Final
Cuddyer slams Twins past Mariners
Aug 22, 2007 - 9:56 PM By Brian Hall PA SportsTicker Contributing WriterMINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) - The Minnesota Twins finally scored some runs for starting pitcher Carlos Silva. This time, he did not really need them all.
Silva threw seven solid innings and Michael Cuddyer hit a grand slam to highlight a seven-run first inning as the Twins beat the Seattle Mariners, 8-4, on Wednesday.
In ending Seattle's five-game win streak, the Twins salvaged the finale of the three-game series in which they had been outscored, 16-6, in the first two games.
"We have been there as a starting pitcher all season long, sometimes we get runs, sometimes with no run support, and I feel different," Silva said. "Today was different. It made me more relaxed out on the mound."
Silva (10-12) entered the contest with the second-lowest run support of American League starting pitchers. The Twins have scored just 70 runs in the righthander's 157 2/3 innings this season, about four runs per game. Furthermore, Minnesota has been shut out a league-high 12 times this season and six of those have occurred in games started by Silva.
Run support was never an issue for Silva on Wednesday as he earned his first win of August in his fourth start this month.
Tommy Watkins and Torii Hunter hit back-to-back singles in the first, followed by a walk to Justin Morneau. Cuddyer then put the first pitch he saw deep into the left-center field seats for his fourth-career grand slam off Miguel Batista.
"Because of the offensive rut, you want to take advantage of every opportunity to get one run," Cuddyer said. "You just want to get one run in those opportunities and everything else is a bonus. But you don't want to miss out on that one run when you are in offensive rut."
The Twins would add three more runs in the frame as Garrett Jones, Nick Punto and Alexi Casilla each drove in a run. The seven runs and seven hits in the inning were both season highs.
Silva would take care of things from there. Ichiro Suzuki led off the game with a single, but was wiped out on a double play moments later. He went on to retire eight of the next nine batters.
The righthander had his bid for a shutout ended in the seventh inning when Ben Broussard hit a solo home run to left that barely got over the glove of left fielder Jason Kubel.
Leaving after 96 pitches, Silva allowed three runs, eight hits and did not walk a batter while striking out three.
"He has kept us in every single game he has been out there, it's unfortunate we haven't given him enough run support throughout the course of the year," Cuddyer said. "His record could be a lot better. His record is not indicative of the way he's pitched. We got him some runs early and he went out and showed what he could do with a lead."
Batista (13-9) lasted two innings, giving up a season-high eight runs while allowing nine hits and a walk. The righthander, who had only one strikeout, had won five of his previous seven starts and gave up more than three runs for just the second time since the beginning of May.
"Some of the pitches were great pitches, not good pitches, great pitches and they hit it," Batista said. "You have to tip your hat when you get beat. Sometimes you beat yourself, but I didn't. They beat me."
Holding down first place in the American League wild card race, Seattle's lead over the New York Yankees is now two games. New York will wrap up a series at the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim later Wednesday.
Also still a factor in the AL West, Seattle trails the Angels by 2 1/2 games.
"The guys were battling the whole way," Mariners manager John McLaren said. "I can't say enough good things. They know we are down 8-0, and they still come out and battle their way through it. It wasn't one of our better games, but we won the series."
- AL
FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
SEATTLE 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 4 10 0
MINNESOTA 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 x 8 14 0 (FINAL)
BATTERIES: SEA - MIGUEL BATISTA, RYAN ROWLAND-SMITH (3RD), JOHN PARRISH (7TH)
AND KENJI JOHJIMA
MIN - CARLOS SILVA, PAT NESHEK (8TH), JOE NATHAN (9TH)
AND MIKE REDMOND
HOME
Aug 22 3:26 PM - AL
AT MINNESOTA - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY RAUL IBANEZ SCORED JOSE GUILLEN.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: SEATTLE 4
MINNESOTA 8 TOP, 8TH
DUE UP FOR SEATTLE: R SEXSON (.211, 0-FOR-3)
Mariners vs. TwinsAug 22 3:09 PM - AL
AT MINNESOTA - SCORING UPDATE
TRIPLE BY JOSE GUILLEN SCORED ADRIAN BELTRE.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, J GUILLEN ON THIRD, 0 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: SEATTLE 3
MINNESOTA 8 TOP, 8TH
DUE UP FOR SEATTLE: R IBANEZ (.277, 0-FOR-3)
Mariners vs. TwinsAug 22 3:08 PM - AL
AT MINNESOTA - SCORING UPDATE
TRIPLE BY YUNIESKY BETANCOURT SCORED WILLIE BLOOMQUIST.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, Y BETANCOURT ON THIRD, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: SEATTLE 2
MINNESOTA 8 TOP, 7TH
DUE UP FOR SEATTLE: A JONES (.261, 0 HR, 0 RBI)
Mariners vs. TwinsAug 22 2:49 PM - AL
AT MINNESOTA - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY BEN BROUSSARD (7) TO LEFT WITH 1 OUT IN
THE 7TH OFF CARLOS SILVA.
CURRENT SCORE: SEATTLE 1, MINNESOTA 8
DUE UP FOR SEATTLE: K JOHJIMA (.279, 0-FOR-1, HBP)
Mariners vs. TwinsAug 22 2:45 PM - AL
AT MINNESOTA - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JASON KUBEL SCORED TORII HUNTER.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, J KUBEL ON FIRST, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: SEATTLE 0
MINNESOTA 8 BOTTOM, 2ND
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: M REDMOND (.288, 1-FOR-1)
Mariners vs. TwinsAug 22 1:45 PM - AL
AT MINNESOTA - SCORING UPDATE
TRIPLE BY ALEXI CASILLA SCORED GARRETT JONES.
SITUATION: 7 RUNS IN, A CASILLA ON THIRD, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: SEATTLE 0
MINNESOTA 7 BOTTOM, 1ST
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: T WATKINS (.375, 1-FOR-1)
Mariners vs. TwinsAug 22 1:33 PM - AL
AT MINNESOTA - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY NICK PUNTO SCORED MIKE REDMOND.
SITUATION: 6 RUNS IN, G JONES ON FIRST, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: SEATTLE 0
MINNESOTA 6 BOTTOM, 1ST
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: A CASILLA (.241, 0-FOR-1)
Mariners vs. TwinsAug 22 1:32 PM - AL
AT MINNESOTA - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY GARRETT JONES SCORED JASON KUBEL.
SITUATION: 5 RUNS IN, G JONES ON FIRST, M REDMOND ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: SEATTLE 0
MINNESOTA 5 BOTTOM, 1ST
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: N PUNTO (.201, 1 HR, 20 RBI)
Mariners vs. TwinsAug 22 1:31 PM - AL
AT MINNESOTA - SCORING UPDATE
GRAND SLAM BY MICHAEL CUDDYER (13) TO LEFT CENTER WITH 1
OUT IN THE 1ST OFF MIGUEL BATISTA SCORED TOMMY WATKINS, TORII HUNTER
AND JUSTIN MORNEAU.
CURRENT SCORE: SEATTLE 0, MINNESOTA 4
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: J KUBEL (.248, 9 HR, 44 RBI)
Mariners vs. TwinsAug 22 1:24 PM
Related News
- Mariners Moose Tracks, 12/26/23: Kyle Keller, J.T. Realmuto, and Chad Smith Dec 26
- Greatest Minnesota Twins: The Twinkie Town Definitive List (Round 9) Dec 26
- Mariners Moose Tracks, 12/25/23: Mitch Garver, Yuki Matsui, and Joe Kelly Dec 25
- Mariners to sign Mitch Garver to 2-year, $24M contract Dec 24
- The season of perpetual hope (Pt. 3 of 3): Jim Eisenreich Dec 24
- Mariners Moose Tracks, 12/23/23: Bryce Miller, Shelby Miller, and Ryan Minor Dec 23
- Rival Roundup, Vol. 47: Home for the Holidays Dec 23
- ZiPS, Holidays & Mariner Malaise - Meet at the Mitt Podcast Dec 22
- Mariners Moose Tracks, 12/22/23: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Rule Changes, and More RSN Fallout Dec 22
- Mariners Moose Tracks, 12/21/23: Trevor Gott, Eric Haase, and Adrian Houser Dec 21
- Mariners Moose Tracks, 12/20/23: Andrew McCutchen, Yuki Matsui, and TJ Hopkins Dec 20
- Mariners Moose Tracks, 12/19/23: Tom Murphy, Martin Perez, and Matt Carpenter Dec 19