Seattle, WA – Samuel Deduno threw seven shutout innings and the Minnesota Twins blanked the Seattle Mariners, 4-0, in the third game of a four-game series at Safeco Field.
Deduno (7-4) scattered three hits and three walks while striking out six in his outing. The 30-year-old right-hander picked up his third consecutive win and has allowed just three runs over 21 innings in his last three starts.
"Deduno was the story for us. He pitched great and got us deep into the game. And then we did the best we could with our bullpen," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.
Justin Morneau and Brian Dozier each had a home run for the Twins, who have won two of three in this series.
Seattle starter Aaron Harang (5-9) allowed one run on three hits while fanning five and walking two over five frames, but needed 107 pitches to do so. Since pitching a shutout on June 11, Harang has allowed three earned runs or less in six of his last seven starts.
"You know, if I had to go out back out there, I could have gone out back there," said Harang. "But obviously, it seems like that's the magic number ... 100 pitches, and that's usually when your day is over with."
Seattle's best chance to score came in the second. Kendrys Morales hit a leadoff double to right and advanced to third on a wild pitch with two outs. However, Endy Chavez grounded out to end the inning.
The Twins got on the board in the fourth. Morneau led off with a double to left and Chris Colabello singled to right with one out. Clete Thomas hit a grounder towards second, but was able to bring Morneau home.
In the sixth, Charlie Furbush came on in relief for the Mariners. Colabello delivered a two-out base hit to center. Furbush walked Thomas and Trevor Plouffe, loading the bases, and was replaced by Yoervis Medina, who walked Aaron Hicks to give Minnesota a 2-0 lead.
Medina served up homers to Dozier and Morneau in the seventh and was replaced by Danny Farquhar, who issued one-out walks to Ryan Doumit and Colabello. Both advanced on a passed ball, but Farquhar got Thomas to ground out and struck out Plouffe.
Anthony Swarzak pitched the ninth for the Twins. He gave up a one-out single to Kyle Seager before retiring Justin Smoak and Chavez to end the game.
Game Notes
Deduno is 2-1 with a 0.90 ERA (20 IP, 2 ER) in three career starts against the Mariners ... Morneau has 212 home runs with the Twins, passing Bob Allison for fourth in franchise history ... Swarzak leads all major league relievers with 62 2/3 innings pitched this season ... Seattle hit 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position while Minnesota went 1-for-10 with RISP and left 10 runners on base.
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