Sports

<< Previous   of   Next >> Associated Press  (click to enlarge) Seattle’s Bryan LaHair (center) is congratulated after scoring against Boston in the eighth inning of the Mariners’ 4-2 loss to the Red Sox on Tuesday.   ADVERTISEMENT   ADDITIONAL ITEMS • Seattle Mariners (External Link) • Schedule (External Link) • Stats (External Link)   CONTACT THE HERALD Report scores and results to 425-339-3470 or 1-866-6-SCORES (Call after 4:30 p.m.) E-mail information including items for Tuesday's Communities Sports Roundup and Thursday's Outdoor Calendar, to sports@heraldnet.com Kevin Brown, Sports Editor kbrown@heraldnet.com   Published: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 No offense once again Seattle gets just five hits in 4-2 loss to the Red Sox By Kirby Arnold Herald Writer SEATTLE -- Pick a reason -- any reason -- for the Seattle Mariners' offensive free-fall this season and you probably won't be wrong. They don't hit for power. They don't hit with runners in scoring position. They don't swing at enough good pitches. They swing at too many bad pitches. They swing at everything. In their 100th game this season, the Mariners lost for the 62nd time -- 4-2 to the Boston Red Sox -- and added another reason to the list. Daisuke Matsuzaka threw the ball down their throats. With hardly any pitch that was straight and nearly all of them around the plate, the Mariners had little choice but to swing. And they had little chance. Matsuzaka held the Mariners to five hits in 71/3 innings and raised his record to 11-1. "He's got four or five pitches and he's getting them all over. It's not going to do you any good taking strikes," Mariners manager Jim Riggleman said. J.D. Drew's solo home run in the first inning off M's starter R.A. Dickey and three runs in the fifth on Mike Lowell's RBI double and two sacrifice flies gave Matsuzaka ample run support. The Mariners, meanwhile, continued a frustrating stretch with their fourth straight loss. They were headed to a second straight shutout before Ichiro Suzuki hit an RBI double in the eighth inning to score Bryan LaHair, who'd gotten his first major league hit with a leadoff single. Suzuki's drive to center field ended an 18-inning scoreless streak going back to the eighth inning Sunday against the Indians. It also broke a stretch of nine at-bats without a hit for Suzuki and pulled him within six hits of 3,000 in his career, combining his Japanese and major league totals. Jose Lopez's RBI single scored Suzuki to make the score 4-2. Until then, the Mariners' best chance against Matsuzaka was the fourth when Raul Ibanez drew a leadoff walk and Jose Vidro followed with a single. Then Matsuzka got the next three outs with two pitches. Adrian Beltre hit a first-pitch grounder for a double play, and Jeremy Reed also hit the first pitch he saw, grounding out to end the inning. "Basically, we've just got to come out and put a little more pressure on the other ballclub," Riggleman said. "It seems like the last three or four nights we haven't done a whole lot early, then all of a sudden we make it a good game late." After the Mariners made it a two-run game in the eighth, the fun ended when the Red Sox turned to their bullpen. Reliever Hideki Okajima got Ibanez on a fielder's choice grounder and Vidro on a fly to center to end the inning. Closer Jonathan Papelbon retired the Mariners on three straight fly balls in the ninth for his 30th save. It ended the 44th game this season in which the Mariners have scored fewer than four runs. They're 5-39 in those games. The Mariners also lost a little more than the game. On the day an MRI showed that Erik Bedard's tender left shoulder is no worse than tender, they lost catcher Jeff Clement for at least the rest of Tuesday's game after a freak play in the second inning. Clement was chasing a popup behind the plate when he ran out of room at the backstop. As he grabbed the protective netting with his right hand, the baseball dropped on the other side and struck his thumb. It tore off the nail and even though Clement finished that inning -- including an at-bat in the bottom of the second when he struck out -- he was replaced by Kenji Johjima in the third. "He was able to swing the bat but he couldn't throw," Riggleman said. "The trainer thought he'd be ready Friday. I guess he won't play (today) unless he comes in here and proves to me that he can throw." As for Bedard, Riggleman wasn't sure when he'll throw again. "We need him out there and he wants to be out there," he said. "But there are some things going on there that are not allowing him to be free and easy." Read Kirby Arnold's blog on the Mariners at www.heraldnet.com READER COMMENTS Be the first to comment. You must be a registered user and verify your e-mail address to post comments to blogs or articles on HeraldNet. To register, click here. To read other terms and conditions, click here. Log out

1. Boeing Machinists to picket today after contract talks fail 2. Abandoned puppies ready for adoption 3. Lake Stevens assistant coach collapses 4. Arlington spoils Peak's debut 5. UW vs. BYU game thread 6. Snohomish too much for Kamiak 7. Man sought on felony warrant flees police in Marysville 8. Archbishop Murphy defense bottles up the Lynden Lions 9. Composting company given deadline to trace stench 10. Pickets go up at Boeing as Machinists walk out 2 - Top 10 Stories Most Talked about 3 - Top 10 Stories Most Emailed

• Monroe slams shaky Shorewood in opener • Ferry lane grows one-mile longer • Bringing the world to Edmonds • FEMA turns to media to improve public image • Annexation's frustrations • A run for Charlotte • Annexation's frustrations • Minimalist food bars have local flavor • E-W aims for fifth straight league title • Leisure Time Events - September 2008 • September 2008 • State needs to establish north county campus to meet growing technology ... • Future software programs may be based online • Visit two unusual Paine Field aviation museums for historic and futurist ... • Mothers launch Kids ‘N’ Clay pottery studio to provide children with cre ... • AWB elections Web site debuts • Construction begins on Korry Electronics’ plant