After rain delay, Mariners prevail over Tribe
Seattle wound up with a 9-1 win after a 21/2-hour rain delay.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Benched by his manager for an undisclosed reason, Indians outfielder Milton Bradley had no choice but to sit around and think about his punishment.
At least he had plenty of company Thursday night.
Edgar Martinez hit a three-run homer and three Seattle pitchers took a shutout into the seventh inning as the Mariners endured a 21/2-hour rain delay before beating the Cleveland Indians 9-1.
"A long night," said Indians starter Jake Westbrook.
Including the two-hour, 28-minute rain delay, the game took 5:18 to play with the final out recorded at 12:23 a.m.
As the rain fell during the seemingly endless delay, the Mariners passed the time by watching other baseball games on clubhouse TVs.
Manager Bob Melvin was tuned to the Weather Channel.
"I know a rule is a rule but this would have been a tough one to swallow," said Melvin, who tracked local radar. "I was happy to sit around and get a win."
Martinez connects
Martinez homered in the first inning off Westbrook (2-3) and added a sacrifice fly in the eighth for the Mariners, who were ahead 7-0 in the fourth when thunderstorms and steady rain caused the delay.
Seattle improved to 5-1 against Cleveland this season and 12-3 vs. AL Central teams.
Randy Winn and Jeff Cirillo had two RBIs apiece for the Mariners.
"I didn't want the game to be canceled," Martinez said. "No one in the clubhouse did. It didn't look good for a while. When we looked outside, we didn't think it was going to stop."
Giovanni Carrara (2-0) allowed three hits in three scoreless innings and recorded the first decision for Seattle's bullpen since April 22 when the right-hander also beat Cleveland.
Omar Vizquel homered in the seventh off Julio Mateo for the Indians' lone run.
Bradley was benched by Indians manager Eric Wedge, who pulled the sometimes volatile center fielder out of Wednesday night's game after six innings.
Wedge had a nearly one-hour meeting with Bradley before Thursday's game but wouldn't reveal his decision not to play the 25-year-old, who has a track record of run-ins with managers, umpires and teammates.
Bradley didn't appear to run hard to first base after hitting a fly ball in the sixth inning Wednesday night. He did not join his teammates for batting practice and was unavailable for comment before and after the game.
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