M’s lose 8th in last 10 games

DETROIT – So, it wasn’t just April. And it wasn’t the starting lineup. And it wasn’t that one win they all thought they were waiting for.

The calendar turned Saturday, and May was no kinder to the Seattle Mariners than its predecessor. The Detroit Tigers took a 4-2 victory that looked awfully familiar to Mariners fans.

Ryan Franklin made a first-inning mistake that Ivan Rodriguez turned into a two-run home run, and that was the game. Seattle never got closer than two runs down, and didn’t score at all until the eighth inning.

There were differences, this time.

For one thing, it wasn’t April. For another, manager Bob Melvin fielded a starting lineup that didn’t include designated hitter Edgar Martinez, second baseman Bret Boone, shortstop Rich Aurilia or center fielder Randy Winn.

In Boone’s case, there was no choice – his back was so tight in pregame he couldn’t swing a bat or bend over.

But give Melvin credit for trying. With his regulars last month, he went 8-15, and he’s willing to try any lineup or any player to try to generate something offensively.

“Right now, we get down three, four runs it seems like more,” Melvin said. “We can’t afford to get down, but it happened again. And we rallied again, but too little, too late.”

Franklin pitched seven innings and was beaten by two pitches – both home runs, and both mistakes.

“I threw two pitches I didn’t have my head in and they beat me,” Franklin said. “I never start Rodriguez out with a fastball away. I pitch him fastballs in, sliders away.

“I threw him a first-pitch fastball away and he hit it out. Against Greg Norton (in the fifth inning), I fell behind in the count 2-0 and gave in. I never give in, but I threw him a nothing fastball down the middle and he killed it.”

Franklin wiped his forehead. “Danny (Wilson) called the pitches but I could have shaken him off -I have before,” he said. “I didn’t. They were my fault, period.”

As for the Mariners’ offense, or lack thereof, that seems to be most everyone’s fault.

Ichiro Suzuki, for instance, began the game with a single but didn’t score because the next three hitters – Quinton McCracken, Scott Spiezio and Raul Ibanez – were retired in order.

That one failure haunted the Mariners, because Detroit’s Jeremy Bonderman didn’t allow another baserunner until the sixth inning.

In the seventh, Ibanez tripled with two outs but didn’t score.

“We didn’t generate anything,” Melvin said. “We couldn’t get guys on base.”

In the eighth inning, the Mariners did. Jolbert Cabrera singled and Melvin green-lighted him. As Cabrera took off, John Olerud doubled and Cabrera scored from first base.

Two outs later, Olerud was on third base and Suzuki pushed him home with an infield single that was initially ruled a two-base error on shortstop Carlos Guillen.

With Suzuki on second base, the Tigers went to their bullpen. Danny Patterson struck out Spiezio to end that threat, and Ugueth Urbina worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his second save.

The Tigers are 13-11 and off to their best start since 1993.

The Mariners? At 8-16, they have almost completely reversed their start of last season, when they were 15-9 at this juncture and went on to win 93 games.

And Melvin is left to contemplate what lineup to put together that can score enough runs to offset what his pitching is allowing.

Without Boone in their starting lineup, Seattle is 0-2.

He’s expected back today.

Without Martinez, the team is 1-1.

Without Aurilia at shortstop, they’re 1-1.

Without Winn, they’re 0-3.

Do the numbers any which way, they’re poor. In the four starts by Gil Meche, who pitches today, the Mariners are 1-3. In Jamie Moyer’s five starts, they’re 2-3.

In fact, the Mariners are as good as a .500 team when any of their starters go to the mound.

“It’s just incredibly frustrating,” Martinez said. “We win a game, you’d think we’d build on it, but we haven’t. We won a game (Friday) in the 10th inning – a big win for us – and today we didn’t build on it.”

Seattle still hasn’t led one game start to finish this season, and in 12 of their 24 games, the Mariners have never had a lead at all.

“We will get better,” Melvin insisted.

They’ll try again today.