SEATTLE –Ryan Redmond, 7, was in the Twins’ clubhouse after the game, breaking down one of the more exciting plays of the season.

With two outs in the eighth, and the Twins clinging to a 6-5 lead, Miguel Cairo singled to right field, and Mariners pinch-runner Tug Hulett tried scoring from second base.

Denard Span charged from right field, grabbed the ball on a bounce and threw a no-hop strike to Mike Redmond, who blocked the plate and applied the tag as Hulett tried to slide around him.

“Dad, way to tackle that guy,” Ryan said.

Redmond explained that he didn’t tackle Hulett, but he blocked the plate.

“I would have [tackled him],” Redmond told reporters. “I was fully ready for him to blow me up [with a collision], but it ended up working out.”

As for Span’s throw?

“It was perfect,” Redmond said. “You prepare for short-hop or a ball in the dirt. Anything in dirt is tough.”

Span said he didn’t make a conscious decision to throw the ball all the way to Redmond in the air. He was going on instinct and just let it fly. It’s a play he practices every day under the watchful eye of first base coach Jerry White.

“So many things have to happen perfect when you throw the ball in the outfield,” Span said. “It has to hit the catcher right in the chest, and I can see why a lot of third-base coaches send people.

“The chances of a perfect throw are very slim. It’s one of those times where I hit Red right in the chest, and he put the tag down, and we got the ‘W.’ ”

Note: Lots more coverage in my game story and notebook, including the inside story of Brian Buscher’s go-ahead single and a closer look at Eddie Guardado’s second outing since rejoining the Twins. … I’ll check back with you Thursday from Oakland.

SEATTLE — The Twins will turn to Glen Perkins today, trying to avoid a sweep at Safeco Field. Perkins is 9-1 in his past 15 starts.

After Tuesday’s 3-2 loss, Justin Morneau told reporters, “I don’t think we have enough energy or are playing with enough enthusiasm. We’re not making anything happen right now. We’ve got to make things happen, not sit back.”

Updates to come…

Twins (74-58)

1. Denard Span, CF
2. Alexi Casilla, 2B
3. Mike Redmond, C
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Randy Ruiz, DH
6. Jason Kubel, RF
7. Delmon Young, LF
8. Brendan Harris, 3B
9. Nick Punto, SS

Starting pitcher: LH Glen Perkins

Mariners (50-82)

1. Ichiro Suzuki, RF
2. Yuniesky Betancourt, SS
3. Raul Ibanez, LF
4. Adrian Beltre, 3B
5. Jose Lopez, 2B
6. Wladimir Balentien, CF
7. Kenji Johjima, C
8. Jeff Clement, DH
9. Miguel Cairo, 1B

Starting pitcher: LH Ryan Feierabend

Safeco Field. First pitch: 3:40 p.m.

SEATTLE — One run in six innings against Miguel Batista? Two runs in seven innings against Ryan Rowland-Smith?

Looks like the Twins hitters are squeezing the bats into sawdust here at Safeco Field. Winning the first two games of this road trip was supposed to take the edge off, but now the Twins are 2-4.

“You can pick it how you want to pick it,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “You can say we’re pressing, or they’re pitching good. You know what? Probably a little bit of both.

“They’re throwing the ball good against us, and we’re fighting it a little bit, trying to do too much. That normally happens, but you’ve just gotta work your way through these things.

“Hopefully [Wednesday’s] a day where we’ll come out relaxed a little bit and swing the bats a little better and have a better performance.”

Thirty games to go. The Twins can ill-afford to get swept here. They are 1-4 at Safeco, the home yard of a team on pace to lose 100 games.

“We’d like to pull these games out,” Twins starter Scott Baker said. “I wouldn’t say they’re must-win games yet, but they’re getting pretty close.”

ROWLAND-SMITH?

“Rowland pitched against us well,” Gardy said. “He’s effectively in and out of the zone. His ball’s surprising. He’s got some zip. He’s learned to throw breaking balls.

“We saw him a few years ago. We Rule 5′d him, and you know what? He’s come a long way as a pitcher. He’s a big-strong pitcher, and he kind of shut us down.”

ONE POSITIVE

Baker allowed three earned runs in 6 2/3 innings. It marked the 17th time in his 22 starts he’s allowed three or fewer earned runs.

(Remember, he started 15-for-17 in that category but allowed four or more runs in 3-of-4 starts. Add this to his one-run, eight-inning performance in Anaheim, and he’s having a solid road trip.)

Tonight, the Mariners put two runners aboard to start three different innings against Baker, but he’s pretty good at damage control. This was the third time the Mariners had seen him this month.

“I felt like I had really good stuff, probably the best in a half-dozen starts,” he said. “I never felt like the game was out of control or I wasn’t able to get out of the innings.”

“I’m starting to feel like not necessarily a finished product, but back to where I want to be.”

SEATTLE — I’m going to post the lineups quick and hit you with any updates later.

Joe Mauer is starting a fifth straight game at catcher, even with the Twins facing a lefthander in Ryan Rowland-Smith. Mauer is 3-for-4 against Rowland Smith with a home run and two RBI.

Guessing Mike Redmond will catch Wednesday afternoon’s series finale when the Twins face lefty Ryan Feierabend.

Update (9:45 p.m.): As you’ve probably heard, that is indeed the plan with Mauer and Redmond. Apologies, I’ve been writing about replay, etc., for our early editions.

No other big news to report.

Twins (74-57)

1. Denard Span, RF

2. Alexi Casilla, 2B

3. Joe Mauer, C

4. Justin Morneau, 1B

5. Randy Ruiz, DH

6. Delmon Young, LF

7. Brendan Harris, 3B

8. Nick Punto, SS

9. Carlos Gomez, CF

Starting pitcher: RH Scott Baker

Mariners (49-82)

1. Ichiro Suzuki, RF

2. Jeremy Reed, CF

3. Adrian Beltre, 3B

4. Raul Ibanez, LF

5. Jose Lopez, DH

6. Jeff Clement, C

7. Yuniesky Betancourt, SS

8. Bryan LaHair, 1B

9. Tug Hulett, 2B

Starting pitcher: LH Ryan Rowland-Smith

Safeco Field. First pitch: 9:10 p.m.

SEATTLE — The Twins fell to 60-6 when leading after seven innings Sunday, but up until Monday, they had not lost this season when leading after the eighth.

They were 64-0 before Adrian Beltre hit his two-run homer off Jesse Crain in the 11th inning, giving Seattle a 4-2 victory at Safeco Field.

Joe Nathan suffered his fourth blown save when Seattle scored a run in the ninth. The Twins came back to win after two of his previous blown saves, and the other was spoiled in the eighth inning — Aug. 5, right here at Safeco Field.

“Get to the ninth, that’s normally a done deal for us,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “Leadoff double, but we missed the ground ball to short, and it ends up costing you a ballgame.”

Gardenhire thought Nick Punto hesitated because he saw Adrian Beltre running to third. If Punto gets the out at first, then the Twins could have played the infield in instead of conceding the run to get the double play.

This one can’t be pinned on the bullpen. Matt Guerrier, Eddie Guardado and Jesse Crain all had 1-2-3 innings. Nathan stayed poised and sent the game to extra innings, and Crain got beat in his second inning of work, after pitching Sunday.

Having Guardado in mix should only help.

“For sure,” Nathan said. “The move they made today makes us a lot deeper, gives us confidence. Any time you can get a guy to help you out, especially in close ballgames and in the late innings, it’s nice to have.

“We feel like we have some arms now that — especially from the seventh inning on — we can finish out some games. Unfortunately tonight wasn’t one of those cases. We’ve got a long stretch to go, and it’s nice to have Eddie on board.”

Guardado’s pleasant postgame session with reporters broke the ice in a quiet clubhouse.

“Obviously, it’s a tough loss today,” Guardado said. “August, September, you’re playing for something, and every loss is tough. But I’ve been watching these guys play for a while now, and we’ll bounce back.”