M's drop No. 100 in 6-5 loss to Angels

It was another magical baseball night in Seattle — the first use of instant replay at Safeco Field since the system was instigated by Bud Selig on Aug. 28.

Less magical, from the Mariners' standpoint, was the finalization of their 100th defeat on Wednesday, making them the sport's first team with a $100 million payroll to reach triple digits in losses.

They are now sitting forlornly at 58-100 after their 6-5 loss to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

The Angels, driving toward 100 victories, picked up No. 98, with Mark Teixeira's solo homer off Mark Lowe with two outs in the eighth breaking a 5-5 tie.

The Mariners, at least, won the replay ruling, with the umpiring crew taking 2 minutes and 28 seconds to uphold the original call by third-base ump Chuck Meriwether. He had called Vlad Guerrero's drive into the left-field corner foul, while Angels manager Mike Scioscia argued it was a home run.

For team's not involved in the pennant race — a status the Mariners ensured themselves back around Memorial Day, these final days are at least partly about round-number achievements.

Jose Lopez, for instance, on Wednesday banged out his 40th double in the first inning, a tidy punctuation to a strong offensive season. Lopez and Raul Ibanez (43 doubles) are just the third Mariners teammates to reach 40 doubles in the same season (joining Edgar Martinez and Alex Rodriguez in 1996, and A-Rod and Joey Cora in 1997).

Ichiro is trying to get the three runs he needs to reach 100 and join Lou Gehrig as the only player in history with eight seasons of 200 hits and 100 runs. He didn't get any on Wednesday.

Felix Hernandez, in his final scheduled start of the season, worked six innings to reach the 200-inning milestone for the first time in his career (200-2/3, to be exact).

But Hernandez couldn't hold the 5-2 lead the Mariners handed him with three runs in the fifth, losing his chance to become the Mariners' first (and only) 10-game winner this season.

Felix, whose record remained 9-11 with his 11th no-decision of the season, had a lackluster final effort. He gave up 13 hits and remained winless since Aug. 29.

Only twice in their history have the Mariners failed to have a pitcher with double-digit wins — in 2004, when Ron Villone led the team with at 8-6, and 1981, when Floyd Bannister was 9-9.

In the sixth, Hernandez gave up four hits (three of them doubles) and two walks for three runs. The big hit was Sean Rodriguez's two-run double.

In the previous inning, Guerrero had hit a line drive down the left-field line that hit near the yellow home-run line on the wall, in front of the foul pole. Meriwether emphatically signaled foul, but when Scioscia pleaded his case to crew chief Tim Welke, the three base umpires retreated to a room in the tunnel to watch the replay.

Nothing they saw changed their mind, and Guerrero remained at the plate — promptly singling to center.

Notes

• Ibanez served as designated hitter for the second straight game, and may do so again tonight. "Raul hasn't had a day off all year," manager Jim Riggleman said.

• Lefty Cesar Jimenez is the likely starter for tonight's series finale against the Angels.

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

For the record

Streak: L1

Home: 32-45

Road: 26-55

vs. AL West: 19-34

vs. L.A.: 5-13

vs. Oakland: 6-10

vs. Texas: 8-11

vs. AL East: 15-29

vs. AL Cent.: 15-28

vs. NL: 9-9

vs. LHP: 19-30

vs. RHP: 39-70

Day: 18-34

Night: 40-66

One-run: 17-30

Extra inn.: 5-7

Home attendance

Wednesday's crowd: 19,015

Season total: 2,236,636

Biggest crowd: 46,334 (March 31)

Smallest crowd: 15,818 (May 6)

Average (77 dates): 29,047

2007 average (77 dates): 32,924