Tampa Bay just 4-21 on road

SEATTLE (AP) -- Lou Piniella didn't care that Tampa Bay beat the team he managed for 10 seasons.

Any win is special for the Devil Rays right now -- especially on the road.

Aubrey Huff had three hits, including his second homer off Aaron Sele in less than a week, and the Devil Rays broke a five-game losing streak with a rare road win, 6-1 over the Seattle Mariners.

"It feels good getting a win, forget Seattle, anywhere," Piniella said. "We're pleased. It's nice to get our first win on this road trip."

Tampa Bay had lost its last six on the road, and is now 4-21 away from home. The Devil Rays were swept in Oakland before coming to Seattle and had not won a road game since May 19 at Detroit.

Their other road wins came May 13 in Kansas City and April 19 at Yankee Stadium.

"It's been a tough year for us," Huff said. "We've played two months, but it seems like a full season."

Huff hit a three-run shot in the fifth inning for his fourth homer of the season, giving the Devil Rays a 4-1 lead. He added an RBI single off reliever J.J. Putz in Tampa Bay's two-run seventh.

Huff homered last Sunday against Sele, his first since April 18 at Yankee Stadium. But he thinks the fact that his last two homers have come off Sele is merely a fluke.

"I've been scraping pretty much all year," Huff said. "I felt pretty good coming off the Oakland series when I was hitting the ball hard, and tonight I got a good pitch to hit there and when you get a good pitch, you've got to take advantage of it."

Doug Waechter, who typically starts for the Devil Rays, got the win in relief. Waechter (2-3) is being skipped this time through the rotation and is working out of the bullpen.

He took over in the fourth after starter Casey Fossum left with tightness in his left groin and improved to 3-0 lifetime against Seattle. Friday was his normal day to start and, with unlimited time to warm up, Waechter approached it like he would a start.

"I wanted to put together as many innings as I could," Waechter said. "I was mixing my pitches pretty well, just trying to get ahead of everybody and attack the strike zone."

Waechter entered with runners on first and second and none out and got Richie Sexson to ground into a double play. Raul Ibanez singled to right, scoring Randy Winn, but Waechter retired Bret Boone to end the inning.

From there, Waechter held Seattle scoreless and gave up just three hits in five innings. Piniella said moving Waechter out of the rotation for a turn was simply to give his young pitcher a breather.

"He threw five good innings. He pitched really well," said Piniella, who expected to know more about Fossum's injury on Saturday.

Sele was 2-0 with a 0.83 ERA in his previous three starts but was not as sharp Friday, allowing four runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Sele (4-5) did not allow more than five hits in any of his last three games. He beat Tampa Bay 3-2 on May 28, working 6 2/3 innings.

"I thought Aaron pitched well enough to win tonight, but we didn't swing the bats well enough to win," Seattle manager Mike Hargrove said.

The Devil Rays got to Sele in the second. With two outs, Toby Hall doubled into the left-field corner, scoring Nick Green from first.

In the fifth, Alex Sanchez and Carl Crawford had consecutive one-out singles. Julio Lugo flied out, but Huff hit a 1-1 pitch from Sele over the right-center fence.

Sele fell to 9-2 career against Tampa Bay.

"I tried to throw a sinker down and away and it didn't roll over -- really the one mistake I made all night," Sele said. "It ended up being down the middle, he hit a three-run homer, and that was the ballgame."

Crawford also had three hits for Tampa Bay, as did Ibanez for Seattle.

Game notes
Seattle SS Mike Morse got his first major league hit in the fifth, a flair to right field. ... Seattle LHP Bobby Madritsch had an MRI that showed more improvement in his injured pitching shoulder, according to team physician Dr. Larry Pedegana. Madritsch is scheduled for another MRI in 10-14 days. He has been on the disabled list all season. ... Mariners SS Wilson Valdez was sent outright to Triple-A Tacoma and is expected to report Sunday. Valdez was designated for assignment on May 31. ... Piniella was greeted by a chorus of "Looouuu" when he went to the mound in the fourth to check on Fossum.