After winning game one in the 11th on a double by Rob Johnson, another unlikely hero stepped up in game two today. After Takashi Saito walked the bases loaded, Chris Woodward came to the plate and blooped a 1-1 fastball over the head of a diving Dustin Pedroia to give the M’s the late 3-2 lead. Former Red Sock David Aardsma pitched a 1-2-3 bottom half for his 17th save of the year.

Russell Branyan had a hit and two RBI, and Chris Woodward went two for three. Garrett Olson started the game for the M’s, and despite having no command whatsoever of his fastball, battled through six and a third innings while holding Boston to two runs. He walked four and struck out five.

Mariners shortstop Ronny Cedeno dives safely into first base to beat out a bunt single that would set up Seattles 2nd run of the game

So, the Seattle Mariners have now guaranteed a winning record on this incredibly challenging road trip. They now stand just two games back of the Ranger and the Angels, with the majority of their remaining games at home. The M’s are very much still in contention, and now that they’ve hung tough through the hardest stretch of the season, should stay in the race for the remainder of the season.

The Mariners will go for the sweep of the Red Sox and finish off this road trip tomorrow morning at 10am Pacific time. The starters will be Brandon Morrow (0-3, 5.14), and Jon Lester (7-6, 4.35).

Other news and game notes:

-Ichiro’s hit streak is now at: three games.

-Roy Corcoran has been awful this year, but he looked good tonight and his 1 2/3 innings of shutout relief were extremely crucial.

-Ichiro will be the starting right fielder in the 2009 MLB all-star game.

Happy 4th of July everyone.

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