Major League Baseball

White Sox 6, Mariners 0

Published May. 8, 2011 6:28 a.m. ET

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The primary reason why the Chicago White Sox have the worst record in the American League is because they rank near the bottom in hitting.

They broke out Saturday night against the Seattle Mariners in a most unusual manner. The bottom three batters in the lineup combined for 10 of the team's 17 hits in a 6-0 victory.

Alex Rios, Gordon Beckham and Brent Morel went a collective 10 for 12, scored four runs and drove in two. Rios was 4 for 4. Entering the game, the three had a combined .192 average.

''We broke out a little bit. Kind of nice, eh?'' said Beckham, who was 3 for 4 with two runs scored.

They supported Gavin Floyd (4-2), who held the Mariners to three singles in eight innings. Floyd struck out six and walked two. Only two Mariners advanced to second base, none after the third inning.

Floyd has one career shutout - albeit a five-inning outing. But after 100 pitches, manager Ozzie Guillen used Tony Pena to finish up in the ninth.

It was the second shutout of the season for the White Sox. The Mariners have been blanked three times.

Adam Dunn also had two hits and two RBIs.

Ichiro Suzuki had two of the Mariners' three hits. It was his AL-leading 16th multihit game, the 707th of his career.

''I worried about it in the first couple innings - we had 12 hits and only scored one run,'' Guillen said. ''It's like, wow, that just continues.''

Mariners starter Doug Fister (2-4) did a masterful job of somehow keeping his team in the game early. Three batters into the fifth, he had allowed 11 hits but just one run. He kept the White Sox in check with three double plays in the first four innings.

''I kept looking up and thinking, I've batted twice and we've already got 12 hits,'' Beckham said. ''How is that possible?

''I don't think we ever worried about scoring runs. I think they would come if we just kept doing what we were doing. And we did.''

In the first, after Alexei Ramirez bounced into a double play, the White Sox rallied for a run. Dunn looped a two-out double into shallow left field. He scored on a single to center by Paul Konerko, who was then caught in a rundown between first and second.

A fine defensive effort by Fister in the third took him out of a brewing jam. Beckham opened with a single. Then on Morel's grounder toward second, Beckham jumped over the ball, distracting second baseman Adam Kennedy. It got past Kennedy for a single and Beckham raced to third with nobody out.

Mariners manager Eric Wedge argued for interference, to no avail.

''I felt like the runner did hinder Adam on that play,'' Wedge said, ''but (the umpire) didn't feel like that was the case.''

After a shallow popout to left by Juan Pierre, Ramirez broke his bat on an inside fastball. Fister came off the mound to snag the lazy liner. He then rose to his knees to double off Morel at first.

Again in the fourth, Dunn and Konerko opened with singles. But Fister struck out Carlos Quentin and induced A.J. Pierzynski to hit into a double play.

However, things began to unravel in the fifth for Seattle. Rios, Beckham and Morel singled to load the bases with none out. Fister hit Pierre with a pitch to force in a run and Dunn lined a sacrifice fly to center, making it 3-0.

''The whole team was feeling good today,'' said Morel, who was 3 for 4 with an RBI. ''So many games we hit balls hard right at people. Today, the guy was throwing good, we just got some bloop hits here and there and rolled with it.

''It's like no one put pressure on themselves. Everyone was getting hits and not waiting for someone else to do anything. It was real contagious tonight.''

Beckham and Morel had two-out RBI hits in the sixth, chasing Fister, who gave up five runs and 14 hits. The Mariners record for hits allowed is 15 by Greg Hibbard on May 24, 1994, in six innings against Oakland.

''Putting at-bats together and grinding it out like this gives support for Gavin on the mound. That's a plus,'' Guillen said. ''When (pitchers) get some support they get more comfortable on the mound. They can make mistakes and get away with it. When you're up or down by one run, you have to be so careful. But a little support was great.''

Michael Saunders took a home run away from Pierzynski with a leap over the center-field wall in the sixth.

Pinch-hitter Mark Teahen drove in the final run in the ninth with a single to center.

NOTES: White Sox RHP Jake Peavy's long road back from right shoulder surgery could reach a big league mound by next week. He is tentatively scheduled to start Wednesday against the Angels. ''That's a decision, I don't want to say it's a tough one, but it's a delicate one,'' Guillen said. ''We have to be careful how we're going to do it and when. What's the plan? We have to make a move when he comes off. Who's that going to be? It's a process. We have to be very careful about it.'' ... Mariners RHP David Aardsma, on the DL since opening day, had his right forearm tighten on him Friday while playing catch so the club had him undergo an MRI. ''We still don't think it's anything serious, but we want to take every precaution,'' Wedge said.

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