1996 Game Recap: Record 303rd Career A's Home Run
Athletics 11, Mariners 6

SEATTLE (Jul 3, 1996 - 04:00 EST) -- The Seattle Mariners finally have a good team, and they still can't beat the Oakland Athletics.

"This was a typical A's-Mariners' battle," Terry Steinbach said. "We have a lot of respect for Lou Piniella. It's a lot of fun playing against him."

The A's had all the fun in the ninth inning when Scott Brosius had a two-run single and Steinbach followed with his second homer of the game as Oakland scored five runs for an 11-6 victory Tuesday night.

Oakland is 2-0 against the defending AL West champions this season. The A's have won four straight season series against Seattle, including 7-6 last season.

"Hey, they hit everything we threw up there," Piniella said. "Give them credit."

"Oakland has always been a team that's played well against us, and we know that," Mariners shortstop Alex Rodriguez said. "They just seem to rise the level of their play against us."

With the score tied 6-6, Norm Charlton (2-3) got the first out in the ninth, but the A's loaded the bases on a single by Jason Giambi and walks to Mark McGwire and Geronimo Berroa.

Brosius singled to center to break the 6-6 tie, and Steinbach followed with a three-run homer, giving him 17 this season, a career high. Steinbach had five RBIs.

"I know it's not my corked bat," said a smiling Steinbach, 34. "I can't explain it. I don't try for home runs and they're not a major part of my game."

Mike Mohler (4-0), who worked the eighth inning, got the victory on a night when the A's hit four homers to extend their major league-lead to 130.

Oakland won for the ninth time in 10 road games.

"This feels great," A's manager Art Howe said. "They've got a great club over there and you have to play an outstanding game to beat 'em. That's what we did."

Giambi had a career-best five hits to tie a club record, and the A's had 16 hits, 10 of them for extra bases. Giambi had two doubles and three singles.

Jose Herrera tied the score at 6 when he led off the Oakland seventh with his third homer of the season.

The A's went ahead 5-4 in the sixth on two-run homers by McGwire and Steinbach off starter Bob Wells. McGwire now has 26 homers.

McGwire became his franchise's career home-run leader at 303, passing Jimmie Foxx, who hit 302 homers as a member of the Philadelphia A's.

"It's going to mean a lot to me when I'm retired," McGwire said of his 303rd homer. "One things it means is I've been here for a long time and I accomplished a few things."

The Mariners came back with two runs in the bottom of the sixth for a 6-5 lead. Manny Martinez had an RBI triple and came in on Joey Cora's sacrifice fly.

Seattle took a 2-0 lead in the second on Brian Hunter's run-scoring double and Dan Wilson's RBI single. Giambi doubled in Oakland's first run in the third.

Martinez had an RBI double in the fourth and Hunter singled in a run in the fifth for Seattle, giving the Mariners a 4-1 lead.

Wells, bidding to improve his record to 10-1 with his eighth straight win, lasted six innings, giving up five runs on eight hits and a walk. A's starter Doug Johns went 5 1-3 innings, surrendering six runs on 10 hits and two walks.

Notes: Steinbach has eight home runs and 22 RBIs in his last 13 games. ... Right fielder Jay Buhner threw out rookie Damon Mashore at third base after Mashore tried to stretch a double into a triple leading off the A's eighth. ... Giambi is 13-for-30 (.433) in his last seven games. ... The last member of the A's to get five hits in a game was Geronimo Berroa at Minnesota April 10, 1994. ... Hunter tied his career high with four hits, the second time this year for Seattle.