Game report: Another ugly one is done as M’s lose 9-2

The only thing gorgeous about today, if you’re a Mariner, was the blue sky on a 77-degree afternoon at Peoria Stadium.

Down on the field, the Mariners played another of those games they’d like to forget — a 9-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies that would be disheartening if not for…

  • The fact that the Mariners lineup was comprised entirely of players who won’t make the starting lineup and mostly of guys who probably won’t make the opening-day roster. The Mariners managed six hits and scored only in the fourth inning (Mike Sweeney tripled and scored on a wild pitch) and ninth (on Matt Tuiasosopo’s RBI single).
  • Some ugly pitching lines that tend to happen at spring training. Starter Ryan Rowland-Smith gave up five hits and two earned runs but reached 66 pitches in only 2 2/3 innings before manager Don Wakamatsu pulled him. Mark Lowe gave up two hits, two walks and two runs in 2/3 inning. And David Pauley, after holding the Rockies scoreless in the seventh and eighth innings, allowed four runs in the ninth.
  • The Mariners have lost five straight and have been outscored 17-3 in their past two games.

    If they’re still playing this way next week, then we may have a problem. That’s beause manager Don Wakamatsu plans to play his regulars on a, well, more regular basis beginning Sunday.

    “We’re still at that point where we’re playing a lot of minor leaguers,” he said. “You’re always looking for positives. Starting Sunday, I think you’ll see a consistent lineup and I think you’ll get a real feel for what kind of personality and what kind of ability you have.

    “That’s what’s tough right now. We’re going every other day and guys aren’t getting consistent work that way. But you’ve kind of got to do that to get them in shape.”

    Looking for positives today?

    Reliever Sean White continued to look strong after dealing with shoulder tendinitis late last season. He pitched a perfect sixth inning to keep his ERA at 0.00.

    And Pauley, still in the running for a long relief spot, pitched two good innings before he faded in the ninth. Wakamatsu said the team is trying to build his stamina and he got tired in the ninth.

    And, for those hoping to see Sweeney continue his hot streak and force his way onto the roster, he went 1-for-3 in one of those is-this-the-end-well-maybe-it’s-not days.

    Sweeney looked helpless swinging through a curve by Rockies starter Jason Hamel to strike out in the first inning. He launched an opposite-field fly that carried over right fielder Carlos Gonzalez’s head (one of those dry-air Arizona flies that never seem to come down?) and reached third with a triple. And he struck out, swinging through a fastball from Matt Daley in the sixth. Sweeney is batting .684.

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