SEATTLE – Dallas Braden tossed a four-hitter for his fourth career complete game, Mark Ellis hit three doubles and drove in three runs, and the Oakland Athletics cruised to a 5-1 win over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday.
Braden (7-8) won for just the third time in nine decisions since throwing a perfect game on May 9 against Tampa Bay. He was out from June 23-July 20 with left elbow tightness, but is 3-1 since coming off the disabled list.
Luke French (1-3) went six innings in the loss. He allowed seven hits and four runs.
Ellis hit the first of his career-high three doubles to open the second, into the left-center gap. He stole third and scored when Coco Crisp hit a sharp single to left.
The A's added a run in the fourth when Rajai Davis hit a one-out double into the left-field corner, and Landon Powell lifted a two-out single into shallow center. They added two more in the fifth, when Ellis ripped a double down the third-base line to make it 4-0.
Just three Mariners reached base off Braden through the first six innings, but he still faced the minimum number of batters to that point. All three were wiped away with double plays.
The Mariners finally put together a meager rally in the seventh, when Ichiro Suzuki and Jose Lopez singled. Russell Branyan walked to load the bases with one out, and Franklin Gutierrez hit a sacrifice fly to the warning track. Casey Kotchman bounced out to first to end it.
Ellis responded in the eighth with his third double to make it 5-1.
Ellis entered the game with just one extra-base hit over his previous 18 games. He is hitting .423 (11 of 26) against Seattle this season.
NOTES: A's RHP Ben Sheets had Tommy John surgery on his right elbow Monday. The club did not supply specifics on the surgery until 48 hours afterward. Sheets had been told that his ulnar collateral ligament was not involved, but Texas Rangers team surgeon Dr. Keith Meister found the UCL damage during the operation. He transferred the tendon along with repairing the flexor tendon and pronator tendon. Sheets signed a one-year deal with the A's this season. ... A's SS Adam Rosales left the game in the second with a hurt right ankle. Cliff Pennington replaced him. ... Mariners OF Michael Saunders missed starting his sixth straight game with a sore neck after his crash into the outfield wall Aug. 5. He did enter Monday's game as a pinch runner.
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