Mariners notebook: Starting pitching the key to turnaround

HOUSTON — We shall soon see if the good we saw on the Mariners 7-2 homestand translates back to the road. It was a dramatic turnaround after the disastrous road trip. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say the better results were led by the starting pitching.

On the 12-game road trip to Tampa Bay, Boston and Detroit, the starters posted a 2-4 record, allowing 37 earned runs in 63 innings. That was good for a 5.29 ERA. On the homestand, which started with six scoreless innings from Wade LeBlanc, Mariners starters went 6-1 with a 4.62 ERA, while averaging 5.2 innings per start. While the combined ERA is still far from stellar, it gave the offense a chance, and with the extra arm currently in the pen, the 5.2 innings are not nearly as damaging as the shorter outings were on the road trip.

Related: An in-depth look into catcher Mike Zunino’s big return to the Mariners

The improvement on the mound appears to have taken some of the pressure off of the offense, which seemed to find its earlier form. A chat manager Scott Servais had with his veteran leadership group early in the homestand may have also played a part.

“It’s something that needed to happen,” third baseman Kyle Seager said Sunday following the Mariners 9-4 win over the Orioles that complete a four-game sweep. “Especially in the Detroit series, we kind of got flat a few times. It’s a long season, that stuff happens. The trick is to come out of it as soon as possible.”

Perhaps that is something they have learned over the last three weeks. The schedule doesn’t get any easier as it is full of division leaders and Wild Card foes. The test starts Monday against the Astros, with both teams sitting at 43-39.

Notes:

-For the first time since injuring his calf at the end of May, pitcher Felix Hernandez is joining the Mariners on the road. Felix has been in good spirits — loud and bouncy — mood elevated, no doubt, by the prospect of soon returning to game action. He is scheduled to throw a simulated game Wednesday in Houston where he should throw three 15-pitch innings. Tough to see teammates volunteering to step in against Felix but Servais said he will assign a few guys to take some swings.

-The Mariners put up 23 extra-base hits in the series against the Orioles. The 23 extra-base hits are tied for the second-most ever for Seattle in a four-game series.

-Outfielder Seth Smith will be looking to homer in his fifth straight game Monday. The last Mariners hitter to do that was teammate Franklin Gutierrez last August. In his last 13 games, Smith is hitting .386 with six runs, one double, four home runs and 13 RBIs.

-I doubt we see rookie reliever Edwin Diaz Monday as he has pitched three of the last four days. But if his next out is via the strikeout, it will be his 11th straight and a new club record. Diaz’s 10 consecutive outs by strikeout ties him for the club record, which was set by Randy Johnson who did so July 13th through the 18th in 1997.