SEATTLE _ Some how, some way, they did it again.
Mariners starter Marco Gonzales pitched at less than Cy Young level for the first time in more than a month, the Mariners had a costly miscue in right-center field, they twice wasted great scoring opportunities and the bullpen took its lumps.
And yet, when Mitch Haniger lined a homer just over the left-field fence with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Mariners were victorious again.
The 8-6 victory at Safeco Field on Wednesday afternoon not only finished a sweep of the Los Angeles Angels, it moved the Mariners (44-24) 20 games above .500 for the first time since 2007.
It was a game the Mariners seemed destined to lose, but in this glorious season they keep finding ways to win.
Seattle led 4-1 entering the fourth inning, and it seemed like that would be more than enough for Gonzales, particularly with the Angels losing starter Garrett Richards after two innings with left hamstring tightness and shortstop Zack Cozart after three innings with a stained left shoulder.
But Gonzalez, who had allowed five runs in his previous five starts covering a span of 331/3 innings, was not nearly as sharp Wednesday. He gutted out five innings, allowing three runs on seven hits and two walks.
He struck out seven, including the final two hitters he faced, with runners on first and third. That escape act put him in position to win the game if the bullpen performed as it has for much of the season.
It didn't, although there was plenty of blame to go around.
Chris Young led off the sixth inning with a ball to deep right-center that Haniger, playing center, and right fielder Ben Gamel could have caught. But a miscommunication at the last moment allowed the ball to drop between them.
Young scored on a sacrifice fly that tied the score at 4, and Gonzales' shot at a seventh victory evaporated.
The Mariners seemed in a good spot in the bottom of the sixth with the bases loaded and no outs, but they came up empty when Mike Zunino struck out and Andrew Romine hit into a double play.
The Angels, seemingly invigorated by the escape act, took a 6-4 lead in the top of the seventh on solo homers from Nolan Fontana (playing in place of Cozart) and Young.
The Mariners, though, seemed destined to at least tie the score in the bottom of the seventh when Dee Gordon led off with a single and scored all the way from first on Jean Segura's double to right field. Segura went to third on the throw home.
But he never made it home. Not that he didn't try. After Haniger struck out, Nelson Cruz hit a short fly to left field. Segura was not going to try and score, but when the throw in was wide, he darted home. He was called out on a very close play at the plate, which stood up after a review.
The Mariners finally got the tying run in the bottom of the eighth, and this time there were no doubts. Ryon Healy crushed a Blake Parker pitch 441 feet into the upper deck in left field.
The Mariners scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning on four consecutive hits, including a line-shot double by Zunino over the head of Angels center fielder Mike Trout to score a run and a run-scoring single by Gamel.
The way Gonzales had been pitching, those two runs would have been enough. But not on this day.
The Angels broke through with a run in the top of the third on three consecutive two-out hits, but Gonzales struck out Albert Pujols with runners at first and second in what seemed like a huge moment.
Then, it got worse for the Angels as Richards was pulled after 35 pitches. Angels reliever Noe Ramirez got a rude welcome when, with Haniger on first and one out, Cruz hit a mammoth 436-foot homer that nearly reached the upper deck in left field to give Seattle the 4-1 lead.
But the Angels kept battling against Gonzales, who gave up more than two runs for the first time in six starts. Angels third baseman David Fletcher got his first career hit, a two-run triple to center field, to cut the Mariners lead to 4-3.
