When the Seattle Mariners go 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position – especially against the New York Yankees – it seems improbable to expect a victory celebration afterward.

Hits? Who needed ’em?

When the Mariners had the chance, they pushed runs home with outs and did so often enough to come from three runs behind to beat the Yankees, 4-3, in front of 33,715 fans at Safeco Field.

It got them to .500 for the first time since ril 4, and left them a half-game behind front-running Los Angeles and Texas in the American League West.

“When we got runners in scoring position, especially at third base and less than two outs, we got ’em across by keeping the ball up the middle of the field,” manager Eric Wedge said. “This is a team that grinds it out, and we kept grinding.”

With rookie Michael Pineda finally looking like a 22-year-old, New York had taken a 3-0 lead in the fifth inning, and did it by exploiting the wildness of Seattle’s prized young right-hander.

“Both starters struggled with their command but kept their teams in the game,” reliever David Pauley said.

“Michael didn’t have the command we’ve seen in most of his games, but he never gave in,” Wedge said. “He dug deep and he gave us the chance to win. He had to work hard to do that.”

If Pineda couldn’t continue his superb run, reliever Pauley could and did. The right-hander who came in with a 0.95 earned-run average in 17 pearances, pitched two more scoreless innings – stopping the Yankees and letting his team have the chance to come back.

Come back the Mariners did.

They closed it to 3-2 in the fifth inning, when Brendan Ryan singled and Ichiro doubled to jump-start a rally. What followed was the kind of run production the 2010 Mariners never seemed cable of producing.

Runner at third, less than two outs? Trade an out for a run.

Luis Rodriguez got Ryan home with a ground ball. Then Justin Smoak got Ichiro home with a slow grounder.

An inning later, Seattle loaded the bases with no one out on singles by Adam Kennedy and Miguel Olivo and a walk to Carlos Peguero. Brendan Ryan got one run in on a ground ball that Derek Jeter didn’t charge, and Ichiro got the game-winner home on a soft grounder.

No it wasn’t the kind of scoring that will make highlight reels, but the Mariners let their Gold Glove center fielder handle that. In the fourth inning, with New York ahead 1-0, Nick Swisher hammered a Pineda fastball.

Gutierrez made a long run, timed his le and – with his glove extended above the fence – pulled the ball in.

That brought the crowd to its feet.

“He’s the best there is,” Wedge said.

“Gutierrez makes it look so easy,” Ryan said. “Without that catch, who knows – we might still be playing.”

Whether he was nervous or simply off in his 10th start of the season, Pineda had trouble finding the strike zone – which hadn’t been a problem in any of his previous nine games.

After giving up a first-inning solo home run to Mark Texeira, Pineda seemed a different pitcher.

One walk in the first inning, two more in the second, one in the third and two – plus a wild pitch that pushed home a run – in the fifth inning.

Granted, that wild pitch probably should have been caught. Catcher Olivo, who has been working to get himself in front of balls in the dirt, failed to do so on Pineda’s slider, and it got by him.

Once Pineda departed, Pauley went two innings and cut his ERA to 0.89 – “Can you say All-Star?” asked Aaron Laffey – and Jamey Wright and Brandon League closed it out.

Wright did so in dramatic fashion in the eighth inning when pinch-runner Eduardo Nunez stole second base with two out. As the potential tying run, he silenced the Safeco crowd.

“Brendan Ryan and I made eye contact, and I waited to see if he could get between the runner and the bag,” Wright said. “He did, and I made a good throw and he put it on him.”

That’s right – picked off the potential tying run at second base.

From there, League put New York down 1-2-3 in the ninth inning, his 13th save, and the Mariners, while not yet a winning team, have won nine of their last 11 games.

Of their 24 wins, half have been come-from-behind victories

“We don’t give up, no matter what the situation is,” shortstop Ryan said. “We didn’t have a lot of hits tonight (six), but we made the most of them. They didn’t have a lot of hits, either (five).”

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

TODAY

N.Y. Yankees (Ivan Nova: 4-3, 4.29 ERA) at Seattle (Felix Hernandez: 5-4, 3.01), 7:10 p.m., Root Sports, 710-AM

SEATTLE () — At some point, Jason Vargas won’t see a meltdown by his bullpen or a defensive mistake cost him a chance to finally end that frustrating winless streak.

It wasn’t going to hpen Monday night, not with Milton Bradley’s outfield misplay, or the seventh-inning blowup by relievers Josh Lueke and Chris Ray that followed.

Vargas battled through six innings, giving up just two runs, but Detroit’s six-run seventh against Lueke and Ray rallied the Tigers for an 8-3 win over the Mariners.

Whether it’s a lack of run support, problems in the field or issues in the bullpen, Vargas isn’t knocking his teammates.

“It is something that is out of our control. For us to sit here and try to understand what the hitters are going through is just not possible,” Vargas said. “For me to go out there and do my job is all I’m focused on.”

Vargas still has not won since Aug. 14, 2010, a stretch of 12 starts. In three of his four starts this season, he has left either tied or with the lead after pitching at least six innings.

“Vargas was really good again. He really had to bear down there that last inning. He didn’t give in to them and got through it,” Seattle manager Eric Wedge said. “Again, he gave us every opportunity and that’s what we are looking for.”

Vargas took a 2-1 lead into the sixth thanks to Bradley’s two-run homer off Detroit starter Max Scherzer in the third. But it was Bradley’s foul-up that led to the tying run. Brennan Boesch doubled into the left-field corner with two outs as Vargas’ pitch count rose. Instead of trying to field the rolling ball with his glove, Bradley attempted a barehand grab. The ball bounced free and Miguel Cabrera was able to score the tying run from first.

That was only a precursor to the seventh and the problems for Lueke and Ray.

Brandon Inge led off the seventh with a single to left, went to second on a sacrifice bunt and moved to third on Ryan Raburn’s single. Lueke (1-1) then dumped a slider in the dirt that catcher Miguel Olivo couldn’t keep from going to the backstop, allowing Inge to score.

Cabrera singled on a 3-0 pitch for a two-run lead, then Ray took over and fared no better. He walked Casper Wells and saw pinch-runner Ramon Santiago score on yet another wild pitch that Olivo couldn’t backhand. After Boesch was intentionally walked to load the bases, Jhonny Peralta cracked a three-run triple to center field that Ryan Langerhans couldn’t track down.

The inning finally ended when Ray struck out Alex Avila and got a popout from Inge.

Lueke and Ray combined to throw 44 pitches in the seventh, tossing just 16 strikes, allowing four hits, three walks and two wild pitches.

“That seventh inning got ugly there,” Wedge said. “Lueke and Ray just didn’t have it today. They got behind and then came in and that is where it got away from us.”

Aside from Bradley’s early homer, the Mariners got a solo shot from Justin Smoak in the eighth as the young first baseman continues to hit well early in the season. But Seattle also flubbed a chance to give Vargas more of a cushion in the fifth.

Scherzer (3-0) somehow esced after issuing consecutive walks to Chone Figgins and Bradley on eight pitches to start the inning. Jack Cust struck out looking and, with Smoak at the plate, Figgins was thrown out trying to steal third with a great tag plied by Inge. Smoak then completed the frustration by fouling out behind home plate to end the threat.

Seattle is hitting .192 with runners in scoring position, worst in the AL.

NOTES: Raburn hit a foul ball in the first inning that glanced off a large beam holding up the Safeco Field roof above the third-base dugout. It’s the first ball in the almost 12-year history of the stadium to hit any part of the retractable roof. … Olivo got his first hit at Safeco Field this season in the sixth inning, snping an 0-for-18 skid. … Smoak’s homer extended his hitting streak to seven games.

SEATTLE () — Victor Martinez hopes he needs just a few days to rest his sore groin.

Detroit manager Jim Leyland is already thinking the Tigers might be without their new slugger for longer.

“If I just need three days I’ll be hpy, but it’s pretty sore right now,” Martinez said. “I don’t know. I’ll just take it day by day and see what hpens.”

Brandon Inge scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch from Seattle Mariners reliever Josh Lueke in the seventh inning, Jhonny Peralta added a bases-loaded triple and the Tigers rallied late for an 8-3 victory Monday night.

Max Scherzer remained unbeaten and Detroit scored six times in the seventh, sending 10 batters to the plate while citalizing on another bullpen meltdown by the Mariners.

But the bigger concern was the status of Martinez, who left in the second inning with a strained right groin after he singled to right field. Martinez tweaked his groin in his final at-bat Saturday night against Oakland, then sat out Sunday as a precaution.

On Monday night, Martinez was noticeably uncomfortable as he jogged down to first base. He said it started to bother him earlier in the at-bat, but by the time Martinez advanced to second on Brennan Boesch’s RBI single, Leyland had seen enough and pulled Martinez, who walked slowly back to the dugout.

He’s expected to undergo further examination Tuesday. Leyland said he needed to talk with general manager Dave Dombrowski before deciding what the next move would be.

“I’m sure we’re going to have to do something,” Leyland said.

Martinez wasn’t needed in the Tigers’ seventh inning when Seattle’s bullpen struggled.

Inge led off with a single to left, went to second on a sacrifice bunt and moved to third on Ryan Raburn’s single. Lueke (1-1) then dumped a slider in the dirt that catcher Miguel Olivo couldn’t keep from going to the backstop, allowing Inge to score.

Miguel Cabrera singled on a 3-0 pitch for a two-run lead, then Chris Ray took over and fared no better. Ray walked Casper Wells and saw pinch-runner Ramon Santiago score on yet another wild pitch that Olivo couldn’t backhand.

After Boesch was intentionally walked to load the bases, Peralta cracked a drive to center field that Ryan Langerhans couldn’t catch up with. The inning finally ended when Ray struck out Alex Avila and got a popout from Inge.

Lueke and Ray combined to throw 44 pitches in the seventh, tossing just 16 strikes, allowing four hits, three walks and two wild pitches.

“That seventh inning got ugly there,” Seattle manager Eric Wedge said. “Lueke and Ray just didn’t have it today. They got behind and then came in and that is where it got away from us.”

Cabrera also showed he’s still got some wheels, scoring from first base on Boesch’s double into the left-field corner in the sixth. Cabrera was waved home after Seattle left fielder Milton Bradley misplayed the ball.

Scherzer (3-0) nearly matched his previous two outings by going six innings and giving up two runs. He walked four and struck out seven, but Leyland would have liked to see Scherzer be more efficient with his pitches early and be able to go another inning or two.

“A guy like Max should get you into the seventh or eighth inning all the time,” Leyland said.

Scherzer’s only mistake was a two-run homer by Bradley in the third, a 2-1 pitch that Bradley drove to right-center. The right-hander also benefited from Seattle’s own ineptitude in the fifth, when the Mariners failed to score after putting two on with no outs.

NOTES: Raburn hit a foul ball in the first inning that glanced off a large beam holding up the Safeco Field roof above the third-base dugout. It’s the first ball in the almost 12-year-history of the stadium to hit any part of the retractable roof. … Olivo got his first hit at Safeco Field this season in the sixth inning, snping an 0-for-18 skid. … Justin Smoak homered leading off the eighth for Seattle, his second of the season.