Mariners vs Twins : 3 - 7

Torii Hunter was laughing, even cackling about how good Twins teammate Joe Mauer was Thursday. How great he's been this week. How great he will be. Mauer had three hits and reached base four times in Minnesota's 7-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners, finishing off an extraordinary road trip. One day after reaching base five times, Mauer doubled twice and singled. The Mariners had seen enough of him by the fourth inning -- they intentionally walked him. He finally flied out in the eighth. Mauer was 9-for-12 and reached base 13 times in 15 plate appearances during the three-game series. He drove in four runs, scored four times, had three walks and reached once on an error. In three days, he raised his batting average from .354 to .379, tops in the major leagues. Mauer left Hunter shaking his head.

Minnesota Twins pitcher Johan Santana throws to Seattle Mariners' Ichiro Suzuki in the third inning of a baseball game Thursday, June 8, 2006, in Seattle.

Twins ace Johan Santana surviving a rocky beginning to help Minnesota end its otherwise miserable road trip 3-7. The Twins improved to 10-24 on the road. They return home Friday, where they are 16-9. Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki, the major league leader with 96 hits and second to Mauer in average, had three more singles, finished the series 11-for-15 -- and was overshadowed. He finished the Mariners' 5-2 homestand 19-for-33 (.576). Suzuki is batting .362 overall. He was at .177 on April 17. Santana (6-4) allowed six baserunners in the first three innings, far off his two-hit, one-run gem over eight innings in Oakland on June 2. But he limited the Mariners to Raul Ibanez's RBI single in the first inning. Santana allowed five hits and walked one in five innings.

Mauer hit an RBI single off Joel Pineiro to give the Twins a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Seattle tied it in the bottom half but Juan Castro hit an RBI double in the second to give Minnesota the lead for good. The Twins then pounced on Pineiro's wildness in a three-run fourth. Pineiro walked Nick Punto on five pitches with the bases loaded to make it 3-1. Lew Ford then doubled in two runs. Pineiro (5-6) allowed nine hits and six earned runs in 5 1-3 innings. He struck out two and walked a season-high six.

Minnesota's only downer was reliever Matt Guerrier fracturing the base of his right thumb. Richie Sexson lined a pitch off Guerrier's hand after he relieved Santana. The Twins got the out, but Guerrier left the game with a trainer, replaced by Willie Eyre. Gardenhire said Guerrier, who had been pitching his way into more meaningful setup roles, will be out for an extended time. The Twins likely will place Guerrier on the disabled list Friday.