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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   ADDITIONAL ITEMS • Seattle Mariners (External Link) • Schedule (External Link) • Stats (External Link)   CONTACT THE HERALD Report scores and results to 425-339-3470 or 1-866-6-SCORES (Call after 4:30 p.m.) E-mail information including items for Tuesday's Communities Sports Roundup and Thursday's Outdoor Calendar, to sports@heraldnet.com Kevin Brown, Sports Editor kbrown@heraldnet.com   Published: Thursday, July 24, 2008 Mariners blunder, lose again Seattle wastes opportunities, falls 6-3 in 12 innings By Kirby Arnold Herald Writer SEATTLE -- A missed fly in the outfield, a picked-off baserunner and more blown opportunities with runners in scoring position aren't going to change the big picture that represents the Seattle Mariners' dreadful season. But it still ticks off Raul Ibanez. "If you're 22 games up or 22 games down, you go out there with the same tenacity every single freaking day," Ibanez said after one of the Mariners' rougher days this season. Try 25 under .500. That's where the Mariners are after a 6-3 loss in 12 innings to the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday. The Mariners took themselves out of this one in almost every way possible. n Ichiro Suzuki was picked off first base in the first inning by Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz. n Suzuki saved three runs when he reached over the right-field wall to catch J.D. Drew's fly with two runners on base in the third inning. But he also made an error on the next play when Kevin Youkilis' RBI single near the line skipped past his glove, allowing a second run to score. n The offense again made little of its opportunities, scoring only on Ibanez's solo homer in the fourth inning and Jose Vidro's two-run homer in the sixth. After Vidro's homer, they had runners on first and second with one out in the sixth, but Red Sox reliever Justin Masterson struck out Kenji Johjima and Bryan LaHair to end that inning. In the 11th, the M's put runners on first and third and needed only a sacrifice fly to win. Instead, Johjima grounded into a double play, leaving the score tied 3-3. The Red Sox broke it in the top of the 12th with Mike Lowell's two-run single and Sean Casey's RBI single. That rally also included the gift of Willie Bloomquist's error in center field, where he missed Youkilis' fly near the warning track . "I just flat-out missed it," said Bloomquist, who lost a fly in the sun in nearly the same place over the weekend. "No excuses. It's a ball I should have caught." The Mariners loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the 12th before Vidro worked a 3-0 count on right-hander Craig Hansen but grounded out weakly to second base. End of game. Continuation of some deep frustration in the Mariners' clubhouse. The M's have won just five of their past 11 games and have lost five straight, including all three against the Red Sox, who came into the series with a .385 road winning percentage. "That was a painful loss right there. We've had a lot of those in the last two weeks," manager Jim Riggleman said. "We played this Boston club real tough for three days and came away with nothing. These close losses we have to take as an indication that we're a pretty good ballclub, but we're not finishing the job off." In the silver lining department, the Mariners got more solid pitching. Felix Hernandez scattered six hits through six innings but was hurt by his five walks, including one on four pitches to Coco Crisp with the bases loaded in the sixth after he'd struck out Jason Varitek on three pitches at 97, 98 and 98 mph. J.J. Putz, in his second outing since spending more than a month on the disabled list, gave up one hit and struck out three in two innings, and Brandon Morrow pitched two innings, walking one. Sean Green pitched a scoreless 11th and looked in line to win his third game this season when the M's put runners on first and third with one out in the bottom of the inning. Instead, the M's blew that chance on Johjima's double-play grounder and the Red Sox scored three times in the 12th, aided by Bloomquist's misplay in center field. That's how a team falls 25 games under .500. "It's still as unacceptable now as it was in April," Ibanez said. "No matter how many times you get knocked down, you have to get back up. If you don't have that mindset you're in trouble, not only in this game but in life. It's not easy but you have to keep fighting, scratching, clawing all the way to the finish line." Read Kirby Arnold's blog on the Mariners at www.heraldnet.com

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