When the Mariners visited U.S. Cellular Field in early May, it seemed likely they would have a new manager the next time they came to town. But a recent turnaround has put them into the playoff race and taken the heat off Mike Hargrove and general manager Bill Bavasi.
Interleague play proved the salvation, as Seattle won eight straight against San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles before a Thursday night loss to the Dodgers. They entered the weekend having won 14 of their last 18, which put them within four games of first-place Oakland in the tepid American League West.
“You sleep better, food tastes better, everything’s better,” Bavasi said about winning. “Most of our issues have been scoring runs, and now we’re scoring a few runs.”
Raul Ibanez (.343 average, 6 homers, 21 RBIs in June) has led the resurrection. Ichiro Suzuki (.440, 17 runs in 19 games), Adrian Beltre (.300-5-15) and Richie Sexson (.239-6-18) also have had big months.
“We’re not there [yet],” Bavasi said. “When we were playing poorly, what did we say? It’s early. Now we’re playing well, and it’s kind of the same answer. We have some veterans who are playing better now, but we still have a lot of young kids to bring through this.”
