ST. LOUIS – Some would say the wheels have come off for the Seattle Mariners, and the team would argue there are 82 games left.
At best, those wheels are spinning.
Completing a weekend of inefficiency, the Mariners scored one run on Sunday – and four in their three games here – and lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1.
How bad are things for the Seattle offense?
Rim-shot please.
Things are so bad that in the three-game series swept by St. Louis, Seattle hitters went 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position. And the one hit they got in that situation didn’t score a run.
That hit came in the fourth inning Sunday, with Bret Boone at second base and two outs. Jolbert Cabrera singled sharply into center field and Boone was waved home.
“I knew it was hit hard, I know Jimmy (Edmonds) plays shallow and can throw,” Boone said. “But our runs are coming at a premium. If I’m in that situation 10 times, I’ve got to try to score all ten times.”
Third base coach Dave Myers waved Boone home, Edmonds came up with the ball cleanly and whistled a strike to catcher Mike Matheny at the plate – beating Boone there by a full three steps.
How bad are things going for the Mariners?
Boone tried to run over Matheny and jar the ball lose and all but missed the catcher.
“He had time to set and he kind of ducked away at the last second,” Boone said. “I tried to hit him hard and clean, and I missed him.”
Boone was out and gone was the closest thing to a lead that Joel Pineiro had Sunday.
Pineiro’s three-game winning streak since losing to Houston and Roger Clemens, 1-0, came to an ignoble end because the Mariners could do next to nothing against right-hander Jeff Suppan.
“I thought I did my job, the other guy pitched one-run better,” Pineiro said. “I made some good pitches, and they hit a couple of them where nobody was.”
In the sixth inning, with the game scoreless, Albert Pujols doubled over left fielder Cabrera’s head. Facing Scott Rolen, Pineiro tried to jam him with a sinker inside and Rolen fought it off and down the left field line, grounding it just past third base for an RBI double.
The Cardinals got Rolen to third on a ground ball, scored him on a Reggie Sanders sacrifice fly, and led 2-0.
“We didn’t have a lot of luck, and that shows up all the more when you’re not scoring runs,” manager Bob Melvin said. “The fourth inning is different if John (Olerud) doesn’t absolutely kill a line drive.”
With Boone on second and no one out, Olerud was trying to hit the ball behind the runner and move him to third base. Instead, Olerud rifled a line drive that second baseman Tony Womack caught at his shoe tops.
“If that ball just bounces, I’m at third base and I score on Jolbert’s single,” Boone said. “John just hit it too hard. We haven’t scored many runs lately, but we’ve had some tough luck, too. That’s part of it.”
In the final interleague game in a National League park for Seattle, Melvin had one weapon on the bench that he found a spot for, and even that didn’t work.
Edgar Martinez showed up Sunday with unbelievable career numbers against Suppan, 16 hits in 31 career at-bats with a pair of home runs.
“I thought about starting him,” Melvin said. “I thought I could play Randy Winn in left center field, Ichiro (Suzuki) in right-center field and just put Edgar on the right field line and say ‘Don’t move.’ But you can’t risk it. He hasn’t played the field in too long.”
Melvin found a spot in the seventh inning, with a man on first base and two outs, Martinez pinch-hit for rookie Justin Leone.
And grounded out.
Pineiro got through seven innings on a steamy St. Louis afternoon, and felt every pitch.
“This was hotter than Texas,” he said. “I don’t know how these guys play all summer in this, and I’m told this wasn’t that bad. On my double in the third inning, I got to second base and told (shortstop) Rich Renteria, ‘I should have stayed at first base and saved my energy.’”
It didn’t matter. Pineiro pitched well, got one run in support, and lost for the ninth time this season.
“You tip your cap,” Pineiro said, “but it’s no fun being out-pitched when you pitch well. It’s happened a few times this year.”
No kidding. Among his nine losses are a pair of 2-1 defeats and a 1-0 loss to Houston. If those losses are wins, Pineiro is 7-6 this morning, not 4-9.
“A lot of ifs for us this season,” Boone said. “A lot of almosts. And a lot of frustration.”
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