Junior and Ichiro: Griffey’s late double scores Suzuki as Seattle pulls out 2-1 win

Griffey doubles in Suzuki for 2-1 Seattle victory

SEATTLE — Ken Griffey Jr. drove in Ichiro Suzuki with a two-out double in the eighth inning and the Seattle Mariners edged the Minnesota Twins 2-1 on Saturday.

A day after his club-record 27-game hitting streak ended, Suzuki went 3 for 4 against the Twins, including a two-out RBI double in the fifth that tied it at 1.

Suzuki also sparked Seattle’s winning rally in the eighth, chopping a leadoff single over the head of left-hander Sean Henn (0-1). Russell Branyan struck out and Adrian Beltre popped up before Griffey came up with his tiebreaking hit.

Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu opted to send the lefty-hitting Griffey to the plate against Henn and the Mariners star rewarded his faith with his 511th career double.

Chris Jakubauskas (4-5) got two outs in the eighth to earn the win for the Mariners, who improved to 15-12 in a major league-high 27 one-run games this season.

The Twins put runners on the corners with two out in the ninth against David Aardsma, who got Denard Span to ground out to finish his ninth save in 10 chances.

Seattle’s meek offense again couldn’t generate enough support for starter Jarrod Washburn. He threw six innings, giving up a two-out RBI double to Mike Redmond in the fourth that barely eluded the glove of right fielder Suzuki.

Washburn won his first three turns in the rotation but is 0-4 with a 3.65 ERA in eight games since his fast start. He allowed seven hits, struck out six and walked one.

Minnesota starter Nick Blackburn also couldn’t get any support, missing out on his fourth straight victory. He gave up one run and six hits in seven innings.

Franklin Gutierrez used his speed to help Seattle tie it in the fifth. He reached on an infield single with two out and scored without a throw when Suzuki hit one-hop double off the wall in right-center.

Minnesota threatened in the seventh when Alexi Casilla doubled and went to third after second baseman Jose Lopez bobbled Span’s one-hop line drive. Garrett Olson entered to face Joe Mauer and got the All-Star catcher to ground out.