M's sting Tigers with rally

SEATTLE - Mike Sweeney and Josh Wilson took turns crediting the other for a rally that seemed so unlikely from the punchless Mariners.

Seattle's old designated hitter with a balky back, and the youthful looking shortstop nicknamed "paperboy" could both take an equal stake in a second straight comeback win.

Sweeney gave Seattle a chance with a two-run homer off Detroit reliever Ryan Perry, and Wilson capped the four-run eighth inning with a two-run single as the Mariners rallied for a 5-4 win over the Tigers on Wednesday afternoon.

Seattle swept the two-game set and both times came through in the eighth inning. On Tuesday night it was Milton Bradley's single putting the Mariners ahead for good. A day later, Sweeney, Wilson and a handful of others combined to exploit an off-day from the best bullpen in the American League.

"We really needed a defibrillator to come in here and give us a shock because we didn't have a heartbeat for quite some time," Sweeney said. "We lost some tough games that zapped some out of us but the last couple of games have been huge for us."

Down 4-1 entering the eighth, and having done nothing all day against Detroit starter Jeremy Bonderman, Seattle took advantage of Perry's struggles.

Franklin Gutierrez started the eighth with a sharp single to center, but Perry (1-3) got Bradley swinging for the first out and only out he would get.

Sweeney stepped in looking for a fastball, but instead got a slider that hung at knee level. He reached down and clubbed his sixth homer in his last 10 games, a 407-foot shot to the back of the Seattle bullpen.

"It felt good coming out of my hand, but ... ," Perry said trailing off.

The rally didn't stop with Sweeney. Jose Lopez made up for a costly error in the sixth inning with a single, and Rob Johnson followed with a double off the hand-operated scoreboard in left field that missed being a homer by just a few feet.

Detroit manager Jim Leyland stayed with Perry, despite hard-throwing Joel Zumaya standing ready in the bullpen. Wilson lined the third pitch from Perry into left-center, scoring both Lopez and Johnson.

David Aardsma then entered in the ninth and shutdown the Tigers in order for his 11th save in 13 chances. Brandon League (4-4) got the win for Seattle with 2 1-3 innings in relief.

"We're not hitting a whole lot but when (homers) happen that's big for us," Wilson said. "It's definitely a big relief and then in a one-run ball game we can get back to more of our game, get the guys out there and drive them in."

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

Perry's performance wasted Bonderman's effort. Seattle doubled its hit total for the first seven innings in the six batters Perry faced.

"The bullpen has been outstanding like I've said a thousand times. The bullpen didn't do it today. That happens," Leyland said. "They are not going to do it every time out. Those hurt because it is a game in hand that you should have won."

Magglio Ordonez hit a long two-run homer for the Tigers, his seventh of the season, and also had a single and double. 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 left fielder Boesch and first baseman Ryan Raburn. But Boesch's jackknifing catch into the stands on a foul ball and Raburn's diving stop behind the bag at first were lost in the eighth-inning problems.

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.

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.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Not ready to go home just yet, the only place the Orlando Magic are headed is back to Boston.

Halfway to history.

Taking another step toward overcoming an improbable 3-0 series deficit, Dwight Howard had 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Magic to a 113-92 victory over the Celtics on Wednesday night in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals.

"I don't know if you can say you have momentum when you're down 3-2 going into their place," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "I still look at it like we're climbing a huge mountain here. But we are playing better."

Much better.

A series that looked like a sweep a few days ago now has the Celtics taking a slim 3-2 lead into a pressure-packed Game 6 in Boston on Friday night. The Celtics are facing the possibility of playing it without Kendrick Perkins after their starting center picked up his seventh technical foul of the playoffs, a mandatory suspension unless it is overturned.

A potential Game 7 would be in Orlando.

No NBA team has won a series after losing the first three games.

The Magic, seemingly lifeless after a blowout defeat in Game 3, suddenly have hope to be the first. They broke out of their series-long shooting slump, making 13-of-25 3-pointers.

"They are a great team when they get a lead, because then those 3s are easy," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "I thought we never applied any real pressure."

Jameer Nelson scored 24 points, and J.J. Redick had 14 to help the Magic to a frenetic pace that the Celtics couldn't sustain. Howard added five blocks as Orlando built an early 14-point lead that was never seriously challenged.

Rasheed Wallace had 21 points, and Ray Allen scored 19 for a Boston team that once seemed on its way to another NBA finals.

Now? The Celtics are stunned and dazed - and Boston fans who just watched their NHL team blow a 3-0 lead are getting uneasy.

Howard's elbow inadvertently came down on Glen "Big Baby" Davis' face near the basket in the third quarter, giving the Celtics forward a concussion. Davis tried to get up as play continued on the other end, wobbling his way to midcourt, almost falling flat as referee Joey Crawford kept him from tumbling to the hardwood.

Davis did not return. Reserve Marquis Daniels also was hit a similar inadvertent elbow from Howard, leaving him dizzy, and Wallace "tweaked" his back.

Rivers said Davis "blacked out" on the court, and the training staff will examine the forward Thursday.

"I don't know what kind of tests they're going to do with Baby. He's a little delirious anyway," Rivers said, chuckling.

Give the Magic a little more than a puncher's chance.

Redick provided a big boost off the bench, making a pair of 3-pointers to highlight a 20-8 run that put Orlando ahead 51-37 in the second quarter. His swishes and crisp passing kept the Celtics scrambling, and it filled a major hole with starter Vince Carter continuing to struggle.

Amid an amped-up Amway Arena, Wallace picked up his third foul during the spurt and taunted Orlando fans all the way to bench. Wallace shouted and screamed to the stands, pointing at his ring finger for the championship he already won with Detroit - a title that has long eluded Orlando.

Things got even worse for the Celtics when Perkins was ejected after he picked up his second technical of the game and seventh of the postseason for arguing with officials. Perkins and Marcin Gortat were whistled for double technicals a few minutes prior after they got tangled up.

That means Perkins, one of the best defenders in the league on Howard, will be suspended for Game 6 unless the NBA rescinds the technical. The league reviews every technical.

"I didn't think he deserved either one. But he got them," Rivers said.

The Celtics are two games from infamy, and the pressure is mounting, too.

Only four times in the history of North American major pro sports leagues has a team won a playoff series after losing the first three games. Such comebacks are something Boston fans know all too well.

It has happened three times in the NHL - most recently by the Philadelphia Flyers over the Boston Bruins earlier this month - and once in baseball, when the Boston Red Sox came back to beat the New York Yankees in the 2004 AL championship series.

In 93 tries, it has just never been done in the NBA.

Here's the Magic's chance at history.

"We just all believe," Nelson said. "We all believe. We know we can do it, one game at a time."

NOTES: Of the 93 teams that have fallen into an 0-3 hole, only three have even forced a Game 7. ... The NBA upgraded Howard's elbow on Boston's Kevin Garnett in Game 4 to a flagrant-one foul Wednesday. That's Howard's second flagrant of the playoffs; two more and he will be suspended one game.