Ibanez plates six in seventh

SEATTLE – Raul Ibanez had a grand slam and six RBIs – all in a wild seventh inning – and the Seattle Mariners staged their biggest comeback of a lost season to stun the Minnesota Twins 11-6 on Monday night.

Minnesota starter Glen Perkins cruised into the sixth with a 6-0 lead and was still comfortably up 6-1 with one out in the seventh. Seattle looked set to tie its season low of 28 games under .500, until Ibanez triggered a 10-run inning. Ibanez set Seattle’s record for RBIs in one frame, one better than Ken Griffey Jr. had in the fifth inning on April 29, 1999, at the Kingdome.

It was the most runs the Mariners scored in an inning in nearly five years, since Aug. 30, 2003, against Baltimore.

Roy Corcoran (2-0) pitched a scoreless top of the seventh for the victory.

The Twins, a major league-best 31-14 since June 13 entering Monday, fell percentage points behind the Chicago White Sox in the A.L. Central, one day after they reached the top for the first time in three months.

Perkins’ trouble began with a single by Yuniesky Betancourt, a walk to Ichiro Suzuki and a single by Willie Bloomquist to load the bases with one out.

Ibanez, who thought he was going to be traded to Toronto or the New York Mets a week ago, then hit Perkins’ inside fastball about six rows into the right-field bleachers. His seventh career grand slam cut the lead to 6-5 – and awakened what had been another frustrated, booing crowd.

Later in the inning with the Mariners leading 9-6, reliever Matt Guerrier loaded the bases with two walks – one intentional – for Ibanez, who lined a single to put Seattle ahead 11-6.