Hernandez wins 11th as Seattle edge Detroit

DETROIT (Reuters) - Felix Hernandez won his 11th game of the season and Russell Branyan hit a two-run homer to help the Seattle Mariners beat the Detroit Tigers 2-1 on Wednesday.

Branyan's homer in the eighth inning, his 24th of the season, was one of only two Seattle hits. Ryan Langerhans had the other -- a single in the fifth.

"(Branyan) has struggled a bit of late," Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu told reporters, "but he came up big tonight."

The win over Detroit, the leaders of the American League Central Division, was the Mariners' seventh in 10 games.

Hernandez (11-3) struck out eight over seven innings of work and gave up Detroit's six hits and one run.

"I had to battle a lot," Hernandez said. "They jumped on the fastball a little bit (in the first inning)."

Still the Tigers did not score a run in the inning, leaving the bases loaded when Josh Anderson flied to left for the third out.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland said Hernandez was "pretty stingy" after the first inning and praised Seattle's bullpen.

Detroit starter Armando Galarraga surrendered only one hit over seven-plus innings before giving up the mound to Bobby Seay (1-2), who yielded the home run to Branyan.

Clete Thomas drove in Detroit's run with a third-inning single.

(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Raleigh, North Carolina; Editing by Peter Rutherford)