M’s offense abandons Garcia

SEATTLE — It’s has gotten to the point — particularly when Freddy Garcia is on the mound — that when the Mariners trail by a run it’s a mountain to climb. By two and it’s almost insurmountable. By three and it’s a lost cause.

For all intents and purposes, it was over early Friday night for the Mariners. Garcia, who gave up three runs in the first inning, got more support than usual but still not enough in a 3-2 loss to the San Diego Padres before 40,918 at Safeco Field.

In the first inning, Garcia (4-7) gave up back-to-back singles to Sean Burroughs and Mark Loretta. He then walked Brian Giles to sink into deep trouble. Phil Nevin followed by hitting a high fastball for a two-run single to left. Giles raced around to third and scored when Ryan Klesko hit into a 4-6-3 double play.

It was the only inning in which Garcia struggled, but the way his offense has supported him, those three runs seemed like 10. Garcia would yield just one more hit over his next eight innings, retiring the final 14 batters in order. But the offense could generate just eight hits and a pair of runs, on Scott Spiezio’s seventh-inning home run.

In his 15 starts, the Mariners have scored just 26 runs for Garcia while he has been in the game. That’s an average of 1.7. In eight of those starts, his teammates have scored one or no runs.

For the first six innings, the Mariners had almost nothing going on against Padres starter Brian Lawrence (9-5). They had a quasi-rally in the fourth when John Olerud and Bret Boone rapped out one-out singles. Dave Hansen then hit a two-bounce out to first baseman Phil Nevin, advancing the runners. Jolbert Cabrera, who has a .385 average with runners in scoring position and two outs, looked at an almost-unhittable inside fastball from Lawrence for a third strike.

The Mariners finally reached Lawrence in the seventh. Dave Hansen began by drawing a walk. After Cabrera flied out to center, Spiezio hit a 1-1 pitch over the right-field wall for his eighth home run and 27th and 28th runs batted in.

Padres manager Bruce Bochy then lifted Lawrence. Bochy used three relievers – Scott Linebrink, Akinori Otsuka and closer Trevor Hoffman – to dispose of the Mariners, although they didn’t go easily in the ninth.

Hansen drew a walk off Hoffman to open the ninth, and Hiram Bocachica was summoned to pinch run. Cabrera, with two strikes on him, put down a sacrifice bunt to move Bocachica to second. Spiezio followed and struck out looking at a 74-mph changeup from Hoffman.

Then pinch-hitter Edgar Martinez, with the crowd standing and cheering, bounced a ball up the middle that second baseman Loretta gloved. Loretta didn’t get much on his throw, and Martinez beat it, but Bocachica rounded third and headed for home. He stopped and fell halfway down the line. As he tried to dive back to third, catcher Humberto Quintero threw him out to end the game.

It was an important outing for Garcia as he needed to save the bullpen. Mariners manager Bob Melvin had used eight pitchers – including last night’s scheduled starter, Jamie Moyer – in Thursday’s 18-inning loss to the Rangers in Texas. It was Garcia’s first complete game this season and second for the team. He allowed four hits, walked three and struck out five.

It continued the Mariners’ starters’ effectiveness over the past 19 games. They have a 3.28 earned-run average in those games, but the team’s record is just 10-9. The primary reason is because the offense has hardly showed up. They are last in the American League in average, runs, total bases, home runs and RBIs.

Notes

The Mariners sent shortstop Ramon Santiago to Triple-A Tacoma on Friday and recalled left-hander Matt Thornton from the Rainiers. Santiago, acquired from Detroit last winter in the trade for Carlos Guillen, has been limited to 10 major league games this season. He was hitting .143 with four RBIs. Thornton was 6-4 with a 6.00 ERA at Tacoma.