Twins down M’s

MINNEAPOLIS – Carlos Silva heard cheers Friday night as he has many times before when he left the Metrodome mound and headed for the dugout. This time, the fans weren’t applauding for him.

Jason Kubel homered and had three RBIs in the seven-run fourth inning and the Minnesota Twins beat up on their former teammate in a 9-3 win. The Twins have won six of eight since losing two straight in Seattle last week, and this time it was Silva standing in the way of a victory.

Francisco Liriano allowed no earned runs in seven solid innings for Minnesota, which tied the Chicago White Sox for first place in the A.L. Central. Liriano is returning to dominant form while Silva continues to struggle like never before.

Facing his former team for the first time, Silva tied a career high by allowing nine earned runs and lost for a league-leading 14th time. After starting the season 3-0, he has won just once in his last 21 starts. In the eight starts since his June 28 win, Silva is 0-5 with an 8.03 ERA.

“He just doesn’t seem to be able to get the big pitch to get that ground ball when he needs it. That’s been his story pretty much all year,” Seattle pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre said.

Minnesota sent 12 batters to the plate in the fourth inning, sending Silva to the showers.

Kubel’s two-run homer got the inning started, and Adam Everett, Denard Span and Nick Punto had RBI singles before Silva was replaced by Jake Woods, who gave up RBI singles to Joe Mauer and Kubel.

Silva (4-14) won 47 games for the Twins from 2004-07 before signing a four-year, $48 million contract with Seattle in December.

He refused to talk with reporters after the game.

In winning his third straight start since being recalled from Triple-A Rochester, Liriano (3-3) wasn’t overpowering – he had just five strikeouts – but effectively kept the ball down in the zone. The Mariners grounded out 13 times against him.

Silva, who questioned the commitment of some of his teammates after his last start, had only himself to blame for putting Seattle in an early hole.

Span led off the Minnesota first with a double that bounced high off the center-field wall. Two pitches later Punto hit an RBI double to left-center. He scored on a sacrifice fly by Justin Morneau.

Seattle, which lost for the fifth time in six games, tied the game in the fourth when Minnesota’s Brian Buscher booted a ground ball by Wladimir Balentien, allowing two runs to score. Raul Ibanez scored on a double play in the ninth.

Seattle manager Jim Riggleman was ejected in the fifth inning after arguing with first-base umpire Mark Wegner. Ichiro Suzuki dropped the ball while transferring it from his glove to his throwing hand, and Wegner ruled the ball was not caught. It was Riggleman’s first ejection of the season.