The Seattle Mariners were able to hang on and defeat the Minnesota Twins by a final score of 5-4 on Thursday afternoon. The win gives the series to Seattle, who took three out of four games at Target Field.
The Mariners got the scoring started in the top of the first as Kyle Seager drove in Franklin Gutierrez with a single. The lead did not last long, as the Twins plated two runs in the bottom of the first with an RBI single from Alexi Casilla and a Justin Morneau sacrifice fly.
After allowing those first two Twins runs, starter Blake Beavan settled down and pitched extremely well, eventually allowing just five hits and two walks in seven innings of work.
The Mariners were able to get Beavan in line for the win with a big four-run sixth inning that ended up being the difference. Seager hit a sacrifice fly to tie things up and Jesus Montero hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-2 Seattle. With two outs, Trayvon Robinson hit a two-run single that ended up being the difference in the game.
Minnesota cut the M's lead to one run in the bottom of the eighth with the 33rd home run of the year from Josh Willingham. Tom Wilhelmsen got into some trouble in the bottom of the ninth but was able to preserve the one-run lead for his 21st save of the season. Beavan picked up his ninth win of the year.
For more updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Seattle. For more in-depth coverage of this series, visit the Twins blog Twinkie Town and the Mariners blog Lookout Landing. For more news, notes, and analysis, check out Baseball Nation.
