The Mariner Monitor

Two days and two wins in a row. That hasn’t happened for the Mariners since late April. And even then (April 20 and 22) there was a day off between games. But ignoring its past ineptitude, at least for now, Seattle took advantage of the Padres’ anemic offense and won its second straight game, 3-2, Sunday afternoon.

Jose Lopez is the player of the game after driving in all three of the Mariners’ runs. He picked a heck of a time to play well considering there was a small feature on him in Friday’s Seattle Times praising his new focus at the plate.

On the mound, Felix Hernandez looked more like a king, less like a jester with his five strikeouts and two runs over six innings. He might’ve lasted longer, but he left the game with tightness in his calf. But the bullpen was solid, giving up just one hit over the remaining three innings. J.J. Putz even looked more like his old self, striking out two batters in the ninth en route to his fifth save of the season.

So, in honor of these back-to-back wins over the league’s worst team, I’d like to quote Lou Brown from major League II:

“We won one yesterday. We win one today, that’s two in a row. We win one tomorrow, that’s three in a row, that’s called ‘A WINNING STREAK’…. It has happened before.”

Yes, yes it has. Let’s go for three tonight!!