M’s lose again

SEATTLE — As the wasted opportunities and defeats pile up, the Seattle Mariners showed signs of losing something else Saturday night at Safeco Field.

Their composure.

During a 5-1 loss to the Texas Rangers that became the Mariners’ season-high eighth straight defeat, there also was an emotional snap in the dugout, an ejection on the field and a momentary lull in concentration that cost a run.

Catcher Miguel Olivo took his bat to the dugout bench after a sixth-inning strikeout with a runner at second base.

Manager Eric Wedge was ejected after pitcher Felix Hernandez was called for a balk in the eighth inning.

And Hernandez himself seemed to lose his edge when, on a bouncer back to the mound, he lobbed his throw to first base and allowed Elvis Andrus to score from third base.

“There’s a lot to be said for what’s not happening,” Wedge said. “We’re fighting behind the scenes to try to get these guys heading in the right direction. I’ve got some strong thoughts in regard to what I think is going on here. We’re not ever going to give in to the fight. We’re going to come out of this.”

The Mariners are10½ games behind the first-place Rangers in the American League West. After they beat Oakland on July 5, they were only 2 ½ games behind Texas.

Then they began a slide from contention that has been swift, but not without misery.

When Rangers starter C.J. Wilson held them to an infield hit through four scoreless innings, the Mariners set a record with 30 straight innings without a run.

“We’re going to get to the point where we can count on our guys offensively to do their part,” Wedge said. “It sure as hell doesn’t look like it right now, but we’re going to get there. We’ve got some young kids who are learning on the job and we’ve got some veterans who need to be doing a better job.”

Ichiro Suzuki broke the 30-inning scoreless streak in the fifth with an RBI single that pushed home Franklin Gutierrez, who’d led off with a single.

That tied the score 1-1 and, with Hernandez pitching, it was a glimmer _ slight as it was _ that the Mariners’ fortunes might change.

Other than that run, however, nothing changed except the outward frustration the Mariners began to show along with their own futility.

In the bottom of the sixth with the Rangers leading 2-1, Dustin Ackley led off with a double before C.J. Wilson struck out Olivo with a breaking pitch that nicked the outside corner _ according to plate umpire Gary Cederstrom.

Angry, Olivo retreated to the dugout and made his best contact of the night. He took several hacks with his bat at the dugout bench and wall. The sound of his snap could be heard in the upper reaches of the stadium.

The Mariners blew that scoring opportunity when Adam Kennedy grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Two innings later, everything caved on the Mariners, including their own composure.

Ian Kinsler hit a full-count pitch from Hernandez for a home run _ his second of the night after he’d led off the game with a homer _ to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead before Elvis Andrus singled for his third hit of the game.

Hernandez was called for a balk as he made a pickoff throw to first. Wedge stepped from the dugout, appearing at first to question only what the call was by second-base umpire Fieldin Culbreth. After a brief discussion, Culbreth meekly gestured that Wedge was being ejected, and the Mariners’ skipper gave him a forceful battery of words. Before Wedge had left the field, he also gave the plate umpire, Cederstrom, a lecture.

“I was looking for an explanation,” Wedge said. “He said I couldn’t even come out. There was another crew we worked with before who said I could come out as long as I didn’t argue. I was told tonight as soon as I came out, they were going to toss me. They need to get on the same page.”

The Rangers got two more hits and a run off reliever Jamie Wright, while the Mariners responded only with Brendan Ryan’s leadoff single in the eighth off Rangers reliever _ and former Mariner _ Mark Lowe.

Lowe struck out the next three, and Rangers closer Neftali Felix cruised through the ninth to end another brutal night for the Mariners’ offense.

“I don’t think we’ve been a very good offensive club all year, and you’re seeing the worst of it right now,” Wedge said. “Fortunately for us, we’ve got a lot of baseball to play. We’re going to find out what we’re made of here.”

Read Kirby Arnold’s blog on the Mariners at www.heraldnet.com/marinersblog and follow his Twitter updates at @kirbyarnold.