Mariners score 3 in 7th inning to pull away from Texas 4-1

He had just finished topping his win total from last year when Jarrod Washburn reflected on the center fielder that's been there every step of the way with him.

Franklin Gutierrez has caught balls by sprinting, leaping, diving and crashing into walls whenever Mariners southpaw Washburn pitches. But in this 4-1 win over the Texas Rangers on Saturday night, the sure-handed Gutierrez may have saved Washburn on a seventh-inning soft fly ball even he couldn't catch.

Instead, Gutierrez feinted like he was about to catch the broken-bat flare by Nelson Cruz and a fooled Rangers base runner Marlon Byrd began scrambling back to first base. Gutierrez fielded the ball on one hop, threw to second for a crucial force out and Washburn pitched through the inning with the score tied.

Rob Johnson then hit a two-run homer to left to ignite a Seattle three-spot off Rangers starter Kevin Millwood in the bottom of the inning that enabled the Mariners to again close to 4 games of first place.

"It's more than just a few times he's been there for me," Washburn said of Gutierrez. "He's been there for me every five days. It's been great having him as a teammate this year."

Gutierrez is more tag-team partner to Washburn than teammate. He set the tone with a diving, run-saving catch in Minnesota in Washburn's first start of the year and the veteran lefty hasn't looked back.

A crowd of 30,698 at Safeco Field saw Washburn keep the Rangers off balance for seven innings of four-hit ball, changing speeds by up to 20 mph between pitches to improve to 6-6 and lower his earned-run average to 2.96. Washburn hasn't had a sub-3.00 ERA after the month of May since his 18-win season with Anaheim in 2002.

And while Washburn again pitched well, in the first start since his complete-game one-hit win over Baltimore last week, it helped to have guys backing him up. Left fielder Ryan Langerhans did it in the second inning, racing toward a Byrd drive down the line, playing the carom off the retaining wall and throwing him out at second base.

Then, after a Ronny Cedeno error allowed Byrd to reach base in the seventh inning of a 1-1 game, Gutierrez made the play even when he couldn't.

"Byrd had a rough night tonight," Washburn quipped.

Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said those kinds of "little plays" by fielders are "the little things we keep talking about to be able to keep us in a situation to win ballgames. And we did it again tonight."

The Rangers were shut down after Ian Kinsler doubled home a run in the third inning. Seattle got the equalizer in the bottom of the frame when Russell Branyan launched his 22nd home run of the season off a sign below the Hit it Here Café in right field.

And that was it until Johnson delivered in a seventh-inning at-bat that first saw him foul off a bunt attempt against a tiring Millwood.

"I was upset," Johnson said. "I was asked to do a job and get a bunt down. I was quite upset with myself."

Moments later, the bunt sign was removed and Johnson stunned everyone by driving the second home run of his career — and first in 144 at-bats — over the left-field wall. Newly-acquired Jack Hannahan, who arrived two hours before game time after a trade from Oakland, doubled to end Millwood's night and scored on Ichiro's single.

The only other chance Texas had to score off Washburn, who tossed his ninth game of at least seven innings this season, came with runners at second and third and two out in the fifth.

But Washburn retired the dangerous Michael Young on a ground out. Washburn had badly fooled Young with a looping, 70 mph "Dolphin"curveball to jump ahead 1-2, then jammed him inside with a 90 mph cut fastball for the grounder on the ensuing pitch.

"They've got a great lineup one through nine and you've got to be on top of your game to hold them down," Washburn said.

His fielders also have to be on top of theirs. And once again, they were.

Geoff Baker: 206-464-8286 or gbaker@seattletimes.com.

Read his daily blog at www.seattletimes.com/Mariners