"For Ichiro and Chone Figgins, the two supremely struggling Mariners hitters, Sunday's 9-6 victory provided a glimmer of hope.

Ichiro, whose average had fallen to .261 by virtue of a 10-for-66 (.152) slump since May 19, struck out looking at a Wade Davis curve in the first inning. But in the third, with two runners on board, he lined the ball into the gap in right-center and wound up with a two-run triple.

Ichiro added a single in the eighth inning.

Is this the start of a hot streak for the two-time batting champion, whose offensive problems have become a growing issue?

"I hope so," said manager Eric Wedge. "You know he's going to come out of it. It's just a matter of when. He had that big triple there. He hit another ball hard, and four or five days ago he hit a couple of balls hard. In between, he had a couple of hard outs."

After the game, Ichiro parried questions about his hitting.

"There's nothing to talk about as far as my stroke and how I felt," he said through interpreter Antony Suzuki.

Speaking about the Mariners' surge of success — 15 victories in 20 games — and the energy it has created in the clubhouse, Ichiro said, "We're all positive about what we've done. The end result might not be there, but we're all positive and all together, playing to win.

"Sometimes you don't come out with wins, but we're always headed in the right direction. The only negative that could be brought up is by the media. Other than that, we're all heading in the right direction."

Figgins went hitless in his first three at-bats to drop his average on the homestand to .038 (1 for 26) and put him in a 3-for-56 (.057) tailspin since May 20. But Wedge was encouraged by a lineout in the seventh and a single in the eighth that at least temporarily quieted the boos that now regularly greet Figgins, whose average is at .186.

"Figgy got that knock, and he's hit a lot of balls at people," Wedge said. "You control what you can control, and that's putting up good at-bats and hitting the ball hard. You let the rest take care of itself.""