OAKLAND GOBBLED UP

Cameron homers

OAKLAND -- The A's simply cannot buy a victory.  Tonight they dropped another in routine fashion: Erik Hiljus pitched like garbage and nobody could step up with the big hit.  The A's are 3-7 over their last ten and have dropped to the basement in the A.L. West.

"I don't know if it's a lack of chemistry or what, but I am not excited about this offense," Maty McNeil said.  The A's managed 11 hits, including a big two-run double in the eighth by Hatteberg, but it wasn't enough to counter Mike Cameron's two home runs and Ichiro's 3-for-5 day.

The Mariners buried Hiljus early with 4 runs over the first 3 innings.  A Mariners batter reached to start each of the first 6 innings. 

"Come time for the Anaheim series, it's balls to the wall," said McNeil.

Around the League: • Baltimore's Jay Gibbons has homered in 6 consecutive games.  He is tied for the league lead in homers.  Over his past 6 games he is 10-for-24 with 10 RBI's. • Minnesota's Jacque Jones extended his hitting streak to 15 games after slugging 2 home runs in a 5-3 win vs. the Royals.  Jones has a hit in every game this season. • Tony Womack committed a crucial error in the 10th inning that allowed the St. Louis Cardinals to beat the Diamondbacks 5-4.  Albert Pujols, who hit 2 home runs in the game, hit the grounder that Womack muffed. • Boston's Tim Wakefield has yet to allow an earned run this season.  In his 2 starts, he's pitched 14.2 innings and allowed a single unearned run. Surprisingly, he's yielded 11 walks.

BOXSCORE: 2002 Seattle Mariners At 2002 Oakland Athletics           4/17/2002

  Mariners           AB  R  H RBI AVG     Athletics          AB  R  H RBI AVG
  I.Suzuki RF         5  3  3  0 .415     M.Ellis 2B          4  1  1  1 .364 
  M.McLemore LF       3  1  0  1 .304     J.Giambi LF         4  1  2  0 .293 
  J.Olerud 1B         4  1  1  2 .317     M.Tejada SS         4  0  0  0 .237 
  B.Davis C           4  0  0  0 .400     E.Chavez 3B         4  1  1  0 .288 
  B.Boone 2B          4  1  2  2 .299     D.Justice RF        4  1  1  0 .233 
  M.Cameron CF        4  2  2  2 .308     S.Hatteberg DH      4  0  2  2 .316 
  C.Guillen SS        4  0  2  0 .245     O.Saenz 1B          3  0  2  1 .435 
  C.Gipson DH         4  0  0  0 .167   A-C.Pena PH,1B        1  0  0  0 .205 
  J.Cirillo 3B        4  0  1  0 .213     T.Long CF           4  0  0  0 .170 
                                          R.Hernandez C       4  0  1  0 .302 
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---     
         Totals      36  8 11  7                 Totals      36  4 10  4

A-Pinch Hit For Saenz In 8th Inning

Mariners........ 2 1 1  0 3 0  0 0 1  -  8 11  0
Athletics....... 1 0 0  0 0 0  1 2 0  -  4 10  1

Mariners (8-8)           IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA  SCORESHEET
J.Moyer WIN(2-1)          6 2/3   7   2   2   0   4   1 101   3.91  A1 C9
S.Hasegawa                1       2   2   2   1   0   0  26   4.15  D1 D6
K.Sasaki SAVE(4th)        1 1/3   1   0   0   1   2   0  18   6.23  D7
Totals                    9      10   4   4   2   6   1

Athletics (6-9)          IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA  SCORESHEET
E.Hiljus LOSS(0-2)        2 1/3   4   4   4   1   4   2  41  11.25  A1 B3
M.Magnante                1 1/3   3   0   0   0   0   0  20   0.00  B4 B9
J.Tam                     0 1/3   0   1   1   1   0   0   9   4.50  C1 C2
M.Venafro                 2       3   2   2   0   0   2  29  10.13  C3 D2
J.Mecir                   3       1   1   1   0   1   0  40   2.25  D3
Totals                    9      11   8   8   2   5   4

ATTENDANCE- 26,474 DATE- Wednesday, April 17th 2002 TIME- Night WEATHER- Average
UMPIRES- Greg Gibson, Chuck Meriwether, Tim Timmons, Tim Tschida
T- 3:13
LEFT ON BASE- Mariners: 4  Athletics: 7
DOUBLE PLAYS- Mariners: 1  Athletics: 1
ERRORS- E.Chavez
DOUBLES- J.Cirillo(1st), J.Giambi(1st), S.Hatteberg(4th)
TRIPLES- I.Suzuki(2nd)
HOME RUNS- J.Olerud(4th), B.Boone(4th), M.Cameron-2(6th), M.Ellis(1st)
STOLEN BASES- I.Suzuki(5th)
SACRIFICE FLIES- M.McLemore
WALKS- M.McLemore, J.Olerud, M.Ellis, J.Giambi
STRIKE OUTS- M.McLemore, B.Davis, B.Boone, M.Cameron, C.Guillen, M.Tejada,
             C.Pena, T.Long-3, R.Hernandez
GIDP- C.Gipson, J.Giambi
BALKS- M.Magnante