French is now 3-1 in five games as a Mariner.
Luke French, who came to Seattle via the Jarrod Washburn trade, pitched another quality start. French lasted five and two thirds innings before being relived by Miguel Batista, after allowing a two-run homer by Kurt Suzuki, and a near game-tying home run to Jack Cust, who hit his 20th home run of the season in the fourth.
Cust struck out and after Batista worked a perfect seventh inning, it was up to Mark Lowe and David Aardsma.
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Aardsma became just the sixth pitcher in Mariners history to notch 30 or more saves in a single season.
"I felt like I had good stuff," Aardsma said. "I thought I was throwing good strikes, although my two-strike pitches were not quite where I wanted them."
He joins Mike Schooler (1989, '90), Jose Mesa ('99), Kaz Sasaki (2000, '01, '02), Eddie Guardado (.05) and J.J. Putz ('06, '07) as Seattle closers with at least 30 saves in a season. Sasaki still holds the club record with 45 saves in '01.
Reach Josh Stilts at nextseasonsports@gmail.com
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