Another night of zeroes, and no heroes, for the Mariners

The Seattle Mariners, a team that treats the home run like a dinnertime solicitor, has added two other things to their don’t-call list — hits and runs.

They’ve both been hard to come by in what’s now a seven-game losing streak after the Angels smothered them 8-0 when Jered Weaver held them without a hit until Ken Griffey Jr.’s single with two outs in the seventh inning.

The Mariners, who finished with two hits after Michael Saunders’ double in the eighth, have been shut out the past 18 innings and gotten only six hits in that span. Felix Hernandez would have needed near-perfect stuff to win tonight, and his was the farthest from that when he allowed seven earned runs in 4 1/3 innings, including three home runs in the fourth.

Despite an Angels team that enterd the game with the American League’s worst team ERA — 5.30 — you can’t discount Weaver’s effectiveness tonight. He’d have had more than these Mariners guessing at a lot of what he threw.

But no-hit stuff?

“Murphy’s Law. We’ve got to keep battling,” Griffey said. “Eventually the balls we’re hitting right at people will fall. Everyone’s trying to do too much. I went up looking for a pitch to hit and hit it hard. I got the second one I swung at.”

And if you think this offensive breakdown (the Mariners are averaging 1.3 runs per game on this homestand) is the sole reason for the string of losses, it’s not. The Mariners have allowed eight runs in each of their past three games.

The bright side tonight was 5 2/3 innings of hitless relief by Jesus Colome, Brandon League and Kanekoa Texeira.

At some point, you’ve got to think the Mariners will run into a pitcher who absolutely can’t find the plate until he has to groove a pitch, and that they’ll run into a few and can’t help but have a breakout game.

Could be Saturday when they face Joe Saunders, who’s 1-5 with a 7.04 ERA. But he’s also left-handed, and those guys torment the Mariners.

But then again, who doesn’t these days?