SEATTLE _ Early in the season, the Mariners were able to win with less-than-stellar starting pitching because the offense was performing so well.
But with the Mariners' lineup at less than full strength the past few weeks because of a multitude of injuries, the rotation has picked it up. And how.
Leading the way has been Marco Gonzales, who threw another gem Monday afternoon, not allowing an earned run for his third straight start as the Mariners eked out a 2-1 victory over the Texas Rangers to stretch their winning streak to four games and improve to 13 games above .500 (33-20).
Gonzales, who has not allowed an earned run in 19 1/3 innings, was masterful as the Rangers only rarely made significant contact. He allowed four hits and one unearned run in 6 2/3 innings.
Two of the hits he allowed were slow rollers on the infield and another was actually caught in right field by Mitch Haniger (but there was no need for replay after the hitter was called out trying to stretch it to a double).
On May 12, Gonzales fell to 3-3 with a 5.31 ERA after allowing 10 hits, two walks and four earned runs in a 4-3 loss to Detroit. His ERA is now 3.60 and he has allowed 11 hits and seven walks during his 19 2/3 inning streak without allowing an earned run.
The Mariners, like in many of their recent games, got just enough offense to win. For five innings, they were flummoxed by former Mariner Doug Fister, who was working on a one-hitter heading into the sixth inning.
It looked like the Mariners might need a break to score, and they got one in the sixth. With Guillermo Heredia on first base with one out, Denard Span hit a bullet to second baseman Rougned Odor that looked like a sure double play.
But Odor bobbled the ball and that proved costly as Span beat the throw back to first base, allowing the Rangers to get just the second out of the inning. The Mariners took advantage, with consecutive singles by Haniger, Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager leading to a pair of runs.
Cruz's hit to left field tied the score and Seager gave the Mariners a lead with a liner to right field.
Texas scored in the top of the third without a ball being hit out of the infield. Odor hit a slow roller toward second base that he beat out for a hit. After Robinson Chrinos walked, Ronald Guzman hit a soft grounder to second and just beat the throw to first base to avoid a double play.
Mariner catcher Mike Zunino allowed a ball to get past him, and Odor scored from third. It ended up being an unearned runs after Gonzales got Delino DeShields to pop out and then picked off Guzman at second base.
For a while, it looked like that might be enough for Texas. But the Mariners, as they have done so often, rallied. And tasked with keeping the lead, the bullpen kept it.
James Pazos got the final out of the seventh inning, Alex Colome stranded a runner at second in a scoreless eighth at Edwin Diaz worked around a leadoff walk in the ninth for his league-leading 19th save.
