CHICAGO -- Freddy Garcia put aside his feelings for his former teammates, then went out and shut them down.
Garcia struck out seven in 6 2/3 innings, Jose Valentin hit a two-run homer and the Chicago White Sox handed the Seattle Mariners their ninth straight loss, 4-3 Sunday.
Aaron Rowand and Juan Uribe both hit solo homers for Chicago, which won its fourth straight to overtake Minnesota for first place in the AL Central.
"I was really excited, I got to the mound and I have to do my job, it doesn't matter who is hitting," Garcia said.
Garcia (6-8) was traded to Chicago on June 27 and is 2-1 in three starts. He allowed three runs on six hits and gave up one walk.
"I think he goes out against everybody the same way, but I think facing the guys that was (his) friends for so many years, grew up with, (he) will be pumped up," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "You can go either way, you can fail or pitch good, sometimes when you get over anxious or do something different. I think he threw the ball real well today."
He went 4-7 with a 3.20 ERA in 15 starts for Seattle this season. The Mariners averaged a major league-worst 2.19 runs in Garcia's 15 starts and the offensive struggles continued, this time against Garcia and the White Sox.
"It's the same we've been seeing all year, just enough to lose," Seattle manager Bob Melvin said. "I've seen that game 50 times in this half, it seems like."
The losing streak is Seattle's longest since September 1992, when it lost a club-record 14 in a row. The Mariners went 0-9 on their nine-game road trip and they've also lost 12 straight away from home. It was their longest winless trip since Sept. 4-13, 1992.
"We shouldn't have put ourselves in a position where we feel like we need a break right now," Melvin said.
Melvin doesn't have much to say about his players' poor performance.
"I'm not telling them anything. They know, they watched the same thing I have," Melvin said.
The Mariners also have been swept seven times this season, last year they were swept once. Seattle is 22 games below .500 for the first time since July 31, 1994.
Trailing 3-1 in the fifth, Chicago rallied. Joe Borchard led off with a single and Valentin followed with a two-run homer to right off Mariners starter Jamie Moyer.
"I just went there trying to get a pitch I can hit, I know he (Moyer) is not a power pitcher. He changes speeds, hit his spots. He threw me a slider it kind of hung over the middle of the plate and I hit it out," Valentin said.
One out later, Uribe followed with his 12th homer of the season, giving the White Sox a 4-3 lead.
Ichiro Suzuki led off the third with a single and Randy Winn followed with a two-run homer to right, giving Seattle a 2-0 lead.
Garcia walked Willie Bloomquist leading off the fifth inning. Bloomquist went to third on Ichiro's single, and scored on Winn's double-play grounder, making it 3-1 Mariners.
Damaso Marte pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings and Shingo Takatsu worked a perfect ninth for his fifth save.
Moyer (6-6) retired nine of the first 10 batters. The White Sox got their first hit on Rowand's homer leading off the fourth. It was Rowand's ninth of the season.
Moyer pitched eight innings for his first complete game of the season, allowing four runs on five hits while striking out seven and walking one. He has allowed 25 home runs this season, last season he allowed 19.
"We've got to go out, get a win, and got to have some pride," Moyer said. "You've seen that same look on everybody's face. That glum look."
Notes
- Mariners C Miguel Olivo will begin a rehab assignment with Class-A Everett on Tuesday. Olivo was involved in the trade that sent Garcia to the White Sox on June 27. Olivo had a surgical procedure June 30 to remove a kidney stone.
- White Sox LF Carlos Lee robbed Raul Ibanez of an extra-base hit in the third inning with a leaping catch against the wall.
- Moyer is 0-4 with a 6.65 ERA over his last five games (four starts).
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