Maybe the Mariners should have tried this whole “step back” plan a long time ago.

The hottest team in baseball – the Seattle Mariners – will be getting two days off instead of one. Will it cool off an offense that has scored six runs or more in five of the team’s seven games?

Marco Gonzales was brilliant, pitching 8 1/3 innings, allowing one run on four hits with a walk and three strikeouts to improve to 3-0.

Marco Gonzales allowed four hits in 8 1 /3 innings as the Seattle Mariners defeated the visiting Los Angeles Angels 2-1 Tuesday night.

Felix Hernandez got his first victory since last June, allowing three runs (one earned) on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings with no walks and four strikeouts.

Felix Hernandez allowed one earned run and pitched into the sixth inning for his first victory since last June, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-3 on Monday night.

Omar Narvaez’s three-run homer was the most emphatic moment – and the loudest crack of the bat – in a seven-run third inning for the Mariners on Sunday. Seattle ultimately posted 12 hits and two homers, topping the Boston Red Sox 10-8 to take three out of four games in the series.

Omar Narvaez hit a three-run homer in a seven-run third inning and the Seattle Mariners held on to defeat the visiting Boston Red Sox Sunday afternoon.

Jay Bruce hit a three-run homer as the Seattle Mariners defeated the visiting Boston Red Sox 6-5 Saturday night.

Jay Bruce hit his first home run for Seattle, a three-run shot to center field, and the heavy-hitting Mariners continued to dominate Boston’s starting pitching in a 6-5 win over the Red Sox. The Mariners have hit a home run in every game this season and continued to batter Red Sox starters, with Bruce helping to chase Eduardo Rodriguez in the fifth inning.

They swept two games against Oakland in Japan, then hammered the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox 12-4 in their home opener Thursday, hitting five home runs.