Four outs from another of their, “Sorry, Felix” losses, the Seattle Mariners realized they wouldn’t need the last three.

A two-out, two-run double from Mike Carp in the eighth inning brought the Mariners from behind Wednesday and allowed Felix Hernandez to win his 13th game as he beat the Los Angeles Angels, 2-1.

Bottom of the ninth? Not necessary.

“Felix was the story,” Carp insisted. “His stuff was electric again, and late in the game we needed a big hit to get him a win. We pulled it out in the end.”

Matched against right-hander Dan Haren, Hernandez was losing 1-0 until that eighth inning, having allowed the Angels their lone run in the third.

The Mariners rallied against Haren to load the bases in the seventh inning on two singles and a two-out error, but Haren got a sharp comebacker from Brendan Ryan to esce clean.

“That seventh inning wore him down a little, I think,” manager Eric Wedge said. “We made him work hard.”

And in the eighth, with two out and no one on base?

Franklin Gutierrez singled. Dustin Ackley singled – and Angels manager Mike Scioscia went to his bullpen for left-hander Scott Downs to face the left-handed hitting Carp.

It didn’t bother Carp.

“He’s still got to throw strikes, I’ve still got to get a pitch to hit and put a good swing on it,” Carp said. “It doesn’t change my job. My job there was to get the run in … He left a pitch up, I got it and we got two runs in.”

Carp’s double to left-center field hit and stuck at the base of the wall, allowing Ackley to score from first base without a throw – and pin the loss on Haren, watching from the dugout.

Needing three more outs, Wedge had a decision to make. Bring in closer Brandon League or let the 2010 American League Cy Young winner finish the game.

No contest.

“You love to see him finish it off,” Wedge said. “It is a big deal. Felix is a true ace, and for our guys to step up late for him, get him the chance for a win? That’s big for the whole club.”

“Ninety-seven pitches? Of course I’m going back out there,” Felix said, laughing.

He struck out Bobby Abreu. Struck out Torii Hunter. Then Mark Trumbo hit a long fly ball to right field.

“The fly ball, I was like ‘Nooooo,’ ” Felix said, shaking his head.

Casper Wells, playing right field, hauled it in.

For Hernandez, the win was No. 13 this season against 11 losses, lowering his earned-run average to 3.27. He has pitched 209 innings in 2011, struck out 204 batters – nine of them Wednesday.

The third strikeout, Erick Aybar in the third inning, brought the 18,520 Safeco Field fans to their feet, aware that it had moved Felix past Jamie Moyer and into second place on the franchise all-time “K” list – behind Randy Johnson.

While honoring former teammate Moyer, Felix was hard pressed not to talk about Carp – well, Carp and his rookie teammates.

“Carp and all those young guys,” Hernandez said. “They play tough, they have a little attitude. When I was young, I was exactly the same.”

Felix is 25.

Still, he had a point.

Down to what peared to be their final four outs, the Mariners got a single from veteran Gutierrez, then hits from two rookies to extend the rally and win a game.

Seattle had six hits, and five belonged to rookies – two for Carp, two for Kyle Seager and Ackley’s one.

Carp’s two RBI gave him 25 for August, tying Danny Tartabull’s 1986 club rookie record for RBI in a month. Had he ever had a month like it?

“I don’t know,” he said. “It was a big month – and it was nice to play a month in the big leagues. I was down in the minors the last three years. I want to play.”

Then he was asked the importance of winning for a team in fourth place in the American League West.

“It’s a matter of showing teams in our own division what we’ve got,” Carp said. “It gives us – and maybe them – something to think about next year.”

Now 58-77, the Mariners have taken two of the first three games in this series from the Angels, preventing Los Angeles from getting closer than 31/2 games behind Texas.

The Mariners finished August 13-15, with Felix winning four of those games. As for Carp, the first baseman/designated hitter hit safely in 24 of the 27 games he played in the month, batting .313 with six home runs and 25 RBI.

larry.larue@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/mariners

By Jeff Sullivan

– MLB Editor

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Jun 3, 2011 – The Seattle Mariners have been one of the hottest teams in baseball. Maybe you already knew that. Maybe you didn’t already know that. But you know that now. The Mariners came into play on Thursday at 28-27, winners of 11 of their past 14 games. But where ordinarily you’d assume that a hot team has been clicking on all cylinders, the Mariners haven’t been. Their ERA over that span was an outstanding 2.37, but they averaged only 3.6 runs scored per game, the consequence of a .641 team OPS.

Even while winning, the Mariners haven’t been able to hit. And a big problem – maybe the biggest problem – has been a dearth of power. After bringing up the league rear with 101 total home runs in 2010, the Mariners came in on Thursday again in last place, with 29 dingers against Oakland’s second-to-last 32. Home runs aren’t a necessary component of a productive offense, but they’re a big help, and without them, the M’s have been struggling to score.

Given that Thursday brought the Rays and bounceback ace James Shields to Seattle, it looked like M’s fans were in for more of the same. They’d get a good start from Felix Hernandez, they’d watch the offense flail away against Shields, and the game would ultimately be decided by one or two runs. That’s the way it had been for weeks, and there was no reason to think it would change.

But oh, did it change. If only for one night, Mariners fans were treated to something completely different, as they watched their team sock four home runs and thump Shields and the Rays 8-2.

The Rays actually threatened first, getting men on the corners with two out against Felix in the top of the first. But Felix struck out B.J. Upton to esce, and after that, the Rays would never again feel like they had the upper hand.

Jack Cust led off the bottom of the second by blasting a 2-0 Shields fastball out to center for his first home homer of the year, and second homer overall. Four batters later, Chone Figgins’ seeing-eye single plated another run, and then rookie Carlos Peguero stepped in and launched a changeup way out for a three-run shot that made the score 5-0.

The score widened in the third with Adam Kennedy’s RBI double, and the score only widened even further in the fourth. Peguero led off by knocking a hanging curve out to left-center for his second home run of the game. Three batters after that, Justin Smoak pulled a low line drive out to right. Smoak’s was the Mariners’ fourth homer on the night, and it made the score 8-0.

With Felix cruising, the Rays might as well have given up then and there and saved everyone the trouble. Felix wound up going seven innings, allowing one run and striking out 11 before getting pulled with 97 pitches. And though the Mariners didn’t score again after Smoak’s longball, the Rays never made it competitive. A garbage time solo homer by Matt Joyce in the eighth made it 8-2, but that’s where the score stuck, with Chris Ray polishing off the ninth.

A freak power display? Definitely a freak power display. The Mariners aren’t going to hit four home runs a night. The Mariners aren’t going to hit one home run a night. But the timing on Thursday was good, as the run support allowed the M’s to feel what it’s like to soundly defeat a quality opponent. It had been some time since the last time they’d done that. The Padres don’t count.

The four-game series continues on Friday, with Andy Sonnanstine opposing Jason Vargas.

For more on the Rays and Mariners, please visit team blogs DRays Bay and Lookout Landing.

Read More: Jack Cust (DH – SEA), James Shields (P – TAM), Felix Hernandez (P – SEA), Carlos Peguero (LF – SEA), Justin Smoak (1B – SEA), Tampa Bay Rays, Seattle Mariners

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SAN DIEGO — For all of the history that Felix Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners were making Sunday as they put away the San Diego Padres, 6-1, there was time for the personal touch.

Like when Felix was at the plate getting ready to hit and his old batterymate, Rob Johnson, was catching – and complaining about the way Hernandez had pitched him.

“Rob said, ‘I thought you were going to throw me a fastball,’ ” Felix said.

“I told him, ‘That was a fastball.’

“Rob said, ‘That was a sinker!’ ” Hernandez said, and laughed.

Johnson would know, having caught Hernandez much of last year when Hernandez won the American League Cy Young Award. And, looking for that fastball, Johnson twice struck out Sunday when Felix threw him some nasty variation.

At that, Johnson represented only two of Felix’s career-high-matching 13 strikeouts in an eight-inning start that produced his fifth win, the Mariners’ fifth in a row, and extended a remarkable stretch of games by the Seattle rotation.

Mariners starting pitchers have now gone at least seven innings – and allowed two runs or fewer – in nine consecutive games.

The last time any team did that? The San Francisco Giants, in 1988.

“This was what we expected,” catcher Miguel Olivo said. “We’ve got an amazing starting rotation. We’ve just been looking for runs to support them, and now we’re getting them.”

Well, not every day, mind you.

In the previous start Hernandez made, he allowed two runs to the Minnesota Twins and lost, 2-1.

Still, the Mariners are on a roll, and the Padres were left wondering how those guys from Seattle were a fourth-place team in the American League West. During their three-game series sweep, the Mariners outscored the Padres, 14-2.

San Diego didn’t lead for an inning all weekend, and when the Mariners departed, they did so as the third-place team in their division.

“We’re playing good baseball, doing the little things right,” Felix said. “Our rotation is doing a great job. Erik Bedard and Michael Pineda are getting better, and the other two starters (Jason Vargas and Doug Fister) are working hard between starts to keep it going.”

And his 13-strikeout performance?

“I had a good changeup,” he said, smiling. “I threw it and my breaking pitch for outs.”

In the midst of a hpy Seattle clubhouse, pitching coach Carl Willis was asked what he’d been doing to help that steamrolling rotation.

“Just watching them,” Willis said.

That’s been more fun of late.

Ahead 1-0 in the second inning when Ichiro Suzuki’s soft ground ball drove in a run, the Mariners pushed out to a 3-0 lead when rookie outfielder Carlos Peguero doubled home Justin Smoak and Olivo.

Hernandez kept posting zeros, striking out three Padres in the second inning, two in the third and two more in the fourth.

“He was real good for a long time in this game,” manager Eric Wedge said. “He had to work a little harder in the last few innings, but he gave us a great effort. And we played one of our better games at the plate. We had better at-bats. We kept the heat on them all day.”

Shortstop Brendan Ryan drove home two more Seattle runs with a seventh-inning double and then, after San Diego scored its only earned run in the series, defensive replacement Franklin Gutierrez singled home the Mariners’ final run in the ninth.

Wedge determined that Hernandez had done his job after eight innings and 114 pitches.

David Pauley pitched a scoreless ninth, and the Mariners caught a flight to Minneolis.

It was hard to find fault in this one, when the Mariners’ offense had 15 hits and their pitchers allowed the opposition only six. Four Seattle hitters had two hits, and Olivo had three hits and scored three runs.

There was one unhpy hitter – Felix Hernandez.

“I was really looking forward to hitting,” he said after going 0-for-4. “I took the worst swings ever. It was dispointing.”

He’ll live.

The numbers he’s paid to put up are all on the pitching side of his job description, and those continue to be impressive. Hernandez has started 11 games and worked 772/3 innings. Along with a 5-4 record, he has a 3.01 earned-run average, 21 walks and 77 strikeouts.

Felix can’t hit? Try finding a team that wouldn’t let him pitch.

Not long after the Mariners won, the Oakland Athletics lost in 11 innings and dropped into fourth in the AL West. At 22-24, the Mariners are one game behind the Angels and 11/2 behind first-place Texas.

“It’s been outstanding, the way these guys have passed the torch to one another,” Wedge said. “They’re focused, and they’re all trying to do their job. Guys are getting comfortable in the field, in the batter’s box, on the mound.”

SAN DIEGO — For all of the history that Felix Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners were making Sunday as they put away the San Diego Padres, 6-1, there was time for the personal touch.

Like when Felix was at the plate getting ready to hit and his old batterymate, Rob Johnson, was catching – and complaining about the way Hernandez had pitched him.

“Rob said, ‘I thought you were going to throw me a fastball,’ ” Felix said.

“I told him, ‘That was a fastball.’

“Rob said, ‘That was a sinker!’ ” Hernandez said, and laughed.

Johnson would know, having caught Hernandez much of last year when Hernandez won the American League Cy Young Award. And, looking for that fastball, Johnson twice struck out Sunday when Felix threw him some nasty variation.

At that, Johnson represented only two of Felix’s career-high-matching 13 strikeouts in an eight-inning start that produced his fifth win, the Mariners’ fifth in a row, and extended a remarkable stretch of games by the Seattle rotation.

Mariners starting pitchers have now gone at least seven innings – and allowed two runs or fewer – in nine consecutive games.

The last time any team did that? The San Francisco Giants, in 1988.

“This was what we expected,” catcher Miguel Olivo said. “We’ve got an amazing starting rotation. We’ve just been looking for runs to support them, and now we’re getting them.”

Well, not every day, mind you.

In the previous start Hernandez made, he allowed two runs to the Minnesota Twins and lost, 2-1.

Still, the Mariners are on a roll, and the Padres were left wondering how those guys from Seattle were a fourth-place team in the American League West. During their three-game series sweep, the Mariners outscored the Padres, 14-2.

San Diego didn’t lead for an inning all weekend, and when the Mariners departed, they did so as the third-place team in their division.

“We’re playing good baseball, doing the little things right,” Felix said. “Our rotation is doing a great job. Erik Bedard and Michael Pineda are getting better, and the other two starters (Jason Vargas and Doug Fister) are working hard between starts to keep it going.”

And his 13-strikeout performance?

“I had a good changeup,” he said, smiling. “I threw it and my breaking pitch for outs.”

In the midst of a hpy Seattle clubhouse, pitching coach Carl Willis was asked what he’d been doing to help that steamrolling rotation.

“Just watching them,” Willis said.

That’s been more fun of late.

Ahead 1-0 in the second inning when Ichiro Suzuki’s soft ground ball drove in a run, the Mariners pushed out to a 3-0 lead when rookie outfielder Carlos Peguero doubled home Justin Smoak and Olivo.

Hernandez kept posting zeros, striking out three Padres in the second inning, two in the third and two more in the fourth.

“He was real good for a long time in this game,” manager Eric Wedge said. “He had to work a little harder in the last few innings, but he gave us a great effort. And we played one of our better games at the plate. We had better at-bats. We kept the heat on them all day.”

Shortstop Brendan Ryan drove home two more Seattle runs with a seventh-inning double and then, after San Diego scored its only earned run in the series, defensive replacement Franklin Gutierrez singled home the Mariners’ final run in the ninth.

Wedge determined that Hernandez had done his job after eight innings and 114 pitches.

David Pauley pitched a scoreless ninth, and the Mariners caught a flight to Minneolis.

It was hard to find fault in this one, when the Mariners’ offense had 15 hits and their pitchers allowed the opposition only six. Four Seattle hitters had two hits, and Olivo had three hits and scored three runs.

There was one unhpy hitter – Felix Hernandez.

“I was really looking forward to hitting,” he said after going 0-for-4. “I took the worst swings ever. It was dispointing.”

He’ll live.

The numbers he’s paid to put up are all on the pitching side of his job description, and those continue to be impressive. Hernandez has started 11 games and worked 772/3 innings. Along with a 5-4 record, he has a 3.01 earned-run average, 21 walks and 77 strikeouts.

Felix can’t hit? Try finding a team that wouldn’t let him pitch.

Not long after the Mariners won, the Oakland Athletics lost in 11 innings and dropped into fourth in the AL West. At 22-24, the Mariners are one game behind the Angels and 11/2 behind first-place Texas.

“It’s been outstanding, the way these guys have passed the torch to one another,” Wedge said. “They’re focused, and they’re all trying to do their job. Guys are getting comfortable in the field, in the batter’s box, on the mound.”