Notebook | McLaren sums up M's: good team, bad baseball

While the assembled media seemed most eager to ask about the fight that was, John McLaren wanted to talk about the battle ahead.

Before reporters could ask him about Richie Sexson's suspension during his regular pregame briefing Friday, McLaren began with what amounted to a state-of-the-team address.

"We're a good team playing terrible baseball," he said of a Mariners squad that had lost eight of nine before Friday's game against the White Sox. "Only we can fix it. The coaches and I have exchanged some ideas, and we are working to do some things behind the scenes. You can only shuffle the lineup so many ways and make so many lineup changes. I think now we are at the point where we just have to play a good, solid baseball game and pitch well, get timely hitting, catch the ball and get us a win."

The prime culprit has been an offense that entered Friday's game on a 22-inning scoreless streak tied for the ninth-longest in club history. The streak ended at 24 innings when Ichiro scored in the third.

"It's been very difficult," McLaren said. "Even during our losing streaks last year I don't remember going through a spell like this offensively. It's hard to explain. A lot of it is mental, of course. There is a lot of frustration. With that said, we've got to go get them tonight [Friday]. There is no easy way about this. You can't feel sorry for yourself. You've got to stand up and be a man about it. The only people who can get it done is ourselves. No one is going to give us anything."

One of Seattle's previous 22-inning scoreless streaks came last season, from July 20 to July 22. The longest in team history is 29 from June 7 to June 11, 2004.

"We are scuffling and the guys seem right and stuff, but I'm sure there is some frustration in the clubhouse because you don't lose that many games if you have pride and are working ... " McLaren said. "So we need to win some games and feel good about ourselves."

Johjima sits

McLaren also said he is simply trying to put out the best lineup each night without worrying about whether it might disrupt roles or hurt feelings.

The casualty Friday night was struggling catcher Kenji Johjima, who was replaced by Jeff Clement, making just his second start behind the plate. Johjima is hitting .184. Another factor, McLaren said, is that Clement bats left-handed and Seattle was facing Chicago right-hander Jose Contreras.

"Joh's not swinging the bat right now, and we are going with the nine guys I think can win the game tonight," McLaren said. "We have reached a stage where I'm going with the best nine I think can win that game. We know Joh is going to get going. He's working probably too hard. He's disappointed, and we are disappointed. With that said, we've just got to get the extra left-handed bat in the lineup. We are looking to win a ballgame."

Notes

• Jose Vidro was back at designated hitter after missing three games with back spasms. Vidro said the spasm came on unexpectedly Monday night. But he said he felt better and was "walking around" Thursday.

• Ichiro entered the game hitting .400 in May (12 for 30), continuing a career-long trend of heating up in the season's second month. He has a .371 lifetime average in May, the best in the major leagues.

• Several Mariners will swing pink bats Sunday in baseball's annual event to help generate awareness about breast cancer. Among those who the team says ordered the bats are Sexson, Vidro, Adrian Beltre, Yuniesky Betancourt, Willie Bloomquist, Jamie Burke, Miguel Cairo, Jose Lopez and Raul Ibanez.

For the record

Streak: L4

Home: 8-11

Road: 6-12

vs. AL West: 9-9

vs. L.A.: 3-3

vs. Oakland: 3-2

vs. Texas: 3-4

vs. AL East: 3-10

vs. AL Central: 2-4

vs. NL: 0-0

vs. LHP: 2-7

vs. RHP: 12-16

Day: 3-7

Night: 11-16

One-run: 1-8

Extra innings: 0-1

Home attendance

Friday's crowd: 27,169

Season total: 483,386

Biggest crowd: 46,334 (March 31)

Smallest crowd: 15,818 (May 6)

Average (19 dates): 25,441

2007 average (19 dates): 28,570