Cameron has a big night against Minnesota

SEATTLE (AP) -- Mike Cameron sprinted across the outfield grass, his eyes locked on Torii Hunter's deep drive.

He leaped, extended his glove and made the catch.

"It's a timing play," Cameron said. "If you time it right, you've got a great opportunity to get it. It doesn't happen too often. It just so happened the ball was starting to fall down as I was going up."

He made it sound as simple as he made it look.

Cameron had a spectacular night in the field while Mark McLemore homered and Jamie Moyer got his seventh victory as the Seattle Mariners beat the Minnesota Twins 5-2 Friday night.

"Mike Cameron killed us all by himself," said Hunter, who lost a three-run homer when Cameron made his big catch in the first.

Hunter should know. He's an All-Star and a fixture on the highlight shows because he does the same thing to opposing hitters.

"Now I know how it feels," Hunter said. "The thief got robbed."

Cameron became the 13th player in history to hit four home runs in a game, accomplishing the feat May 2, 2002, against the Chicago White Sox. Taking a homer away is no everyday event, either.

"Robbing home runs, that's very, very rare," Cameron said. "That's one of the toughest plays in baseball. It just so happened that I got good position on the ball and I was able to use some athletic ability to make a play on it."

Cameron added an unassisted double play in the seventh, catching a fly by Cristian Guzman and stepping on second base to get Jacque Jones.

"That rarely happens, so I decided to take advantage of it," Cameron said. "We were coming in anyway. Why should I waste the throw?"

In the ninth, Cameron spun away from a deep fly by Luis Rivas but tracked it down.

"The ball was already on me," he said. "I started to fade back to my right shoulder. I wanted to go back and catch it over my right shoulder. Then it settled down and came down in front of me."

McLemore, starting at third base for the injured Jeff Cirillo, hit his second home run of the season, giving the Mariners a 4-1 lead in the second. He knew Thursday night he'd be playing, not that it changed his approach.

"In my mind, I play every day. That's my approach," said McLemore, who also singled in the fourth. "Whether my name's in the starting lineup or not, I go to the ballpark expecting to play."

Moyer (7-2), meanwhile, kept the patient Minnesota hitters in check for five innings. He allowed two runs and four hits to move into a tie for the major league lead in wins.

Brad Radke (5-4) returned from a five-game suspension for hitting Tampa Bay catcher Toby Hall with a pitch. He was unbeaten in four previous starts but couldn't offset three unearned runs in the first.

Ichiro Suzuki reached when first baseman Todd Sears botched a hard-hit grounder and Carlos Guillen walked. With one out, Edgar Martinez flied to short center and Hunter couldn't make a diving catch, loading the bases.

John Olerud grounded to Sears, who this time fielded the ball and threw to Guzman at shortstop for a possible double play. But Guzman bobbled it, another error, and Seattle led 2-0 after Suzuki and Guillen scored.

Cameron doubled deep to right, and Minnesota's Dustan Mohr couldn't get there in time. The ball bounced off the wall, and Martinez scored to make it 3-0.

MINNESOTA SEATTLE

ab r h bi ab r h bi

JJones lf 5 0 2 0 ISuzuki rf 3 1 0 0

CGzmn ss 4 0 0 1 CGillen ss 1 1 1 1

Koskie 3b 3 0 0 0 BBoone 2b 4 0 0 0

Kielty dh 2 0 0 0 EMrtnz dh 4 1 1 0

THnter cf 4 0 2 0 Olerud 1b 4 0 2 1

Sears 1b 4 1 1 0 Cmeron cf 4 0 1 1

Mohr rf 4 0 3 0 Winn lf 4 0 1 0

Przyns c 4 0 0 1 McLmr 3b 3 2 2 1

Rivas 2b 4 1 1 0 DWilsn c 4 0 1 0

Totals 34 2 9 2 Totals 31 5 9 4

Minnesota 010 010 000 -- 2

Seattle 310 100 00x -- 5

E--CGuzman (7), Sears (1), DWilson (1). DP--Minnesota 2, Seattle 2. LOB--Minnesota 8, Seattle 7. 2B--JJones (13), Mohr 2 (8), Cameron (12). HR--McLemore (2). S--ISuzuki. SF--CGuillen.

IP H R ER BB SO

Minnesota

Radke L,5-4 5 9 5 2 2 0

Fiore 3 0 0 0 1 1

Seattle

Moyer W,7-2 5 4 2 2 3 3

Carrara 1 2 0 0 0 0

Hasegawa 2 2 0 0 0 2

Sasaki S,7 1 1 0 0 0 0

Umpires--Home, Jerry Crawford; First, Brian O'Nora; Second, Larry Poncino; Third, Phil Cuzzi.

T--2:50. A--40,258 (47,447).