Quentin, Dye HRs lead White Sox past Mariners

[April 30, 2009]  CHICAGO (AP) -- Slumping Carlos Quentin and Jermaine Dye hit consecutive home runs in the seventh inning Wednesday, leading the Chicago White Sox over the Seattle Mariners 6-3.

A.J. Pierzynski also homered as the White Sox (11-10) rallied from a 3-1 deficit and avoided what would have been their first losing April since 2001.

Matt Thornton (1-1) pitched a one-hit seventh in relief of Gavin Floyd. Scott Linebrink followed and Bebby Jenks pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his fifth save in five chances.

Adrian Beltre had four hits, and Ken Griffey Jr. hit a two-run double for the first-place Mariners (13-9), who will lead the AL West at the end of a month for the first time since July 2003.

Shawn Kelley (0-1), who had pitched 7 2-3 scoreless innings over six appearances coming in, relieved Erik Bedard with a 3-1 lead following singles by Konerko and A.J. Pierzynski starting the sixth inning. Wilson Betemit hit an RBI double and Alexei Ramirez followed with a tying sacrifice fly.

Quentin, in a 4-for-30 slide, homered with one out in the seventh for a 4-3 lead. It was his eighth homer of the season and AL-high 44th since the start of 2008 but his first in 10 days.

Dye, in a 1-for-13 slump, homered four pitches later to make it 5-3. Quentin added an RBI single in the eighth against Mark Lowe.

Pierzynski's leadoff homer off Bedard in the second was the 100th home run of his career and ended an 0-for-14 drought.

Bedard allowed three runs, six hits and three walks in five innings. Bedard entered with three walks in 26 innings over four starts this year.

Griffey was batting .193 in his second tour with Seattle before doubling off Floyd for a 2-1 lead in the fifth, then scored on the second of Beltre's three singles. Beltre also had a double and lifted his average from .169 to .207.

Notes: Ichiro Suzuki was intentionally walked in the sixth inning. Before that, Seattle's leadoff hitter hadn't walked this season. ... White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen hopes to have DH Jim Thome (heel) and 2B Chris Getz (broken middle finger) back in the lineup Friday at Texas. ... The Mariners expect C Kenji Johjima (hamstring) to be activated from the 15-day DL on Friday. His backup, Rob Johnson, threw out two White Sox attempting to steal bases in Wednesday's second inning.

[Associated Press]

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