Seattle Mariners Week In Review: Staying Afloat

May 11, 2014; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Mariners center fielder James Jones (99) and Seattle Mariners first baseman Justin Smoak (17) celebrate after Jones scored a run off a RBI single hit by Seattle Mariners designated hitter Corey Hart (27) (not pictured) during the fifth inning at Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to Mariners Monday. Our look back at the Seattle Mariners week in review. This past week, the Mariners went 5-3 taking three of four from the Oakland Athletics and splitting a four-game series with the Kansas City Royals.

Let’s take a look at some of the top stories and key plays from this past week.

The week opened in Oakland with a 4-2 win over the Athletics as the Mariners moved back to .500.

Also, James Jones was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma as many Mariners prayers were answered as Abraham Almonte was sent down to Tacoma. There was also an interesting bit where Justin Smoak‘s wife was involved in a disturbing conversation with a Verizon employee.

On Tuesday, the Mariners beat Oakland again to move a game over .500 and within two games of Oakland for first place in the AL West. The Mariners then split the doubleheader on Wednesday to keep them two back heading home to face the Royals.

Mariners fans at Safeco were treated to an absolute gem on Thursday as Hisashi Iwakuma, making only his second start of the season, threw 8 innings of shut out ball to get the 1-0 win over the Royals.

But on Friday, Brandon Maurer did his best “Anti-Iwakuma” impression, allowing 14 hits in 7+ innings as the Mariners not only lost, but did it in rare fashion. See, Maurer’s 14 hit barrage marked the first time that a pitcher had allowed at least 14 hits with no extra-base hits, with no walks and no strikeouts, since 1918.

When we lose, we lose in epic fashion.

At this point, the Mariners were back to just a game over .500, hoping to avoid losing back-to-back games for the first time since the 8-game losing streak – from now on referred to as “The Skid”.

The Mariners sent Chris Young to the mound and he did not disappoint. The Mariners used the long ball and Young’s long arm to get the win, setting up Sunday’s slugfest which the M’s had in hand until Danny Farquhar handed the lead back with a first-pitch fastball, middle-in. Fly, fly away.

So now, the Mariners sit a game above .500, 3.5 back of Oakland who have won four in a row and 3 back of the Angels who have won three in a row. Texas is only 1/2 game behind Seattle in 4th place.

All four teams face a sub-.500 team in the next series. Oakland is at home against the White Sox (19-20), Los Angeles is at Toronto (18-20) and Texas is at Houston (12-26). Meanwhile, the Mariners remain at home and welcome Tampa Bay (16-22) to Safeco.

Last week I said that Mariners fans could see the light. After a 5-3 week, that still holds true. Despite the fact that the Mariners have seemed to struggle against lesser opponents so far this season, I think a 4-2 week against the Rays and Minnesota Twins is definitely possible.

And here are some other SodoMojo originals and other tidbits, in case you missed them:

— Take a look back at our Twitter Tuesday and there is still time to get in on the fun to be featured in tomorrow’s edition.

— Matt Seto took a look at ranking the Mariners by their “baseball beards.”

— For Throwback Thursday, Russell Hartness looked back at the impact of Jay Buhner.

— Charlie Spencer-Davis wondered if Felix Hernandez’s pitching “leash” was too long.

— Mike McDonnell made a case for Brad Miller to go to Tacoma and for the M’s to call up this guy in his place.

— In honor of the NFL Draft, we took a look at this former Major Leaguer, turned Mariners scout.

— And we took a  look at some possible trade scenarios the Mariners could be involved with before July 31.