M’s smokin’ behind Smoak

SEATTLE – The Seattle Mariners’ sudden, unexpected return to relevance hasn’t quite had the magic of, say, the 1995 season, but they’ve certainly found a way to pull some rabbits out of the proverbial hat in recent weeks.

One could say it’s been all about Smoak and mirrors.

The Mariners got another strong pitching performance from their starting rotation Thursday night, but it’s the sudden power of first baseman Justin Smoak that has them back in the mix of a clogged American League West Division. Smoak’s solo home run in the second inning sparked enough offense to complement Jason Vargas’s pitching gem in a 3-1 win over the Texas Rangers in front of 14,205 fans at Safeco Field on Thursday night.

Seattle (15-17) moved to within a game of third-place Oakland, two games behind the Rangers and remains three games behind first-place Los Angeles in the A.L. West standings.

The Mariners also won their third consecutive series, which seemed almost unheard of when Seattle started the season by getting swept in two of its first three.

Vargas has had a hand in the Mariners’ recent success by winning two consecutive starts, including Thursday’s 7 2/3-inning, six-hit performance. But the sudden turnaround has been mostly about Smoak, who has found his batting stroke after missing six games after the death of his father.

Since returning from the bereavement list on April 26, Smoak is hitting .353 with three home runs and 13 RBIs in nine games. It comes as no coincidence that the Mariners are 7-2 in that span.

“I’m just trying to be ready to hit,” said Smoak, who added a leadoff double in the fourth while going 3 for 4 from the plate Thursday. “If the ball’s in the zone, I try to be ready to hit it. That’s been the biggest thing.”

Smoak gave Vargas and the Mariners almost all the offense they would need when he hammered a 1-0 pitch over the right-field fence to lead off the bottom of the second inning Thursday. An inning later, fill-in third baseman Luis Rodriguez doubled home Brendan Ryan for a 2-0 lead. Ichiro Suzuki added a two-out, RBI single in the seventh.

Through it all, Vargas cruised through his most impressive performance of the season. The left-hander gave up just four hits during seven shutout innings before tiring in the eighth. He allowed just one run on six hits while striking out three in 7 2/3 innings of work.

“He made pitches all night long,” manager Eric Wedge said of Vargas. “He did a good job of keeping (the Rangers) off balance. He did a good job with his fastball, moving it in and out, and a good job with his secondary stuff. He controlled the ballgame, and that’s what you want to see your starting pitcher do.”

Better known this homestand as the bridge between rookie phenom Michael Pineda and Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez, Vargas (2-2) pitched at a similar level for seven-plus innings Thursday. He had a shutout going into the eighth before the Rangers’ Ian Kinsler doubled down the left-field line to score Julio Borbon from second base with one out.