Twins Win, Griffey Socks #31

Matt Lawton thinks his luck may be changing.

A week after coming off the disabled list, Lawton blooped a single over the drawn-in infield to score Jacques Jones in the bottom of the ninth to give the Minnesota Twins a come-from-behind 5-4 win over the Seattle Mariners.

The winning run scored after the Mariners brought in Rafael Bournigal as a fifth infielder when the Twins loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth. That left Ken Griffey Jr. and Jay Buhner as the only outfielders.

It was only the fourth hit for Lawton in 18 at-bats since returning to the Twins last Saturday. He was on the disabled list after his eye socket was fractured by a pitched ball on June 8.

Pinch-runner Jacques Jones scored the winning run as Minnesota rallied from a 4-0 deficit. Jones was pinch-running for Ron Coomer, who started the rally with a leadoff single. Marty Cordova doubled to send Jones to third. Todd Walker was intentionally walked, setting up Lawton's game-winning hit.

"It was a good victory for us, seems like everybody thought it was over," said Lawton.

Hector Carrasco (1-2) picked up the victory after allowing one hit in two innings. He struck out the side in the eighth.

The Twins rallied for a run in the sixth and three more in the seventh to tie the game at 4-4.

"You've got to give them credit," said David Bell, who singled and scored a run. "They play hard. They don't have anything to lose. It's tough to lose a game when you have a 4-0 lead."

Griffey hit his 31st home run, a 392-foot shot to center field, tying him with Tampa Bay's Jose Canseco for the American League lead. Canseco is out for the season following back surgery.

Ozzie Timmons also homered for the Mariners, who have 25 home runs against Minnesota in seven games this season. Tht's the most homers Seattle has hit against one team in a single year.

Griffey and Timmons both homered with one on to give the Mariners a 4-0 lead.

While the Mariners used the long ball, the Twins got even with run-scoring singles by Torii Hunter and Brent Gates, a sacrifice fly by Cordova, and an RBI single by Lawton on a force play.

Seattle starter John Halama was looking for his eighth straight win, before he was knocked out of the game in the seventh inning. The left-hander gave up three runs on nine hits, struck out six and walked three.

Halama hasn't lost since April 23rd at Tampa Bay.

LaTroy Hawkins gave up four runs on six hits with six strikeouts and two walks.

"I was a little more comfortable from the stretch," Hawkins said. "I used some pitches, and got out of some jams."

Timmons broke up the scoreless game with a two-run homer in the fourth, just over Hunter's glove and over the center-field fence. It was his first home run since Sept. 28, 1996, when he homered for the Chicago Cubs against Pittsburgh.

It was his first hit as a Mariner since being called up from Triple-A Tacoma on July 15.

Griffey's two-run homer came in the fifth inning off Hawkins.

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