Instead of using the long ball to win [url=http://www.packersauthorizedshops.com]Packers Game Jerseys[/url] , the Seattle Mariners took a different approach.

Take a walk, drop down a bunt, make a play in the field. Employing those basic skills, the Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-3 Monday night for just their second victory in eight games.

Dee Gordon’s slick seventh-inning bunt was the lone hit in a two-run uprising that put Seattle ahead for good, and the Mariners took advantage of 10 walks to get back on track after losing successive series at Yankee Stadium and in Boston.

”Most definitely, it’s the little things that win ball games and we were trying to do those things tonight,” said left fielder Denard Span, who contributed a solo homer and a run-saving catch. ”Last couple series we weren’t able to do that, but tonight we were able to manufacture a win.”

Gordon gave the Mariners an early lead with a two-run single , then provided the key hit in a seventh inning that began with score tied at 3.

Guillermo Heredia drew a leadoff walk from Miguel Castro (2-3) and advanced when Gordon pushed a bunt inside the first-base line and beat the throw by a step.

”Dee’s a really accomplished bunter, trying to move people along. That’s his game,” manager Scott Servais said.

A walk then loaded the bases, and Heredia scored on a wild pitch before Gordon scooted home on a sacrifice fly by Mitch Haniger.

”We drew a lot of walks, went deep into counts, bunts, sac flies,” Servais said. ”Been doing that most of the season. That’s the way we’re built. We don’t want to rely just on the home runs.”

Backed by several fine defensive plays – most notably by shortstop Jean Segura – Seattle starter Felix Hernandez (7-6) earned his first win in four starts, allowing three runs in six innings.

Edwin Diaz worked the ninth for his major league-leading 28th save.

Jonathan Schoop homered and had two RBIs for the Orioles.

In the ninth inning, Baltimore reliever Darren O’Day was called for a balk and subsequently ejected by home plate umpire Stu Scheurwater for arguing. Manager Buck Showalter joined the fray, and earned his 32nd career ejection .

”He’s just over-umpiring. Inventing an argument,” Showalter insisted, pointing out that both of Day’s career balks have been called by Scheurwater.

The manager did, however [url=http://www.texansauthorizedshops.com]Texans Game Jerseys[/url] , concede that the Orioles didn’t do enough to win.

”We walked 10 guys. Did have but four hits,” Showalter said. ”Kind of hard to win a game.”

Seattle jumped on top in the second inning when Orioles starter Andrew Cashner gave up three walks and Gordon’s bases-loaded single.

Schoop led off the fifth with his eighth home run, only the second long ball allowed by Hernandez in five starts this month.

Span answered with a solo shot in the sixth for a 3-1 lead, but Baltimore pulled even in the bottom half on run-scoring grounders by Trey Mancini and Schoop.

GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS

Seattle slugger Nelson Cruz was chosen AL Player of the Week after hitting .500 with 3 HRs and 8 RBIs.

”It was a good week,” Cruz said. ”Unfortunately, we only won once in seven games.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mariners: Segura was back in the starting lineup Monday after missing four games with an arm infection. … C Mike Zunino, who’s been bothered by a sore right thumb and slumping at the plate, was replaced in the starting lineup by Chris Herrmann.

Orioles: Returning from a two-month stay on the disabled list, Tim Beckham went 0 for 4. … RHP Dylan Bundy twisted his ankle running the bases but is still projected to make his next start Thursday. … RHP Chris Tillman (lower back strain) gave up two runs in 3 1/3 innings for Class A Delmarva in the second game of his rehab assignment. … Mancini played despite having ”a real bad sore throat,” according to Showalter.

UP NEXT

Mariners: James Paxton (6-2, 3.72 ERA), the starter Tuesday night in the second game of the series, has allowed 10 runs over 7 1/3 innings in his last two starts.

Orioles: Kevin Gausman (3-6, 4.38) is winless in seven starts since May 11.

—

While customers are watching the Super Bowl at Boston’s Common Ground Bar and Grill, waiters and bartenders will pause to see key moments as well. General Manager Jeff John understands his staff wants to see if the New England Patriots can win their third NFL title in four years.

”Your first focus has to be the guest,” John says. ”But we all get caught in the moment from time to time.”

Big sporting events are often a workplace distraction. But many small business owners and managers are cutting staffers a little slack as football fans find it hard to resist chatting about Sunday’s game. The Winter Olympics, the NCAA basketball tournament and other big events are coming up, and staffers may want to tune in.

Some owners realize that trying to eliminate sports talk or forbidding staffers to watch games is demoralizing and also difficult to achieve. So as long as there isn’t too much Monday morning quarterbacking or time spent in front of the office TV, bosses will go easy on fans. Some companies are even more understanding; it’s OK there for staffers to watch games in break rooms, and some owners even run office pools without cash prizes.

John has noticed that when the games are most exciting, customers want to watch, not order. So if waiters want to pause and see the play [url=http://www.coltsauthorizedshops.com]Colts Game Jerseys[/url] , he doesn’t stop them. Besides, when a waiter high-fives a customer after great play, it increases the bond between Common Ground and its diners.

A flexible attitude is a good management practice for company owners, says Philippe Weiss, an attorney with expertise in employment law at the firm Seyfarth Shaw in Chicago.

”They’re not going to be able to stop people’s excitement,” Weiss says. ”Trying to do so in an unyielding or draconian way is going to backfire.”

If the boss sees productivity slowing, or employees not tending to work that needs to be done, Weiss suggests a firm but friendly approach. For example, if there’s too much watching of NCAA games, tell staffers, ”It’s time to do a fast break back to work.”

David Niu doesn’t worry about productivity at TINYpulse, his company that makes software to measure worker satisfaction and morale at other businesses. There’s a TV that will show NCAA games in March and employees will be able to watch. But they’ll also be held accountable for getting their work done.

”Instead of fighting it, I’m going to treat you as an adult,” says Niu, whose Seattle-based company has 100 employees. He expects staffers to cluster in front of the TV during the last few minutes of some of the games – and he’ll be there with them.

Watching TV during at work was once verboten. But many employers have come to realize a more employee-friendly work atmosphere benefits everyone; when staffers feel relaxed and are allowed to share a little fun, they’re more productive and do better work.

Actualize Consulting used to have a policy about watching and discussing games that managing director Kerry Wekelo now calls rigid. The bosses would end conversations, and ”that would burst people’s bubbles when they were excited,” Wekelo says.

The financial consulting firm with offices in New York and Reston, Virginia, has since changed its policy. If employees want to take a couple of hours to watch a game, they can, as long as they make up the time. The bosses also run an NCAA pool in which the winnings can be used for wellness purchases like gym memberships or treadmills.

Owners shouldn’t run pools with pure cash prizes, which are illegal even though employees at many workplaces have them [url=http://www.jaguarsauthorizedshops.com]Jaguars Game Jerseys[/url] , Weiss says. If a boss runs a pool and staffers feel pressure to take part, it could be raised in a potential lawsuit against the company. Or workers who don’t want to take part may resent the boss.

It’s not so easy for people who work in a factory to watch games or spend time away from their work to chat. At Ratchet Straps USA, which makes straps to tie down items like tents or farm equipment, the headsets staffers use to communicate with one another in the warehouse have private channels, and owner Michael Russell is fine with them talking about the game or anything else while they work. He understands sports are important for many at his Belleville, Ohio, company, and they’ll want to gather around the TV in the last 10 minutes of NCAA games.

”Watching the last couple of minutes is something that we definitely even encourage,” Russell says.

Richard Lee is really the only big fan at his Los Angeles law firm, and is likely to be alone watching NCAA games on the conference room TV. He still runs a cashless pool for staffers. After the tournament, there’s an awards luncheon and even non-participants are eligible for a last-place medal.

”This is a fun morale booster and break from what is often the dead-serious practice of law,” Lee says.

Since it’s pointless to try to ban sports fans from watching or talking, Ross Sapir, owner of Roadway Moving based in the New York City borough of the Bronx, doesn’t even try.

”They don’t have to do it on the sly, on their cellphones or watching it in the background of their computers,” says Sapir, whose moving business has 40 staffers in its office, including many who want to watch the games on company TVs.

The big sporting event at his company is the World Cup soccer tournament, which runs from mid-June to mid-July. The games will be in Russia and many will be broadcast during working hours.

”I actually almost give them complete freedom to watch,” Sapir says. ”It’s such