No relief this time for Mariners

SAN DIEGO — The Mariners' bullpen had put up nothing but zeroes for more than a week, and was brilliant again on Friday against the Padres.

Until the 10th inning, when the streak was broken, and the game was lost.

Brian Giles' one-out, bases-loaded single off the fifth Seattle pitcher, Julio Mateo, lifted the Padres to a 2-1 victory at Petco Park.

Thus ended a taut duel that seemingly had the Mariners on the verge of breaking ahead in both the ninth and 10th. Jake Peavy had been brilliant through eight, striking out nine.

The Padres' winning run broke a streak of 16-1/3 scoreless innings by Mariners relievers, who hadn't been scored upon since the seventh inning against Oakland on June 15.

Mariners update

Winning pitcher: Scott Linebrink (5-2)

Losing pitcher: Julio Mateo (4-1)

Tonight: Mariners at San Diego Padres, 7:05 p.m., FSN/KOMO (1000 AM)

Starting pitchers: M's Jamie Moyer (4-6, 3.58) vs. Chan Ho Park (5-3, 4.15)

"The bad thing was we lost, but it was a very, very well-played game," Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said. "We just couldn't push a run across. That's the bottom line."

Entering the 10th, a trio of Mariners relievers had held the Padres hitless for 3-1/3 innings since taking over for Gil Meche in the sixth. But Hargrove had to reluctantly call upon Mateo, who pitched for the fourth straight night.

"I was trying to give Mateo a day off," Hargrove said. "I didn't want to have to go to him, but in a game like this, you do what has to be done. To Julio's credit, he never turns the ball down. It just didn't work."

The winning rally started on a one-out double by Padres catcher Rob Bowen, which barely eluded a leaping Ichiro in right field. Asked how close he came to the line drive, Ichiro replied, "It is as you saw."

Bowen, who had been bowled over by Richie Sexson trying to score in the ninth, but held on to Giles' throw from right field, moved to third on a single by ex-Mariner Mike Cameron. Cameron's third-inning homer off Meche provided San Diego's only other run.

After Ben Johnson walked on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases, Giles pounced on a 1-0 pitch from Mateo and grounded the ball up the middle into center field to end the game.

The Mariners had seemed on the brink of moving ahead in the 10th, when a walk and single by Willie Bloomquist put runners on first and second with one out. But Padres reliever Scott Linebrink struck out Ichiro on three pitches, then whiffed pinch-hitter Carl Everett.

The Mariners had double-barreled frustration in the ninth inning as they attempted to break the 1-1 tie against the Padres' relief ace, Trevor Hoffman.

With one out and Raul Ibanez on first after a walk, Sexson hit a grounder into the hole at short, headed for left field until the Padres' Khalil Greene smothered it with a diving stop.

Greene fired to second just barely in time to nail Ibanez, the call by second-base umpire Paul Nauert causing Sexson and Ibanez to throw up their arms, and Hargrove to come out to argue.

"I couldn't believe it," Sexson said.

When Hoffman bounced a 1-2 pitch to Kenji Johjima, Sexson took second base. Johjima sliced Hoffman's next pitch into right field, and Sexson rumbled around third and headed home, where the strong throw by Giles beat him handily. Sexson attempted to bowl over Bowen, but he held on to the ball.

"That was kind of a last-ditch effort, because I was out by so far," Sexson said. "We're both big guys. It was like we were both running into walls."

Meche brought a 9-2 interleague record into the game and was coming off a complete-game victory over the Giants. That start had been pushed back a day by back stiffness, which re-appeared in the third inning on Friday.

"I don't know if it's because I'm coming out of the pen feeling incredible," Meche said. "Maybe my arm speed is putting more torque on my back. I felt great. My curve was as sharp as could be, my fastball was strong. My pitch count killed me. That could have been one of the reasons my back went out in the third."

Meche needed 108 pitches to get through 5-2/3 innings, in which he gave up one run on four hits, striking out six. He said he felt his back "grab" but was able to pitch through it.

Peavy, a mainstay of the U.S. team in the World Baseball Classic, had struggled to a 4-8 record and 4.81 earned-run-average this year. But he always rises up against Seattle. He brought a 4-0 record and 1.69 ERA in his four interleague starts against Seattle.

"Peavy is Peavy," said Meche, who struck out twice against him. "He's a good pitcher. Now that I got to stand in there and see, he's a nasty guy. I had no chance."

Neither did more accomplished Seattle hitters in the third, when Jeremy Reed reached third base with no outs.

Peavy proceeded to strike out Yuniesky Betancourt, Meche and Ichiro.

Playing National League-style ball, Hargrove double-switched his No. 3 hitter, Jose Lopez, out of the game in the sixth, then did the same with Adrian Beltre in the eighth. Beltre's replacement, Mike Morse, struck out in the ninth against Hoffman.

Last year, Morse was the top interleague hitter in the major leagues at .472 (25 for 53).

Larry Stone: 206-464-3146 or lstone@seattletimes.com.