Ibanez carries M’s past Indians

CLEVELAND – When Raul Ibanez stepped to the plate in the ninth inning, he wasn’t thinking about any individual accomplishments.

Despite the fact he had already hit two two-run homers and a triple, the Seattle Mariners left fielder had only one thing on his mind.

“This would have been a heartbreaking loss,” he said. “To have a seven-run lead and lose, it would have been a long 50-minute flight.”

Ibanez made sure the Mariners’ trip to Chicago, where they open a three-game series against the Cubs tonight, was a short one. His run-scoring double, his fifth RBI of the game, gave Seattle an 8-7 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Monday night.

After Cleveland rallied to tie the game in the eighth, Jose Vidro started the ninth with a single off Joe Borowski (0-3). Ibanez doubled to right-center with one out, leading the Mariners to their fourth straight win and eighth in the last nine games.

Ibanez finished a single shy of the cycle. It was the sixth time he hit two homers in a game, the last coming on June 24, 2006, at San Diego. It was the 10th four-hit game of his career.

“Raul swung the bat well,” Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said. “He was big tonight.”

Borowski took responsibility for the loss.

“With a game like that you know the guys battled back and played great and you have to go back out there and shut them down,” he said. “Sometimes it just happens.”

Brandon Morrow (3-0) pitched the last two innings for the win, despite allowing the Indians to tie the game in the eighth.

Trailing 7-0, the Indians scored three runs in the fifth, two in the sixth and two in the eighth.

Ibanez, who came into the game with two home runs in 209 at-bats this season, homered in the third and fourth innings off starter Paul Byrd.

Cha Seung Baek allowed five runs in 5 1/3 innings. The Mariners used four relief pitchers. Closer J.J Putz, second in the A.L. with 18 saves, was unavailable because he saved all three games of Seattle’s sweep of San Diego over the weekend.

Ibanez is batting .550 (11 for 20) with two home runs and eight RBIs in his career against Byrd, who allowed seven runs and 11 hits in four innings, his shortest outing of the season.

Travis Hafner’s single with the bases loaded scored two runs in the fifth, snapping a 16-inning scoreless streak for the Indians. Cleveland was shut out for 12 innings Sunday in a 1-0 loss to Cincinnati.

Casey Blake, who had three hits, extended his hitting streak to a career-high 20 games.

Notes

The Mariners placed right-hander Chris Reitsma on the 15-day disabled list due to inflammation in his elbow and recalled left-hander Jake Woods from Triple-A Tacoma before Monday night’s game. This is Reitsma’s second trip to the DL because of his elbow this season. … Former Washington quarterback Johnny DuRocher signed his Mariners contract, three days after Seattle drafted him, and will report to Seattle’s extended spring training in Arizona.