Beltre plays hero

SEATTLE – The way Adrian Beltre has hit lately, if he wasn’t going to clear the wall he might drive a ball through it.

Monday night, he cleared it and a major hurdle for the Seattle Mariners.

Beltre’s two-run homer on the first pitch he saw in the 11th inning gave the Mariners a 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins, who’d beaten the Mariners in four straight meetings.

Beltre’s double in the ninth inning helped the Mariners tie the score against Twins closer Joe Nathan.

“It seems like he’s been hitting in bad luck all year,” manager Jim Riggleman said. “His numbers don’t indicate how he’s hitting the ball.”

They also don’t indicate how much he has been hurting lately. He injured his left shoulder over the weekend and was limited to DH duty for two games.

“He’s one of the most physically tough players I’ve ever seen play the game,” Riggleman said.

Beltre had lined out hard to left field in the first inning and lined to right in the sixth. In the ninth, he drove a double to right-center and scored on Jeff Clement’s double-play grounder, tying the score 2-2.

Then in the 11th, after Raul Ibanez had worked reliever Jesse Crain for a one-out walk, Beltre crushed the first pitch into the Twins’ bullpen beyond the left-field fence.

“Bellie hit four balls on the button tonight,” Riggleman said.

R.A. Dickey, who lost his place in the Mariners’ starting rotation Monday, won the game with a perfect inning of relief in the top of the 11th.