CLEVELAND -- For the first time in nearly two months, Jarrod Washburn was able to right himself on the mound Saturday at Jacobs Field.

As a result, the Mariners left-handed pitcher won for the first time in seven starts, dating back to June 9.

"I've had some minor mechanical issues that were caused by my [left] knee," Washburn said after limiting the Indians to one run on five hits in 6 1/3 innings of the Mariners' 3-1 victory.

"I had some ... irritation there. Anytime I tried to stay balanced on the rubber, it would hurt. I pitched through it, not always effectively."

That was evident during a frustrating stretch during which Washburn went 0-3 with four no-decisions.

But Washburn had a cortisone shot to calm inflammation in his knee after his last start on July 23 and has been pain-free since.

"[The knee] affected his mechanics in that he was having a hard time staying back," Seattle pitching coach Rafael Chaves said. "He couldn't stay on that back leg long enough. ... So everything was flying open, and it all was affecting his command."

But Washburn was in command of his pitches against the Indians, getting six groundouts, six flyouts and five strikeouts.

"He was executing his pitches and was able to command his fastball to both sides of the plate," Chaves said. "The main thing -- he was able to stay back. ... I think every pitcher you talk to will tell you it's important to have good balance."

Finding Lowe: Chances are that Mark Lowe, based on his abilities, would have worked his way into the Mariners uniform at some point this season.

But a little advance scouting work by Chaves might have hastened the process.

When the Mariners had an off-day on June 26, before the start of an Interleague series in Arizona, Chaves flew to San Antonio specifically to watch Lowe pitch for the Double-A team.

"I went there because I wanted to see him pitch ... I asked to see him pitch when I was there," Chaves said. "I liked what I saw, and I came back and told our people that he was ready to be here."

When Chaves returned, he reported his findings to manager Mike Hargrove.

"He came back and said, 'You've got to see Lowe. He's got a great arm," Hargrove said.

On July 7, the Mariners recalled Lowe from San Antonio. All Lowe has done since then is throw 10 scoreless innings over eight games with three walks and 11 strikeouts.

"I remember back in May and early June thinking if we had one more right-handed power arm it would be nice," Hargrove said.

Wrong turn: Ben Broussard will be the first to admit that getting used to being in the visiting dugout, cheering for the Mariners and not his former teammates this weekend has been difficult at times.

In Saturday's 3-1 victory over the Indians, a game in which Broussard hit a ninth-inning home run, Broussard looked to be briefly confused on which direction to head following his home run.

"When he got to home plate, he almost turned toward the wrong dugout," Hargrove said, smiling.

That's not quite how Broussard remembered it, though he did admit to a small degree of uncertainty after crossing the plate.

"No, I just paused to kind of take it all in," Broussard said.

Oddly enough, the player Broussard was traded for -- Shin-Soo Choo -- hit a home run in his first game with the Indians.

"It was my first hit as a Mariner, against the team I've played for," Broussard said. "It was big for me and nice to hit one that kind of helped out."

Eying the deadline: With the non-waiver trade deadline looming closer, Hargrove was asked Sunday how he felt about the current state of the Mariners.

"With the additions of [Eduardo] Perez and Broussard, we have helped ourselves a lot," Hargrove said. "I like our ballclub, especially where we were at two years ago, where we lost 99 games and last year when we lost 93."

Hargrove went on to say that the Mariners, now 103 games into the season, are infinitely better now than they were in April because of the maturation of young players like Jose Lopez, Yuniesky Betancourt and Felix Hernandez.

"We're a lot better than we were at the beginning of the season," he said. "We are a lot more competitive."

Mariners log: Betancourt went into Sunday's game hitting .304. Two Mariners shortstops have hit .300 or better in a season -- Alex Rodriguez in 1996, 1998 and 2000 and Felix Fermin in 1994. ... The Indians will certainly be glad to see Ichiro Suzuki go after Sunday's game. Ichiro is hitting .357 in his career against the Indians. Only Nomar Garciaparra (.369) is hitting higher against the Indians. ... It took Broussard only two days to pull out his guitar. Broussard, who has released his own CD, entertained some of his teammates before Sunday's game.

On deck: The Mariners begin a three-game series in Baltimore on Monday at 4:05 p.m. PT. Gil Meche (9-5, 4.19) gets the start for Seattle. He'll be opposed by lefty Adam Loewen (1-2, 6.50). FSN will televise.