That's part of the reason why Minnesota's players and its manager are nearly unanimous in their approval of baseball's decision to implement instant replay beginning with some of Thursday's games.

"Those are the toughest calls to make," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "I don't want it to go into plays at the plate or at second base, we don't need all that. ... But it's really hard to tell the way some ballparks are today."

Justin Morneau lost a home run to a missed call two years ago, Gardenhire said, and he has been convinced ever since that the technology is worth using to get such crucial calls correct.

But the most remarkable development isn't that baseball is breaking with its century-old tradition of keeping the game in the umpires' hands, Gardenhire said.

"Just getting an agreement is the amazing part," Gardenhire said of the understanding between baseball, the players union and the umpires, "because nobody agrees in baseball."

MARINERS 3, TWINS 2: Scott Baker allowed only three runs over 6 2/3 innings, but his winless streak reached six consecutive starts. Randy Ruiz hit his first career home run, a solo blast 15 rows deep into the right field bleachers, but Minnesota fell two games behind Chicago in the AL Central, the Twins' biggest deficit since July 27. The Twins, whose .314 average with runners in scoring position leads the major leagues, went 1-for-8 in those clutch situations, and they are 6-for-29 in their four consecutive losses.