SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners played their 24th one-run game this season Saturday, and while it was a 3-2 loss it continued the important growth of a team that has learned how to compete in close games.
It wasn’t that many seasons ago when an early 3-0 deficit was reason enough for the Mariners to fold for the day. This team is different, manager Eric Wedge and the players have said, and Saturday’s game became another example.
Silenced by Rays starter Jeremy Hellickson for 71/3 innings, Miguel Olivo’s two-run homer in the eighth pulled the Mariners within a run. That’s how it ended, but the Mariners didn’t walk away feeling defeated, and that’s a big factor in what the organization is hoping to develop on a team sprinkled with young players.
“It’s fun. It’s good baseball,” Wedge said. “The more familiar and comfortable you get in those games, the better you’ll be.”
Pitcher Doug Fister, who struggled early and allowed three runs in the second inning, was Saturday’s example of that never-quit approach. He followed the second inning with five scoreless innings.
“We’re battling together from the first pitch on,” Fister said. “Things don’t always roll our way, but that doesn’t get us down. It’s a big key for where we want to be. It builds confidence in one another and (establishes) the fun atmosphere we want to have.”
It wasn’t always that way. Mariners teams in previous years seemed defeated once they fell behind early.
“This year is 2011,” Olivo said. “You can’t compare a year in the past with a year in the future. We’ve got a lot of good players and we come here and win games. We have positive energy.
“We just keep battling. Somebody’s going to win and somebody’s going to lose. We lost today but tomorrow’s another day. We’ll come back.”
Ichiro’s struggle continues
Ichiro Suzuki’s 0-for-4 game left him hitless in 15 at-bats over the past three games and dropped his average to .261.
It’s his lowest average at this time of the season in his 11 big-league seasons going into June 5. It beats his previous low of .289 in 2008. Every other year in his career he batted better than .300 by June 5.
The three games without a hit is his longest stretch this season. While rare, it’s not something new to Ichiro. It’s the 10th time in his major league career he has gone hitless in three straight games — the most was five straight in the 2005 season.
Of note
Mariners right-hander David Pauley, who pitched two scoreless innings Saturday, ranks first among AL relievers with a 0.76 ERA and he leads the league with 351/3 relief innings. He hasn’t allowed a run in his past 18 innings. … Rays star Evan Longoria left Saturday’s game because of tightness in his left side and his status was listed as day-to-day. He missed 26 games early this season with a strained left oblique. … Saturday afternoon’s game was not televised because it fell within the time window of the FOX network’s national telecast. The Mariners scheduled the game for the afternoon because of the U2 concert Saturday night at nearby Qwest Field.
Kirby Arnold, Herald Writer
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