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Seattle Mariners

Mariners stumble to eighth straight loss

C.J. Wilson was the third consecutive Rangers starter to shut down Seattle, allowing one run in seven innings. (Associated Press)

SEATTLE – Since the All-Star break, even throwing a shutout was no guarantee of victory for a Seattle Mariners pitcher.

Felix Hernandez didn’t have that problem Saturday night. A shutout would have been enough.

He just didn’t have one in him.

And the Mariners had little more offense in them than the barest minimum, absorbing their eighth consecutive loss – 5-1 to the Texas Rangers at Safeco Field on a night when 30,896 fans honored a team that never had problems scoring runs.

Eighteen members of the 2001 M’s were feted in pregame ceremonies, along with manager Lou Piniella, coaches and general manager Pat Gillick. The old M’s wore their old uniform tops over their street clothes as they were introduced.

Too bad they couldn’t have been enticed into putting on the trousers and taking a few cuts. They couldn’t have done much worse.

“We haven’t been a good offensive club all year,” admitted manager Eric Wedge, who was ejected in the eighth inning by second-base umpire Fielding Culbreth for arguing a balk call. “You’re seeing the worst of it now.”

The current M’s managed just six hits and a single run – Ichiro Suzuki knocking home Franklin Gutierrez with a fifth-inning single which at the time pulled Seattle into a tie.

It was the Mariners’ first run after 30 scoreless innings.

But though they had the leadoff runner aboard in two of the next three innings, they never came close to scoring again.

In the meantime, Hernandez – with his King’s Court rooting section going full tilt in the left-field corner – didn’t do himself or his teammates any favors.

The 25-year-old All-Star right-hander (8-8) had his third pitch taken over the left-field wall by Ian Kinsler, putting the M’s in a 1-0 hole.

Given new life by Ichiro’s RBI single, Hernandez couldn’t hold the lead. Endy Chavez led off the top of the sixth inning with a single, moved to second on a ground out and scored on Elvis Andrus’ sharp single to center.

And in the eighth it all unraveled, starting with Kinsler’s one-out homer on a 3-2 pitch.

“I made a couple of mistakes and I paid,” said Hernandez – though he was counting only one home run. “The first one was a good pitch, inside, but the second one was right in the middle of the plate.”

Andrus followed with a single and took second on a balk that Wedge disputed vigorously – or at least disputed not being able to dispute it.

A wild pitch then moved Andrus to third.

When Hernandez got Josh Hamilton to hit him a ground ball, he looked Andrus back – but only part way – and the Rangers speedster broke for home when the throw went to first, beating Justin Smoak’s relay easily.

“Andrus is a smart guy – and fast,” Hernandez said. “He got me right there.”

That was more than enough cushion for Texas starter C.J. Wilson (10-3) and two relievers, including closer Neftali Feliz, against whom the M’s are 0 for 30 in his career.

“I’ve said it before – we’re going to come out of this,” Wedge said. “We’re going to get to the point where we can count on our guys offensively to do their part. It sure as hell doesn’t look like it right now. … We’ve got a lot of young kids learning on the job and some veterans who need to be doing a better job. The biggest thing is, we’ve got to be tougher.”

Texas AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Kinsler dh 5 2 2 2 0 2 .255
Andrus ss 4 1 3 1 0 0 .289
J.Hamilton lf 4 0 1 1 0 1 .295
A.Beltre 3b 4 1 1 0 0 1 .268
Mi.Young 2b 4 0 1 1 0 0 .323
N.Cruz rf 3 0 1 0 1 1 .245
Moreland 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .267
Torrealba c 4 0 0 0 0 1 .256
En.Chavez cf 4 1 3 0 0 0 .342
Totals 36 5 12 5 1 7
Seattle AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
I.Suzuki rf 4 0 1 1 0 0 .264
Ryan ss 3 0 1 0 1 1 .249
Ackley 2b 4 0 1 0 0 2 .288
Olivo c 4 0 0 0 0 3 .220
Smoak 1b 3 0 0 0 1 1 .227
A.Kennedy dh 4 0 1 0 0 0 .259
F.Gutierrez cf 4 1 1 0 0 1 .189
Seager 3b 3 0 1 0 1 1 .111
Halman lf 3 0 0 0 0 2 .277
Totals 32 1 6 1 3 11
Texas 100 001 030—5 12 1
Seattle 000 010 000—1 6 0

E—C.Wilson (1). LOB—Texas 5, Seattle 7. 2B—Mi.Young (27), Ackley (4). HR—Kinsler 2 (15). RBIs—Kinsler 2 (36), Andrus (34), J.Hamilton (52), Mi.Young (62), I.Suzuki (24). SB—Andrus (27), J.Hamilton (5), F.Gutierrez (5). CS—En.Chavez (1). RLSP—Texas 4, Seattle 3. RMU—Kinsler, J.Hamilton, A.Beltre. GIDP—Moreland 2, A.Kennedy. DP—Texas 1, Seattle 2.

Texas IP H R ER BB SO ERA
C.Wilson W, 10-3 7 5 1 1 3 7 3.11
M.Lowe 1 1 0 0 0 3 4.23
Feliz 1 0 0 0 0 1 3.06
Seattle IP H R ER BB SO ERA
F.Hernandez L, 8-8 72/3 9 4 4 1 6 3.26
J.Wright 1/3 2 1 1 0 0 3.44
League 1 1 0 0 0 1 3.35

WP—F.Hernandez. PB—Torrealba. Balk—F.Hernandez. T—2:55. A—30,896 (47,878).

SUNMONTUEWEDTHUFRISAT
July
17

TEX

1:101819

TOR

4:0720

TOR

4:0721

TOR

9:3722

BOS

4:1023

BOS

4:1024

BOS

10:3525

NYY

4:0526

NYY

4:0527

NYY

10:052829

TB

7:1030

TB*

1:10AugustJuly 31

TB

1:101

OAK

7:102

OAK

7:103

OAK

7:1045

LAA

7:056

LAA

6:057

LAA

12:358

TEX

5:059

TEX

5:0510

TEX

5:051112

BOS

7:1013

BOS

7:10