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Seattle Mariners

Carp has five hits in Mariners’ win

Minnesota Twins
Minnesota Twins' Ben Revere, right, reaches first on an infield hit after Seattle Mariners first baseman Adam Kennedy had to go high for the throw in the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011 in Minneapolis. (Jim Mone / Associated Press)
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — Mike Carp had five hits, Adam Kennedy hit a tiebreaking infield single in the seventh inning and the Seattle Mariners beat the Twins 5-4 Tuesday night to send the Twins to their 10th straight loss. The Twins haven’t had a 10 game losing streak since September 1998. Jason Vargas (9-13) pitched six innings, allowing nine hits and four runs, though only three were earned. Alex Liddi hit his second career homer for Seattle. The Twins loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth against closer Brandon League, but League managed to convert his 35th save in 40 chances on a strikeout and pair of groundouts. Rene Tosoni and Ben Revere led off with back-to-back singles. Trevor Plouffe laid down a sacrifice bunt, but League wasn’t able to corral the ball immediately and threw low to first base, leaving all three runners safe. League recovered to strike out Michael Cuddyer and got Chris Parmelee to bounce into a fielder’s choice at home. Danny Valencia ended the game with a ground out to third. Brian Duensing (9-14) gave up one run in relief for Minnesota. Seattle got the key hit it needed in the seventh. With a runner at third base, Kennedy hit a dribbler to the first-base side of the pitcher’s mound. Duensing dove, but the ball deflected off of his glove, allowing Kyle Seager to score from third. Duensing, who was making his third relief appearance since coming back from a strained oblique earlier this month, pitched 1 1-3 innings, giving up two hits and a walk. Liddi’s homer tied the game at four, providing the chance for Kennedy’s swinging bunt to win it. Liddi, who made his major league debut on Sept. 7, had his first two-hit game on Monday, connecting for his first home run. Carp is handling his biggest opportunity at the major league level well. Still considered a rookie, Carp had appeared in 35 big league games in two previous seasons and was up for 15 games in June. But since recalled on July 19 he’s hitting .305 with 11 homers and 44 RBIs. Of his 68 hits, 27 have been for extra bases.