I'll be honest, when I saw the Seattle Mariners play the New York Yankees for three games in New York last week, Brendan Donovan didn't look particularly good at the plate. Of course, it's a small sample, but Donovan went 1-for-11, hitting primarily at the bottom of the order. He hit into a crucial double play at one point as well, foiling a Mariners scoring rally that would have gone a long way toward picking up another victory.

Fast forward to the next three games in Houston, also a small sample size, but Donovan looked much better. He was 4-for-14 as the Mariners won the series, striking out only one time and delivering four RBIs. He was a critical factor in the M's 10-5 win on Saturday, driving home three, and he did it from the leadoff position. 

While simply having success over a weekend doesn't guarantee the Mariners anything moving forward, it did give them an idea of what the offense can look like when it functions as it was designed to. And it gives them hope that it can look like this the rest of the way.

Donovan, an All-Star previously in St. Louis, was supposed to come in and lengthen the lineup, and he was supposed to make the team a little less home run dependent. But he's only played in 35 games because of two stints on the injured list.

We talked more about this on the most recent 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast:

"But Brendan Donovan leading off, you see him driving pitch counts, putting the ball in play, making the defense work, making the pitcher uncomfortable, and getting base hits.

So now that he's in the leadoff spot and doing well, you know who's not in the leadoff spot? Randy Arozarena, Cole Young. What are they able to do? They're able to be dropped down, and now each spot in the order has a chance to be more productive because, again, the talent is more spread out, the ability is more spread out, and up and down the lineup there are more chances.

Right? We're talking about this lineup when it's going right, and you're talking about Donovan and Arozarena and Julio (Rodriguez). And by the way, Josh Naylor's hitting .326 since the All-Star break. So Naylor's in there, and Young is in there. That's five right off the bat.

Okay, that is five guys right off the bat that we're feeling pretty good about. Then you throw in Cal (Raleigh). Then you throw in (Brock) Rodden, who had nice series, a nice series. You throw in Victor Robles, and you're just starting to see the lineup do what it was designed to do.

And that is impressive to see, right? That is impressive to see because this lineup has the ability to go six or seven deep, and I think Brendan Donovan being here is a huge part of it.

Now, if he can keep it going over the final six weeks of the season, then you're talking about a lineup that has has a chance to combat some of the excellent pitching the managers are going to see over specifically the next 15 games."

It certainly won't be easy, as the Mariners have to face the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs, two of the best teams in baseball, before facing the Philadelphia Phillies. Then, the M's travel to Toronto and Boston, meaning that four of the next five series are against teams in current playoff position, and Toronto is on the fringe as well.

If the Mariners are going to come back and make noise over the final six weeks, Donovan's resurgence will be a huge part of it. 

Seattle is 59-66 and 4.0 games back in the American League West. They are just 2.0 games back in the battle for the third and final wild card spot, though things are much more crowded there.

The most recent edition of the 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast is out, featuring conversations about Jerry Dipoto, Colt Emerson, Dan Wilson, Bryan Woo and Brendan Donovan. You can listen here, or you can watch in the YouTube player below: