SEATTLE — Before they can string together victories, the Seattle Mariners needed to put together some hits.
There’s been a painful connection between those two missing elements this season and, through six innings Saturday night at Safeco Field, it appeared to be their undoing again.
Then something incredible happened.
The Mariners got a leadoff hit in the seventh. Then they followed it with an RBI double. And then a two-run home run.
That long-at-last rally gave the Mariners a 4-2 victory over the San Diego Padres and an instant rush of good vibes. At least that’s how the manager felt.
“Inside, I feel like we’re really getting ready to surge,” John McLaren said.
That’s a tall statement considering the Mariners haven’t won back-to-back games since April 20 and 22 (with an off day in between).
Saturday’s victory helped the M’s gain a game in the American League West, where they’re 71/2 behind the Angels. For anyone looking for a reason to hope, consider this: The Mariners were eight games behind the Angels on June 24 last season and closed within one game on Aug. 25 before their late-season swoon.
To close the gap this time, it’ll take more innings like the seventh.
With the Mariners trailing 2-1, catcher Jamie Burke bounced a leadoff single up the middle and, after Yuniesky Betancourt flied out to right, Ichiro Suzuki pulled a high drive to right-center field.
Burke read it as a gapper all the way and ran hard around second base. Then he saw right fielder Brian Giles nearly get to the ball.
“I peeked back and saw the ball coming down and then I started to put my brakes on a little bit,” Burke said. “Then I saw it drop and I tried to go as fast as I could again.”
Fast is a relative thing with Burke, who’s one of the slowest Mariners. Still, third-base coach Eddie Rodriguez waved him home and Burke made a head-first lunge around Padres catcher Josh Bard to score the tying run.
In the dugout, coach Sam Perlozzo toweled off Burke, who also scored from first base last September in Oakland.
“I thought I was going to die,” Burke said.
Suzuki’s double on a 10-pitch at-bat was like an oxygen mask to a Mariners offense that has choked away opportunities to turn games around with timely hits.
Adrian Beltre, moved to the second spot in the batting order for the first time this season, followed Suzuki’s double with an at-bat that showed things actually might be changing. Beltre, who entered the game with a .125 average with runners in scoring position, worked a 2-2 count against sidearm right-hander Cla Meredith, then unloaded on a hanging slider. He hit it into the left-field seats for a two-run homer and a 4-2 Mariners lead.
“Bellie has been trying to help everybody. He’s helping our young Latin players, but we want him to help himself and get good pitches to hit,” McLaren said. “My thing to Bellie is, ‘Your No. 1 priority is yourself.’”
An inning like the seventh, along with pitching the Mariners have waited to see all season from Erik Bedard, were enough for a feel-good victory.
Bedard, who lasted two innings at Texas in his last start, was sharp from the beginning. He allowed five hits and struck out 10 in eight innings, hurt only when Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run homer in the fourth.
That gave the Padres a 2-1 lead but, instead of a here-we-go-again feeling in the Mariners dugout, Bedard pitched even better and the offense gave him just enough support.
Bedard allowed only one baserunner among the final 16 hitters he faced — a sixth-inning walk that was wiped out with a double play — and with 101 pitches he seemed capable of finishing what he started.
Instead, closer J.J. Putz was ready.
“Our formula is to hand the ball to J.J.,” McLaren said.
Putz made it interesting, giving up a one-out infield single off his glove to Giles and a two-out walk to Tony Clark. He ended the game by getting Kevin Kouzmanoff on a popup to second base.
Read Kirby Arnold’s blog on the Mariners at www.heraldnet.com
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