Slip, slidin’ away: M’s skid reaches four games

OAKLAND – If ever a team needed a major league mulligan, it’s the Seattle Mariners.

After blowing through spring exhibition games, the Mariners are now 0-4 in the games that count – and yes, could they use a complete do-over.

A gritty little comeback fell by the wayside as Seattle made too many mistakes – and one huge error – in falling to the Oakland Athletics, 8-6.

Starting pitching cost them two games against Anaheim. A ninth-inning meltdown cost them another. This time, the failure was as basic as it gets.

Charging a slicing line drive in the seventh inning, center fielder Randy Winn overran the ball, barely getting his glove on it as it sailed on to the wall for a two-base error that scored one run, set up another and altered the inning and the game.

There were other reasons Seattle lost, the usual assortment of pitching mistakes and poor at-bats. The moment this one turned, however, was on a catchable fly ball that wasn’t caught.

“Randy said it was slicing away from him and then took off the other way,” manager Bob Melvin said.

“It was flukey,” Bret Boone added. “I didn’t know if he could get to it, then it’s behind him.”

Whatever the reason, Eric Chavez’s one-out bolt toward left-center field evaded leather, and as the ball rolled on through the grass, Seattle’s first week of a new season grew just a bit longer.

“We’ve been sloppy in the field, we haven’t pitched that well,” Boone said. “That makes it tough.”

Down 4-1 after five innings, the Mariners had thrown their share of defense at Oakland – marvelous plays by Willie Bloomquist at third base and Bret Boone at second. But there’d been, well, a few odd ones, too.

Boone got to a first-inning grounder by Scott Hatteberg, but when his off-balance throw to first bounced, Hatteberg was credited with an infield single. And Bobby Kielty, running all the way, scored on the play from second base.

“My spikes caught as I was trying to throw. I should make that play in my sleep,” Boone said.

Ryan Franklin, who makes his living working out of trouble, got two quick outs but couldn’t end the fourth inning. After a walk, Damien Miller singled to left field, and when Quinton McCracken’s throw went to third base – another misplay – Miller moved up to second base.

Infielder Marco Scutaro, on the Oakland roster only because both Mark Ellis and Mark McLemore are injured, doubled both runners home, then scored on a Mark Kotsay double.

So the Mariners were down and seething, off to their worst start since 1994 and behind three runs.

They came back.

Edgar Martinez doubled, scored on John Olerud’s single and it was 4-2 in the fifth. The second of three hits by Ichiro Suzuki opened the sixth inning and, after Winn walked, Boone slapped an RBI single into right field making it 4-3.

Rich Aurilia then doubled home two runs for the lead, and Dan Wilson’s RBI single extended it to two runs at 6-4.

Home free? Not hardly.

Reliever Ron Villone got to the seventh inning with that lead intact, then walked leadoff hitter Mark Kotsay. After striking out Kielty, Villone gave up that line drive to Chavez that brought the A’s to within a run. Rafael Soriano was brought in.

He arrived without the accompaniment of his usual velocity. Often throwing in the mid to high 90s, Soriano’s first few fastballs were 90 mph – and straight.

Jermaine Dye doubled, Hatteberg doubled and Oakland led, 7-6. Soriano got the blown save.

It got worse.

Against reliever Mike Myers in the eighth inning, a double by Kielty not only pushed home an insurance run, it tied the Oakland record for doubles in a game (8).

In the end, the Mariners were put down by a familiar face, new Athletics closer Arthur Rhodes. Facing Martinez, Aurilia and Olerud, Rhodes went 1-2-3 and earned his third save.

“We came back to take the lead, but you’ve got to go back on to the field and hold, and we didn’t,” Melvin said.

So now they’re 0-4. Twice, they’ve been knocked out of a game early, twice they’ve taken leads and lost them late.

The last time they were 0-4 was 1994, when they went on to be 0-5. The team’s worst start ever was 0-6 in 1991.

“We’re better than this,” Boone said.