Jarrod Washburn shines as Mariners finish road trip with 2-1 win

DETROIT — Jarrod Washburn has a good-natured response to players who claim they don't monitor things like standings and the trade deadline — which in the Mariners' case are inextricably linked.

"Everybody's lying," Washburn said with a laugh. "It's just natural, I think, to pay attention."

Anyone paying attention to Washburn realizes he's having an outstanding season, which was reinforced Thursday in the Mariners' 2-1 victory over the Tigers at Comerica Park.

With about eight scouts watching him, Washburn allowed just two hits and threw seven shutout innings to lower his earned-run average to 2.71. That's lower even than the 2.73 of Toronto pitcher Roy Halladay, whose availability on the trade market has caused a feeding frenzy among contending teams.

Washburn, whose four-year, $37.5 million contract expires after the season, knows that he's potential trade bait if the Mariners fall too far behind the American League West-leading Angels.

"We know the only way we can control what's going to happen is at least try to make the decisions hard for Jack," Washburn said of Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik. "Hopefully, we won't be in a position we're going to be selling the whole team off. I think we're making it hard on him."

The Mariners' second straight 2-1 win over Detroit pushed them seven games over .500 for the first time all season, and completed a 5-2 road trip.

The Mariners' record would put them in the division lead in both the National League Central and AL Central, and a game out in the NL wild card.

Unfortunately for the Mariners, they're in a division with the torrid Angels, who had won nine of 10 games as Seattle began play after a 26-minute rain delay Thursday afternoon.

"We just need the Angels to lose," said closer David Aardsma, who recorded his 24th save by navigating smoothly through the meat of Detroit's order (except for a scary long foul by Marcus Thames).

"We've had some momentum for a while now," Aardsma added. "We feel like when we win, they win, and when we lose, they win. It feels like they can't lose a game to save our lives. All we can do is keep playing, and when we get a chance to face them, take advantage of it."

The Mariners have just six games remaining with the Angels, all between Aug. 31 and Sept. 10. Of more immediate concern is a six-game homestand that begins tonight against Cleveland, with Ryan Rowland-Smith coming from Tacoma to make the start.

Manager Don Wakamatsu said Washburn "was probably as good as I've seen him" — high praise considering his one-hitter against Baltimore. The only hits off him were a pair of singles, and he induced 14 fly-ball outs while extending his streak of consecutive starts pitching at least six innings to 11.

"I felt real good," Washburn said. "Everything was working, and I didn't need it. We went in with a game plan to use a lot of off-speed against these guys, because they're an aggressive team, and we threw one changeup, one split, two sliders, and a few curveballs mixed in there.

"The fastball, the command was really good, and the action, both sinker and cutter, was working so well, we just stayed with it."

Wakamatsu, however, was particularly struck by some of the Moyer-esque slow pitches Washburn threw, primarily to Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera.

Pitching coach Rick Adair had advised Washburn that he couldn't "throw it slow enough" to Cabrera, and the pitcher obliged.

"I tried to lob the first one in there," Washburn said. "I saw it was 67. I tried to throw the next one slower. I got 66 out of it."

Mike Sweeney, making his first start since coming off the disabled list, was the main offensive force. He had a two-out, run-scoring double in the first to score Ichiro, and a single in the sixth, after a Jose Lopez double, that set up Wladimir Balentien's run-scoring force out.

That insurance run proved big when the Tigers pushed across a run in the eighth off Mark Lowe, just the third run allowed in 23-2/3 innings since the All-Star break by Seattle's bullpen.

Now all the Mariners need is for the Angels to lose a few games.

"Our goal is to catch 'em, so you pay attention, keep an eye on what they're doing," Washburn said. "We have to keep playing the way we are now and try to win the first game of a series. Then stay within striking distance when we really have a chance to control our fate, when we're playing Texas and the Angels head to head."

Larry Stone: 206-464-3146 or lstone@seattletimes.com