Mariners rally for victory

SEATTLE — When Shawn Kelley joined the Seattle Mariners nearly two weeks ago to resume his recovery from elbow surgery, the team he witnessed in person was nothing like the cousin of the 101-loss Mariners of last year, despite a lot of comparisons amid their brutal, bumbling start.

What Kell

ey saw was a group of players who pulled for each other through good games and bad, who didn’t lose confidence in themselves despite the poor start, who gained a real belief in what they’re capable of doing during a 5-1 road trip that included two tight victories last weekend at Boston.

“It’s starting to feel like 2009 in here,” Kelley said.

Tuesday night, in a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over the Texas Rangers, the Mariners continued to make a statement that they will improve like the 2009 team and not fall apart like they did in 2010.

It’s still very early, but the victory — combined with the first-place Angels’ loss at Boston — pulled the Mariners within two games of first place in the American League West.

Of course, they’re also still last in a tight division, but they’re playing better baseball than they were a month ago.

The Mariners got quality pitching Tuesday, including five no-hit innings by starter Erik Bedard, scored key runs in the seventh and eighth innings and finished with closer Brandon League’s eighth save in eight opportunities.

In the process, the Mariners played crisp situational baseball when they needed it most, moving runners with sacrifice bunts and delivering clutch hits.

Justin Smoak’s ground-rule double in the third inning scored Ichiro Suzuki to tie the score 1-1. Chone Figgins’ double-play grounder in the seventh pushed home a run to make the score 2-2. And, in the eighth after the Rangers had scored off reliever David Pauley to lead 3-2, the Mariners executed with near perfection.

Adam Kennedy led off with a bloop single and Miguel Olivo’s attempt at a sacrifice bunt became an infield hit when Rangers reliever Pedro Strop slipped as he retrieved the ball.

Smoak followed with an RBI single to re-tie the score and Jack Cust lined another hit past a drawn-in Rangers infield to score Olivo with the go-ahead run.

Someone mentioned to manager Eric Wedge the Mariners’ recent spate of resilience, and he corrected that observation.

“It’s more a factor of how these guys have played all year,” Wedge said. “There’s a lot of energy in the dugout. They’re pulling for each other. They’ve competed from the first inning of the first game of the year. When you keep pushing, good things are going to happen.”

The Mariners needed to keep pushing in this one, especially after the first two innings.

Bedard put himself in deep trouble in the first when he walked the first two hitters and watched Figgins misplay Adrian Beltre’s grounder into an error that scored a run.

Bedard got the next two outs in the first, starting a stretch of 14 straight Rangers he retired through five innings. He also hadn’t allowed a hit to that point.

That not-so-small detail was broken up by Ian Kinsler’s leadoff double in the sixth. It led to Michael Young’s RBI single that gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead.

Bedard went on to retire the Rangers in order in the seventh, his fifth 1-2-3 inning, and continue his impressive comeback from shoulder surgery. He allowed two hits and two walks in seven innings.

“For him to give us seven strong innings, that says a lot just about how far he’s come, just for the fact that it’s been a while since he’s been out there,” Wedge said. “We continue to see him take steps from start to start.”

Pauley pitched the eighth and gave up Julio Borbon’s leadoff single and, ultimately, a squeeze bunt single by Elvis Andrus that put the Rangers ahead 3-2.

That successful bunt was an eerie reminder of when Eric Byrnes was released one year and two days ago when he inexplicably pulled the bat back on a suicide squeeze and Ichiro Suzuki was tagged out at the plate in a close game.

The Mariners did muff a bases-loaded, nobody-out chance in the second inning Tuesday night, but they came through late in the game when they needed it most.

“We always feel like we are in it,” Smoak said. “Our pitching is going to keep us in the game, and as long we can get hits with runners in scoring position we’ve got a chance day in and day out.”

Read Kirby Arnold’s blog on the Mariners at www.heraldnet.com/marinersblog and follow his Twitter updates on the team at @kirbyarnold.