Looking back at one of the best homestands in Mariners history

The Mariners outscored opponents by 35 runs while going 8-1 on their recently-completed homestand. (AP)

The Mariners put the finishing touches on one of the best homestands in team history Wednesday by blanking the Blue Jays 2-0 and sweeping Toronto back to the land of maple syrup. The Mariners’ 8-1 homestand has vaulted them into a tie for the second wild-card spot and has firmly entrenched Seattle in the thick of the playoff race.

The Mariners outscored their three opponents by 35 runs on the homestand. Seattle now owns the second-best run differential in all of MLB (this is not an exclusive American League West stat despite its appearance):

1. Athletics: plus-172
2. Mariners: plus-89
3. Angels: plus-86
4. Nationals: plus-86

Hisashi Iwakuma pitched twice on this homestand and yielded one earned run in 13 2/3 innings. He walked one hitter and struck out eight. Felix Hernandez also pitched twice and yielded two earned runs in 15 innings.

Since June 29, Felix and Iwakuma have combined for a 1.60 ERA and .176 batting average against. In 124 innings they struck out 120 hitters while only walking 17. Ridiculous.

AL ERA leaders since June 29:

1. Corey Kluber, CLE: 1.33
2. Felix Hernandez, SEA: 1.35
3. Jon Lester, BOS/OAK: 1.38
4. Chris Sale, CWS: 1.69
5. Hisashi Iwakuma, SEA: 1.83
6. Jeremy Hellickson, TB: 2.03
7. Max Scherzer, DET: 2.06
8. James Shields, KC: 2.14

The Mariners’ pitching staff did not allow more than three runs in a game during the entire homestand. Of course, when the Mariners do yield three runs it means their season ERA actually goes up since it’s currently sitting at 2.95. Seattle’s ERA in August is 1.77.

The Mariners scored more than four runs in all but two games of the homestand. They currently rank fourth in runs scored in August with 59. They are also 48-10 this season when scoring four or more.

Logan Morrison hit .313 and scored seven runs on the homestand. Chris Taylor hit .375 and scored six times. Dustin Ackley drove in nine runs in the nine games.

Since the trade deadline, the Mariners rank fourth in MLB in runs (59), fourth in home runs (13), sixth in batting average (.261), fifth in on-base percentage (.329) and sixth in slugging percentage (.413).

The Mariners are now 10 games over .500.