CLEVELAND -- As the rain fell, the Seattle Mariners passed the time during a seemingly endless delay by watching other baseball games on their clubhouse TVs.
Their manager was tuned to the Weather Channel.
Edgar Martinez hit a three-run homer and three Seattle pitchers took a shutout into the seventh inning for the Mariners, who had to wait out a 2½-hour rain delay before beating the Cleveland Indians 9-1 Thursday night.
Martinez homered in the first inning off Jake Westbrook (2-3) and added a sacrifice fly in the eighth for the Mariners, who were up 7-0 in the fourth when thunderstorms and steady rain caused a two-hour, 28-minute delay.
For a while, it looked like Seattle's easy win would be washed out.
"I know a rule is a rule but this would have been a tough one to swallow," Mariners manager Bob Melvin said. "I was happy to sit around and get a win."
Seattle improved to 5-1 against Cleveland this season and 12-3 vs. AL Central teams.
Randy Winn and Jeff Cirillo had two RBI apiece for the Mariners.
"I didn't want the game to be canceled," Martinez said. "No one in the clubhouse did. It didn't look good for a while. When we looked outside, we didn't think it was going to stop."
Giovanni Carrara (2-0) allowed three hits in three scoreless innings and recorded the first decision for Seattle's bullpen since April 22 when the right-hander also beat Cleveland.
Omar Vizquel homered in the seventh off Julio Mateo for the Indians' lone run.
Cleveland played without leading hitter Milton Bradley. He was benched by manager Eric Wedge, who pulled his center fielder out of Wednesday night's game after six innings.
Wedge had a nearly one-hour meeting with Bradley before Thursday's game but wouldn't reveal his reasons for not playing the 25-year-old, who has a track record of run-ins with managers, umpires and teammates.
Bradley didn't appear to run hard to first base after hitting a fly ball in the sixth inning Wednesday night. He did not join his teammates for batting practice and was unavailable for comment before and after the game.
Wedge isn't sure if Bradley will be back in the lineup for Friday's series opener against Oakland.
"We'll just wait and see," he said.
Seattle scored four times to open a 7-0 lead in the second and chase Westbrook, who lasted just 2 1/3 innings. The right-hander allowed five walks and, with Jason Bere due to come off the 15-day disabled list next week, could be on his way back to the bullpen after his poorest outing this season.
"I felt good," Westbrook said. "I was just all over the place."
Westbrook walked the bases full in the second and Winn and Cirillo each followed with two-run singles, giving Seattle starter Ryan Franklin a seven-run cushion.
Franklin was working on a two-hit shutout through three innings when the rain came.
Martinez, who homered in the first inning Wednesday night, did it for the second straight night.
Ichiro Suzuki singled leading off and Carlos Guillen walked before Martinez drove his ninth homer over the wall in right field to make it 3-0.
Notes: Melvin is already off to the best start in club history after 40 games. Melvin's 25 wins are two more than Bill Plummer, who opened 1992 at 23-17 but finished 64-98 in his only season with Seattle. ... The Indians are 3-for-28 (.107) with the bases loaded. ... The 2:28 rain delay was just seven minutes shy of the Indians' average time for a nine-inning game this season. ... The Mariners are 19-3 when scoring at least five runs. ... Westbrook's five walks were a season high for a Cleveland starter.
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