GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: AL: SEATTLE (69-52) at MINNESOTA (62-61)

AL: SEATTLE at MINNESOTA

<div class="pre">AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
SEATTLE 4 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 9 15 0
MINNESOTA 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 4 9 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: SEA - HORACIO RAMIREZ, SEAN GREEN (8TH) AND KENJI JOHJIMA

MIN - MATT GARZA, CARMEN CALI (3RD), MATT GUERRIER
(7TH), DENNYS REYES (9TH) AND JOE MAUER

HOME RUNS: SEA - RAUL IBANEZ (14) OFF MATT GARZA IN THE 1ST, 1 ON
RICHIE SEXSON (20) OFF MATT GARZA IN THE 1ST, 1 ON
RAUL IBANEZ (15) OFF MATT GARZA IN THE 3RD, 0 ON
KENJI JOHJIMA (14) OFF MATT GARZA IN THE 3RD, 1 ON

MIN - NONE</div>

 

AL: SEATTLE at MINNESOTA

<div class="pre">AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
SEATTLE 4 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 9 15 0
MINNESOTA 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 4 9 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: SEA - HORACIO RAMIREZ, SEAN GREEN (8TH) AND KENJI JOHJIMA

MIN - MATT GARZA, CARMEN CALI (3RD), MATT GUERRIER
(7TH), DENNYS REYES (9TH) AND JOE MAUER


WP - HORACIO RAMIREZ (8-4)
LP - MATT GARZA (2-4)
SAVE - NONE

HOME RUNS: SEA - RAUL IBANEZ (14) OFF MATT GARZA IN THE 1ST, 1 ON
RICHIE SEXSON (20) OFF MATT GARZA IN THE 1ST, 1 ON
RAUL IBANEZ (15) OFF MATT GARZA IN THE 3RD, 0 ON
KENJI JOHJIMA (14) OFF MATT GARZA IN THE 3RD, 1 ON

MIN - NONE


TIME: 2:23 ATT: 31,755

PROBABLES: SEA - JARROD WASHBURN (8-10, 4.16)
MIN - SCOTT BAKER (6-5, 4.53)</div>

 

AL: SEATTLE at MINNESOTA

<div class="pre">SEATTLE (9) VS MINNESOTA (4) - FINAL

SEATTLE ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
I Suzuki cf 5 0 1 0 0 1 3 .346
J Vidro dh 4 0 0 0 1 0 3 .317
J Guillen rf 5 1 1 0 0 2 4 .288
R Ibanez lf 5 3 3 3 0 0 1 .280
A Jones lf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .261
A Beltre 3b 5 2 2 0 0 1 2 .275
R Sexson 1b 4 1 1 2 1 1 2 .209
K Johjima c 5 2 3 3 0 1 0 .278
J Lopez 2b 5 0 2 1 0 0 2 .261
Y Betancourt ss 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 .297

Totals 42 9 15 9 2 6 18

BATTING: 2B - Y Betancourt (28, C Cali); K Johjima 2 (24, M Guerrier, D Reyes).
HR - R Ibanez 2 (15, 1st inning off M Garza 1 on, 2 Out, 3rd inning off M Garza
0 on, 0 Out), R Sexson (20, 1st inning off M Garza 1 on, 2 Out), K Johjima (14,
3rd inning off M Garza 1 on, 1 Out). RBI - R Ibanez 3 (81), R Sexson 2 (60), K
Johjima 3 (49), J Lopez (51). 2-out RBI - R Ibanez 2, R Sexson 2, K Johjima, J
Lopez. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J Guillen 2, I Suzuki 1, J
Lopez 2. Team LOB - 8.

FIELDING: DP: 1 (J Lopez-Y Betancourt-R Sexson).


MINNESOTA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
A Casilla 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 .234
J Mauer c 4 2 2 0 0 0 0 .298
T Hunter cf 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 .297
J Morneau 1b 4 0 3 1 0 0 1 .287
M Cuddyer rf 3 1 1 2 0 0 1 .276
M Redmond dh 4 0 1 1 0 0 3 .285
R White lf 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .138
G Jones lf 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .148
T Watkins 3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .350
N Punto ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .202

Totals 35 4 9 4 0 1 10

BATTING: 2B - M Redmond (12, H Ramirez); J Morneau 2 (26, H Ramirez 2); J Mauer
(23, H Ramirez). SF - M Cuddyer. RBI - M Redmond (29), M Cuddyer 2 (65), J
Morneau (92). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - N Punto 1, M Redmond 1.
GIDP - N Punto. Team LOB - 5.


----------------------------------------------------
SEATTLE - 403 000 200 -- 9
MINNESOTA - 010 001 020 -- 4
----------------------------------------------------

SEATTLE ip h r er bb so hr era
H Ramirez (W, 8-4) 7 1/3 9 4 4 0 1 0 7.15
S Green 1 2/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.23

MINNESOTA ip h r er bb so hr era
M Garza (L, 2-4) 2 1/3 9 7 7 0 2 4 3.30
C Cali 3 2/3 2 0 0 1 2 0 4.97
M Guerrier 2 3 2 2 0 2 0 1.96
D Reyes 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 4.03

WP - M Garza. Pitches-strikes: H Ramirez 101-67; S Green 21-14; M Garza
47-30; C Cali 51-34; M Guerrier 29-18; D Reyes 19-12. Ground balls-fly balls: H
Ramirez 17-5; S Green 2-3; M Garza 2-3; C Cali 5-4; M Guerrier 1-3; D Reyes
3-0. Batters faced: H Ramirez 31; S Green 5; M Garza 16; C Cali 14; M Guerrier
9; D Reyes 5.

UMPIRES: HP--Bill Miller. 1B--Chris Guccione. 2B--Jeff Kellogg. 3B--Jerry
Layne.

T--2:23. Att--31,755.
Weather: INDOORS</div>

 

AL: SEATTLE at MINNESOTA

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
AL
SEATTLE 9
MINNESOTA 4 FINAL</div>

 

AL: SEATTLE at MINNESOTA

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SEATTLE (9) AT MINNESOTA (4) - HOW THEY SCORED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SEATTLE 1ST: I Suzuki struck out swinging. J Vidro lined out to second.
J Guillen singled to center. R Ibanez homered to left, J Guillen scored.
A Beltre singled to right. R Sexson homered to center, A Beltre scored.
K Johjima flied out to left. (4 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 4, MINNESOTA 0.

MINNESOTA 2ND: M Cuddyer reached on infield single to third. M Redmond
doubled to deep center, M Cuddyer scored. R White grounded out to second,
M Redmond to third. T Watkins flied out to center. N Punto grounded out to
shortstop. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 4, MINNESOTA 1.

SEATTLE 3RD: R Ibanez homered to right center. A Beltre reached on infield
single to third. R Sexson struck out swinging. K Johjima homered to left
center, A Beltre scored. C Cali relieved M Garza. J Lopez grounded out to
second. Y Betancourt doubled to left. I Suzuki grounded out to pitcher.
(3 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 7, MINNESOTA 1.

MINNESOTA 6TH: J Mauer doubled to left. T Hunter flied out to right.
J Morneau singled to left, J Mauer to third. M Cuddyer hit sacrifice fly to
center, J Mauer scored. M Redmond flied out to right. (1 Run, 2 Hits,
0 Errors) SEATTLE 7, MINNESOTA 2.

SEATTLE 7TH: M Guerrier relieved C Cali. R Ibanez singled to center.
A Beltre struck out swinging. R Sexson popped out to shortstop. K Johjima
doubled to deep left, R Ibanez scored, K Johjima to third advancing on throw.
J Lopez singled to left, K Johjima scored. Y Betancourt flied out to center.
(2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 9, MINNESOTA 2.

MINNESOTA 8TH: A Casilla grounded out to third. J Mauer singled to center.
T Hunter grounded into fielder's choice to second, J Mauer to second.
J Morneau doubled to deep right, J Mauer scored, T Hunter to third. S Green
relieved H Ramirez. M Cuddyer grounded out to first, T Hunter scored, J Morneau
to third. M Redmond grounded out to second. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)
SEATTLE 9, MINNESOTA 4.</div>

 

AL: SEATTLE at MINNESOTA

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SEATTLE (9) AT MINNESOTA (4) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seattle Starting Lineups -- I Suzuki CF, J Vidro DH, J Guillen RF, R Ibanez LF,
A Beltre 3B, R Sexson 1B, K Johjima C, J Lopez 2B, Y Betancourt SS, H Ramirez LHP.

Minnesota Starting Lineups -- A Casilla 2B, J Mauer C, T Hunter CF, J Morneau
1B, M Cuddyer RF, M Redmond DH, R White LF, T Watkins 3B, N Punto SS, M Garza RHP.

Umpires -- Bill Miller (HP), Chris Guccione (1B), Jeff Kellogg (2B),
Jerry Layne (3B).

Gametime Weather: INDOORS.


SEATTLE 1ST: I Suzuki struck out swinging. J Vidro lined out to second.
J Guillen singled to center. R Ibanez homered to left, J Guillen scored.
A Beltre singled to right. R Sexson homered to center, A Beltre scored.
K Johjima flied out to left. (4 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 4, MINNESOTA 0.

MINNESOTA 1ST: A Casilla grounded out to pitcher. J Mauer grounded out to
shortstop. T Hunter singled to center. J Morneau grounded out to third.
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 4, MINNESOTA 0.

SEATTLE 2ND: J Lopez singled to center. Y Betancourt singled to right,
J Lopez to second. I Suzuki popped out to shortstop. J Lopez to third,
Y Betancourt to second on wild pitch by M Garza. J Vidro grounded out to first.
J Guillen grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 4,
MINNESOTA 0.

MINNESOTA 2ND: M Cuddyer reached on infield single to third. M Redmond
doubled to deep center, M Cuddyer scored. R White grounded out to second,
M Redmond to third. T Watkins flied out to center. N Punto grounded out to
shortstop. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 4, MINNESOTA 1.

SEATTLE 3RD: R Ibanez homered to right center. A Beltre reached on infield
single to third. R Sexson struck out swinging. K Johjima homered to left
center, A Beltre scored. C Cali relieved M Garza. J Lopez grounded out to
second. Y Betancourt doubled to left. I Suzuki grounded out to pitcher.
(3 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 7, MINNESOTA 1.

MINNESOTA 3RD: A Casilla flied out to left. J Mauer grounded out to
second. T Hunter grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
SEATTLE 7, MINNESOTA 1.

SEATTLE 4TH: J Vidro walked. J Guillen struck out looking. R Ibanez flied
out to center. A Beltre grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
SEATTLE 7, MINNESOTA 1.

MINNESOTA 4TH: J Morneau doubled to center. M Cuddyer grounded out to
second, J Morneau to third. M Redmond grounded into fielder's choice to third,
J Morneau out at home. R White grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) SEATTLE 7, MINNESOTA 1.

SEATTLE 5TH: R Sexson grounded out to third. K Johjima struck out
swinging. J Lopez grounded out to pitcher. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
SEATTLE 7, MINNESOTA 1.

MINNESOTA 5TH: T Watkins singled to center. N Punto grounded into double
play, second to shortstop to first, T Watkins out at second. A Casilla grounded
out to second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 7, MINNESOTA 1.

SEATTLE 6TH: Y Betancourt flied out to right. I Suzuki reached on infield
single to shortstop. J Vidro flied out to center. J Guillen fouled out to
first. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 7, MINNESOTA 1.

MINNESOTA 6TH: J Mauer doubled to left. T Hunter flied out to right.
J Morneau singled to left, J Mauer to third. M Cuddyer hit sacrifice fly to
center, J Mauer scored. M Redmond flied out to right. (1 Run, 2 Hits,
0 Errors) SEATTLE 7, MINNESOTA 2.

SEATTLE 7TH: M Guerrier relieved C Cali. R Ibanez singled to center.
A Beltre struck out swinging. R Sexson popped out to shortstop. K Johjima
doubled to deep left, R Ibanez scored, K Johjima to third advancing on throw.
J Lopez singled to left, K Johjima scored. Y Betancourt flied out to center.
(2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 9, MINNESOTA 2.

MINNESOTA 7TH: R White grounded out to shortstop. T Watkins grounded out
to third. N Punto struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SEATTLE 9,
MINNESOTA 2.

SEATTLE 8TH: G Jones in left field. I Suzuki flied out to center. J Vidro
grounded out to first. J Guillen struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits,
0 Errors) SEATTLE 9, MINNESOTA 2.

MINNESOTA 8TH: A Casilla grounded out to third. J Mauer singled to center.
T Hunter grounded into fielder's choice to second, J Mauer to second.
J Morneau doubled to deep right, J Mauer scored, T Hunter to third. S Green
relieved H Ramirez. M Cuddyer grounded out to first, T Hunter scored, J Morneau
to third. M Redmond grounded out to second. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)
SEATTLE 9, MINNESOTA 4.

SEATTLE 9TH: D Reyes relieved M Guerrier. R Ibanez grounded out to second.
A Beltre grounded out to third. R Sexson walked. K Johjima doubled to right,
R Sexson to third. J Lopez grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)
SEATTLE 9, MINNESOTA 4.

MINNESOTA 9TH: A Jones in left field. G Jones flied out to right.
T Watkins lined out to second. N Punto flied out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits,
0 Errors) SEATTLE 9, MINNESOTA 4.</div>

 

Mariners club four homers, beat Twins

<h3>SEATTLE 9, MINNESOTA 4</h3>By Anthony Maggio
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) - In a month known for its heat, RaulIbanez is the hottest thing going.


Ibanez hit a pair of home runs and his teammates added two moreas the Seattle Mariners defeated the Minnesota Twins, 9-4, onMonday.


Horacio Ramirez (8-4) started and won for the third time in hislast four decisions thanks to the Mariners tying a season highwith four homers.


Seattle (70-52) has won four in a row and sits one game ahead ofthe New York Yankees (70-54) in the American League wild cardrace.


Six days earlier in Seattle, Ramirez was the loser as the Twins,behind starter Matt Garza, claimed an 11-3 victory. But Garzawas treated much worse by the Mariners this time around, withIbanez leading the way.


Ibanez went 3-for-5 with two homers, three runs scored and threeRBI, giving him an AL-leading nine home runs in August.

Garza (2-4) was pulled after a career-low 2 1/3 innings in gameshe has started, allowing seven runs and nine hits andsurrendering all four home runs. After harmlessly recording twoouts to start the game, Garza ran into a ton of trouble.

Jose Guillen hit a two-out single before Ibanez homered to leftfield to start the scoring. Adrian Beltre followed with asingle and Richie Sexson added two more runs with a 413-footblast to center field.


Garza escaped the second inning unscathed thanks to a brilliantbarehanded play by shortstop Nick Punto with runners on secondand third with two outs, but he wasn't as fortunate in the thirdinning.


Ibanez led off the frame with his second home run and Beltresingled. After Sexson struck out, Kenji Johjima homered to endGarza's night.


The four home runs allowed by Garza tied a team high for a Twinsstarter this season, and was one shy of the most homers allowedby Minnesota in a game all year.


The seven runs allowed fell just one short of the most allowedby a Minnesota starter in 2007, and Garza's 2 1/3 innings wasthe shortest outing by a Twins starter since Ramon Ortiz lastedjust 1 2/3 on June 4 in Los Angeles against the Angels.

Ramirez, meanwhile, cruised through the first seven innings. Heallowed an RBI double to Mike Redmond in the second inning anda sacrifice fly in the sixth before Jose Lopez's fieldingmistake cost him in the eighth.


With Joe Mauer on first base and one out, Torii Hunter groundedto Lopez at second base. Rather than flip the ball to YunieskyBetancourt to start the inning-ending double play, he opted toattempt a tag on Mauer. But the Twins' catcher froze in thebasepath, and with Hunter sprinting down the first base line,Lopez tagged Mauer with an empty glove while throwing to firsttoo late to get Hunter.


Justin Morneau followed with an RBI double and Michael Cuddyergrounded out to bring home another run, giving the Twins moreruns than they had scored in their previous three gamescombined.


Ramirez was charged with four runs and nine hits in 7 1/3innings. He has allowed three or more earned runs in his lastsix starts with a 9.00 ERA over that stretch.


Cuddyer drove in a pair of runs and scored while Mauer went2-for-4 with two runs for Minnesota.

 

Mariners club four homers, beat Twins

<h3>SEATTLE 9, MINNESOTA 4</h3>By Anthony Maggio
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) - In a month known for its heat, RaulIbanez is the hottest thing going.


Ibanez hit a pair of home runs and his teammates added two moreas the Seattle Mariners defeated the Minnesota Twins, 9-4, onMonday.


Horacio Ramirez (8-4) started and won for the third time in hislast four decisions thanks to the Mariners tying a season highwith four homers - all off Twins starter Matt Garza.

"They swallowed him (Garza) up before he got going," Minnesotamanager Ron Gardenhire said. "He tried to make some pitchesinside, but every time he did it and came back over the plate,he left it up and he got hit really hard. It was one of thosenights where the fastball wasn't moving a lot, it was out overthe plate and they were crushing it."


Six days earlier in Seattle, Ramirez was the loser as the Twins,behind Garza, claimed an 11-3 victory. But Garza was treatedmuch worse by the Mariners this time around, with Ibanez leadingthe way.


Ibanez went 3-for-5 with two homers, three runs scored and threeRBI, giving him an AL-leading nine home runs in August.

"I just see it, put a good swing on it and stay through theball," Ibanez said. "I think there has been good pitches tohit, I'm just not missing them (now)."


Garza (2-4) was pulled after a career-low 2 1/3 innings in gameshe has started, allowing seven runs and nine hits andsurrendering a career-high four home runs. After harmlesslyrecording two outs to start the game, Garza ran into a ton oftrouble.


Jose Guillen hit a two-out single before Ibanez homered to leftfield to start the scoring. Adrian Beltre followed with asingle and Richie Sexson added two more runs with a 413-footblast to center field.


"Richie is coming around," Seattle manager John McLaren said."It makes you feel good to know the guys who work so hard andnow it's starting to pay off for him."


Garza escaped the second inning unscathed thanks to a brilliantbarehanded play by shortstop Nick Punto with runners on secondand third with two outs, but he wasn't as fortunate in the thirdinning.


Ibanez led off the frame with his second home run and Beltresingled. After Sexson struck out, Kenji Johjima homered to endGarza's night.


"They came out swinging and I didn't have anything for them,"Garza said. "I had fastballs up tonight and that's what theywere looking for. They weren't looking for anything other thanthat."


The four home runs allowed by Garza tied a team high for a Twinsstarter this season, and was one shy of the most homers allowedby Minnesota in a game all year.


The seven runs allowed fell just one short of the most allowedby a Minnesota starter in 2007, and Garza's 2 1/3 innings wasthe shortest outing by a Twins starter since Ramon Ortiz lastedjust one on May 15 at Cleveland.


Ramirez, meanwhile, cruised through the first seven innings. Heallowed an RBI double to Mike Redmond in the second inning anda sacrifice fly in the sixth before Jose Lopez's fieldingmistake cost him in the eighth.


With Joe Mauer on first base and one out, Torii Hunter groundedto Lopez at second base. Rather than flip the ball to YunieskyBetancourt to start the inning-ending double play, he opted toattempt a tag on Mauer. But the Twins' catcher froze in thebasepath, and with Hunter sprinting down the first base line,Lopez tagged Mauer with an empty glove while throwing to firsttoo late to get Hunter.


Justin Morneau followed with an RBI double and Michael Cuddyergrounded out to bring home another run, giving the Twins moreruns than they had scored in their previous three gamescombined. Lopez heard about the play from McLaren in the dugout.

"You can't let a play like that happen," McLaren said. "When Iget on somebody, I want to be consistent. I don't want tobelittle him or embarrass him. He tried to do too much and gotcaught in between."


Ramirez was charged with four runs and nine hits in 7 1/3innings. He has allowed three or more earned runs in his lastsix starts with a 9.00 ERA over that stretch. But McLaren waspleased with his performance.


"He threw strikes, had differential in his pitches, located hisfastball and that was very encouraging," McLaren said. "It'sgreat for not only the team, but also for him. He needed thatfor his confidence."


Ramirez has won each of his last two road starts and improved to2-3 with an 11.57 ERA in seven road starts this season.Ramirez changed his delivery between starts, no longer bringingthe ball over his head before he pitches.


"Hopefully this is the start of a good run for me," Ramirezsaid. "The most important thing for me, I think, was definitelythe mechanical change I made."


Cuddyer drove in a pair of runs and Mauer went 2-for-4 with tworuns for Minnesota.