Mariners' playoff hopes take big blow in 9-0 loss to Cleveland Indians

The postgame talk from Ryan Rowland-Smith sounded a positive note about his return to action and the future of this Mariners staff.

Rowland-Smith made his 2009 home debut Friday, roughly three months later than expected, and looked pretty good for his first six innings. Unfortunately for the Mariners, the final three innings of what became a 9-0 loss to the Cleveland Indians may have ensured that the future is all this team has to look forward to.

Seattle's present-day playoff chances took a serious beating on a four-homer night by the Indians. With the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline less than a week away, the Mariners trail by 6 ½ games in the AL West and 5 ½ games in the wild-card race, and they may be as close to "sell" mode as at any point this entire season.

"I think you set the tone when you have an opportunity," Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said, "and we didn't do that early in the ballgame."

Wakamatsu was talking about a missed first-inning chance against Indians starter Aaron Laffey, when the Mariners notched two singles and two walks, yet failed to score. But he might as well have been speaking about this series as a whole, with the Mariners failing to beat a Cleveland club with the league's second-worst record and presenting a golden chance for Seattle to gain playoff ground.

Instead, a crowd of 34,802 saw Laffey toss a career-high seven innings in a game that was still 1-0 heading into the seventh. Then Rowland-Smith, who had retired 13 in a row, yielded a single and then a two-run homer by Travis Hafner that broke things open.

After Ben Francisco followed with a solo homer to left off Rowland-Smith, Cleveland erupted for a five-run ninth against Miguel Batista, with Ryan Garko hitting a three-run homer and Jamey Carroll a solo shot for his first long ball since Aug. 28.

The Mariners finished with four hits, only one after the second inning. Three double plays in the first three innings helped Laffey find a groove, and he never looked back.

"He's the kind of pitcher who changes speeds a lot and when he gets in a rhythm, it's going to be tough to get to him," said the Mariners' Ryan Langerhans, who grounded out with the bases loaded to end that first inning.

After double-play grounders from Russell Branyan in the first and Ronny Cedeno in the second, Laffey got another from Jose Lopez to end the third and then retired his final 12 hitters.

"He was throwing a lot of the same stuff, but he started changing his sequences up and everything," Langerhans said. "I know he pitched me differently in every at-bat."

Rowland-Smith matched Laffey as best he could. He yielded a one-out double to Garko in the second that set up a sacrifice fly by Francisco.

The pitcher didn't allow another hit until a Jhonny Peralta single to lead off the seventh. One pitch later, Hafner parked one over the center-field fence.

Rowland-Smith said the fastball thrown Hafner was too high, as was a changeup on the ensuing Francisco homer.

"I thought I got us into position in that seventh inning, with just the one run," he said. "I felt like I had a good tempo. I was getting some quick innings and thought I kept the ball down. It was just that seventh inning, there were a couple of pitches that just got away."

Rowland-Smith admitted to some early nerves in his first start since arm soreness felled him after his season debut in April. The Mariners kept Rowland-Smith at Class AAA about two months longer than expected, hoping he would build velocity, hone his changeup and perhaps resurrect some confidence.

"I always knew I was going to be OK," he said. "I was just waiting for that phone call to get that opportunity again to pitch."

He thinks he's a better pitcher now, but the extended minor-league stint tested his patience at times.

"You find out who you really are as a person," Rowland-Smith said.

And the Mariners, if they truly want to stay in this race before the trade deadline, are about to find out just what they're made of as well.

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