SEATTLE—Franklin Gutierrez hit a home run to help send Seattle to its season-high fifth consecutive victory, 2-0 against the Cubs.The Mariners have scored 11 runs during their winning streak, their longest since winning six in a row April 9-15, 2009. Five of those runs came in one game.Who needs offense when you have pitching like this? Seattle has allowed two runs in the past five games, tying a team record set in September 2001 — a season in which the Mariners won an AL-record 116 games.Brandon League and David Aardsma finished the six-hitter. Aardsma, a Cub in 2006, walked Geovany Soto and allowed a single to Alfonso Soriano with two outs in the ninth. But the right-hander struck out Tyler Colvin swinging at a 96 mph fastball for his 16th save in 20 chances. Ryan Dempster (5-6) yielded five hits in his 11th career complete game and first since Sept. 29 for the Cubs.His problem was that he allowed a leadoff single to Jose Lopez in the second, then left over the plate a 91 mph fastball that was supposed to be inside. Gutierrez hammered that for his sixth home run of the season, and first since May 25.The Cubs lost for the third time in four games.The Cubs immediately got League in trouble in the eighth with a walk by Starlin Castro and a single by Ryan Theriot. But the ground-ball specialist got Marlon Byrd, who had two hits off Jason Vargas, to chop into a double play. Byrd punched the air in frustration.Pinch-hitter Chad Tracy then popped out, and the shutout stayed intact.Vargas (6-2) had seven strikeouts, one short of his career high, by using a new cut fastball and a faster pace. He’s learned both recently from Lee, who is just ahead of Vargas in ERA and will try to continue Seattle’s roll on Wednesday.The fastest pitch Vargas threw was 88 mph. But his location was exquisite — Jeff Baker watched that fastball for strike three on the inside corner to end the sixth.Soriano squandered an earlier prime chance. He doubled leading off the fifth. Then he rounded third unaware that left fielder Michael Saunders had drifted into left-center field to easily catch Colvin’s line drive. Saunders, who later said Soriano must have either thought he was positioned somewhere else or that there were two outs, walked halfway to second. He could have gone all the way for the unassisted double play but flipped the ball there instead.The owner of six All-Star appearances and a $136 million contract walked off the field looking bewildered. He remained that way in the dugout while talking to teammates.

NOTES—The many Cubs fans at Safeco Field booed Mariners slugger Milton Bradley each time he came to the plate. They loved it when he struck out twice. He also walked and flied out, dropping his average to .211. The Cubs traded Bradley for Carlos Silva only one failed season into his $30 million, three-year contract with the Cubs. … This was the Cubs’ first game in Seattle since 2002, and Piniella’s first in Seattle since 2005 when he was in his final season managing Tampa Bay.