Ibanez sparks M’s victory

CLEVELAND – If it’s August, watch out for Raul Ibanez.

Ibanez upped his average for the month to .398 by singling in the go-ahead run to spark Seattle’s two-run 10th inning, giving the Mariners a 4-3 win over the Cleveland Indians on Saturday.

“It feels good anytime you can help the team win,” Ibanez said. “We’ve been battling. I like the way we’ve been doing that.”

The Mariners have the worst record in the American League, but have won the first two games of this series from the Indians, who had won 10 in a row.

Cleveland’s latest loss featured the ejection of manager Eric Wedge for arguing a call in the top of the 10th that led to an important insurance run for the Mariners.

Seattle manager Jim Riggleman liked the way his team responded after seeing the lead get away.

“Nobody quit,” he said. “Guys went out there and kept competing.”

Ichiro Suzuki, who had three hits, walked to start the 10th off Jensen Lewis (0-4). After a force play, Adrian Beltre’s single moved Jeremy Reed to third. Ibanez, who is 43 for 108 this month, singled through the right side on a 1-1 changeup, scoring Reed.

“I don’t think the pitch was up,” said Ibanez, who was 3 for 5. “I hit it in the right place where nobody was standing and it worked out.”

This is not the first time he’s come alive with a great August. Last season, he hit .374 with nine homers for the month.

“Raul Ibanez is probably one of the most underrated players in the game,” Lewis said.

Seattle took a 2-0 lead into the ninth, but Shin-Soo Choo’s two-run homer off closer J.J. Putz tied the game.

The inning also featured some controversy. Jose Lopez followed with a ground ball to the left side that was heading toward shortstop Jhonny Peralta, but instead appeared to hit Beltre in the chest. Beltre was called out and Lopez was credited with an infield single. Wedge argued that Beltre intentionally slowed up so the ball would hit him and the play should have been ruled a double play. He was ejected by third base umpire Fieldin Culbreth after a lengthy discussion.

“It should have been an automatic double play,” Wedge said. “They didn’t see it that way.”

Riggleman wasn’t convinced.

“I’ve never seen that call (a double play) before,” he said.

Jamie Burke followed with an RBI single, which turned out to be a big run since the Indians rallied again. Grady Sizemore led off the 10th with a double off Sean Green and scored on Peralta’s two-out single. Randy Messenger replaced Green and retired pinch-hitter Victor Martinez for his first save.

A strong outing by starter Jarrod Washburn, along with Tug Hulett’s first major league home run, had the Mariners on the verge of a win, but Putz couldn’t close it out. Washburn held the Indians to three hits and struck out eight in 62/3 innings. He hasn’t won since July 27.