' seventh, Wilson, Bloomquist and pinch-hitter Edgar Martinez singled to load the bases. Ichiro's infield single drove in Wilson. Winn then doubled to bring home Bloomquist and pinch-runner Jose Lopez, tying the score at 10.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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