Tribe beats Mariners 6-1

8/24/2009

CLEVELAND - Fausto Carmona pitched seven innings for his first win in more than three months and the Cleveland Indians beat Felix Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners 6-1 Sunday.

Carmona (3-8) gave up Ken Griffey, Jr.'s, 624th career homer, but otherwise was in command in his first win in nine starts since beating Tampa Bay on May 14.

He allowed five hits, walked one, and had a season-high eight strikeouts.

A 19-game winner in 2007, Carmona's control abandoned him in 2008 as he went 8-7 with a 5.44 ERA and 12 more walks than strikeouts.

The right-hander opened this season with a 2-6 record and 7.42 ERA before being sent to the minors on June 5.

In five starts since he was recalled July 31, the 25-year-old is 1-2 with a 2.79 ERA.

Hernandez (12-5) entered with an 11-3 record in 16 starts following a Seattle loss, but was hit hard as the Mariners finished a six-game trip to Detroit and Cleveland with a 2-4 record.

Seattle has lost seven of 10 overall.

The Indians scored four times in the sixth to take a 6-1 lead, taking advantage of a one-out error by second baseman Jose Lopez. Luis Valbuena, whose two-out homer in the 11th inning gave Cleveland a 4-3 win Saturday, singled in a run and Matt LaPorta followed with an RBI double.

Wyatt Toregas added a sacrifice fly and Andy Marte had a run-scoring single.

Hernandez gave up six runs, three earned, and nine hits in six innings, losing to the Indians for the first time since July 28, 2006. The right-hander is 0-1 in his last four starts since beating Texas on Aug. 1.

After two groundouts, Jhonny Peralta singled to left to give Cleveland the lead.

Griffey tied it in the fourth with a drive to center, his 13th of the season.

But Peralta hit his 10th homer leading off the bottom half.