Cliff Lee leads Mariners to 6th straight win at Cubs expense
SEATTLE -- Cliff Lee struck out nine in his second consecutive SEATTLE -- Cliff Lee struck out nine in his second consecutive complete game and the Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago Cubs 8-1 on Wednesday night for their sixth consecutive win.
Rookie Michael Saunders homered and drove in four runs for Seattle. Ichiro Suzuki had a two-run single.
Lee (6-3) allowed nine hits and walked none in his American League-best fourth complete game this season and No. 17 for his career. He lowered his ERA to an AL-best 2.39.
The 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner has 76 strikeouts against just four walks this season. That's an unheard of ratio of 19-to-1. Only one starter since 1901 has had a double-digit figure in that ratio over an entire season: Bret Saberhagen, who struck out 143 and walked 13 for Kansas City in 1994.
Saunders walked with the bases loaded during Seattle's four-run fourth and hit an RBI double off Randy Wells (3-6) in the sixth. He hit a two-run homer in the eighth, setting a career high for RBIs.
Tyler Colvin hit his ninth homer in the second for Chicago, which has lost four of five to drop to a season-low nine games under .500. It was the first run allowed by the Mariners in 25 innings, since the fourth inning of Saturday's win over Cincinnati.
The Cubs, in search of consistent offense all season, hit into three double plays and failed to score when they got two doubles in the seventh.
lass="factboxtext12col"><b>Bruce Miles' game tracker</b></p>
<p class="factboxtext12col">Mariners 8, Cubs 1</p>
<p class="factboxtext12col">All's not Wells: Cubs starting pitcher Randy Wells gave up 4 runs in the fourth and 2 in the sixth, running his pitch count to 109 as he faced an uphill climb in trying to win for the first time since April 30, when he was 3-0.</p>
<p class="factboxtext12col">Error of their way: Third baseman Jeff Baker committed an error in the third inning, and right fielder Tyler Colvin misplayed a ball for an error in the sixth. </p>
<p class="factboxtext12col">Web gem: Mariners right fielder Ichiro Suzuki ranged far to the line to grab Geovany's flyball in leading off the second.</p>