The Seattle Mariners had no answer for Minnesota Twins starter Francisco Liriano. The left-hander struck out nine Mariners hitters and only allowed one earned run on three hits. The Twins offense did not do much against Felix Hernandez either, but they did just enough damage in the first inning to secure the 2-1 victory.
Hernandez struggled early on, failing to throw a first pitch strike to the first four batters he faced in the first inning. He walked two Twins hitters and then with two outs, Michael Cuddyer singled to center field to drive in teammates Matt Tolbert and Jason Kubel.
After the first inning, Hernandez got back to usual form and proceeded to retire seven straight Twins hitters. He came out of the game after eight innings, finishing with nine strikeouts, one walk, and two earned runs.
The Mariners sole run came in the bottom of the fifth inning after Ichiro blooped a single into center field to drive in Brendan Ryan from third.