Mariners snap streak of six road losses

BOSTON — Towel jokes in a major league clubhouse usually involve an unsuspecting player or two getting whip-snapped from behind by a wet towel.

But after an 8-0 rout of a team somewhat resembling the Boston Red Sox, the Mariners joke that perhaps their towels should be banned in their clubhouse.

It was M's general manager Bill Bavasi who, after his team's loss on Wednesday, ordered that food not be put out and that towels be withheld so that players would stand by their lockers for media interviews, instead of eating or showering.

"I was worried that there might not be any food after the game today," Ichiro said through an interpreter, after the Felix Hernandez-led Mariners finally snapped their four-game losing streak in front of 37,757 fans at a sold-out Fenway Park. "I was worried that if we won today, maybe they would continue the streak of not serving the food."

Ichiro made sure to add that he was only trying to be funny. But when asked in a more serious vein how he felt about major-leaguers having such privileges revoked, he replied: "I felt it was kind of cute, actually. It's something a parent would do to a young kid, and that's basically my emotion."

So, consider the kids chastened.

But at the end of the day, Ichiro added, the food and towel changes were minor inconveniences that were only temporary.

"Find something that is not temporary and change that," he said.

He refused to go into detail about whether he was referring to a change in on-field play, or player personnel. The Mariners did manage, for one night at least, to change some things on the field against Boston, snapping a streak of six road defeats.

They needed some help from the Red Sox, starting with a makeshift lineup that was missing David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez and Jacoby Ellsbury because of injury.

Not to mention a haphazard Bartolo Colon throwing away a couple of balls that resulted in Seattle's first three runs of the game. Ichiro then knocked home two more in the fourth inning to make it 5-0 for a Seattle club that had been just 1-13 on the road since April 29.

Richie Sexson also had his first three-hit game since June 1, 2007, driving in two runs with a trio of singles.

That lead would be more than enough on a night when Hernandez was again having his way with the Red Sox on their home turf. Hernandez survived a bases-loaded jam in the second inning, striking out Coco Crisp to end the threat, and made it through six before Sean Green and Ryan Rowland-Smith finished things off.

Hernandez has yet to allow a run in this ballpark, tossing 15 scoreless innings in two starts so far. He felt a little uncomfortable at first, thrown off somewhat by an extra day of rest. But the strikeout on Crisp was huge and gave his team a chance to build on its early lead.

"It was important to me and important for the team," Hernandez said. "I was trying to keep the lead and make my pitches."

There were question marks about how the team would respond to Bavasi's food and towel tactics and to manager John McLaren's expletive-laden postgame tirade on Wednesday. Things might have gone a lot differently had Red Sox starter Colon not thrown away a potential double-play grounder by Adrian Beltre with two on and one out in the first inning.

Instead of the Mariners swinging themselves out of yet another chance, they wound up with an unearned run when Colon threw the ball into center field. A second unearned marker scored on a ground out in an inning that should have been over.

Sexson said the team has needed an inning like that one for a long time. He said there has been "a lot of negativity" surrounding the club and that the only way to get rid of it is to win.

Same for his own struggling bat, he added. The only thing he can do is try to pile up more hits.

"We just came out and played a good game," he said. "I don't think anybody was thinking about two days ago when we came out and won the game today."

McLaren said he never thought about how the players would react on the field to the widely publicized events of Wednesday.

"We took advantage of the other team, which we hadn't been able to do until tonight," McLaren said. "They opened the door, and we took advantage."

And for one night, at least, everyone headed home dry and well-fed.

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

Read his daily blog at www.seattletimes.com/Mariners