Athletics nip by Seattle Mariners

Friday, July 6, 2007 12:57 PM PDT

Seattle Mariners pinch runner Jason Ellison (bottom) breaks up a double play as Oakland Athletics second baseman Mark Ellis throws over him in the eighth inning of a baseball game Thursday in Oakland, Calif. Mariners’ Richie Sexson was safe at first base.

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The early extra batting practice finally paid off for Bobby Crosby. Nick Swisher? He nearly forgot his post-homer dugout dance it had been so long since he went deep.

Both have been struggling of late and both found their rhythm, at least for one day, to help the Oakland Athletics pick up some ground on their closest rival in the AL West.

Swisher and Crosby homered in the sixth inning to lift the A’s to a 3-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners in the series opener Thursday night.

‘‘This is a four-game series with a team ahead of us in the standings,’’ A’s manager Bob Geren said. ‘‘This was a big one to get. Big hits like that, with well-struck balls are confidence boosters. That’s something that can get somebody going.’’

Chad Gaudin (8-3), who was having his own problems for part of June, made sure the home runs stood up to give the A’s their fourth win in six games and move them within 31/2 games of second-place Seattle.

ADVERTISEMENT

‘‘This is the last series before the all-star break and you want to end the first half on a good note,’’ said Gaudin, who allowed two runs and eight hits in 7 2-3 innings. ‘‘These guys are in our division and it’s nice to gain some ground on them.’’

Gaudin walked four and struck out three. Geren said he wanted to give him the opportunity to finish the eighth but after giving up two hits, it was time for a change. Santiago Casilla got the final out of the inning and Alan Embree pitched the ninth for his ninth save in 11 chances.

Ichiro Suzuki lined into a double play to end the game, following Jose Lopez’s one-out single. Marco Scutaro, playing for the injured Eric Chavez, snared the hard shot above his head.

Miguel Batista (8-7) had another solid outing, giving up three runs and six hits in 7 2-3 innings. He walked three and struck out five.

‘‘They weren’t bad pitches at all,’’ Batista said of the two home runs. ‘‘I didn’t miss my location, but I didn’t stick to my game plan. I hit my spots, but I was supposed to go with something different. Both of them were fastballs but I wanted to throw a different kind of fastball. Sometimes it’s just location.’’

Swisher, who was hitting .140 over his last 14 games, hit his first home run since the departure of Milton Bradley, and had to perform the homer dance solo in the dugout.

‘‘It’s been so long I almost forgot,’’ Swisher said.