SEATTLE (Ticker) -- The Seattle Mariners sent a message to the American League West Division champions.
Jamie Moyer became the first 21-game winner in Mariners' history and Dan Wilson homered and drove in three runs as Seattle completed a three-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics with a 9-3 rout.
After leading the division for the better part of four months, the Mariners fell apart down the stretch and handed over the top spot to Oakland. But entering last weekend's crucial three-game set at Network Associates Coliseum down by five games, Seattle won the first two contests to set up an important showdown that the Athletics were ready for, as they responded with a 12-0 thumping.
In between the two meetings, Oakland swept three games with Texas while the Mariners dropped two of three against Anaheim, rendering this series meaningless. But Seattle did not treat it that way, handily winning all three games.
"Thank God we didn't have to come in here and win any ballgames because I don't think we would have done that," Oakland third baseman Eric Chavez said.
In this one, the Mariners spotted the Athletics a 2-0 lead before Bret Boone hit a two-run homer in the third inning to reach the 900 RBI mark for his career.
Seattle poured it on, scoring three runs in the fourth and four in the fifth to take a commanding 9-2 lead.
Moyer (21-7) continued his bid for the Cy Young Award, allowing three runs - two earned - and seven hits in six innings. The veteran lefthander, who walked two and struck out three, notched his sixth win in seven decisions.
"I don't look at it as a personal achievement," the 40-year-old Moyer said of winning 21 games. "Without defense and without offense, I happen to be the guy out there bearing the benefit of that support. It's neat, but it's only a number."
"We got a lot out of him (this season), probably a little bit more than we expected," Seattle manager Bob Melvin said. "He's obviously very serious about what he does and I don't see him slowing down."
Looking to extend his career-high winning streak to seven games, Ted Lilly (12-10) struggled. The southpaw, who had not lost since July 30, yielded five runs and eight hits in four innings with a walk and two strikeouts.
"I was trying every trick I had up my sleeve today," Lilly said. "I wasn't effective. I wasn't getting the ball in. My breaking ball wasn't as sharp as it's been. That made it tough."
Oakland, which won its third AL West title in four years, on Wednesday hosts Boston in Game One of their best-of-five Division Series.
"We are still going to the playoffs even though we got swept," Lilly said. "I think it still does mean something. We wanted to go into the series and play better than we did. But I think the most important thing is that we are leaving here today and everyone is healthy and feeling good and maybe a little fired up after getting their butts kicked this weekend."
John Olerud started Seattle's three-run rally in the fourth with a leadoff single and moved to third on Mike Cameron's one-out base hit. Mark McLemore gave the Mariners a 3-2 lead with an RBI single and Wilson plated a run with a forceout.
Carlos Guillen capped the inning with a run-scoring base hit.
Chad Harville started the fifth for Oakland and loaded the bases with one out. McLemore drove in Edgar Martinez with a groundout and Randy Winn scored on a throwing error by Scott Hatteberg.
Wilson followed with a two-run blast to left field, giving Seattle a seven-run cushion.
"It doesn't matter," Chavez said of the season-ending sweep. "We're not playing the same team, so it doesn't matter."
Hatteberg belted a two-run homer in the second inning and Eric Byrnes was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the sixth to account for Oakland's runs.
