MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Dustin Ackley hit a three-run homer, Hisashi Iwakuma was hard to hit and the Seattle Mariners beat the stumbling Minnesota Twins 5-2 on Tuesday night.
Iwakuma (5-3) gave up just one hit and one unearned run over six innings in another strong start for the rookie from Japan. The right-hander struck out four and helped send the Twins to their 16th defeat in their last 19 games despite four walks, a hit batsman and a wild pitch.
Ackley’s drive off Scott Diamond (10-6) into the flower bed above right-center field followed consecutive singles by Trayvon Robinson and Brendan Ryan to start the fifth. Diamond gave up more than three runs for the first time in seven starts since July 21.
The announced attendance was 29,854, the first sub-30,000 crowd to watch the Twins since Target Field opened in 2010.
