Notebook | Mariners pitchers excelling while hitters struggle

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — As forgettable as the Mariners' offense has looked at times, their starting pitchers actually entered Tuesday's game against Tampa Bay with the league's third-best earned-run average.

Mariners starters had a 2.69 ERA, behind just league-leading Oakland (2.18) and a surprising Texas rotation (2.31). In a bid to help his starters out, Mariners manager John McLaren shuffled his batting lineup again on Tuesday, moving Raul Ibanez into the cleanup position, Adrian Beltre down to No. 3 and putting left-handers Richie Sexson and Brad Wilkerson back-to-back at Nos. 5 and No. 6.

"We need to pick it up as a team," said McLaren, who entered the night with three hitters batting .115 or less and Sexson hitting just .218. "Not just one or two guys — we need to pick it up as a team all together and take some pressure off of our pitching. Our pitchers, every game is a nail-biter and they can never catch their breaths.

"We'd like to score a bunch of runs, take some pressure off of them, get some guys some confidence, feel good about ourselves and get on a roll."

Seattle's three projected starters in this series — Erik Bedard, Jarrod Washburn and Miguel Batista — were a combined 25-10 with seven saves against the Rays during their careers. McLaren wants to make sure his struggling team capitalizes on that without being victimized by a lack of run support.

In their last four losses, the Mariners took early leads and then failed to add to them. Seattle scored just two runs after the first inning on Monday, two after the third inning on Sunday, one after the second inning on Saturday and two after the fourth inning on Friday.

The trend seemed destined to continue on Tuesday, with Seattle scoring three runs in the first three innings, then none in the next two. Sexson was down to his last strike with two out and the bases loaded in the sixth when he reached out and poked a single to right to bring home a pair of runs.

That gave Seattle a 6-5 lead and marked the first time all season the M's had scored more than five runs.

"We had a little staff get-together and discussed some possible changes," McLaren said before the game.

But they also agreed that it wasn't time to make any drastic moves.

"It's just to give us a different look," he said of the lineup changes.

Ibanez had been on fire the past two games, collecting five hits, including a pair of home runs and a double, to lift his average to .308.

"We have too many good bats on this team," Ibanez said. "They're all going to come around. I have faith in that."

Cool, calm Corcoran

An early-season surprise in the bullpen has been reliever Roy Corcoran, mainly a minor-league closer the past six years who is now getting his fourth taste of the big leagues. Corcoran tossed a scoreless 1-1/3 innings on Tuesday night, bridging the gap from the seventh to the eighth, allowing a hit and a walk while striking out a pair.

The 27-year-old has yet to allow an earned run in his three outings — spanning four innings — since being called up last week from Class AAA Tacoma.

The nonroster invitee to spring training kept a rather low profile and seemed to be best known for his friendship and video-game rivalry with Bedard. But Corcoran has turned heads since coming up.

"I've been in a lot of situations," he said. "Tough ones. It's nothing new. You've just got to go in there and pitch to them. Make your pitches and hopefully, it's good results."

McLaren said Corcoran's biggest attribute is that he's fearless.

Corcoran thought about that one for a moment, then politely disagreed.

"Not really," he said with a chuckle. "I'm acting like I am."

Notes

• LH reliever Arthur Rhodes is headed to Class AA West Tenn to pitch in what's expected to be at least a couple of games before he is added to the major-league roster. Rhodes has already thrown back-to-back simulated games in extended spring training.

• McLaren said he continues to receive positive updates on RHP Brandon Morrow, who threw 42 pitches over two innings for West Tenn recently. The location of Morrow's fastball was said to be spotty, but his secondary pitches were much improved over what they had been in spring training.

• Ichiro collected three more singles on Tuesday, one day after notching his 1,600th major-league hit.

• The six runs scored by the Mariners on Tuesday were unique in that none came via a home run. Seattle had scored 15 of its previous last 18 runs on home runs.

• The Mariners made some history during their 2-5 start to the season. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, they are the fifth team in AL history to lose five of their first seven despite having the lead in all five losses. They join Milwaukee (1901), St. Louis (1935), Philadelphia (1951) and Boston (1989).

• Rays RH starter Matt Garza was placed on the 15-day disabled list after Tuesday's game with an irritated nerve in his pitching arm. There was no immediate word on how long Garza, who left with two outs in the third inning, will be sidelined.

• Rays LHP Scott Kazmir, on the DL because of a left elbow strain, threw 42 pitches in his first batting-practice session since the injury.

The Associated Press contributed to this notebook.

For the record

Streak: W1

Home: 2-1

Road: 1-4

vs. AL West: 2-1

vs. L.A.: 0-0

vs. Oakland: 0-0

vs. Texas: 2-1

vs. AL East: 1-4

vs. AL Central: 0-0

vs. NL: 0-0

vs. LHP: 0-1

vs. RHP: 3-4

Day: 1-2

Night: 2-3

One-run: 1-3

Extra innings: 0-0