M's playoff hopes all but dead

The Mariners had just played one of their ugliest games of the year, a wretched 9-2 loss to the worst team in baseball that all but expunged their already minuscule playoff hopes.

But at least they left town with a smile after the Tampa Bay Devil Rays handed them their 17th defeat in 22 games on Sunday.

It was the annual rookie hazing day at Safeco Field, in which new players are forced to dress in outlandish costumes as the team heads out on its final road trip.

In this case, that trip consists of three in Oakland and four in Anaheim against the Angels, games that once loomed as monumental but now look more perfunctory by the day.

First, manager John McLaren, his face drawn and his voice quiet, had summarized the Mariners' latest predicament.

This game had been another textbook example of Pennant Race Abandonment 101. The Mariners blended inadequate starting pitching (just 4-1/3 innings from Jarrod Washburn, who suffered his fifth consecutive loss and ninth in 10 decisions) with a lack of clutch hitting (no runs in the fifth with men on first and second and no outs, or in the sixth, with bases loaded and no outs) and so-so relief (4-2/3 innings from five relievers, six runs).

So now the Mariners are 8-½ behind the Angels with 14 to play — the very definition of hopeless. And hope is close to expiring in the wild-card race, where the Yankees and Tigers both stand ahead of them.

"It's an uphill battle, for sure," McLaren said. "We need a lot of help, and we need to help ourselves. My main thought is to finish strong and see what happens. We need help in the meantime."

And then, amid the long faces in the clubhouse, the rookies began to get dressed, and the mood lightened somewhat.

There was Brandon Morrow dressed as Scooby-Doo — "I'm just glad I didn't get a princess set," he said. And Sean Green as a baby in a pink jumpsuit, accessorized with rattle. "Not too bad," he observed. "This is normal home wear."

There was Ryan Rowland-Smith as a cowboy, Jeff Clement in an "I Dream of Jeannie" getup, Rob Johnson in a go-go outfit, Sean White as Buzz Lightyear, and, perhaps most comical, Wladimir Balentien as Bozo, complete with giant red clown shoes (but that didn't stop Balentien from donning his Bluetooth cellphone device as he left for the team bus).

It was indicative of how the game went that many of those minor-league call-ups saw action Sunday. McLaren cleared the bench in the final two innings after Delmon Young's two-run single in the eighth gave Tampa Bay an eight-run lead.

"In front of the home fans, I thought I'd let them get the feel of Safeco Field a little bit," McLaren said.

The highlight of the kid parade — the one to the plate, not to the bus — was a home run in the ninth by Charlton Jimerson, his first as a Mariner and second of his career. Earlier, Adrian Beltre had hit his 25th homer in the fourth to pull Seattle into a short-lived 1-1 tie.

The Devil Rays knocked out Washburn in the fifth, the telling blow a two-run double by Carl Crawford.

Washburn, 9-15 and winless at home since June 29, was charged with three runs in 4-1/3 innings. He struck out five in the first three innings, but the Devil Rays made him work;, in the fifth, Washburn issued three walks.

The home run in the fourth to Carlos Pena, his 40th of the season, was "the only mistake I made in the whole game," Washburn said. "I thought I threw well, and I didn't have anything to show for it."

Assessing the meaning of the Mariners' trip, he said, "There's no room for error."

The Mariners, who faced two teams with losing records on the homestand, lost four of seven. Before Tampa, which stands 63-87 after winning the past two in Seattle, it was Oakland.

"We've got to keep going," outfielder Raul Ibanez said. "You don't play the game any differently if you're out one game, or you're out 50 games. You have to have the same intensity and focus, and let the chips fall where they fall."

With that, the Mariners embarked on their last trip, clown shoes and all.

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