Cishek’s offseason mechanical tweaks pay off

SEATTLE — One of the reasons the Mariners have a winning record this year is that their bullpen has righted itself. One of the key members of that crew, closer Steve Cishek, has righted himself, too.

Entering Tuesday night, Cishek was 5-for-5 in save opportunities, was pitching to a 0.90 ERA and had nine strikeouts in 10 innings. He’s been exactly the pitcher the Mariners thought they were getting when they signed him to a two-year deal worth $10 million plus possible incentives.

This did not seem like a guarantee after an iffy 2015 campaign that saw the sidewinding right-hander lose his closing gig with the Marlins and get traded to the Cardinals in late July.

Cishek, who had compiled 73 saves as Miami’s ninth-inning man over the course of 2013 and ’14, never got it going for the Marlins, posting a 4.50 ERA in 32 games. He had a 2.31 ERA in 27 games as a Cardinal, but he was not the closer there, either, so he was non-tendered over the winter, allowing the Mariners to swoop …

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