James Paxton added another gem to incredible run. What's secret to recent dominance?

The upper deck above left field is one of the farthest viewpoints from home plate, but it’s turning into one of the hottest tickets at Safeco Field.

That’s the Maple Grove, created as a cheering section for James Paxton, who obliged his fan section with a complete game performance on Saturday, allowing three hits and two runs.

At this pace, the grove is bound to turn into a forest of “Eh” cards.

“I heard them a number of times,” Paxton said of the “Eh” chants whenever he gets two strikes on a batter. “Those guys are great. It’s growing out there. They are getting louder.”

So what’s gotten into Paxton?

He’s dropped his earned-run average from 11.57 after allowing six runs in 4 2/3 innings his first start of the season against the Cleveland Indians, to 5.61 after allowing five runs in four innings against the Texas Rangers four starts after that to now a season-low 3.30.

Paxton struck out a career-high 16 batters, four starts ago, then the no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays, then a human six innings, three runs allowed in a loss to the Tigers last week before Saturday’s complete game.

“It just shows you what he’s becoming as a pitcher,” Mariners catcher Mike Zunino said. “He’s developed over the past couple of years and he’s that guy you want to have that ball every fifth day taking you deep into games. Whether he has his best stuff or not he’s going to pitch you deep into the game.”

He didn’t have his best stuff on Saturday.

Paxton had little feel for his cutter, which Servais calls a slider. And he knew he needed to keep the Tigers off his fastball after what they did to him his previous start.

Enter the knuckle-curveball.

He threw a season-high 41 of those pitches after he hadn’t used it more than 28 times in his nine prior starts. It was evident he was feeling it from the get-go when he used three of them against former Mariner and Tigers leadoff hitter Leonys Martin for a quick strikeout.

And that’s another thing – he threw strikes. A lot of them.

Only in his 16-strikeout game against the Athletics on May 2 did Paxton throw a higher percentage of his pitches for strikes. Paxton threw 71 percent of his pitches for strikes on Saturday after reaching 76 percent against the A’s.

“For him it’s just finding his rhythm,” Zunino said. “He’s got great stuff, so he doesn’t need to trick anybody. When he goes out there he just needs to attack guys. That’s the biggest thing is working ahead. That’s something he’s really been focusing on.”

Just to take another angle at that, Paxton averaged a 63-percent strike rate his first five starts (5.61 ERA). He’s averaged a 70-percent strike rate his past five starts (1.70 ERA).

Combine that early strike-throwing, especially with his breaking ball, with a fastball that increases in velocity as the game goes on, you can see why he retired 14 consecutive batters to end Saturday’s game.

“We had a hard time with the breaking ball,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said. “That’s a tough breaking ball when you’re throwing (a fastball) 96 mph like he was. He was attacking. He got a good lead and a good pitcher like him knows exactly what to do with it.”

And the week leading up to this start was a bit quieter than the last against the Tigers, his first since throwing the no-hitter.

Paxton said he looked forward to getting back to business. No more dealing with most, though not all, of the hoopla, pomp and circumstance that came with etching his name into baseball history with a no-hitter on his native soil in Canada. Though, this was his first start in Seattle since his historic night and he was honored before Friday’s game to a Safeco ovation.

“We got back to business in the bullpen and stuff and focusing on what I need to do to get ready for the game,” Paxton said. “I was able to get my mind right on pitching this game.”

That was Paxton’s second career complete game and it came two starts after his first. He and the Cleveland Indians’ Carlos Carrasco are the only pitches in the major leagues with at least two complete games so far this season.

“It’s a testament – this guy works his tail off,” Servais said. “I don’t think people give enough credit to what elite starting pitchers do between starts. This guy is as hard of a worker as we have in our clubhouse.

Servais said walked into the Mariners’ exercise room the day following Paxton’s no-hitter and there was his big left-hander, going through is workout program like it was any other day, only with a bigger smile on his face than normal.

But Servais then mentioned how this is just a carry-over from the offseason. Paxton spent it getting blood work, learning cow milk isn’t good for his body, and undergoing muscle activation techniques and accompanying workouts in Bellevue just to prepare himself for this season.

“It’s been fun watching it kind of evolve here over the past 4-5 outings and taking a next step – establishing himself as one of the best pitchers in the league,” Servais said. “There’s no question about it.”

No Nelson

Nelson Cruz took Sunday’s game off after being hit by a pitch for the seventh time this season on Saturday.

Servais said Cruz felt discomfort in his elbow, where he was hit by a fastball from Tigers starter Mike Fiers. That was after he missed two games after being hit in the foot by a pitch on Tuesday.

And Robinson Cano’s finger fractured when he was hit by Tigers starter and Edmonds-Woodway High School graduate Blaine Hardy last week.

“It just keeps compounding one of top of the other,” Servais said.

Servais said he thought about still playing Cruz, but this allows him to get Sunday and Monday’s off day to recover before the Mariners head to Oakland for a three-game series.

Cruz leads the American League in times hit by a pitch this season and is third in the major leagues behind the Cubs’ Kris Bryant (nine) and Anthony Rizzo (eight).

On tap

The Mariners have Monday off.

They’ll head to Oakland to prepare for a three-game series against the Athletics starting Tuesday, when right-hander Mike Leake (4-3, 6.00 ERA) starts against A’s right-hander Trevor Cahill (1-2, 2.79 ERA) in a 7:05 p.m. game.

This story was originally published May 20, 2018 at 2:22 PM with the headline "James Paxton added another gem to incredible run. What's secret to recent dominance?."