SEATTLE — After seeing rookie Brandon Beachy win a series opener Monday and Tommy Hanson come off the disabled list and win Tuesday, Braves veteran Derek Lowe knew he needed a strong start Wednesday.
Particularly after the Braves provided him with a 4-0 lead in the top of the fifth inning, just the second time in 10 starts that Lowe had a lead anything close to that large. He blew it the other time, but not Wednesday.
Lowe had a hiccup in the fifth inning, but was solid for six during a 5-3 win that gave the Braves a sweep against the Mariners at Safeco Field, where they beat three good starters, including “King” Felix Hernandez on Wednesday.
“You never think you’re going to be able to score five runs off Hernandez,” said rookie first baseman Freddie Freeman, whose three hits included a two-run single in the fifth. “We put some things together and got some hits with runners in scoring position.”
Lowe (4-6) snapped a nine-start winless streak, and the Braves completed a 4-2 trip with their eighth win in 10 games, moving to a season-high 12 games over .500 (47-35). He allowed a run and three hits in the fifth inning, but only one hit and three walks in his other five innings of work.
“There were plenty of games throughout this time where I could easily have pitched better and won, let’s be honest,” said Lowe, who was 0-3 with a 5.29 ERA in his previous nine starts. “But you can definitely enjoy the off day better after finally getting a win.
“Clearly it had been a long, long time, and everybody else had been pitching fantastic. So it’s good to at least get one on the board.”
In an otherwise uplifting end to a successful series, the Braves were left to wonder if all was well with top reliever Jonny Venters, who gave up a two-run homer to Dustin Ackley with two out in the eighth inning.
It was the second rough outing in three on the trip for Venters, who gave up four earned runs in two-thirds of an inning Sunday to blow a lead in a 4-1 loss at San Diego.
He was used with a four-run lead Wednesday, and afterward manager Fredi Gonzalez said what many other observers have been saying for weeks: It’s time to give the workhorse left-hander more rest.
“Roger [McDowell, pitching coach] and I have spoken about that already today,” Gonzalez said. “It’s something that we’ve got to manage it a little bit. I hate to say anything about it because everybody reads the paper and you don’t want to give any secrets away to [the opponent in] the next series that’s coming up. But yeah, it’s something we’ve spoken about.”
The six earned runs in his past three appearances are as many as Venters allowed in 59 innings over his previous 56 appearances since early September. His season ERA nearly tripled in three games, from 0.56 to 1.59.
“My sinker’s been up in the zone,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s because I’m tired or what, but I feel fine. I’ve been missing my spots, and it’s been up in the zone, falling behind [in counts], and it’s just ... it’s just been tough.”
Baseball’s most-used reliever during the first half of the season, Venters reached the 81-game midpoint Tuesday with 45 appearances and 50 innings, highest totals in the majors. He’ll rest in at least a game or two of a three-game home series against Baltimore that starts Friday.
“My stuff hasn’t been real good on this trip,” Venters said. “I think it’s just because my sinker’s been up. If it was down, I think it’d still have the same action. I feel fine. Just not making pitches, and they’re making me pay for it. That’s all.”
Gonzalez was asked about using Venters with a 5-1 lead, and his answer revealed how much the Braves have come to lean on him when they lead.
He said if the Braves had scored another run, they would have used Scott Linebrink, who also was ready in the bullpen. “We didn’t, and it was a 5-1 game, so go ahead and run Jonny out there,” Gonzalez said.
Ackley’s homer was only the second homer in two seasons off Venters and the first extra-base hit by a left-handed batter against him this season.
Venters struck out Jack Cust to end the inning, and rookie closer Craig Kimbrel had two strikeouts in a perfect ninth inning for his 23rd save including three in the series.
Hernandez (8-7) was charged with 10 hits, five runs and three walks in 7 2/3 innings and also threw two wild pitches in the fifth. Nate McLouth drew a leadoff walk in the inning, advanced to second on a wild pitch and later scored on another wild pitch for a 2-o lead.
Three batters later, Freeman singled to center for his third consecutive hit off Hernandez. Freeman already has nine three-hit games as a rookie and has hit .316 with 22 RBIs over his past 39 games.
