Rangers show M's why they're in first

SEATTLE — David Murphy hit a go-ahead, three-run home run, Michael Young added his first grand slam in three years and the first-place Texas Rangers beat the lowly Seattle Mariners 11-6 on Wednesday night.

Texas took the lead with five runs in the fifth before Young’s first slam since Sept. 16, 2007.

It came off Garrett Olson in the seventh and capped a weird day in which the Rangers remained eight games ahead of Oakland in the AL West while their franchise was being auctioned for sale in a courthouse in Fort Worth, Texas.

Texas opening-day starter Scott Feldman, demoted into the bullpen last week, took over for wild and ineffective starter C.J. Wilson in the fourth inning and allowed two hits and one run in two innings. He struck out two in his first relief appearance since April 22, 2009.

Feldman (6-9) had been yanked from the rotation after going 0-3 with a 6.17 ERA in his last six starts.

Doug Fister (3-8), the AL’s ERA leader through late May before shoulder stiffness kept him out all but the final week of June, allowed a season-high seven earned runs in 4 2/3 innings while losing his seventh straight decision.

Fister was 3-3 with a 2.45 ERA over his first 10 starts. In his seven starts since coming off the disabled list, he is 0-5 with an ERA of 6.59.

Fister held a 5-2 lead entering the fifth, behind a two-run single in the first by Jose Lopez and two-run home run in the third by Tuesday call-up Adam Moore. But he hit leadoff man Elvis Andrus with a pitch and allowed a single to Michael Young. Andrus eventually scored on a wild pitch to Vladimir Guerrero. Guerrero, a Mariners-killer for much of his AL West career, then drove what appeared to be a tying home run.

Seattle center fielder Franklin Gutierrez looked back at the padded wall once, drifted onto the track and then timed his leap perfectly to snare the ball in the webbing of his black glove just before he drifted into a gaggle of men standing at a railing and drinking in a beer garden.

Then embattled Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu had the left-handed Fister intentionally walk right-handed and .325-hitting Nelson Cruz, who had already doubled and then singled in Texas’ second run in the third, to face left-handed Murphy with two on.

In a sequence befitting the Mariners’ miserable season, the .255-hitting Murphy crunched a two-strike pitch almost 10 rows into the bleachers far beyond right-field. Texas led 6-5 on Murphy’s sixth homer of the season.

Fister left after two more singles, then No. 9-hitter Mitch Moreland made it 7-5 with a single off Chris Seddon.

Sweeney sent to Phillies: The Mariners traded five-time All-Star hitter Mike Sweeney to the Philadelphia Phillies for a player to be named later or cash considerations.

The Phillies announced they had acquired Sweeney a day after they put All-Star first baseman Ryan Howard on the disabled list with a sprained ankle.

Sweeney will provide hitting depth for Philadelphia, which sits two games behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East. The Phillies are hopeful to have Howard, the 2006 National League MVP who was leading the NL with 81 RBIs when he got hurt, back in two weeks.

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said Sweeney should join the Phillies Thursday for the final game of the Marlins series.

Seattle first activated Sweeney from the disabled list on Wednesday. He then went on waivers before the last-place Mariners, whose season is long since lost, dealt away another of their clubhouse leaders.

“Mike is true pro and was a contributor to our organization in many ways, both on and off the field,” Seattle general manager Jack Zduriencik said. “This is a great opportunity for Mike and we are pulling for him to succeed in Philadelphia.”

Sweeney, considered to be one of the most universally liked players in the game, appears to be headed to a role as a pinch-hitter in Philadelphia. He has been bothered by low back pain this season and had knee problems throughout last season.

Playing first base, even on a limited basis, exacerbated those pains and left him primarily as a part-time designated hitter in the American League.