M”s suffer sixth straight defeat

BOSTON – Six consecutive losses, the latest a 7-2 defeat the Seattle Mariners were never in, and manager Mike Hargrove sat and waited for a question afterward.

Any question would have done.

After the Boston Red Sox walked through what became Seattle’s latest embarrassment, Hargrove had a few things he wanted to say, and he said them as soon as the media showed up in his office.

“There are times in this game when you swear you’ll never get another hit, throw another good pitch, score another run,” he said. “Experience tells you that’s not the case.

“If we play as hard as we did our last two games, we’ll win our share of games. I won’t apologize for anyone on this team – we’re busting our butts. The effort is there, the attitude is good.

“It’s not working. It will work.”

In a quiet clubhouse, the Mariners agreed with most everything their manager said, although some felt more of a sense of urgency to see things change.

“Words can’t express this,” rookie center fielder Jeremy Reed said. “The losing just keeps coming, and nobody wants that. We’re all trying – probably too hard, at times. We all care. We all want to win.

“We’re all frustrated.”

For the second time in as many starts, Jamie Moyer’s frustration came on the mound and came quickly.

After lasting 3 2/3 innings against Oakland, he went only 2 2/3 innings Friday against Boston.

When he left in the third inning, the score was 6-0 and the game, for all it mattered, was over. The bullpen was formidable behind him, the offense was … Well, the offense wasn’t much.

At 12-17, Seattle’s record today matches the 2004 team mark through 29 games, a figure that raises an obvious question – are these Mariners headed down the same path as a year ago? Infielder Bret Boone made a face when that was mentioned.

“OK, one last time I’ll talk about last year, and that’s it,” he said. “It doesn’t feel like last year. I’ve seen this team play. I know we’re scuffling for runs right now, scuffling to execute – but it will happen.

“There’s too much talent here, and this is not last year. “We’ve been in this slump for a week now. One week – and that sucks. But to compare it to last year? Never. No way.”

Boone and Hargrove have a point. Before this six-game slide began, the Mariners were 12-11 and starting to feel good about their future. One week in a season hasn’t changed that long-term view, only the short-term scenery.

“What that says is that we’re swinging early, that we’re afraid to go deep in the count with pitchers,” hitting coach Don Baylor said. “We’ve all seen it before. A team struggles, and instead of being patient up there, being selective with pitches, you try to do too much. You want to be the guy who changes the game, you get away from what you do best.”

What did it tell Hargrove? The question brought out the Texas twang in him.

“It tells me you can’t make chicken salad out of chicken … well, if I say it you can’t write it,” Hargrove said. “We’re hitting bad pitches, and you don’t often hit bad pitches well.”

It’s not just that Seattle is playing badly, Hargrove insisted. “You look at their second inning against Jamie, they scored three runs and didn’t hit a ball hard,” he said. “That’s part of the game, but when you’re going through a stretch like this, it really gets to you.”

Moyer gave up a double on a ground ball to left field, got an out, then watched Jason Varitek leg out an excuse-me, checked-swing roller to third base – after which Moyer walked Jay Payton to load the bases. Bill Mueller hit a ball off the end of his bat, flaring it to the opposite field where it fell not 25 feet behind first base – a two-run single.

Ex-Mariner Ramon Vazquez rolled a single into right field just past Boone and it was 3-0. Not much of a rally, but more than the Mariners managed in nine innings.

Seattle scored on a pair of sacrifice flies, pushing home a run in the fifth inning without a hit, another in the ninth when no one was paying much attention.

Hargrove said he understood that fans who suffered through last season might feel a hint of panic now. He said neither he nor his players do.

“We were fine before this stretch, we’re going to be fine when it ends,” Hargrove said. “We’re all going to wake up (today). If not, make that my eulogy – ‘Grove was wrong.’ I don’t think I will be.”

Reese, Wilson updates

Shortstop Pokey Reese finally got his second opinion, and since it was as glum as the first he went ahead and had surgery to repair his right shoulder – an operation that could keep him off the field for another six weeks.

Nearly 10 days after Seattle team physician Larry Pedegana suggested surgery on Reese’s acromioclavicular joint, Reese sought a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews.

Andrews agreed with Pedegana’s diagnosis Wednesday, and Friday, Reese had the operation.

“We’re told it went well,” manager Mike Hargrove said. “Now it’s a matter of rehabilitating the shoulder.”

Reese’s shoulder has plagued him since early in spring training, and he has yet to play a game for the Mariners. The free agent will turn 32 on June 10, and likely won’t return to the roster before then.

Meanwhile, catcher Dan Wilson will undergo surgery May 20 to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, and the team placed him on the 60-day disabled list to make room on the roster for catcher Wiki Gonzalez, who was called up from Triple-A Tacoma. He previously played in the major leagues with San Diego (1999-2003), batting .238 in 269 games.