Mike Sweeney’s homer starts rally in 8th inning as Mariners come back to beat Tigers 5-4

Mariners rally in 8th to sting Tigers 5-4

SEATTLE — Mike Sweeney gave Seattle new life with a two-run homer off Detroit reliever Ryan Perry, Josh Wilson capped the eighth-inning rally with a two-run single and the Mariners rallied for a 5-4 win over the Tigers on Wednesday.

Seattle swept the two-game set with a most unlikely comeback. Down 4-1 entering the eighth and having done nothing against starter Jeremy Bonderman, the Mariners took advantage of the Tigers’ bullpen.

Franklin Gutierrez got it started with a leadoff single before Sweeney belted his sixth homer in the last 10 games two batters later. After a single by Jose Lopez and double by Rob Johnson, Wilson lined a single into left-center field to give Seattle the lead.

David Aardsma then pitched the ninth for his 11th save in 13 chances.

Brandon League (4-4) got the win for Seattle with 2 1-3 innings of relief, and the Mariners won their second straight one-run contest.

Bonderman, a Washington native who has never thrown well in his home state, worked seven innings, giving up just one unearned run and scattering five hits. He struck out six and walked two, escaping trouble in the first two innings and sending down 12 of the final 14 batters he faced.

Perry’s performance wasted Bonderman’s effort.

The light-hitting Mariners doubled their hit total for the game off Perry (1-3) alone. Gutierrez led off the eighth with a sharp single, and after Milton Bradley struck out, Sweeney hit a 407-foot shot to deep left-center to pull Seattle to 4-3.

Lopez followed with a single and after a terse visit from manager Jim Leyland, Johnson doubled off the hand-operated scoreboard down the left-field line, missing a homer by just a few feet. Leyland stuck with Perry instead of going to Joel Zumaya, and Wilson came through. Perry had not allowed an earned run in his previous five appearances, and Detroit’s bullpen entered Wednesday’s with the best ERA in the American League.

Magglio Ordonez hit a long two-run homer, his seventh of the season, as part of a three-hit day for the Tigers. Adam Everett added an RBI double and Austin Jackson an RBI single in the sixth as Detroit took advantage of Lopez’s error at third base.

Bonderman was also helped out by a few defensive gems by the Tigers, but those will be forgotten because of the bullpen struggles. Left fielder Brandon Boesch jackknifed over the short wall down the left field line to grab Ichiro Suzuki’s foul pop to open the bottom of the first. Ryan Raburn, filling in at first base on Wednesday while Miguel Cabrera is away from the team for the birth of his second daughter, robbed Michael Saunders of a double leading off the seventh with a diving stop behind the bag. It was only Raburn’s 11th career game at first base.

Seattle starter Jason Vargas saw his streak of quality starts end at seven, but did enough to keep Seattle close. Leaving too many pitches high in the zone and catching too much of the plate, Vargas gave up seven hits — the most since his first outing of the season — but just the two runs on Ordonez’s homer. He struck out three and walked two.

NOTES: Suzuki went 0 for 5 with two strikeouts and grounded into a double play for only the second time this season. … Bonderman has gotten a no decision in five of his last seven starts. … Wednesday was the 13th time the Safeco Field roof has been closed this season.