Washburn pitches Seattle to 5-1 win

Meeting with the media prior to Wednesday night's game, Seattle Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said his team just had to put Tuesday's thrashing at the hands of the Chicago White Sox behind it.

This team is close, Hargrove said, and it's only a matter of time before the early-season close losses turn into wins.

After watching Jarrod Washburn turn in a masterful effort and seeing the Mariners come through with some key early hits against a tough pitcher, Hargrove believes the time for consistent winning may be here.

Washburn turned in his third-straight solid start and this time got enough run support as Seattle defeated the White Sox 5-1 to take two of three games from the defending World Series champions.

At 2 hours, 12 minutes, it was the fastest game the Mariners have played this season and came in the wake of Tuesday's 13-3 trouncing by the White Sox.

"The old truism that you live and die with your pitching has been born out the last two nights, and really the whole series," Hargrove said. "We got two really well-pitched games which we won and (Tuesday) night was something I'd like to forget. We'll take it. If you take two out of three from the White Sox, that's pretty special."

Seattle had lost its last three series and was going against the team with the best record in the American League. The Mariners were 0-6 against left-handed starters this season and in Mark Buehrle, were facing a pitcher with the third-most wins among southpaw starters in baseball since 2001 (84), and who was 3-0 this season. Buehrle came into the game 6-3 with a 2.96 earned run average all-time against Seattle.

But there was some reason to hope. As good as Buehrle had been against the Mariners, he was also 1-2 with a 5.82 ERA in four starts at Safeco Field.

For his part, Washburn had allowed a total of four earned runs and eight hits in his previous two starts, but both came in one-run losses (3-2 and 2-1).

Against Chicago, Washburn (2-3) allowed only three base runners in his first six innings, including just two hits. He retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced in a lineup that had been hitting .325 in its last 12 games. The one run and five hits for Chicago were both season lows.

"You've got to give credit to a guy when he throws the ball well," Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said. " (Washburn) kept our whole team off-balance."

Washburn finally ran into trouble in the seventh inning. Leading 4-0 after Raul Ibanez's third home run led off the bottom of the sixth, Washburn allowed back-to-back singles to Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye to open the seventh.

But center fielder Willie Bloomquist ran to his left to make a diving catch on a sinking line drive by Joe Crede for the first out.

"You don't have time to think about things with something like that," Bloomquist said. "It's just instinct. I saw the ball and just ran to a spot where I thought I had a shot at it."

"He doesn't make that play and it changes the whole ball game," Washburn said. "I left a changeup up a little bit and Crede put a good swing on it. It hung up there long enough for Willie to run under it and make a great catch. ... That catch won the game for us."

Juan Uribe followed with a sacrifice fly to drive in Konerko, ending Washburn's night.

Rafael Soriano retired Chris Widger on a popup to shortstop to end the inning. Soriano has now stranded all 10 runners he's inherited this season.

Washburn finished the night allowing four hits and a walk in 62/3 innings, lowering his ERA to 3.51 with his third quality start in a row.

"He's pitched well every outing," Hargrove said of Washburn. "The last two have been exceptionally well pitched. But he's been good every outing. It's good to be able to win one when he's pitched well."

Soriano worked a perfect 11/3 innings, striking out two of the four batters he faced, and J.J. Putz pitched a scoreless ninth, getting out of a two-on, no-out situation by inducing Jermaine Dye to hit into a double play.

The Mariners got to Buehrle early. Richie Sexson and Carl Everett singled back-to-back to open the second, and Kenji Johjima loaded the bases when he was hit for the fifth time this season. Sexson scored on a groundout by Adrian Beltre and Jose Lopez drove in Everett and Johjima with a double to right.

"I just want to put the ball in play," said Lopez, who is tied for the team lead with 15 RBI. "I just try to hit the ball where it is."

"Anytime you go against a guy like Buehrle, you know you have to be on top of your game," Washburn said. "You're not expecting to get a whole lot of runs going in. To be able to get three early was great."

Seattle got an insurance run in the eighth when Everett drove in Ibanez with a sacrifice fly to center. Everett had two hits, including a double, and Sexson also had a pair of hits.

Seattle now heads out on a seven-game road trip having built just a little momentum. Washburn pointed out that when he pitched for Anaheim's 2002 World Series champion, the Angels started the season 6-14.

"We played pretty good baseball this season," Washburn said. "We're capable of playing better. We're not far off. We're a good team. It's just a matter of putting everything together and being more consistent."