Mariners move into WC position with shutout

SEATTLE -- The smell of sage filled the home clubhouse at T-Mobile Park early Tuesday afternoon, which for this Mariners nucleus has been used as a metaphorical healing remedy rooted in superstition.

“That usually happens if we’ve lost a few times in a row,” manager Scott Servais said pregame, in the wake of Monday’s brutal extra-innings defeat. “So I wasn't surprised. I'm not a big fan of the smell, but whatever it takes.”

Whether it was an illusion in unfounded belief, a more sound offensive approach or better pitching performance, the Mariners rode the remedy to a dominant, 8-0 victory over the Angels.

• Games remaining: vs. LAA (1), vs. LAD (3), at OAK (3), at TEX (3), vs. HOU (3), vs. TEX (4)
• Standings update: The Mariners (80-65) are tied with Toronto for the third AL Wild Card spot, and the teams split the season series, 3-3. Seattle holds the next tiebreaker, intradivision record, with a 25-13 mark against the AL West (Toronto is 12-25 vs. the AL East). The Mariners (80-65) are 1 1/2 games behind the Astros (82-64) for the AL West lead.

J.P. Crawford spearheaded the sage effort hours before he ripped a bases-clearing double in the fourth inning that opened the offensive floodgates. He’d learned the practice from Mariners icon Mike Cameron, who regularly ignited the herb in bad times to evoke good.

“I went by all their lockers, went through this whole complex to get rid of all this bad juju,” Crawford said.

His clutch knock was among Seattle’s seven runs scored with two outs, tied for their third most this year. It was also among its 6-for-11 production with runners in scoring position, giving Bryan Woo plenty of breathing room to lead the way toward the club's 15th shutout, tied with Atlanta for the most in the Majors.

After Crawford’s two-bagger to deep right-center, which caromed off Brett Phillips’ glove, Julio Rodríguez scored him with a 98.1 mph single. That rally followed a three-spot in the first that saw Eugenio Suárez, Ty France and Dylan Moore all line base hits with two outs -- and they nearly plated another before France was cut down on a bang-bang play at the plate.

With the win, the Mariners snapped their first four-game losing streak since late April and avoided tying what would’ve been a season-high skid at five. And they did so via the offensive formula that they rode to a franchise-best 21 wins in August, one that has mostly eluded them in a September swoon.

“We needed a game like that,” Servais said.

For all the challenges that their pitching staff had on a 3-7 road trip that bled into the homestand-opening loss on Monday, Seattle entered play hitting .177 (14-for-79) with a .595 OPS with runners in scoring position this month. Those shortcomings are a large reason -- but not the primary reason -- that the club tumbled out of first place and is narrowly clinging to a tie for the final AL Wild Card spot. The Mariners entered the day out of playoff position for the first time since Aug. 18.

Turning things around against a reeling Angels club is a strong start, particularly given that after Wednesday’s series finale and next week’s three-gamer in Oakland, the Mariners will play the Dodgers, Astros and Rangers the rest of the way -- each a playoff contender.

“I don't think anybody left here in a very good mood last night based on how things played out,” Servais said. “But the credit to this group. I say it all along, they are resilient.”

Another encouraging development on Tuesday was the dominant effort of Woo, who twirled 5 2/3 scoreless innings after being pushed back three days due to his high workload. The rookie needed just 83 pitches on the night, and he left after a lengthy mound visit with Servais, who reiterated the value of the right-hander’s performance. Then, he walked off the field to a roar of “Woo!” from the enthusiastic crowd on hand.

Woo’s situation will continue to be monitored closely. If he remains on turn, he’ll make three more starts. But the more likely scenario is that the Mariners manipulate their remaining off-days (the next two Thursdays) to re-slot their rotation and build in more rest -- because they’ll need Woo into October even if it’s in shorter stints, like George Kirby coming out of the bullpen in the AL Wild Card Series last year.

“Hard to say that it didn't help,” Woo said of the extra rest. “But kind of just gave me a little bit more clarity for this week of what I wanted to focus on.”

The velocity was down on both Woo’s fastballs -- by 1.1 mph on his four-seamer and 1.4 mph on the sinker -- yet he still generated a career-high 20 whiffs on the night, including 15 from the heaters, many of which were in the strike zone.

Between Woo’s composure and the offense’s turnaround, Tuesday’s showing was far more emblematic of the Mariners at their best in the second half.