Meche’s struggles continue

SEATTLE – If Gil Meche passed a torch on Tuesday night to his successor, newly arrived right-hander Clint Nageotte, the Toronto Blue Jays caught fire with it.

The Blue Jays, who were highly vulnerable with an emergency starter and more injuries than an action movie, scored six runs off those two Seattle Mariners pitchers on their way to a 6-5 victory before 24,848, the smallest crowd in Safeco Field history. The previous low was 25,034 on April 19, 2001.

Meche started and went an agonizing two innings, throwing 73 pitches, and giving up two runs.

Nageotte, called up over the weekend from Class AAA Tacoma, had a 1-2-3 start to his major league career then over the next three innings gave up four runs on four hits, walking four, including two with the bases loaded.

Nageotte may have a couple of excuses, being nervous in his major league debut and the fact that he had not worked in a game in 10 days. Meche, however, is out of excuses. He now is 1-5 with a 7.06 earned-run average in his 10 starts.

Meche was a vital part of club history last season when he was one of five starters to be used for all 162 games, the first team to do that since 1966. That streak has been extended to 213 consecutive games with likely four more through Monday. That’s when Meche’s turn comes up again against Houston. Will he be handed the ball? Or will Nageotte carry on?

“I’m not going to make any decisions (yet),” manager Bob Melvin said. “I’m going to think about this.”

What’s clear is that Meche, who has a 10.59 ERA in his past five starts, has lost big-league stuff – as well as, perhaps, his job.

Meche went to 3-2 counts on the game’s first three hitters. Frank Menechino singled, Eric Hinske walked and Reed Johnson had a RBI single to center. He threw 28 pitches to get out of it with just one run allowed.

In the second, Meche threw 45 pitches as the Jays scored another run on Johnson’s bases-loaded walk. He then struck out Vernon Wells to finish the inning, but manager Bob Melvin also decided he was finished for the evening. “He still had his velocity and a snap to his breaking ball,” Melvin said of Meche. “He was just all over the plate.”

Nageotte, greeted by spirited applause for his debut in the third, rewarded the fans by not allowing a ball out of the infield. But in the fourth, he had two outs and one on but couldn’t close out the inning. He walked Hinske and Johnson reached on a single behind second to load the bases. He then walked Wells on five pitches to score one run and walked in another on four pitches to Gregg Zaun.

The Jays reached Nageotte quickly in the sixth. Johnson opened with a single to deep second followed by Wells’ 404-foot home run against the back wall of the visitors’ bullpen. That gave the Jays a 6-5 lead.

“He (Nageotte) was spotty with his command on his fastball, but I know first time out it’s a little different,” Melvin said.

The Mariners appeared in great shape, as they didn’t have to face last season’s Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay (5-4, 3.58 ERA). He felt discomfort in his shoulder warming up and was scratched.

Toronto manager Carlos Tosca, who has used the disabled list eight times this season, decided to start lefty Jason Kershner. Kershner had just 13 1/2 innings of work this season in his 19 relief appearances. He longest outing was two innings on April 23 so clearly this was going to be a starter-by-committee ordeal for the Jays.

The Mariners scored two runs off Kershner in the first on Edgar Martinez’s two-run double. It was the 504th double of his career. The RBI also gave him a team-leading 29.

Glove story

Scott Spiezio, who is playing third base regularly for the first time since he was a minor leaguer, led the M’s with five errors going into Tuesday’s game but has played impressively.

His best game may have been Monday, when he made two spectacular diving plays in the second inning and charged a chopper in the eighth and threw out the Blue Jays’ Frank Menechino.

“There’s still a lot of things I’ve got to work on,” Spiezio said. “It will take a little while, but I feel good over there for the most part.”

Honesty best policy

A Toronto writer was fishing for an angle when he asked Melvin to compare himself with ex-Blue Jay Pat Borders, who is playing for the Mariners at age 41.

“You were a catcher. What was it that told you it was time to retire?” Melvin was asked.

“I wasn’t any good,” Melvin replied. “And I was getting worse.”