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<< Previous   of   Next >> Associated Press  (click to enlarge) Minnesota catcher Mike Redmond tags the Mariners' Tug Hulett, who was out at home as he tried to score from second base on single by Miguel Cairo in the eighth inning of Wednesday's game.   ADVERTISEMENT   ADDITIONAL ITEMS • Seattle Mariners (External Link) • Schedule (External Link) • Stats (External Link)   CONTACT THE HERALD Report scores and results to 425-339-3470 or 1-866-6-SCORES (Call after 4:30 p.m.) E-mail information including items for Tuesday's Communities Sports Roundup and Thursday's Outdoor Calendar, to sports@heraldnet.com Kevin Brown, Sports Editor kbrown@heraldnet.com   Published: Thursday, August 28, 2008 Going Green hurts M's Seattle relief pitcher Sean Green has another poor outing as the Twins rally to beat the Mariners. By Kirby Arnold Herald Writer SEATTLE -- During a time when nothing seems to be right with Seattle Mariners reliever Sean Green, he wants to simplify his pitching difficulties down to one thing. Throw strike one. "Sometimes you can over-analyze a situation like this when it might just be a simple thing like getting ahead of each hitter," Green said Wednesday after his problems continued in a 6-5 loss to the Minnesota Twins. Green gave up three hits and three runs in the decisive eighth inning, when the Twins came from behind to win the finale of a three-game series at Safeco Field. The Mariners led 4-3 when Green relieved starter Ryan Feierabend. Justin Morneau drove a sinker into the right-center field gap for a leadoff double in the eighth, Randy Ruiz followed with a single and Jason Kubel continued his dominance of the Mariners with an RBI double to right. It gave Kubel a .625 average in nine games against the M's this season. Green got Delmon Young on a grounder to first before manager Jim Riggleman brought in left-hander Cesar Jimenez to face Brian Buscher. One pitch, a fastball that Buscher drove to center field, drove home two runs for a 6-5 Twins lead. It left Green with his third blown save and a 3-4 record. The red flags over Green's pitching already had been flying, but Wednesday's outing one put the concern at a season high. He has a 9.22 earned run average since the All-Star break after a 2.72 ERA before the break, when he led the league in appearances. He has allowed earned runs in seven of his past 10 outings, including eight earned runs in his last three appearances covering 2 2/3 innings. Is he hurt? Both Green and Riggleman say he isn't. "He may have the general aches and pains that anybody else has this time of the year, but he's throwing the ball fine," Riggleman said. "He just might not be locating it as well." Were the six days that Green went without pitching at the All-Star break, or the three days off that Riggleman gave him early this month, still a factor? Not a bit, Green said, who usually has a better sinker when his arm is tired. "I feel good," Green said. "I'm just missing some spots in big situations and falling behind more hitters than I'm used to. I've just got to get strike one. That helps out the situation." Riggleman said he hasn't seen anything different in Green's delivery than he did early in the season when he was pitching so well. "It looks like it's coming out of his hand good," Riggleman said. "Anything that could go wrong for Sean right now is going wrong. He's just in one of those stretches. But he's got his head up and he's raring to go Friday." The Twins' rally in the eighth spoiled not only Feierabend's solid outing _ seven innings, eight hits and three runs _ but also Jose Lopez's two-run home run in the fourth inning and Raul Ibanez's homer in the seventh to give the Mariners a 4-3 lead. The Mariners rallied in the eighth, getting three straight hits with two outs off Twins left-hander Eddie Guardado. Jeff Clement's double scored Kenji Johjima, who also doubled, to make it a 6-5 score. Tug Hulett pinch-ran for Clement at second base and the Mariners got what appeared to be a tying hit when Miguel Cairo pushed a single to right field. Mariners third-base coach Sam Perlozzo waved Hulett around as Twins right fielder Denard Span fielded the ball cleanly and made a strong throw to catcher Mike Redmond. The throw was perfect and Redmond tagged Hulett for the final out of the inning -- with Ichiro Suzuki standing in the on-deck circle. "It was a good decision by Sammy," Riggleman said. "You're hoping the throw is a hair off line and that the catcher has to reach one way or the other. He put it right there where Redmond could easily block the plate." Read Kirby Arnold's blog on the Mariners at www.heraldnet.com

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