MINNEAPOLIS – Michael Cuddyer’s grand slam fueled a seven-run first inning for Minnesota against Miguel Batista, and the Twins ended the Mariners’ winning streak at five with an 8-4 victory on Wednesday.

Carlos Silva (10-12), who entered with the second-worst run support among AL starters, cruised with the big lead and completed seven innings for his first victory this month. Silva gave up two runs and eight hits, hitting one batter and striking out three.

Batista (13-9) lost for only the second time in eight starts, but this one was pretty much over before he even got two outs. The Twins, who have been shut out a majors-most 12 times and managed only nine runs on the first five games of this homestand, sent 11 batters to the plate against Batista in the first.

After Cuddyer’s big hit, his 13th homer this season, Garrett Jones added an RBI single, Nick Punto had a sacrifice fly and Alexi Casilla added one more with a triple.

Jason Kubel, who went 3-for-4, hit an RBI single in the second to polish off Batista’s shortest start this year. He surrendered eight runs, nine hits and one walk in two innings.

Ben Broussard broke up Silva’s shutout by going deep with one out in the seventh, giving the Mariners seven homers in the three-game series. Kubel nearly caught it with a fully extended leap over the left-field wall, and the fans sitting in the nearby seats groaned loudly when they saw the ball glance off his glove. Kubel sat glumly on the warning track and slapped his hand in frustration.

Yuniesky Betancourt’s two-out triple later in the inning pulled Seattle to 8-2, but Silva got Ichiro Suzuki to pop out and end that inning.

With Pat Neshek pitching in the eighth, Jose Guillen hit an RBI triple off the glove of a jumping Jason Tyner – who had just subbed for Torii Hunter in center field – and Raul Ibanez followed with a sacrifice fly to cut Minnesota’s lead to 8-4.

Rookie Ryan Rowland-Smith’s relief appearance was one bright spot for Seattle, which had the Australian lefty returned to the organization before the 2005 season. He was selected by Minnesota in the winter-meeting draft but didn’t make the roster.

Rowland-Smith lasted a career-high four hitless innings, holding the Twins without a run and striking out six. He had allowed two runners, both by walks.

It was still a solid start to a daunting stretch for the Mariners, who woke up with a 21/2-game lead over the New York Yankees in the AL wild-card race. They trailed the Los Angeles Angels by two games in the AL West.

Notes: Reigning AL MVP Justin Morneau’s career-long home run drought reached 27 games and 103 at-bats. He last went deep on July 23, but was still tied for second in the league with 28 homers when the day began. … With three straight games on turf here followed by four this weekend in the heat at Texas, Mariners designated hitter Jose Vidro was out of the lineup to rest. … Twins catcher Joe Mauer had the day off with a bruised ankle, and shortstop Jason Bartlett, resting a strained hamstring, came in as a defensive replacement in the ninth. Manager Ron Gardenhire said before the game that both were available to play.

AP-ES-08-22-07 1532EDT