Beltre strikes again for M’s
LOS ANGELES – Adrian Beltre has had quite a homecoming.
Beltre burned his former team for the second straight game, hitting a two-run double in the eighth inning to drive in the go-ahead runs, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-5 on Wednesday night.
Beltre, who played six-plus seasons with the Dodgers before signing a five-year, $64 million contract with the Mariners after the 2004 season, hit a 0-2 pitch from Danys Baez into the left-field corner to snap a 5-all tie.
Beltre went 3 for 4 with a walk and scored twice in his second game at Dodger Stadium as a visiting player, lifting his batting average to .250. He went 2 for 3 with a two-run homer, a double, four runs scored and two walks in the series opener.
Beltre, who still lives in nearby Arcadia, said it’s been about two weeks since he felt his confidence return. He’s hit safely in 18 of 20 games since being moved to second in the batting order.
“We’ve seen better results,” said Beltre, who hit .334 with 48 homers and 121 RBIs in his last season with the Dodgers but has struggled in Seattle. “It’s not one thing. I’ve been working a lot with my hitting coach. I’m seeing the ball better.”
The win was the fifth straight and 14th in 19 games for the Mariners, who are 8-0 in interleague play – all against the National League West. They scored twice in the seventh and four times in the eighth to overcome a 5-2 deficit.
After scoring four times after two were out in the sixth for a 5-2 lead, the Dodgers had only one base runner in the final three innings.
“They sent three guys out there to pitch those three innings and they got three zeros on the board and we didn’t,” Dodgers manager Grady Little said. “That was the difference in the game.”
The loss was the fifth in a row and seventh in eight games for the Dodgers.
Jeremy Reed hit a 0-2 pitch from Baez (4-4) into the right-center field seats leading off the eighth for his fifth homer to tie the game at 5. Rene Rivera and Ichiro Suzuki hit one-out singles before Beltre came through. Jose Lopez followed with an RBI single to make it 8-5 and chase Baez.
“I wanted to throw a splitter in the dirt, but it was right in the middle of the plate,” Baez said of the pitch to Reed. “It was a bad pitch and he made good contact.”
Julio Mateo (4-0) was the winner, pitching a perfect seventh. J.J. Putz, the fourth Seattle pitcher, worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his 12th save in 13 chances.
The Mariners scored twice off Jonathan Broxton in the seventh to draw within one run. Pinch-hitter Carl Everett led off by hitting a full-count pitch into the right-field pavilion for the 200th homer of his career. Lopez hit a sacrifice fly later in the inning.
“I was in a situation where I just needed to get on base,” Everett said. “The guy was challenging me. He didn’t want to walk me.”
Olmedo Saenz hit a two-run homer for his 12th hit in 27 lifetime at-bats against Jarrod Washburn to put the Dodgers ahead 3-2 in the sixth. Pinch-hitter Ramon Martinez hit a two-run double later in the inning.