Six in a row and counting

SEATTLE – The losing has gained momentum and, almost as bad for the Seattle Mariners, the games are more than just defeats – they’ve become boring.

Seattle lost its sixth in a row Friday in what has become a recent formula. They fell behind. They fell further behind. They didn’t come back. They lost. This one was at the hands of the Texas Rangers, a 6-2 defeat in which 37,270 fans at Safeco Field waited in vain for Mariners rallies, Mariners home runs, gritty Mariners pitching in tough situations. They didn’t get any of that – but that crowd still tried to stir their team.

Fly balls drew squeals, even when they landed in Texas gloves. When Ichiro Suzuki tripled, they cheered. When rookie Jeremy Reed tied the game in with a two-out double in the second inning, they roared.

The Mariners simply didn’t give that crowd enough to keep them involved.

“We’ve fallen into a rut, tonight and the three games in Oakland, and I can see why some fans might think we’re playing boring baseball,” manager Mike Hargrove said.

“I can tell you, though, that the effort is there. We took a plan of attack into this game against Chan Ho Park – we wanted to make him throw a lot of pitches – and we followed it. We got ourselves in hitters’ counts against him.”

And then?

Hargrove shook his head. “When we got in hitters’ counts, we missed our pitch, or hit it hard but right at someone.

“Losing doesn’t mean the effort isn’t there, it means the results aren’t. But I’ve been through these situations before and I can tell you, there’s only one way to get out of this and that’s by busting your butt, every day. You do that, eventually it will turn.”

Aaron Sele got a rude reception in his 16th start of the season – designated hitter David Dellucci hammered his second pitch of the game for a home run and a 1-0 Texas lead.

“It’s not what you want, but it wasn’t the ball game, either,” Sele said.

Seattle got him even in the second inning, when Bret Boone drew a two-out walk and Reed lined a ball to the opposite field for an RBI double.

The Mariners were patient with Park, but that didn’t get them results – in their first five innings, Seattle had three hits. Sele held the tie until the fourth inning, but couldn’t keep it close.

A pair of two-out runs in the fourth inning pushed Texas ahead, two more runs in the fifth – both with two outs – made it 5-1.

“Both those innings, I’ve got to get that last out and finish the inning, and I didn’t,” Sele said. “We were in a close game, I gave up those two-out runs, and that was the game.

“If I hold them at 1-1, even 3-1, I give our team a chance to come back.

At 4-1 or 5-1, now it’s tougher. A lot tougher. I’ll give those guys some credit, (Hank) Blalock and (Alfonso) Soriano especially, they hit good pitches – they’re good hitters.

“But my job is to keep it close, and I didn’t do it.”

Through a stretch of games in which Seattle has lost nine of its last 11, not many Mariners have been doing their jobs, at least not to their satisfaction.

The one sustained rally they produced – but couldn’t sustain quite long enough – came in the sixth inning, with Texas ahead by five runs.

Ichiro, who’d already doubled, led off the inning with a triple to right-center field, and Winn singled him home. Adrian Beltre flied out to the wall in right field, Richie Sexson singled off Park’s leg and with two outs, and Boone walked to load the bases.

Reed grounded sharply to the first baseman, and the Seattle rally ended.

There wouldn’t be another.

Seattle’s bullpen – Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Jeff Nelson and J.J. Putz – held the Rangers scoreless over the last 3 1/3 innings, but since the Mariners couldn’t score, it didn’t really matter.

Now 33-45, the Mariners are floundering.

“You can’t wish it away,” Hargrove said. “Our players know that. It may not show from the stands or the press box, but the effort is there. You grind and grind and grind and it does change. You need mental toughness to play this game.

“You let up, it gets away from you in a hurry. I haven’t seen that. We don’t quit playing when we’re down.”

With the offense mired in a slump, Seattle needs a starting pitcher or two to dominate an opposing lineup, Hargrove suggested.

When pitchers can’t do that, and hitters don’t give them leads to work with, the losses pile up.

“It’s no fun for me or the coaches or the front office or the players or the fans,” Hargrove said. “But it will change. It will get better.”