DENVER _ When is a split considered something more than a success? Well, when you are playing on the road against the Nationals, Red Sox and Rockies and you do it with a patchwork starting rotation of four pitchers slated to pitch for Class AAA Tacoma to start the season and your top four pitchers on the disabled list with various injuries.
Not much was expected of the Mariners on their eight-game adventure to Nationals Park, Fenway Park and then Coors Field. Given the status of their starting pitching and their uninspiring play, dropping three of four to the White Sox prior, predictions of one, maybe two wins were common.
But with a decisive 10-4 rout over the Rockies on Tuesday, the Mariners won their third game in a row and finished the trip with a 4-4 record while improving to 24-29 on the season.
Obviously the overall record is suboptimal and there were stretches in the last 10-plus games _ particularly being held to one run in five straight games and being shut out in back-to-back games at Fenway Park _ where Seattle seemed to be sliding toward an irrelevant season before mid-June.
During the trip, manager Scott Servais questioned his team's intensity and designated hitter Nelson Cruz used the word embarrassing to describe their results.
But instead of turning against each other and imploding from within, the Mariners reeled off three wins in a row with a revived offense and contributions from unexpected players.
The Mariners banged out a season-high 19 hits in Tuesday's win, with Jean Segura notching four hits and Kyle Seager, Ben Gamel and Guillermo Heredia with three.
Now they head back to Seattle for an 11-game homestand _ the longest of the season _ with some hope of continued improved play and possibly warmer weather.
Lefty James Paxton will be activated Tuesday morning and start that night against the Rockies, which is a plus.
The Mariners also seemed to have corrected the mechanical and command issues of closer Edwin Diaz on the trip, leaving their bullpen slotted out.
Of course, it couldn't be all good feelings for the most injured team in baseball. After two innings, Cruz left Tuesday's game with calf tightness. He didn't injure himself on offense, considering he walked in his only plate appearance and trotted home on Seager's two run homer in the second inning to give Seattle the lead it wouldn't yield.
It was the start of six runs scored over the second and third innings.
With a healthy lead, Mariners starter Ariel Miranda was solid if not pinpoint, working five innings and allowing two runs on three hits with four walks and a strikeout to improve to 5-2 on the season.
The Mariners broke the game open in the top of the ninth to make sure there would be no last-inning craziness that can occur at Coors. With one out and the bases loaded, Jarrod Dyson singled through the left side to score two runs. Seattle tacked on another run on an RBI single from pinch-hitter Taylor Motter.
