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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Brad Radke finally threw like Brad Radke. All
he needed was a lead.
Radke retired 15 of his final 16 batters Friday night in the
Minnesota Twins' 7-2 victory over Aaron Sele and the Seattle Mariners.
"I'm glad to see some runs out there, that's for sure," said
Radke (4-8), who snapped a four-game losing streak and won for the
first time since May 19. He gave up two runs, four hits and three
walks, and struck out seven in eight innings.
"Tonight, you really saw Brad Radke at his best," Matt Lawton
said of his teammate. "He got a lead and he was able to throw his pitches. Any
pitcher, it doesn't have to be Brad Radke. Aaron Sele, tonight, if
he gets a lead, he's going to throw a different game. He doesn't
have to throw as many strikes. Hitters are going to have to hit his
pitches and they're going to be where he wants them."
The Twins had averaged just 2.57 runs for Radke in his first 14
starts and hadn't scored more than five runs for him all season.
Cristian Guzman took care of that with a career-high four hits
and he also drove in three runs and scored twice.
"I think he's on his way up," Lawton said. "He's going to be
a great player in this league."
Three of Guzman's hits and all three of his RBIs came off Sele
(7-3), who lost for the first time since May 5. He allowed five
earned runs on 10 hits and four walks in just four innings.
Guzman's major league-leading 11th triple drove in two runs
during a four-run fourth inning that gave Minnesota a 5-2 lead. He
also had an RBI single in the third.
"He's improved a lot as a hitter. On turf, with his speed, he
just slaps the ball on the ground and runs as hard as he can,"
Sele said.
And he put together his best offensive night with Radke on the
mound.
"Radke had good stuff," Mariners manager Lou Piniella said.
"We knew we couldn't get by unless we pitched a very good game
ourselves."
And that didn't happen.
"I felt fine," Sele said. "I just didn't make any good
pitches."
Sele, who was 12-2 with a 2.72 ERA against the Twins in his
career, also surrendered an RBI double to Jacque Jones and a
run-scoring single to Ron Coomer in the fourth.
Coomer added a two-run double off Frank Rodriguez in the sixth.
Mike Cameron's RBI single in the first and Tom Lampkin's fifth
homer in the third gave Seattle a 2-0 lead that didn't last long.
"Brad made good pitches and I didn't," Sele said.
Game notes
Lawton walked four times for the Twins. ... In the first
two innings, the Twins were caught stealing twice and ended a
potential rally when Corey Koskie was struck by a ground ball off
Marcus Jensen's bat. ... Guzman is just five triples shy of the
Twins' single-season club record of 16 set by Rod Carew in 1977.
... Minnesota's 24 triples are best in the AL and second-best in
the majors behind Colorado's 30. ... The Twins, stung by criticism
that their 5,000 Harmon Killebrew bobble head dolls last week were
not enough for fans, doubled the number they'll give away of Tony
Oliva (July 21) and Kirby Puckett (Aug. 13) dolls. They didn't have
enough time to double the order for the Kent Hrbek model this
weekend.
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