5 for 5 for Ichiro in victory

SAN DIEGO – With Ichiro Suzuki matching his career-high with a 5-for-5 day, the lowly Seattle Mariners appear to be showing signs of hope.

Of course, it helped that they were facing the nearly-as-woeful San Diego Padres this weekend in a matchup of the two worst teams in the big leagues.

While Ichiro put on a hitting clinic with his five singles, Adrian Beltre and Jeff Clement homered and the Mariners beat Jake Peavy and the punchless Padres 9-2 on Sunday for a three-game sweep.

The three-game winning streak matches the Mariners’ season-high. Although Seattle still has the worst record in the major leagues at 31-50, the Padres (32-51) are closing fast.

The Padres have lost a season-high eight straight games and 13 of 15, all against the A.L. The Padres finished interleague play 3-15, worst in the majors.

“We feel like we’re playing pretty good baseball and just trying to win the game, not get ahead of ourselves,” Mariners manager Jim Riggleman said. “Just make every pitch, every play count. I think the guys are doing that. They’re focusing and giving a good effort. Our pitchers have been going deep in this game here this series and giving us a good chance.”

Erik Bedard (5-4) won for the first time in five starts and improved to 3-0 lifetime against the Padres.

The Mariners had a season-high 18 hits. It was the seventh time that the two-time batting champion had five.