Mailloux again delivers twice

A week ago, Kevin Mailloux was grinding through a 1-for-17 slump. A Mariners farmhand in his second season, the 24-year-old hadn't homered since July 17 and his average had dropped to .240.

On Wednesday, the Ontario native continued to reverse course, posting his third two-homer effort in four games in first-place Everett's 7-1 rout of Vancouver.

Mailloux was cruising along with an 11-game hitting streak last month before briefly cooling off at the end of July. He came back with hits Aug. 4-5 before beginning the best stretch of his young career, hitting four homers in his next two games. He went 1-for-4 on Tuesday -- a single -- before going deep twice again Wednesday.

The third baseman singled and came around to score on a balk in the first inning, then smacked a one-out homer to left field in the third. He grounded out in the fifth and walked in the seventh before capping Everett's franchise-record eighth straight win with a two-run shot in the ninth, his 10th of the season.

His home run binge began last Friday with a pair of solo shots in a 12-5 win over Boise. He returned two days later, going 3-for-5 with a two-run drive and a solo shot en route to four RBIs and a 15-4 win. He singled and scored Monday to extend his modest hitting streak, which is now at six games.

He's raised his average to .275 with 35 RBIs and five steals on the season. He hit .309 with five longballs and 39 RBIs in '09.

The Tecumseh, Ontatio native is 10-for-18 in the past four games with six home runs and nine RBIs. He hit just five homers all season in 2009 in 50 games between Everett and the Arizona League Mariners.

Mailloux hit over .375 in each of his past two years at Canisius College before being selected by Seattle in the 45th round of the 2009 Draft. The St. Anne's High School (Windsor, Ontario) product had also spent time at Kellogg Community College.