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Sexson's walk-off blast powers Mariners past Twins

Aug 14, 2007 - 6:25 AM Paul Lowenberg PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SEATTLE (Ticker) - Richie Sexson's walk-off homer lifted the Seattle Mariners to their third consecutive win.

Sexson homered and drove in three runs as the Mariners posted a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Monday in the opener of a three-game series.

Sexson blasted a 1-0 offering from Matt Guerrier (1-4) over the left-center field wall to lead off the bottom of the ninth as Seattle won for the sixth time in its last seven games.

"I made bad pitches and I got hit," Guerrier said. "I made some bad pitches in the inning before and I made another mistake to a guy that hits the ball out."

The 32-year-old Sexson, who now has registered two hits in each of his last three games, had a two-run double in the first inning off Twins starter Johan Santana, which gave the Mariners an early 2-0 advantage.

Sexson has struggled this season, batting just .210, but has turned it on lately with a six-game hitting streak. The 11-year veteran, who has 19 homers and 58 RBI in 2007, is 10-for-25 (.400) on his current hitting streak.

Sexson heard plenty of boos from the hometown crowd during his recent difficulties, and Mariners manager John McLaren finally sat him down at the end of the last homestand. But things finally got going for the 6-foot-8 slugger on the road, where he was 8-for-21 with a home run over the past two series.

"On the road I did feel good," Sexson said. "It was nice to go out on the road and relax. I haven't heard cheers here for a long time and it was nice. I think I've dug my own grave with the fans here but I think they're just booing me because they want me to be good.

"I'm just trying to keep it going here at home. Hopefully, I can carry this team down the stretch. That's my goal right now."

J.J. Putz (2-1) picked up the win after pitching a scoreless ninth inning.

The Twins rallied to score two runs in the seventh inning to tie the game at 3-3. After Jason Bartlett's RBI groundout scored Jason Tyner, Joe Mauer sent an RBI double to left field, which bounced off the glove of left fielder Adam Jones.

Mauer, who had three hits, had an RBI single in the fifth inning, which cut the deficit to 2-1. The 24-year-old catcher is 8-for-12 (.667) with three RBI over his last three games.

Mariners starter Felix Hernandez, who had lasted just one-third of an inning before leaving the game with a sore elbow in his previous outing against the Twins on April 18, fared much better this time around.

The 21-year-old righthander stifled the Twins' offense, allowing just one run and four hits over six innings. Hernandez, who had six strikeouts, departed with a 3-1 lead after throwing 110 pitches, 31 of them in the first inning alone.

"I knew it was going to be a hard game against Santana," Hernandez said of his duel with his fellow Venezuelan and two-time Cy Young Award winner. "The hardest inning was the first when they fouled off a lot of pitches."

"He really worked hard those 110 pitches," McLaren said. "The first two innings he really had to work hard. He got frustrated, but he kept himself under control."

Santana, who is 7-1 in his career against Seattle, gave up three runs and seven hits with four strikeouts and no walks.

"Johan was good," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "After two runs early, he really settled down and threw the ball great for us and gave us a great chance to get back in the ballgame."

Jose Vidro singled in Yuniesky Betancourt, who led off the fifth inning with a double, to give the Mariners a 3-1 advantage.

The win moved the Mariners to within three games of the American League West Division-leading Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who were idle.