Second-smallest Safeco crowd sees M's win 7th of 8

Morning rain and cold. A time change from night to early afternoon to accommodate a makeup date, and a Chicago White Sox club that doesn't quite resemble the world championship team it was two seasons ago.

All reasons the Mariners game Wednesday drew the second-smallest crowd since the Mariners moved to Safeco Field in 1999.

But the 16,555 who did show up were rewarded for any inconvenience as the surging Mariners showed off a little power and lot of pitching to beat the White Sox 3-2 for their third straight victory. Seattle moved two games above .500 since they were 5-3.

Jose Guillen and Yuniesky Betancourt hit home runs, and starting pitcher Miguel Batista came through with perhaps his best outing of the season in a close, low-scoring affair, winning a pitchers' duel with White Sox starter John Danks.

The Mariners (12-10) will be inconvenienced for a couple of days, with an early game Wednesday, a cross-country flight to Boston for a makeup game tonight at Fenway Park and on to New York to open a four-game series with the Yankees on Friday.

But there were no complaints after the win, the Mariners' seventh in their past eight games on the heels of a six-game losing streak.

"This is definitely a different team," said outfielder Raul Ibanez, who drove in the tying run in the bottom of the sixth inning with a two-out double. "It's tough outs one through nine. We can't rattle off six losses in a row. We can't allow that to happen anymore this season. But we bounced back well and we didn't cave in."

The Mariners had to come from behind. Chicago's Jermaine Dye opened the scoring when he crushed an 0-1 offering from Batista over the wall in left-center field for a solo home run.

Guillen, back in the lineup for the first time since Sunday, provided an answer. His towering solo shot on the first pitch he saw from Danks with one out in the second inning tied the score.

Guillen paused slightly to admire the blast. The ball bounced off the display board in left-center field for his third home run of the season.

Chicago regained the lead in the top of the fourth, as Paul Konerko went opposite field for a solo home run to make the score 2-1.

The game also featured some good defense. Betancourt ran deep into the hole between shortstop and third base to field a bouncer from Joe Crede and throw him out at first base. Crede returned the favor twice with a couple of diving stops and assists for outs.

In the Mariners' sixth, Jose Vidro singled with two out. Then came Ibanez with a double down the left-field line. When the ball caromed off the padded outcropping of seats in left field, it gave Vidro the time he needed to motor around third base and tie the score.

The Seattle seventh featured more two-out magic. Betancourt drove Danks' 1-0 pitch into the Seattle bullpen in left field for what would be the winning hit, his third home run of the season.

"I don't consider myself a power hitter, but if I make good contact, the ball's going to fly," Betancourt said.

The Mariners are flying high themselves these days.

"We've pitched well here for a while," Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said. "Danks went out there and threw a lot of first-pitch strikes. He was ahead in the count all day long ... our guys just kept battling with him and finally, I don't know if he got a little tired or he hit a spell there where he didn't have the command that he had had, we were able to get to him."

The hits were timely and the pitching effective once again for the Mariners, as both have been during their recent hot streak.

Batista hung tough, allowing the two home runs on just five hits in 7-1/3 innings. Danks took the loss and fell to 0-4 despite lasting 6-2/3 innings.

George Sherrill relieved Batista (3-2) and got two outs in the seventh. J.J. Putz retired the Sox in order in the ninth aided by an ending double play for his fifth save.

"I think we are kind of finding our rhythm," Putz said. "Maybe our identity."

José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com.