M's Notebook | Brad Wilkerson, hitting .059, struggling to find his stroke

BALTIMORE — A disappointed Brad Wilkerson talked about working hard behind the scenes with his hitting coach.

He talked about waiting for better pitches and working the count in his favor. About using those favorable counts to become more of a contact hitter.

But the Mariners right fielder also talked about how he was pinch-hit for by Mike Morse in the seventh inning of Monday's 5-4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, meaning that none of the other conversation topics are happening for him in games yet. Wilkerson is hitting just .059 after seven games, with a lone single to show for his 17 at-bats.

And he knows that's not going to cut it.

"I'm not like this," he said. "When I get myself in good counts, I draw walks and I hit the ball hard. I'm making some changes and I'm going to work my butt off to get the job done. Right now, I'm not getting the job done."

Wilkerson has worked on some changes with Mariners hitting coach Jeff Pentland, like shortening his swing. It's something he hopes will lead to better pitch recognition and improved contact.

"The swing's there," he said. "It's just mentally, right now, I'm a little off, and it's showing out there

"It's not fun for me. But like I told you, I'm going to go out there, I'm going to get there and I'm going to help this team win a lot of ballgames this year."

Wilkerson wasn't surprised to be pulled in favor of Morse with Orioles left-hander Jamie Walker on the mound in the seventh. The Orioles countered with righty Dennis Sarfate, who struck Morse out.

But Wilkerson had been told before the season began that the team wants to get Morse at-bats and that he could be pinch-hit for as a lefty. Wilkerson also noted that it would be unlikely he'd be pinch-hit for if he was doing his job at the plate in the first place.

"I'm not swinging the bat worth a crap right now," he said.

Mariners manager John McLaren said before the game that he's tried to be patient with his struggling hitters and pitchers in what is only the first week of a long season. But there will come a time, sooner rather than later for a team expected to contend, when changes will have to be made.

"If we have one good game, maybe start feeling good about ourselves and get moving on," he said. "We're trying to get our feet on the ground and show patience, show confidence in players. We do have to give them an opportunity to get through this.

But, said Mariners manager John McLaren, "It's not just one guy. It's several guys we've got to get going."

Left fielder Raul Ibanez is one guy who's gotten going in a big way the past two days. Ibanez, hitting .167 before Sunday, has had five hits since then — including a homer and a double Monday — to lift his average to .308.

Ibanez said Wilkerson's swing is too good for his slump to last.

"The whole game of baseball, the hitting aspect of it, is we're all going to be really good sometimes and sometimes were all going to be really bad," he said. "Sometimes we're going to be all right. It's the whole mind-set of going home and knowing things are going to work out. That's why they take the six months and they average it out.

"It just jumps out more in your face when it's in April."

Silva lining

Mariners starter Carlos Silva, who had a tough time against left-handers for much of last season, has had a fair amount of success in his first two games of 2008. His biggest test in Monday's second straight seven-inning outing came when he had to face Baltimore Orioles lefty Nick Markakis with two on and two out in a 4-4 game in the seventh.

Markakis had already hit a double off Silva in the first inning, increasing his career totals to 7 for 10 with three doubles against the Mariners pitcher. But Silva rebounded to strike Markakis out in the third inning, then got him to fly out in the fifth.

In the seventh, with the count full, he fooled Markakis with a 91 mph "backdoor sinker" for a called third strike. It was the second straight time in the at-bat that Silva threw Markakis the pitch, and the slugger was obviously expecting something else.

"I threw it the pitch before, and it was very close, but [the umpire] didn't call it," he said.

Mariners catcher Kenji Johjima said he'd been working Markakis far differently for most of the game.

"His first and second at-bat, the pitches were mainly outside, so I'm sure he wasn't away of that pitch," he said. "That's why I had to save it for that last at-bat."

Notes

• Mariners third baseman Adrian Beltre celebrated his 29th birthday with an unexpected hug from plate umpire Brian O'Nora during a heads-up play in the fourth inning. Beltre was the lead runner at second with two on when Jose Vidro hit a potential double-play grounder to the first baseman.

The Orioles got the out at second base, but Vidro made it to first ahead of the throw back there. Beltre had gone to third on the play and then broke for home.

Orioles pitcher Daniel Cabrera had taken the throw at first base, but took his eyes off Beltre and didn't realize he was headed home until it was too late. O'Nora didn't seem to realize it either, since he was standing directly in Beltre's path as he crossed the plate.

Beltre reached out and wrapped his arms around the umpire for balance as he tried to avoid bowling him over. The pair remained locked in a hugging embrace for several moments as they backpedaled to avoid losing their balance.

Notes

• Ichiro collected the 1,600th hit of his major-league career in the seventh inning when he led off with a single to center against Jamie Walker.

• Former Mariners reliever George Sherrill tossed a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save in four games against his former team. Sherrill is now 4 for 4 in save opportunities since becoming Baltimore's closer.

For the record

Streak: L4

Home: 2-1

Road: 0-4

vs. AL West: 2-1

vs. L.A.: 0-0

vs. Oakland: 0-0

vs. Texas: 2-1

vs. AL East: 0-4

vs. AL Central: 0-0

vs. NL: 0-0

vs. LHP: 0-1

vs. RHP: 2-4

Day: 1-2

Night: 1-3

One-run: 0-3

Extra innings: 0-0