Mariners mowed down by Tigers

DETROIT — A shellshocked Jarrod Washburn stared at his manager on the mound and demanded more punishment.

The Mariners left-hander knew he'd just stranded his teammates up the rapids without a paddle, in grizzly country without a rifle, or whatever other metaphor the avid outdoorsman could conjure up. He'd allowed the Detroit Tigers to pound his fastballs like a video game expert on beginner level by the third inning, leaving the ending of Wednesday night's eventual 9-4 loss all-but-academic.

With an overtaxed Seattle bullpen staring at another half-dozen innings or so of relief work, Washburn offered to take one for the team and stay out there no matter what else happened. But there is apparently only so much punishment manager John McLaren is willing to see anyone absorb, be it Washburn or himself.

"He said 'Let me wear it,' " McLaren said. "And I said 'No, you've worn it enough. That's enough.' "

A simple "No mas!" in Spanish would have sufficed.

The Mariners had once again played Roberto Duran to the Tigers' version of Sugar Ray Leonard in that third inning, getting rocked for a grand slam by Marcus Thames and hits by eight of the first nine guys Washburn faced. In other words, Washburn was wearing enough to stage an impromptu fashion show by the time he was lifted with the Tigers up 9-1 and threatening more.

"At that point, I knew the bullpen had a rough night last night, had to throw a lot of innings," Washburn said. "I just wanted to throw as many as I could to help the team. It's not going to get any worse. Nine runs I'd already given up. Who cares if I give up 20 at that point? The guys did a good job coming back a little bit, but for the most part that game's out of hand."

The most disquieting part of how McLaren's league-worst team has literally collapsed around him this month is that some of the biggest disappointments are from a starting rotation expected to carry this team.

There had been preseason talk of "five No. 1 starters" and a quintet that could toss 1,000 combined innings. Maybe over a two-year period the way things are going. But for now, the team will settle for merely being kept within sniper range for five innings.

"Our starters are really having a little struggle here," McLaren said. "We're behind the eight-ball almost every night. When you're behind 9-1, it's not good."

Seattle starters are now 3-12 with a 7.27 earned-run average in the month of May. They have thrown 100-1/3 innings, an average of only 5-1/3 frames every time out.

It's a big reason the Mariners designated long reliever Cha Seung Baek for assignment after this blowout. Baek had just tossed three innings of scoreless mop-up relief, Ryan Rowland-Smith soaked up the remainder, with both pitchers working in their second straight game.

That meant the team had no one left to clean things up in this afternoon's game should Miguel Batista leave another of his early messes behind. Instead, the team will likely fill Baek's roster spot with knuckleballer R.A. Dickey just before game time.

That may not be the last of the moves. A whole lot of people could be getting shipped in and out in coming weeks, McLaren being one of them, if this team keeps getting knocked out of games by the third or fourth inning.

Mariners pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre is dumbfounded.

"We'll get a couple of well-pitched games and I think 'We're on our way, everybody's going to pitch good this round,' " he said. "And then, we'll run into a game like tonight where the starter gets beat on pretty good and we go into the bullpen early. And then instead of having the games I expect — the three, four or five-run games — we get a double-figure game."

It came to a point in the third inning where the Tigers were swinging at every pitch Washburn threw, not even bothering to try to work the count.

"They were jumping on it fast, but it wasn't like I was throwing strikes or good pitches for them to hit," said Washburn, who has lost his last seven starts against Detroit. "I knew they were going to be aggressive. They were aggressive last night. They came out swinging the bats. I knew they were going to do the same thing tonight. I wanted to throw good, early in the count pitches, not give them something to hit and I did that. But they still found holes."

A few could have drilled some holes, as well. One nearly got bored into Washburn's head on one line drive comebacker he snagged on reflex.

This team has seen a lot of holes lately. And with the one in the starting rotation growing bigger by the game, it may be too late to plug it in time to save a season sinking fast.

Geoff Baker: gbaker@seattletimes.com