SEATTLE -AP- Minnesota pitcher Trevor May could not avoid a line drive but it could have been worse.
May exited in the fourth inning Saturday night when Seattle third baseman Kyle Seager's liner smacked him on the right elbow. The diagnosis is a bruise and X-rays were negative. He is day to day.
"You never want to leave a game before the fifth because it really taxes your bullpen," May said.
But sevens were lucky for the Twins, who collectively rallied to beat the Mariners 8-5.
 
Escobar's HR leads Twins' balanced 8-5 win over Seattle
 
Seven players drove in a run. Seven players scored a run and it took seven pitchers to hold off the Mariners. Tim Stauffer (1-0) earned the win and Glen Perkins picked up his fourth save in four chances.
"There were a lot of contributions," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "We talked about it, if we're going to be effective offensively it's going to have to be balanced."
Eduardo Escobar hit a home run. Eduardo Nunez had two hits and two RBIs and the Twins took advantage of three Mariners errors and two wild pitches.
Austin Jackson had a two-run home run for the Mariners in the seventh, his second.
"We shot ourselves in the foot quite a bit tonight," Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said. "Our philosophy around here is real simple -- nine innings, 27 outs. We didn't do that tonight."
May said the he "absolutely" expects to make his next start. Much will depend on if the swelling goes down and how it feels Sunday.
"I fully expect to be right on track," May said. "It's something we'll address tomorrow. But there's no stiffness, no pain, just a little tender on the spot."
After the Twins capitalized on two first-inning Mariner errors for a 1-0 lead, Nelson Cruz drove in a pair on a double down the right-field line.
That gave Cruz a league-leading 20 RBIs. It's the most by a Mariners player in April since 2003, when Bret Boone had 21. The club record is 30 by Ken Griffey Jr., in 1997. There are still five games remaining in the month.
Another error in the fifth -- the second by Seager -- set up the Twins' go-ahead rally, as Nunez and Kurt Suzuki hit successive RBI singles for a 4-3 lead.
It was a hard-luck outing for James Paxton (0-2). Three of his four runs allowed in 4 2/3 innings were unearned. He gave up five hits, struck out seven and walked three.
Robinson Cano had two hits to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. He's hitting .409 (18 of 44) during that span.
 

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