Forward motion

After a tumultuous stretch in which they lost 29 of 40 games, the Seattle Mariners got the stopper performance they have come to expect from Felix Hernandez at Boston’s Fenway Park.

Hernandez allowed six hits over six innings as the Mariners snapped a four-game losing streak with an 8-0 victory Friday night. Hernandez faced a Boston lineup missing not only David Ortiz, who is on the disabled list with an injured left wrist, but Manny Ramirez, who sat with a sore right hamstring.

In two career starts in Boston, Hernandez (4-5) is 2-0 and has pitched 15 scoreless innings. On April 11, 2007, he pitched a one-hitter, walking two.

“Felix stepped up and has been pretty good in Fenway Park,” Mariners manager John McLaren said.

The 15 innings represent the longest career scoreless streak at Fenway Park since 1956.

Boston’s biggest threat came in the second inning. Sean Casey and Jason Varitek singled and, with two outs, Julio Lugo walked to load the bases. Hernandez struck out Coco Crisp to end the inning.

“(It) was important for me, important for the team. I was trying to keep the lead,” said Hernandez, who won for the second time in as many starts after going seven starts without a win.

It was his first road victory since April 16. He walked three and struck out five.

“He did a great job of keeping us off base, and really not letting us get anything together and when we did have something going, he made some pitches when he had to,” Casey said.

The Mariners’ offense capitalized on some shoddy Red Sox fielding. Three Boston errors, two by starter Bartolo Colon, led to their first three runs.

“We took advantage of some mistakes,” said Mariners first baseman Richie Sexson, who was 3 for 4 with two RBIs. “It feels good. We needed a win. There’s been a lot of negative things surrounding this team the last month or so.”

On Wednesday, following a 5-4 home loss to the Los Angeles Angels that dropped the Mariners a season-low 18 games lower than .500, the Seattle locker room was the site of separate outbursts by team president Chuck Armstrong and McLaren.

Colon (3-1) threw a tailor-made double-play ball into center field in the first inning, allowing Jose Lopez, who had singled, to score the first run of the game. Raul Ibanez, who walked after Lopez’s hit, advanced to third and scored on a groundout by Jose Vidro.

Colon’s erratic throwing in the third led to the Mariners’ third run of the game.

After Ichiro Suzuki reached on an error by third baseman Mike Lowell and Lopez singled, Colon’s errant pickoff throw to second base sailed into center field, allowing both runners to advance. Ichiro scored on a sacrifice fly by Adrian Beltre, extending the Mariners’ lead to 3-0.

The Mariners, who won for only the second time in their last 15 road games, scored two runs in the fourth. After Sexson singled and Yuniesky Betancourt doubled, Ichiro laced a base hit to left, scoring both. Despite a strong throw by Brandon Moss, Betancourt was able to slide past Varitek’s tag at the plate, giving Seattle a 5-0 lead.

M’s pick 44 more in draft

The Mariners selected 44 players on the final day of the draft, some with intriguing upside and a few with names familiar to M’s fans.

They took Nate Tenbrink, a 6-foot-2, 202-pound left-handed-hitting first baseman from Kansas State, in the seventh round and left-handed pitcher Bobby LaFromboise, who went 5-3 with a 4.11 earned run average at the University of New Mexico, in the eighth round.

As for names that ring a bell, the Mariners drafted Cal-Davis outfielder Ryan Royster, nephew of former big leaguer Jerry Royster, in the 13th round; Gateway (Ariz.) Community College outfielder Henry Cotto, son of former Mariner Henry Cotto, in the 41st round; and South Mountain (Ariz.) CC catcher Josh Rodriguez, son of M’s first base coach Eddie Rodriguez, in the 49th round.

The Mariners drafted two players from Washington, right-handed pitcher Brad Reid of Bellevue Community College in the 30th round and right-handed pitcher Andrew Kittredge of Ferris High in the 45th round. Kittredge is committed to play at the University of Washington.

The Mariners finished the draft with 29 pitchers and 21 position players, and only 11 of their 50 picks were high schoolers.