Padilla Leads Texas Over Seattle 5-3

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) _ Sammy Sosa's 605th career home run was his first in a month, and Vicente Padilla allowed only one run pitching into the seventh inning as the Texas Rangers beat AL wild-card

Sunday, August 26th 2007, 10:15 pm

By: News On 6

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) _ Sammy Sosa's 605th career home run was his first in a month, and Vicente Padilla allowed only one run pitching into the seventh inning as the Texas Rangers beat AL wild-card leader Seattle 5-3 on Sunday night.

Padilla (4-9) won for the first time since June 15, retiring 18 of 19 batters after Ichiro Suzuki led off the game with an infield single. The right-hander then gave up three straight singles and a run to start the seventh.

Sosa has become a part-time player while the Rangers evaluate younger players, but the 38-year-old slugger hasn't forgotten how to do his trademark hop. He bounded out of the batter's box in the first after hitting a 430-foot drive that ricocheted off a wall at the back of the lower seating section in left field, making it 2-0.

Ian Kinsler led off the Texas first with a single, moved up on Brad Wilkerson's sacrifice bunt and scored in front of Sosa, who started for only the 10th time in the last 26 games. Sosa's last homer was July 27, but he has 17 this season.

Seattle still has a two-game lead in the wild-card race over the New York Yankees, who lost 5-4 at Detroit on Sunday. But the Mariners slipped two games behind the Los Angeles Angels before going home for a three-game series against the AL West leaders that begins Monday night.

Seattle scored twice in the ninth off Rangers closer C.J. Wilson, pitching in a non-save situation. The Mariners had three straight two-out singles, the last a run-scoring hit by Kenji Johjima before a wild pitch allowed another run.

Jarrod Washburn (9-11), who has won only once in his last nine starts, allowed three runs and six hits over six innings. He struck out five and walked one.

Ian Kinsler went 3-for-4 for the second straight night after a 3-for-30 slump and scored three times for the Rangers. Brad Wilkerson had a double and an RBI triple.

Suzuki's majors-best 47th infield hit, his fifth in the four-game series, was a hopper that shortstop Ramon Vazquez fielded. Vazquez made a desperation throw that never had a chance to get the speedy leadoff hitter.

Padilla, making only his third start since a nearly two-month stay on the disabled list because of right triceps irritation, didn't give up another hit until Ben Broussard reached on a slow dribbler in the fifth that third baseman Travis Metcalf couldn't pick up cleanly.

Seattle started the seventh with three straight singles, Adrian Beltre's run-scoring hit chasing Padilla after he threw 61 of 87 pitches for strikes. Frank Francisco then retired the only three batters he faced to get out of the seventh.

Kinsler had a leadoff double in the sixth and scored on a sacrifice fly by Marlon Byrd to make it 3-0. Byrd added another sacrifice fly in the eighth after Wilkerson's triple.

Notes: Sosa is fifth on the career homer list, and second among active players behind Barry Bonds' 761. ... Vazquez started for Michael Young, the four-time All-Star who took a night off because of muscle soreness in his back. ... Country music singer Charley Pride, a regular at Rangers spring training, was at the game and featured during a ``Kiss Cam'' segment. He was shown on the screen smooching while his song ``Kiss An Angel Good Morning'' played. ... Wilkerson's triple was his first since June 13, 2006.