Opponent: Baltimore Orioles

When: 4:05 p.m. today; 1:35 p.m. Saturday and 10:35 a.m. Sunday

Where: Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, Md.

TV: KSTW (Ch. 11), today; FSN (cable), Saturday and Sunday.

Probable starters: Today – Seattle right-hander Gil Meche (1-1, 5.06 earned run average) vs. right-hander Daniel Cabrera (1-2, 6.87); Saturday – Seattle right-hander Felix Hernandez (0-3, 4.57) vs.left-hander Bruce Chen (0-3, 7.84); Sunday – Seattle left-hander Jamie Moyer (0-2, 3.45) vs. RHP Rodrigo Lopez (1-1, 7.20)

No time to change

When the Mariners’ offense struggled during the last homestand, hitting coach Jeff Pentland saw a noticeable change in the team’s approach at the plate.

M’s hitters were letting opposing pitchers get ahead of them with strike one, then tended to swing at anything near the plate – and sometimes well off it – before getting any deeper into the count.

It’s natural a hitter to fall into such a pattern, especially a young hitter, Pentland said.

“It can happen with everybody,” he said. “The veteran guys will get back out of it quicker because of their experience, and they are pretty good about staying within themselves most of the time.”

His message to all the hitters – but especially youngsters like Yuniesky Betancourt, Jose Lopez and Jeremy Reed – was to lay off the bad pitches and give tough at-bats no matter the count.

“We just can’t make it easier for pitchers,” Pentland said. “We’ve got to make them throw strikes and if they get us out, they get us out. We’ve got to stay competitive in two-strike situations. We’ve got to control the outside part of the plate, and I’ve seen us give that up.”

Close, but no cigar: Of the M’s 23 games this season, 17 have been decided by three runs or fewer. Seattle is 6-11 in those games, including 1-6 in one-run games.

Manager Mike Hargrove said it’s all about how you look at that stat. People who are encouraged see a team that is playing close games against what has been a difficult schedule. People who are discouraged say a loss is a loss.

“You can look at the glass being half full or half empty,” Hargrove said. “Ninety nine percent of the games we’ve played this year, we’ve been in. We could have won a lot of those ball games, but we didn’t. That makes you feel good about what you’re doing.”

Seattle has played one of the tougher schedules of any team to open the season. The Mariners have played all three division leaders and two of the three teams in second place. The combined record of the seven teams Seattle has faced is 83-65. For that reason, Hargrove says he feels good about where his team stands.

Kirby Arnold and Mike Allende Herald Writers