Seattle, WA – Hisashi Iwakuma tossed six shutouts innings as the Seattle Mariners cruised to an 8-2 win over the Minnesota Twins in the opener of a four-game set at Safeco Field.
Iwakuma (10-4) scattered four hits and a walk while fanning nine to pick up his third straight win.
Nick Franklin hit a three-run homer and Dustin Ackley had three hits, including a pair of doubles, and two RBI for the Mariners, who have gone 6-1 since the All-Star break.
"He did a great job throughout the entire game," Franklin said of Iwakuma. "I think if we could just start making the defensive plays we can get out of innings earlier."
Chris Herrmann and Doug Bernier each had an RBI double in the ninth inning for the Twins, who have dropped two straight games.
Kevin Correia (7-7) was tagged for six runs on seven hits over just 1 2/3 innings to absorb the loss.
"This is obviously my worst start of the year. A couple balls got through the hole and I made a few bad pitches after that. They just hammered them," said Correia.
Seattle exploded for six runs in the second inning. With two on and one out, Mike Zunino ripped a single to left to score Kyle Seager. Ackley followed with an RBI base hit before Brad Miller smacked a double to center to score Zunino. Franklin's three-run homer, a towering shot to right-center, made it 6-0.
The Mariners tacked on two more in the fifth. Michael Saunders reached on a two-out single then scored on Henry Blanco's two-bagger to center. Ackley followed with a double off the wall in center to push Blanco across.
The Twins finally broke through for a pair of runs in the ninth, but it wasn't nearly enough. Pedro Florimon singled then moved to second on defensive indifference. Herrmann laced a double to center to score Florimon and Bernier followed with a double off the wall in left-center to account for the final margin.
Game Notes
Seattle was 6-for-10 with runners in scoring position ... The Mariners have won nine of their last 10 games ... Iwakuma hasn't lost since July 4 ... Minnesota went 3-for-10 with RISP and left 11 runners on base ... Correia is just 1-3 over his last six starts.
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