In the end, M's trip is a washout

BOSTON — The Mariners' fitful, fit-to-be-tied road trip, otherwise known as American Idle, ended the only proper way on Thursday: with a rainout at Fenway Park.

"This has to have been the longest road trip ever," sighed pitcher Horacio Ramirez, referring not to the number of days the M's spent away from home, but rather the sheer monotony of filling them without much baseball being played.

"There's no such thing as a routine these days," added Ramirez. "Everyone is sort of winging it."

And as they prepared to wing it back to Seattle, just about all the Mariners could do was laugh — maybe to keep from crying.

"I'm going to prepare for my third team ... for one start," said Thursday's scheduled pitcher, Jarrod Washburn, who saw his games in Cleveland and Boston disappear. "That's probably never been done before."

Washburn now will work tonight's game against Texas at Safeco Field, the beginning of a six-game homestand.

Provided there's not a leak in the roof, of course.

The Mariners didn't get in five of the seven games that were to have been played on the trip, including all four in snowy Cleveland.

They were one strike away from suffering a 4-0 loss in the first game at Jacobs Field before Mike Hargrove's managerial master stroke. He went out to argue that the game was unplayable — and filibustered long enough during the blizzard that the umpires had to agree.

The Mariners are plowing through their schedule at a .500 clip — half of their first 10 games have been called off.

"Fun and games," Hargrove said with a smirk after it became clear that Thursday's rainstorm in Boston would not relent soon enough to get the game in. It was rescheduled for May 3, at Fenway Park.

"It's one of those things where it doesn't do any good to sit and cry about it and play what if," Hargrove said. "It is what it is, and we'll deal with it."

Hargrove jokingly pointed out that the Mariners, 3-2 overall, were adhering to the time-honored goal of playing .500 on the road, and winning at home.

They split the two games they did play in Boston — games that were indicative of the varying results that the layoff could engender.

Starter Jeff Weaver was brutal in the opener, allowing seven runs in two innings in a 14-3 loss. Yet Felix Hernandez was sensational in pitching a one-hit shutout the next night.

The Mariners will stay in rotation, which means Washburn tonight will be working for the first time in 10 days. Miguel Batista, Saturday's starter, will also be on 10 days' rest.

"There's no reason for excuses," Batista said. "They pay us a lot of money to be ready to pitch."

The Mariners have dual concerns regarding the postponements. The immediate worry is how the players will respond to the inactivity. They have the lowest team batting average in the majors (.187), while Weaver's performance displayed the worst-case scenario for their rusty pitchers.

"If this was to happen in July or August, you'd almost welcome having a few days off," Washburn said. "But it does no good this time of year. Guys are just getting into the swing of things, trying to get into the rhythm of the season.

"To get pumped up for three starts, and then shot right down for pretty much a week straight of doing nothing, that's tough on us."

The second issue will emerge down the road when the Mariners will have to squeeze in makeup games, most likely eliminating several scheduled off days. That could disrupt pitching in the opposite fashion — too many innings to fill in too short of a time.

"Good teams find a way to get through things like that," Washburn said. "We'll be tested right off the bat. We'll see what we're made of."

The Mariners, meanwhile, should find out by the end of the weekend baseball's plan for making up the Cleveland series.

"We have to hope the league is responsible enough to find the right solutions, with the emphasis on the integrity of the pennant race, and not the gates," general manager Bill Bavasi said. "Then things should work out. It won't be easy."

The May 3 makeup game in Boston will begin at 4:05 PDT. The Mariners were to be off that day as they traveled to New York to begin a series with the Yankees on May 4.

The Mariners' game against the White Sox at Safeco Field on May 2, originally scheduled to begin at 7:05, has been shifted to 12:35 p.m. to facilitate the travel to Boston.

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