SEATTLE _ They didn't need to be told what their team needed from them.
For veterans such as Felix Hernandez and Justin Verlander _ both former Cy Young Award winners with more than 4,515 combined innings pitched between them _ they know what's expected from them each time they step on the mound.
And both knew the circumstances going into Wednesday night's game, having watched their respective bullpens absorb far too many innings of work in the 15-inning marathon on Tuesday night.
As expected, both right-handers did their jobs, carrying starts into late innings and giving their battered bullpens a break. But it was those overworked relief arms that would ultimately decide the outcome in the Seattle Mariners' 3-1 win over the Detroit Tigers.
With Verlander out of the game, the Mariners scored two runs against left-hander Justin Wilson in the eighth inning to break a 1-1 tie. Nelson Cruz provided the go-ahead run as only he can. The Mariners' slugger crushed a 1-1 fastball from Wilson over the wall in center field for a solo homer. Cruz's 28th homer of the season put Seattle up 2-1. Seattle tacked on another run when Leonys Martin, who struck out five times in the loss on Tuesday, dumped a single to left field to score Kyle Seager for a big insurance run.
With Edwin Diaz unavailable to pitch because of usage, right-hander Nick Vincent got the call in the ninth and allowed just one hit for his second save.
The Mariners won their sixth game in a row and completed a three-game sweep of the Tigers at home to cap the homestand. At 60-53, they are a half-game behind Detroit (61-53) in the wild-card standings. It was the Mariners' first three-game sweep of the Tigers since April 24-26, 2012, and first at Safeco since July 29-31, 2003
Hernandez delivered probably his best outing since late April and certainly his best since returning from the disabled list. He pitched seven innings, giving up one run on three hits with four walks and eight strikeouts. He threw 117 pitches to get through it, which included a taxing sixth inning where he issued two-out walks to Miguel Cabrera (13 pitches) and Victor Martinez (eight pitches) before striking out J.D. Martinez to end the threat. He returned to pitch the seventh with his pitch count at 103 and worked an economical 1-2-3 inning to punctuate his outing.
Verlander was just as good, working seven innings, giving up one run on seven hits with two walks and six strikeouts while throwing 121 pitches.
The Mariners got their run against him in the first inning. After fouling off a pair of mid-90s fastballs, Verlander made the mistake of leaving a changeup over the plate. Robinson Cano stayed on the pitch on the outer half, driving it over the wall in left field. His 25th homer of the season gave the Mariners a 1-0 lead.
Unlike Verlander, Hernandez pitched a 1-2-3 scoreless first inning, something that hasn't happened often since he returned from the disabled list. And he carried it over for three innings.
The Tigers finally put up a run in the fourth inning.
Ian Kinsler worked a leadoff walk and stole second with the help of a replay overturn on an out call. He later advanced to third and scored on J.D. Martinez's ground ball through the left side.
