SEATTLE — Defensive-replacement Ryan Langerhans homered off Craig Breslow with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning to send the Seattle Mariners to a 4-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night.
Franklin Gutierrez's singled with one out in the 10th off Breslow (5-7), who entered the game tied in losses among AL relievers. It was Gutierrez's fifth hit and seventh time on base in the two games he's been leading off while Ichiro Suzuki rests a tight calf muscle.
Then Langerhans, who entered for defense the inning before, smacked a 2-2 pitch into the first row of seats beyond right field. It was his second game-ending home run as a late-game substitute in three weeks.
Mark Lowe (2-6) pitched the 10th for the win.
Seattle's Ken Griffey Jr. got the small, quiet crowd on its feet with a pinch-hitting appearance with a man on and one out in the eighth against Michael Wuertz. Griffey was 4 for 6 with two home runs against him, but the 39-year-old slugger struck out waving over a 2-2 pitch in the dirt.
Gutierrez stole second on that pitch. Then Jose Lopez chopped a ball to the right of charging third baseman Adam Kennedy. Gutierrez slowed his run to third, veered onto the infield grass and almost looped around the ball, seemingly obscuring Kennedy's view of the ball until it clanged off his glove for a game-tying error.
Lopez then stole second on a play in which replays appeared to show he was out. But Mike Sweeney, who spent last season with Oakland, struck out on a full-count pitch to end the inning and keep it tied at 2.
Kennedy's single that scored Mark Ellis in the seventh inning had put Oakland up 2-1.
That was the last pitch thrown by Seattle starter Ryan Rowland-Smith, who allowed nine hits and two runs in 6 1-3 innings.
After reliever Shawn Kelley got Rajai Davis to ground out, Kurt Suzuki flied out to strand runners at second and third and keep the Mariners close.
A's rookie Brett Anderson allowed one run and six hits with eight strikeouts in seven impressive innings. The 21-year-old left-hander, Oakland's centerpiece in the trade that sent Dan Haren to Arizona following the 2007 season, leads major league rookies with 117 strikeouts.
A two-out double by Kurt Suzuki and an RBI double by Scott Hairston put Oakland up 1-0 in the first.
Russell Branyan tied it in the second with his 31st home run. Branyan extended his career high in homers and ended an 0-for-13 skid since he last home run on Saturday in Cleveland.
NOTES: Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu had hoped to have Suzuki back Wednesday, but now says it could be late in the week. ... A's 3B Eric Chavez, who had season-ending surgery in June, is in Seattle getting his back treated and sat with his team in the dugout Monday. Manager Bob Geren said the six-time Gold Glover looks "really good" and strong and that he is planning to resume baseball activities in January, "if not before."