Mariners offense rolling in July

HOUSTON -- The Mariners ranked 13th in the American League in batting average and tied for 11th in runs out of 15 teams in the first half, but the club has taken a big step up in the first two weeks of July.

In the 13 games this month prior to the All-Star break, the club led the Majors in scoring (5.85 runs per game), home runs (22), slugging percentage (.499) and OPS (.853), as well as second in batting average (.289) and extra-base hits (51).

As the second half began Friday in Houston, the Mariners were hitting .244 as a team with a .309 on-base percentage and .401 slugging percentage through 95 games. The club finished last season at .234/.296/.369.

The Mariners were already at 115 home runs heading into Friday, tied for second in the Majors behind only the Orioles' 132. Seattle totaled 149 home runs in 2012 and had 83 after the first 95 games.

"I like the feel and energy of the ballclub, both young and old," manager Eric Wedge said. "We've been playing some good baseball teams and playing some pretty good baseball. Even the losses we had were hard fought. So we just need to keep going with that now and hopefully be more consistent with that in the second half."