Loss to Yankees caps Mariners' winless road trip

NEW YORK — No one in the visiting clubhouse really wanted to talk about silver linings after the Mariners played hard and went down even harder.

It's true they saved their very best for the Sunday afternoon finale of a winless road trip, taking a three-run lead into the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium. They had bounced New York Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang, benefited from run-saving defensive plays from Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson, as well as a clutch hit by Jose Vidro, not to mention the best outing Jarrod Washburn had pitched in more than a month.

Yet, it still didn't matter. In the end, a 6-5 loss was sealed with a hard-luck, four-run eighth inning when J.J. Putz made a poor throw to first base and Ichiro failed to track down a high fly ball. The result was another defeat for a Mariners team that finally did some of the stuff needed to compete on a daily basis.

"They're all tough right now," Putz said after an 0-6 road trip and 19th loss in 24 games overall. "Wash threw a great game, we got some big hits and just couldn't finish it off. We've got to go back to what Mac [Mariners manager John McLaren] was talking about. Play a good, clean game. And we just couldn't do it."

The Yankees took the lead for good in the eighth as Jose Molina hit a towering fly ball to right center. It hung up like a Ray Guy punt as a scrambling Ichiro and right fielder Wladimir Balentien converged, neither looking very certain about who was going to catch it.

The ball ultimately dropped between the pair, with Hideki Matsui trotting home from second as the crowd of 54,269 leaped to its feet in celebration. Mariano Rivera mowed the Mariners down 1-2-3 in the ninth to end the final game Seattle — barring unlikely postseason action — will ever play at this park.

"In that situation, what we are trying to do is stop the ball from falling in front of you," Ichiro said of his shallow positioning. "As soon as they hit it, I thought it was going to be a tough ball to catch."

Ichiro said he raced back without even looking at the ball, because he knew he had to make up a lot of ground. By the time he looked up again to locate it, he was still out of position and it fell in.

"At the end of the play, I never got to where the ball was," he said.

Asked whether he would have been better off playing deeper, he added: "If I had spiritual powers and knew the ball was going to be landing there, then I would have. But I don't have spiritual powers."

The Mariners might need those to avoid 100 losses the rest of the way.

McLaren opted to bring in Putz for a six-out save after Sean Green walked Derek Jeter to lead off the eighth inning and Arthur Rhodes allowed a Bobby Abreu double to cut Seattle's lead to 5-3. Alex Rodriguez was due up next.

"We really felt the game was in that eighth inning," McLaren said. "That's why we went to J.J."

But Putz walked Rodriguez to put two on. He fanned Jason Giambi on a 2-2 pitch for the first out, then watched pinch-hitter Matsui roll over on a ball and send a soft grounder dribbling through the grass to his left.

Putz, relying on instinct, belly-flopped to the grass and snared a ball that charging second baseman Jose Lopez likely would not have reached. But when Putz attempted a desperate throw to first from a prone position, the ball slipped out of his hand and over first baseman Sexson's head.

"I couldn't get a grip," Putz said. "I'd probably have been better off eating it."

Instead, a run scored and the Yankees had runners at the corners with one out. Robinson Cano then delivered a sacrifice fly to center that tied the score.

Just as important, Matsui — not exactly a speed demon — was able to tag up on the play and beat Ichiro's throw to second. That was huge, because it dictated the outfielders would be playing more shallow after that to prevent an RBI single from dropping in, with a runner on second instead of first.

It made all the difference on the Molina fly ball that ultimately won the game.

Putz had the wind knocked out of him and suffered a "stinger" in his shoulder after hitting the ground hard diving for Matsui's grounder. But he shook it off, then later declared himself available to pitch again when needed.

It could be a lot tougher for the team to shake off this loss.

"A loss is a loss ... " McLaren said, pausing as he tried to keep his emotions and quivering voice in check. "They put so much into it."

On this one day, at least, they sure did. It would have mattered more had they done so the previous five.

Geoff Baker: 206-464-8286 or gbaker@seattletimes.com