Three Things: Mariners look to be in good shape, but is their bullpen?

The Mariners may have finished a modest 4-3 over the last week, but they’ve gained a lot of ground in the American League playoff race and sit just one game behind Baltimore for the second wild-card spot.

While it’s mostly good news in Mariners land these days, as we start the three things to keep an eye on this week, there is a cloud of uncertainty looming above all else:

1. The pendulum swings of the bullpen.

Even though the Mariners have, by and large, looked great over the past two weeks, it’s not their surge or any single positive development that is most present on fans’ minds entering a three-game series with the Yankees that begins Monday. That would be the state of the bullpen, a unit that is just eight days removed from a 27 1/3-inning stretch in which it allowed just one run but has regressed since. Things started to get dicey last Wednesday when closer Edwin Diaz barely escaped a bases-loaded jam to get a save over a reeling Angels team. His next outing didn’t go much better, as he gave up two runs and again just barely survived to get the save against the Brewers on Friday night. Both times he suffered from a lack of command, walking one against the Angels and three against Milwaukee. Because of that, Seattle decided to make Diaz unavailable for the rest of the weekend so he could work on his mechanics. It didn’t hurt the Mariners in Saturday’s 8-2 win, but on Sunday it proved to be disastrous. A three-run lead in the ninth inning wasn’t big enough as Tom Wilhelmsen allowed four hits, including a pair of home runs, and left with the game tied. Vidal Nuno then couldn’t keep the go-ahead run from coming around, and the Mariners lost 7-6 and wasted a chance to tie the Orioles in the standings. At least Steve Cishek has done well in his two appearances since coming off the disabled list, and Arquimedes Caminero and Nick Vincent both bounced back from rough outings earlier in the week to throw scoreless innings on Sunday. The thing about a bullpen, though, is that it only takes one or two struggling pitchers to turn a lead into a loss – something the Mariners can ill afford when they’re trying to move into a playoff spot. Don’t be surprised if reinforcements join the team sooner rather than later.

2. Norichika Aoki is finally the player the Mariners need him to be.

When Seattle signed Aoki in the offseason, he was supposed to be a player that manager Scott Servais could pencil in every day leading off the batting order. Things didn’t go according to plan, however, and Aoki’s issues against left-handed pitching were enough that he spent nearly a month in Triple-A trying to get back on track. It’s safe to say the stint in Tacoma worked. Aoki has been the hottest hitter on the team for the past two weeks, hitting .410 (16 for 39) with four doubles since Aug. 10. He was tough for the Brewers to get out the past two games, too, going 5 for 9 with a walk. Leadoff has been a bit of a quagmire for the Mariners this season, but it appears that problem has been answered with Aoki hitting there against righties and Shawn O’Malley taking the spot against lefties.

3. Don’t forget about the stars.

For a team to get on a run like the Mariners have been on in August, it takes a lot of players performing at a high level at the same time. That’s included several less-heralded members of the roster, but it most certainly has also been true for the players Seattle pays the most money to. The unquestioned face of the Mariners, Felix Hernandez, has had a huge impact since Aug. 10, going at least 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs or fewer and striking out exactly eight batters in each of his last three starts. His earlier calf injury is now only a distant memory and there is no doubt The King is back on top of his game. Then there’s the big three of the batting order – Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager – who have all been doing their part in August. Cano doesn’t have the prettiest slash line this month (.247/.282/.494) and has looked a little banged up, but he’s still hit safely in 13 of 19 games and has five homers, five doubles, 12 runs and 14 RBIs. Cruz has been himself, hitting .286/.375/.545 with five homers, three doubles, a triple, 13 runs and 11 RBIs. The same can be said for Seager, who has a .297/.376/.459 line with three homers, three doubles, 11 runs and 13 RBIs. Now is the time the Mariners need their best players to produce, and they have been.

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