New M”s much like old ones

They’re nearly a fourth of the way through this marathon season and yet these Seattle Mariners still continue to suffer from a troublesome case of nebulous identity.

Need examples? Then consider the copious evidence from Saturday’s vexing 6-3 loss to the Boston Red Sox before a sold-out crowd of 46,229 at Safeco Field.

That vaunted bullpen – which until a week ago led all of baseball in earned run average – looked more like, well, all the Mariners bullpens of old after a meltdown.

What about Seattle’s punchless offense that struggled for April and most of May? Five home runs in the last two days proved that this team does indeed have pop.

What these 2005 Mariners don’t have by all counts is any true measure of consistency. This is why the Mariners are tied for last place in the A.L. West.

The Mariners wasted a strong start by Ryan Franklin, as the bullpen duo of Ron Villone and J.J. Putz combined to allow five runs in the seventh inning as the Red Sox (22-14) were able to overcome a 3-1 deficit.

The parting shot for Boston was a grand slam by Trot Nixon, a towering shot into the right-field seats on a 0-1 fastball offered by belt-high by Putz with two outs.

There was some good to be had Saturday, though it was reduced to merely an afterthought by the end of the game.

“I tried to go down and left it belt high,” Putz said. “We battled all day long to get Frankie some runs. It just didn’t work out.”

After hitting three home runs on Friday, the Mariners (14-22) clubbed two more on Saturday to not only infuse a sold-out crowd of 46,229 but to lend hope that this revamped offense that Seattle poured $114 million into in the off-season is capable of not only scoring runs in bunches but scoring them with a swing of the bat.

Seattle’s Richie Sexson and Raul Ibanez drilled consecutive home runs off Boston starter Wade Miller in the sixth inning to help the Mariners to a 3-1 advantage.

“Those balls were hit well,” Seattle manager Mike Hargrove said. “Guys are getting into good counts and hitting it hard.”

But the lead didn’t last long.

The Red Sox sent eight batters to the plate in the seventh inning against Villone and Putz. Four hits, one hit batter and what seemed an eternity later, Boston had a 6-3 lead.

Franklin – who has won once since April 11 – more than put himself in position for a victory against the Red Sox. Unfortunately for him, the Mariners’ offense didn’t give him much to work with. This doesn’t qualify much as a surprise since Franklin was the least-supported pitcher in baseball last season.

Franklin hit his corners often and pitched inside effectively as well. So good was his stuff that four of his first five strikeouts were called. Boston’s hitters – who are about as aggressive as you’ll find in baseball – looked stunned after Franklin painted the outside corner with a fastball that often ran in the low 90s.

Through the first five innings, Franklin turned the Red Sox’s high-powered offense in knots, allowing two hits – singles to Edgar Renteria and Kevin Millar – and little else.

As luck would have it for Franklin – or, bad luck, that is – the one mistake he made all night cost him dearly. With one out in the sixth inning, Manny Ramirez got all of a Franklin fastball, driving it over the fence in left-center field. After Nixon singled, Franklin was finished.

Franklin allowed one run on four hits with six strikeouts.

Miller retired nine of the first 11 hitters he faced before Adrian Beltre started the fourth inning with a single.