MIAMI -- As the Mariners' clubhouse opened after their game against the Florida Marlins on Thursday night, music was playing in the background, signaling another Seattle victory.

Randy Winn, who celebrated his 31st birthday earlier in the evening by getting his first home run of the season in the Mariners' 8-0 rout of the Florida Marlins, stood quietly near his locker as he savored winning a fourth straight series.

Not long ago, the Mariners were 18-28. With Thursday night's victory before 16,069 at Dolphins Stadium, they edged up to 26-32. They have won series by a 2-1 margin over Tampa Bay twice, Toronto and now Florida.

"We believed we could turn this thing around and start winning some ballgames," Winn said. "We never got down. It just looked like it was going to take some time. But we've been playing better baseball and the wins are falling for us."

Right-hander Aaron Sele provided much of the impetus for victory on this night. He throttled the Marlins for seven innings. Nobody reached second base off him, as he raised his record to 5-5. He allowed five hits and walked one in a masterful performance.

"I kept the ball down, let them put it on the ground and let the defense do the rest," Sele said. "That was really the key to everything."

The Mariners turned four double plays. As manager Mike Hargrove said, "That kept the Marlins from getting in a situation where they could have a big inning."

Sele's two-seam fastball, also known as a cut fastball, which moves into right-handed hitters and away from lefties, became his main "out" pitch.

"When he keeps the ball down, he's effective," said catcher Pat Borders. "His cutter is a pitch we usually try to work in here and there, but tonight it was his No. 1 pitch. It set everything up."

Sele, who's now won three of his last four starts, left after seven innings and just 77 pitches because of the humidity and because he his legs had grown weary from scoring from second base in the top of the seventh.

"To go from 58 degrees and raining [in Seattle] to 98-percent humidity here is a big change for anybody," Sele said. "I sweated through four T-shirts. It just sucks the energy out of you."

Besides, by the time Sele left, the Mariners had assured themselves of victory by sending 10 batters to the plate in a six-run seventh inning.

Ichiro Suzuki and Winn each drove in a run with singles. Then, after Adrian Beltre walked, Richie Sexson's double scored two more. Raul Ibanez put a nice bow tie on the inning with a single that drove in the final two runs.

The margin of victory was the biggest for the Mariners since April 24, when they defeated Cleveland, 9-1. Earlier that month they beat Kansas City, 10-2.

Oddly, the first four Mariners batters in this game struck out and their final four batters struck out as well. In-between, they punctured Marlins pitching for 11 hits.

Josh Beckett, who entered with a 2.58 earned run average, appeared as if he was headed for a distinctive game when he struck out those first four hitters. Yet he found himself down 1-0 when center fielder Juan Pierre booted Sexson's hard single, allowing Beltre to score an unearned run in the fourth inning.

Then there was Winn opening the sixth inning with a home run estimated to go 375 feet to right field. Winn had produced 39 home runs over the last three seasons, but said he wasn't pressing because he hadn't hit one this season.

"I'm not a home run hitter," he said. "It's not a huge part of my game, so I really don't worry about it -- though the last few years I've been pretty consistent with the number I've hit.

"I worry about my swing and trying to get my mechanics right from both sides of the plate," he added. "Once I do that, then I'm able to start driving the ball. But I don't know if they'll be doubles or home runs."

Winn said the Mariners -- seeing Beckett for the first time -- took quite a few pitches from him early in the game, hoping that would help them solve him later in the game. And that's exactly what happened.

Closing in on 1,000 hits Mariners at Marlins, June 9

With 692 Major League games under his belt, Ichiro Suzuki, batting .304, needs just three more hits to reach 1,000. According to research by Elias Sports Bureau, Chuck Klein is the only player (at least since 1933) to reach the 1,000-hit plateau before playing in his 700th Major League game. Klein, a Hall of Famer, recorded his 1,000th hit in his 683rd game.

Ichiro's run-producing single in the seventh gave him 997 in his Major League career.

The game was another learning experience for rookie shortstop Mike Morse. He hit the ball crisply in going 2-for-4, but afterward drew the ire of Hargrove for a running gaffe in the third inning. He opened the inning with a single, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.

"He keeps learning," Hargrove said. "That curve has to start turning upward. But he's getting good swings up there. He's getting the good counts and then putting the ball in play. He's not trying to do too much with the ball, and that's good to see. A lot of kids will come in here and try to swing out of their shoes trying to impress everybody right off."

The Mariners now head to Washington for a three-game series against the Nationals.

"You'd like to be able to sweep a team, but two out of three shows we're playing better baseball," second baseman Bret Boone said. "You do that, and you'll be there at the end. It's still relatively early, with about two-thirds of the season left. It's nice to see us start to come around."