Batista goes 8 for M’s

SEATTLE – Miguel Batista limited Texas to three hits in eight innings, Jose Guillen went 4 for 4 and the Seattle Mariners beat the Rangers 5-1 Saturday night.

Batista (16-11) struck out five, walked two and won his third straight decision. He retired 15 of 16 batters over one stretch and allowed only one hit after the second inning.

Raul Ibanez hit a solo homer and drove in two runs for Seattle, which finished with 11 hits.

The Mariners pushed across two runs in the sixth to take a 4-1 lead. Mike Morse drove in Ibanez with a bases-loaded single off Kevin Millwood (10-14). Guillen also scored on the play when right fielder Nelson Cruz bobbled the ball for an error.

Ibanez added his 21st homer in the seventh.

Batista, who signed a $25 million, three-year deal with Mariners in the off-season, went 3-0 in four starts against Texas this season.

Cruz hit an RBI double in the second to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead.

Guillen scored when Kenji Johjima grounded into a double play in the bottom half of the inning, and Ibanez’s two-out RBI single in the third made it 2-1.

Notes

Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki went 2 for 4 to raise his average to .351. … Texas lost its fifth straight road game. … Seattle manager John McLaren said he called former M’s manager Lou Piniella to congratulate him on the Cubs’ N.L. Central championship.