SEATTLE – The troubling side of Jose Guillen the suspension by the Angels in 2004, the conflicts with managers and teammates, the six teams he played with in six seasons always seemed to supersede the difference he could make on the field.

Guillen’s upside was his potential with the bat, provided his personality and injuries to his shoulder and elbow didn’t get in the way. That was fine with the offense-starved Seattle Mariners, who signed Guillen last winter and now are reaping the benefit.

Guillen’s stellar season reached a peak Sunday when he tied his career high by driving in five runs in the Mariners’ 11-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox at Safeco Field.

“I’m very happy now because I’m pretty much healthy,” Guillen said. “That was my concern the last two years. This year it’s a different Jose Guillen.”

The victory allowed the Mariners to maintain their places in both the American League West Division and AL wild-card standings. The Angels beat the Red Sox and remained two games ahead in the AL West, and the Yankees beat the Tigers and are 12-game behind the M’s in the wild-card.

Guillen is batting .289 with 17 home runs and 77 runs batted in, one short of team RBI leader Raul Ibanez. Sunday, he showed the different ways he can produce.

He hit a two-run homer in the first inning when the Mariners took a 3-0 lead, drove in two runs with a ground single up the middle in the second when they made the score 5-0 and hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth to score their final run.

“When you look at situational hitting, of all the guys in the middle of our lineup, Jose’s been as good as anybody, probably better,” hitting coach Jeff Pentland said. “He’s very consistent, and that’s positive for the offense.”

As for that “other” issue that seemed to concern everyone so much when the Mariners signed Guillen, he has been a good citizen.

“When we signed him, I had talked to some hitting coaches who said he was very easy to deal with,” Pentland said. “He’s an emotional player, but he’s one of the smarter hitters I’ve had as far as knowing his swing. He works very hard at it. He takes a lot of pride in what he does.

“He has bonded very well with the group and he’s a big part of why we’re having some offensive success.”

Everyone in the Mariners’ lineup except Ibanez and Jose Lopez had a hit, and they gave starting pitcher Felix Hernandez plenty to work with.

Hernandez didn’t pitch a clean inning in the 613 he worked, but he benefited from double plays in each of the first three innings and the big early lead. The victory raised his record to 9-6, and he’s 6-2 over his past 12 starts.

“He’d throw the ball good, then he’d have some lapses when he didn’t throw it so good,” manager John McLaren said. “You’ve got a cushion to work with, but you’ve still got to pitch out there.”

Production like the Mariners showed in a three-game sweep of the White Sox will make any pitcher’s job easier. They scored 23 runs in the three games.

“This is a team where not one guy makes a difference,” Guillen said. “Everybody is contributing to us winning. It’s 25 guys here and that’s what makes this team better.”

It’s been a while since Guillen has been able to talk like that.

The last competitive team he was on, the 2004 Angels, suspended him in the final days of the season after a conflict with manager Mike Scioscia. While playing for the Washington Nationals, he had problems with former Angels pitcher Brendan Donnelly in 2005 and charged the mound after the Mets’ Pedro Martinez hit him with a pitch in 2006. M’s pitcher Jarrod Washburn was no fan of Guillen’s when they were teammates in Anaheim, but they haven’t had a problem this year.

Hitting and winning will solve a lot of issues, and the Mariners are doing both.

“Jose is having fun,” McLaren said. “When you have fun and you’re loose and you play hard and you’ve got ability, good things are going to happen. That’s what’s happening for us right now.”