Branyan hit his fourth career grand slam.
Seattle broke out the lumber early and often in the rubber match against Tampa Bay to take the series. In the sixth inning Russell "The Muscle" Branyan hit a grand slam to deep left off the first pitch he saw, his 26th home run of the season, to give Seattle an 11-2 lead.
Ryan Rowland-Smith pitched six and two-thirds of good baseball striking out six. Rowland-Smith gave up just two runs on six hits but walked four. Shawn Kelly and Miguel Batista came on relief and combined for two and a third innings of scoreless ball allowing just one hit and stuck out three.
To Continue...
The Mariners defense, a symbol of future success for the franchise, was working hard again turning two double plays.
Jose Lopez drove in a run in the first after Ichiro Suzuki doubled to lead off the inning. Franklin Gutierrez scored Ichiro in the second off his 14th home run of the year.
Gutierrez scored his second run of the game in the fifth Rays starter Scott Kazmir pitch bounced past catcher Dioner Navarro to the backstop.
Reach Josh Stilts at nextseasonsports@gmail.com
