SEATTLE — Having survived Trade Day 2008, the Seattle Mariners’ most-discussed trade chip couldn’t get through the day after.
Jarrod Washburn, whose month of solid outings thrust him firmly into trade discussions before Thursday’s deadline, slipped back to his early-season ways Friday night in a 10-5 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at Safeco Field.
The left-hander gave up nine hits and six runs in 42/3 innings, including five hits and a walk in the fifth, when the Orioles scored eight runs.
It made the Mariners’ only rally — a five-run burst in the ninth inning on seven of their 15 hits — interesting but insignificant.
And it left Washburn with a 7-6 record and a 4.78 earned run average after his shortest outing since he lasted 21/3 innings against the Tigers on May 21.
“As good as ‘Wash’ has been for us for quite some time, he wasn’t sharp tonight,” said manager Jim Riggleman, who later was asked if Washburn might have suffered from a post-trade deadline letdown. “That could be part of it, but they swung the bats good. They were centering the ball on the barrel of the bat pretty good.”
The other left-hander, 24-year-old Orioles starter Garrett Olson, coughed up 11 hits but shut out the Mariners through eight innings before they scored.
That happened in the ninth when Olson gave up three singles to load the bases with one out.
Right-hander Lance Cormier relieved Olson and the Mariners, while hardly battering him, did finally discover the route to the plate. Three of their seven hits were infield singles and all of the others found holes.
Kenji Johjima, Jeremy Reed, Willie Bloomquist and Bryan LaHair each had an RBI single, and Ichiro Suzuki pushed home a run with a ground out.
Adrian Beltre made the sharpest contact of the inning, a line-drive to left field with two runners on base that the Orioles’ Jay Payton caught for the final out of the game.
It continued the Orioles’ domination of the Mariners, who they’ve beaten in six of seven game this season.
Washburn was hardly the same pitcher who pitched at least six innings in five of his previous starts.
He worked with baserunners in every inning he pitched but, early, was burned only in the first when Nick Markakis’ double scored former Mariner Adam Jones from first base for a 1-0 Orioles lead.
Washburn escaped a two-out, bases-loaded situation in the second inning, picked Markakis off first base after a leadoff single in the third, and pitched around a one-out walk to Kevin Millar in the fourth.
He couldn’t get away with it in the fifth, although it looked like he might.
Brian Roberts led off with a single but Jones grounded into a double play.
However, Markakis and Aubrey Huff followed with singles, and Melvin Mora hit an RBI single for a 2-0 lead. Ramon Hernandez followed that with an RBI double to score another run and Washburn walked Millar to load the bases.
Riggleman brought in right-hander Roy Corcoran, and he was no better.
Jay Payton doubled to score three more runs, Juan Castro hit an RBI single, Roberts singled and Jones drove in two runs with a double, making the score 9-0.
“I felt like Corcoran was the right guy to put in there against a right-handed hitter and it just didn’t work out,” Riggleman said.
The rally didn’t end until Mariners center fielder Jeremy Reed made a diving catch of Markakis’ fly to the left-center gap for the third out.
“‘Wash’ was keeping us in there without his best stuff,” Riggleman said. “That fifth inning was crucial if we keep it to three runs. Next thing you know, they add five more.”
The Orioles scored another off Corcoran in the eighth before the Mariners gave the remnants of the 28,114 something to cheer with their five-run ninth.
By then, that rally didn’t mean anything.
Read Kirby Arnold’s blog on the Mariners at www.heraldnet.com
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