Mariners not harping on recent slump

SEATTLE -- After spending July filling up box scores with one of baseball's most potent offenses, the Mariners' bats fell silent in the first two games of their series against Toronto. With runners in scoring position the Mariners were just 2-of-14 against the Blue Jays, dropping games by a combined score of 10-3.

In Wednesday's 9-7 win, they were 4-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

"It is what it is, we're going to go through our ups and downs in the season, but we try to stay as consistent as possible," outfielder Michael Saunders said before Wednesday's game. "We got kind of shut down the last couple games, but overall, we've been swinging the bats really well one through nine."

After struggling to begin the year, Saunders has been a bright spot for the Mariners' offense. The 26-year-old has hit safely in 30 of 37 games, after going 1-for-3 with a walk, an RBI and two runs, and has four home runs in his last 10 games.

Because of players like Saunders, Brad Miller, Kyle Seager and Justin Smoak, the Mariners are confident their recent struggles are just a blip, rather than a trend. And all four players had hits on Wednesday.

"For pretty much the month of July we were cashing in on every opportunity," Miller said. "We had five, six guys in the middle there, really just crushing it. So, yeah, I think last night they did a good job keeping us off balance and we weren't able to break it open there early, but we've seen what our offense can do."