The Mariners finally hit a home run tonight, but mustered little else in the way of offense. Cliff Lee did the best he could for seven-plus innings, but couldn't keep his team in a 2-2 tie forever and saw Tampa Bay finally erupt in the eighth.

"I've got to do a better job, after we got the lead there in the fourth,'' Lee said. "We scored two runs, I go back out there and give up two runs and they tie the game back up. I've got to do a better job of keeping our team in the lead and getting us back in the dugout there.''

Which is true, in theory. In reality, it's nonsense. Lee can say whatever he wants but those were the first two runs he'd allowed in a Seattle uniform. He has to be able to do something other than put up zeros and not fear he's going to lose the game.

He kept putting up zeros after that, but the M's managed just two more baserunners off Matt Garza after the fourth inning and the ending was predictable. Six runs by the Rays over the final two innings finally put the contest away.

A three-run eighth by the Rays off Lee -- two of those earned -- was helped by that Josh Wilson throwing error. And then, Sean White melted down in the ninth and could not hit the strike zone, enabling the visitors to pile on three more runs.

But the bottom line is, you can't win without an offense. Seattle has now scored three runs or fewer in eight of the last nine games -- including the last five.

Don Wakamatsu summed it all up rather nicely.

"Offensively, it's the same story,'' Wakamatsu said, his team having scored three runs or fewer in eight of the last nine games. "I think the ballgame was, we come out and Guti hits the two run home run, puts us up by two, and then Cliff comes out and gives up two and the offense goes back in its shell a little bit.

"We put so much pressure on this pitching staff because of a lack of offense. And it's something that, when we're throwing a guy like Cliff Lee or Felix (Hernandez) or one of our aces, or even Doug Fister out there, those are the ballgames you need to win and we need to get better offensively.''

Indeed they do.

And the pressure might continue. Mariners shortstop Jack Wilson has an injury right behind his knee. It's the same place he hurt it back in spring training and he missed a few days that time.

The hope is he's just loosened some scar tissue. If that's the case, he might only be out a few days. Wilson said it felt very sore when he first came in the clubhouse but that the discomfort eased as time went on.

Still, the Mariners are going to evaluate the situation tomorrow and may have to make a move to bring another infielder up from Class AAA if this is going to keep Wilson out a day or two. The way Sean White threw tonight, you could always send him down for a bit and bring somebody up. But we'll see.

With this offense non-existent, losing a high-caliber defender like Wilson is not a positive development. This team has to do all it can every inning to prevent runs from scoring because any run against could mean the game.

Then again, it might not matter.

What we're seeing night after night is not an MLB-caliber offense and it's not going to win games, whether it's Cliff Lee on the mound, Felix Hernandez, Lefty Grove or Cy Young. Milton Bradley being out didn't help things, but, to be honest, his being in there wasn't helping all that much. Since beating up on Baltimore over the last homestand, the Mariners have scored just 31 runs the last 11 games.

That's just under three runs per contest going on close to two weeks now.

As we've mentioned before, there is no easy way out. The way this offense was designed, the team has to pitch almost perfectly and play flawless baseball in the field to win. That's a little too much to ask of any team, even one this good on the mound and with the gloves.

At the risk of irritating some people, yes, a couple of "big bats" would help right about now. If you know of any, give Jack Zduriencik a call. Make sure you have the economics figured out as well, because, well, you know...the payroll thing. Until then, there is no magical cavalry about to ride in and save everyone. What you see is what you'll get for the forseeable future, And if they're to turn it around, they'll have to do it all on their own.