By Jeremy Harness

Ryan Vogelsong had his best outing of the year on Thursday night, as he shut down the bats of the Seattle Mariners in a 7-0 victory at Safeco Field, a win that assured themselves an even split of the four-game home-and-home series.

Vogelsong was never in any serious trouble all night, as he went 6 2/3 innings and gave up only three hits and struck out six guys against only a pair of walks. It was especially timely for Vogelsong, since he was having a rather-futile June that saw him lose his first three outings of the month and give up more than five runs per game.

Meanwhile, the Giants’ bats had a major resurgence, and the hit parade started rather early. In the second, the Giants scored three runs, but it really started on a miscue on the Seattle side.

With one out, Joaquin Arias grounded to second on what looked like a custom-made double play ball. However, shortstop Brad Miller muffed the exchange, and the Mariners could only get the one out to keep the inning while Brandon Belt scored.

That seemed to catapult the Giants, as Nori Aoki and Joe Panik quickly followed with run-scoring hits to bolster their lead and give Vogelsong all the run support he would need.

The Giants added to their led in a four-run eighth inning that was highlighted by Matt Duffy’s two-run triple that scored Angel Pagan and Buster Posey. Duffy would later score on a single by Andrew Susac two batters later.

They will have a chance to narrow the gap between themselves and the Los Angeles Dodgers, starting Friday night, as they will head south to Dodger Stadium to face the National League West leaders.

Chris Heston (6-5, 3.76 ERA), who threw a no-hitter at the New York Mets earlier this month but took a loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks in his most recent outing will start things off in the Friday opener, as he faces Mike Bolsinger (4-1, 2.25 ERA).