M’s memories too few so far

SEATTLE – In the midst of a horrific spring that has brought back painful reminders of some of those 100-loss seasons of the late 1970s and early ‘80s, the Seattle Mariners got a fleeting glimpse of a more pleasant past on Monday night.

This Memorial Day memory looked a little bit like 1995.

Ichiro Suzuki’s over-the-shoulder, against-the-wall catch in center field not only robbed the Boston Red Sox of at least one run, it also brought back images of Ken Griffey Jr.

Griffey made his catch on May 26, 1995, when the Mariners were on their way to one of the greatest seasons in franchise history. Suzuki’s came on May 26, 2008, during a year that doesn’t look like it will have anywhere near the excitement on the baseball diamond.

The Mariners’ 5-3 loss Monday night extended their losing streak to seven games and added more dry brush to the forest fire that has become the 2008 season.

But in a spring bereft of highlights, Suzuki provided one.

“That was a great catch,” manager John McLaren said. “It’s as good a catch as I’ve seen Ichiro make.”

The play kept the Mariners in the game on a night when they were even for most of the way. The teams went into the eighth inning tied at 1 before the Red Sox pulled away with four two-out runs off starter Felix Hernandez, whose solid outing screeched to a halt.

Hernandez (2-5) and Boston starter Bartolo Colon both pitched gems through seven innings.

Colon extended his Safeco Field record to 9-1 after giving up just one run and five hits, while Hernandez was just as dominant until the top of the eighth.

Hernandez, who was nursing a calf injury, looked good for 94 pitches before tiring. Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia drilled Hernandez’s 95th pitch for a ground-rule double, scoring the go-ahead run with two outs in the eighth. After an intentional walk was issued to David Ortiz, Boston put together three consecutive singles.

Then Hernandez issued a bases-loaded walk to Jason Varitek on his 112th pitch. Hernandez left the game with the Mariners trailing 5-1 and saw his record drop to 0-5 his past six starts.

“Felix pitched a hell of a ball game,” McLaren said after Hernandez gave up five hits and five earned runs in 72/3 innings. “He had some bad luck in the eighth, with a couple seeing-eye ground balls. … He deserved better. … It’s probably his best start all year.”

The night’s most indelible image came on Suzuki’s catch to save a run in the top of the fifth.

With the Mariners trailing 1-0 on an Ortiz solo home run, Boston appeared to pad its lead when Varitek drilled a line drive toward the warning track in center field with a runner on first.

Suzuki turned and ran toward the wall, reaching up for the ball as he leaped. He caught it over his shoulder, legs spread, and crashed into the wall. A woozy Suzuki, hat tilted, threw to a cutoff man as he fell to the ground.

The Mariners tied the game in the bottom of the sixth on Raul Ibanez’s RBI groundout with runners on second and third.