Mariners 4, Braves 2: Felix Hernandez struck out eight over eight strong innings and Austin Jackson capped a four-run fourth inning with an RBI single as host Seattle sent Atlanta to its seventh straight loss.

Hernandez (12-3) extended his major-league record of consecutive starts in which he allowed two or fewer runs and worked at least seven innings to 15 outings, yielding one run on four hits and a walk. Fernando Rodney gave up a run-scoring groundout in the ninth before recovering to notch his 31st save, tying Greg Holland of Kansas City for the American League lead as the Mariners moved within one game of Toronto for the AL's second wild-card spot.

Chris Johnson and Justin Upton each drove in a run for the Braves, who fell to 6-12 since the All-Star break but remained three games behind Washington in the National League East. Alex Wood (7-9) was charged with four runs (one earned) on five hits and four walks over six frames.

Atlanta tallied its first run in the second, getting a ground-rule double from Upton before Johnson lined a single into shallow left to bring him home. The one-run margin remained until the fourth as Kyle Seager was hit by a pitch and Chris Denorfia singled ahead of Logan Morrison, who tied it with a shift-beating grounder through the left side and put runners at second and third when Upton’s throw from the outfield sailed to the backstop.

Wood bounced back to strike out Mike Zunino for the second out of the inning, but Braves second baseman Tommy La Stella dropped Chris Taylor’s lazy flyball in shallow right, allowing two unearned runs to score. Three pitches later, Jackson grounded up the middle to bring home the Mariners’ final run.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Atlanta SS Andrelton Simmons injured his left ankle after stepping on third awkwardly while covering the base on Morrison’s RBI single and was replaced by Ramiro Pena. … Seattle has alternated wins and losses over the last nine contests since July 26, totaling 25 runs in the five victories and three runs in the four defeats. … Hernandez improved to 17-7 with a 2.54 ERA against the National League. The five-time All-Star’s interleague ERA is the best in major-league history for any pitcher that has thrown at least 200 innings.