Ichiro, Mariners erase skids

CLEVELAND – The human hitting machine, Ichiro Suzuki has 1,139 hits during five-plus years in the majors. Few have felt as good as one he got in the fourth inning on Wednesday.

“I was just about as happy as when I got my first hit,” said the Japanese star, who stopped a 0-for-18 slump with a single in the fourth. “I wanted to keep the ball.”

And with Ichiro ending his slide, so did Seattle.

Richie Sexson hit a grand slam, Raul Ibanez had four RBIs and Ichiro scored four runs in an 11-9 win over Cleveland that snapped a four-game skid for the Mariners and stopped the Indians’ six-game winning streak.

Sexson hit his 10th career slam in the sixth inning off reliever Danny Graves to make it 10-5 as the Mariners cooled off Cleveland, which hadn’t lost a game since opening day in Chicago.

Ibanez went 4 for 4 and Ichiro had three singles for Seattle, which was batting just .130 during its losing streak. But the Mariners finally got going and knocked starter Paul Byrd (1-1) out in the fourth.

Before getting a walk in the third and three straight singles, Ichiro had gone hitless in his last four games – an eternity for the 32-year-old who set the major league record with 262 hits in 2004.

“You don’t see a string of 0-fers from him,” Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said. “He’s a player.”

Casey Blake had four RBIs and Travis Hafner hit a two-run homer, his sixth, for the Indians, who, despite some horrific baserunning, were still within 6-5 heading into the sixth.

But Graves gave up two singles and his wild pitch put runners at second and third with one out before Indians manager Eric Wedge decided to take his chances and walk Ibanez intentionally to face Sexson.

The strategy backfired instantly. Sexson ripped Graves’ first pitch over the 19-foot-high wall in left for his second homer, staking the Mariners to a five-run lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

“We needed this,” Sexson said. “We’ve been struggling. Hopefully, everybody can get going now.”