M’s run production up

BALTIMORE — Maybe it’s the weather — although it was 54 degrees Tuesday for the first pitch prior to a 10-run shelling of the Baltimore Orioles. Or maybe it’s just the law of averages.

Whatever it is, the Seattle Mariners show added punch since the calendar turned to May.

“I think it’s more the law of averages,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “We started off pretty slow offensively, at home especially. It’s starting to even up. Guys getting comfortable and getting it going.”

All trends are spiking up. The Mariners averaged exactly five runs through their first 15 games this month after scuffling along at 4.3 through their 28 games in April.

Their slash numbers show similar gains:

¦ Batting average: .274 in May after .228 in April.

¦ On-base percentage: .331 in May after .314 in April.

¦ Slugging percentage: .447 in May after .397 in April.

The Mariners now rank ninth, fifth and fifth among the 15 American League clubs in those categories.

Their season-long average of 4.61 runs per game ranks fourth — trailing only Boston (5.97) Cleveland (4.75) and Texas (4.62). The AL average is 4.31.

A year ago, the Mariners averaged 4.05 runs a game, which ranked 13th in the league, and they sought to address that deficiency by bolstering the margins in the belief that the heart of their lineup simply needed more RBI opportunities.

“We talked about it through the whole winter,”general manager Jerry Dipoto said, “that we were going to raise the level of play around that (core) group and feed them. Right now, they’re getting fat.

“They’re doing what they do. They’re stars being stars. None more so than Robby (Cano).”

April’s numbers show the plan didn’t click immediately, but Cano saw it coming in late April while the pitching staff carried the club.

“I think we can be better,” Cano said. “So far this year, we haven’t been scoring very many runs. But I think we’ve got a good lineup. Guys who can run. Guys who can bunt and do the little things. We can be better than we are right now.”