Hernandez’s 8 solid innings, HRs by Griffey and Branyan lead Mariners past Dodgers

Griffey HRs in Mariners’ 5-1 win over Dodgers

LOS ANGELES — Felix Hernandez scattered four hits over eight innings, and Ken Griffey Jr. and Russell Branyan each hit home runs, leading the Seattle Mariners to a 5-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night.

Hernandez (8-3) allowed an unearned run, struck out nine and walked one.

Ichiro Suzuki went 3 for 5 to raise his major league-leading average to .375 and record his seventh straight multihit game, matching his career best.

Eric Milton (2-1) gave up four runs and seven hits in five innings, striking out seven and walking none.

Before the game, Mariners third baseman Adrian Beltre informed the club that he’ll undergo shoulder surgery that will sideline him for six to eight weeks. Beltre singled in five at-bats and threw out two batters at first base in his final game before his yet-to-be-scheduled procedure to have bone spurs removed from his troublesome left shoulder, which was operated on in September for the same reason.

Rafael Furcal reached on an infield hit in the third inning and scored from third when eight-time Gold Glove right fielder Suzuki misplayed Casey Blake’s sinking liner for his second error of the season. But Hernandez retired his next 12 batters and 16 of his final 17 before David Aardsma finished up.

The 23-year-old right-hander is 4-0 with a 0.85 ERA in seven starts — including a two-hit shutout at San Diego — since giving up six runs over 5 2-3 innings in a 6-5 loss to the Angels on May 19 at Seattle.

Milton, activated from the DL earlier in the day after missing 17 games because of a back strain, is 1-6 with a 9.18 ERA in 10 career starts against Seattle.

The Mariners increased their margin to 4-0 in the third when Suzuki led off with a single, Branyan followed with his first triple of the season and Griffey drove a 1-1 pitch into the right-field pavilion for his ninth homer this season and 620th of his career — fifth on the all-time list.

The homer was Griffey’s 55th during interleague play, keeping him one shy of Jim Thome for the most in that category since the format was established in 1997. Thome also homered Saturday.

Griffey, 39, has homered in three of the last five games in which he’s had an at-bat.

Jose Lopez, in his third game back after missing the previous six while on the bereavement list because of the illness and subsequent death of his sister in Venezuela, led off the Seattle second inning with a single and came all the way around to score on a double to right-center by Franklin Gutierrez.

Beltre, who also had thumb surgery on the same day as the first operation on his non-throwing shoulder, will be going on the disabled list for the third time in his 12-year career for first time in five seasons with the Mariners.

The two-time Gold Glove winner, who becomes a free agent at the end of the season, is batting .259 with five homers and 30 RBIs.

NOTES: Manny Ramirez, eligible to return from his 50-game substance abuse suspension next Friday, was 2 for 2 with a home run for Class A Inland Empire at Lake Elsinore, leading off as the DH. The Dodgers are 27-19 during his absence, the best record in the majors since the ban was announced May 7. … Griffey’s homer was his first at Dodger Stadium since Mother’s Day 2007, and it came with his wife, Melissa, in the stands celebrating her birthday. … Seattle has won the last eight interleague games in which Hernandez has started, and he has gotten the decision in five of them. … The Mariners and Dodgers began the day leading their respective leagues in ERA.