Stop me if you’ve heard this before: After winning six games in a row, the Mariners are just one game below .500 and…ah–stop, you say?

The Mariners started the season by losing 11 of their first 15 games. “Barely two weeks into the year, the Mariners (have) already basically played their way out of possible contention,” wrote stellar M’s blogger Jeff Sullivan.

Not so fast! After a scolding from new manager Eric Wedge, the M’s won 12 of their next 18. On May 6, the M’s were just one game below .500. You started getting emails and texts from your friends about the team again. Lunchtime conversations with co-workers went from containing the phrase “maybe next year” to the phrase “if we could just get one more hitter…” In short, hope had returned to the 2011 Mariners season.

Then they lost six games in a row. Back to lamentation and imprecation.

But now, behind a streak of starting pitching excellence not seen in 20 years, the Mariners have ripped off another six-game winning streak. Last night’s win against Minnesota was the biggest thrill–down 7-4 in the eighth inning, the M’s clawed back to tie the game in the 9th, and win it in the 10th.

Once again, the M’s are a game below par at 23-24. Better yet, they’re just 1.5 games back of division-leading Texas in the mediocre American League West.

Young pitching phenom Michael Pineda tries to extend the M’s winning streak. The 22-year-old gentle giant has been the best of the M’s starters, with 16 strikeouts and 0 runs allowed in his past two starts. The game is at 5:10 p.m.