McLaren decries wasted chances

Less than a month into the season, the most commonly used phrase is baseball is, “It’s early.”

That’s hardly what manager John McLaren told the Mariners on Saturday when he shut the doors to the clubhouse and addressed his struggling team.

The Mariners had lost five of their previous seven games, including three straight entering Saturday by a run. McLaren said the Mariners aren’t doing the little things necessary to win close games – Yuniesky Betancourt’s at-bat was the freshest example Friday night, when he lunged at a bad pitch and hit into an inning-ending double play with one out and the bases loaded in the eighth.

“We’re letting opportunities slip,” said McLaren, who emphasized a smarter hitting approach during spring training. “Early in the season, late in the season, you don’t let opportunities slip. We just have to do a better job in a lot of phases of the game.”

The Mariners, who lead the American League in one-run losses, were 27-20 in one-run games last year. They didn’t record their seventh one-run loss until June 13.

McLaren said it’s also time to quit waiting for his struggling hitters to start producing.

He replaced designated hitter Jose Vidro (.195 average) with Greg Norton. Catcher Kenji Johjima (.194) also took a seat, although that was simply a day off and he’ll be back in the lineup today, McLaren said.

“We need to get some guys going here,” said McLaren, who spoke with Vidro before the game. “We’re a month into the season now. We’ve gone far enough. We’ve given everybody an opportunity. This game is about winning. It’s not about me being everybody’s best friend.”

Corcoran sent down

The Mariners optioned reliever Roy Corcoran to Triple-A Tacoma as they made room on the roster when Erik Bedard came off the disabled list.

Corcoran made eight relief appearances, with a 1.69 ERA in 10 2/3 innings.