Notebook | Mariners starter Carlos Silva has hit hard times

ATLANTA — When Carlos Silva defeated the Oakland A's 8-1 with a smooth seven-inning performance on April 17, that much-maligned $48 million contract didn't look so bad.

After four starts, Silva was 3-0 with a 2.79 earned-run average, looking like a mainstay of the Seattle rotation.

But the Mariners didn't get Silva for four starts; they have him for four years, and the right-hander has hit hard times.

He didn't make it past the fourth inning Sunday in the Mariners' 8-3 loss to the Braves at Turner Field. Since that 3-0 start, Silva has lost nine in a row in 12 starts, with a 7.35 ERA.

"I'm not getting frustrated," he said. "We have to learn from the bad moments, too. You don't want to make a mistake from frustration. That's just going to make it worse.

"I feel bad because I'm not doing the job right now. I don't feel bad because I'm giving up or not working. I've been doing hard work to get better, but it's not working out."

Silva was rocked for two of the three homers hit by Mark Teixeira, both of them majestic shots.

"It was like he was playing golf with me," he said.

He also gave up a homer to Brian McCann, and manager Jim Riggleman elected to pull Silva after just four innings and 60 pitches. He allowed nine hits and trailed 4-0.

"I could have sent him back out there," Riggleman said. "But with that part of the lineup coming up [Teixeira and McCann], I felt it would be a real challenge to hold them down any more."

Foul trouble

The Mariners got a real scare in the third when Jose Vidro, swinging on a hit-and-run with runners on first and third, had a foul ball bounce up and hit him flush on his cheek.

"It knocked me down pretty good," he said. "I went down to my knees. I was feeling bad because my head felt numb for a second."

Vidro, who started at first base in place of Richie Sexson, remained in the game through the sixth inning. Afterward, his face was bruised and swollen. X-rays were negative.

"I didn't feel very good at all, but I stayed in, and battled through it. I feel better now," he said.

Completing the at-bat, Vidro struck out as the Mariners' squandered one of their few rallies off Tim Hudson. Vidro grounded out in his only other at-bat.

"I was worried that second at-bat, because I could see it was swelling up to my eye," he said. "I looked down and didn't see too clearly."

Bedard to miss start

Riggleman said after the game that Erik Bedard, who left his last start against the Braves after three innings with back spasms, is unlikely to make his next scheduled start on Wednesday against the Mets at Shea Stadium.

"Hopefully, we can get him pitching soon, but I don't know that Wednesday is realistic," Riggleman said.

If not, Miguel Batista is likely to move back out of the bullpen to start Tuesday's game in New York, with R.A. Dickey, scheduled to start Tuesday, pushed back to Wednesday.

Brandon Morrow, who also had back spasms, is scheduled to rejoin the Mariners today in New York. Riggleman said that when Morrow is fully recovered, he would like Batista to rejoin the rotation, with Dickey moving back to relief, provided Bedard can pitch.

Message on a baseball

After ex-Mariner Greg Norton, playing left field, made a great leaping catch of Kenji Johjima's drive in Saturday's game, his old teammates in the nearby M's bullpen gave him some ribbing.

Norton had misjudged the ball initially, and he saw some of the Seattle relievers laughing.

"I'm just trying to get on web gems once a week by taking bad routes," Norton said.

Before the next inning, while warming up with Braves center fielder Gregor Blanco, Norton noticed a ball rolling toward him, with a message from the Mariners bullpen.

"They threw me a ball and wrote on it," Norton said. "I can't repeat what they wrote on it. I was warming up and I see a ball roll by me. I threw it in the stands."

Old-school tip

Jarrod Washburn has pitched markedly better in recent games — a 2.08 ERA in his last three starts — and he credits a tip on his delivery he got from his old college coach at University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Tom Lechnir.

"I made a mechanical adjustment," he said. "It's not much to tell. I called my college coach, asked him what I was doing, and he told me. It's a simple change, something I was doing early that was causing all kinds of problems."

Washburn said he has called Lechnir, still coaching in Oshkosh, several times over the years for advice.

"He's good," he said. "He's a real close friend of mine. He watches every game he can. He definitely knows me."

Notes

• Riggleman said he will continue to mix and match at catcher and center field. Jeff Clement and Kenji Johjima are sharing time at the former position, Jeremy Reed and Willie Bloomquist in the latter.

Although both pairs have left- and right-handed hitters, Riggleman hasn't gone with a strict left-right platoon so far.

"It's going to be a daily challenge not to let either one get rusty," he said. "It kind of contradicts itself: You want to have as set a lineup as you can, but now we just don't. I'm not going to try to kid anybody. We're been searching for that from day one."

Adrian Beltre missed another game Sunday with a bruised left index finger, but the Mariners hope to have him in the lineup tonight.

• Tonight's game in New York against the Mets at Shea Stadium features a prime-time pitching matchup of Venezuelan aces: Felix Hernandez vs. Johan Santana.

Hernandez is fourth in the American League in ERA (2.87), third in innings pitched (103-1/3), fourth in strikeouts (91) and third in road ERA (1.90). Santana is fifth in the National League in ERA (3.04), seventh in innings pitched (100-2/3), and tied for fourth in strikeouts (91).

The two faced off once before, in Seattle, when Santana was with the Twins.

Larry Stone: 206-464-3146 or lstone@seattletimes.com

For the record

Streak: L2

Home: 15-24

Road: 11-25

vs. AL West: 10-14

vs. L.A.: 3-6

vs. Oakland: 3-2

vs. Texas: 4-6

vs. AL East: 8-17

vs. AL Cent.: 4-10

vs. NL: 4-8

vs. LHP: 5-13

vs. RHP: 21-36

Day: 8-17

Night: 18-32

One-run: 8-15

Extra innings: 2-2