This was why the Mariners spent $114 million last winter.

Runners on first and third and one out in a key spot of an early season division game crucial for momentum.

But Adrian Beltre (five years, $64 million) and Richie Sexson (four years, $50 million) left the runners stranded in that critical fifth inning, allowing the Los Angeles Angels to leave town with a three-game sweep that looked all too reminiscent of last year's lost season.

The Angels eventually won this one 5-2, and took the three games in this series by a combined 15-4 score. The Mariners fell to four games under .500 and five games out of first place behind the Angels and now play 12 straight against the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, heading first to play each on the road.

"I'm very, very frustrated, but I'm not concerned," said Mariners second baseman Bret Boone. "I'm not at a worried point. But I am at a frustrated point."

Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said he actually saw some silver linings in the matinee loss before 26,303 at Safeco Field as Seattle got hits in six of the nine innings, and had 10 overall, though all but one was a single.

"We hit the ball with authority today," Hargrove said. "And our approach was better today than it was yesterday, which was better than the day before. We will get this thing turned around."

Boone said he thinks the team needs just one big inning to get back on track, espousing the old theory about hitting being contagious.

That threatened to happen several times yesterday. But every time the Mariners came up short, whether it be a Beltre smash that went just inches foul in the third, or a hard-hit ball by Jeremy Reed that turned into an unassisted double play by the first baseman in the fourth.

And with the Angels up 4-2 in the fifth, the Mariners threatened again with runners on first and third and one out. But Beltre hit into a fielder's choice and Sexson then popped out to second base.

"That could have been a turning point in the game and we didn't get it done," Sexson said.

Add it up, and the Mariners' offensive numbers for this series were scarier than being an opposing fan in the right-field bleachers at Yankee Stadium.

Beltre, who declined to talk with reporters after the game, was 0 for 12. Sexson 2 for 11. Boone 2 for 12. That's 4 for 35 from the Nos. 3-4-5 hitters in the lineup.

Even Ichiro wasn't immune, going 0 for 4 and making the last out in the second inning with two runners on base and two already in, and hitting 2 for 12 for the series.

"Offensively, we just can't do a whole bunch of anything right," Sexson said. "We're going through a really bad time. But I don't think anyone on this team is quitters. We are all fighting and working and doing early hitting, everything we can to get this thing turned around, and it just ain't happening."

The Mariners never led as Vladimir Guerrero broke an 0-for-9 slump of his own with a two-run homer in the first inning off of Mariners starter Aaron Sele, who said he threw a fat fastball over the middle of the plate.

The bottom of the Mariners lineup then helped scrape together two runs in the bottom of the second to tie the score — the run-scoring hits came from catcher Dan Wilson and shortstop Wilson Valdez.

But the Angels took the lead right back with two in the top of the third against an uncharacteristically wild Sele, who walked five batters and threw 84 pitches in 4-1/3 innings.

Sele lamented that he couldn't hold the Angels after the Mariners tied it with what was their only multiple-run inning of the series.

"I made too many pitches," Sele said. "In the third, they hit some pretty good pitches getting those three two-out hits in a row."

The Angels got a final run in the ninth inning as the Mariners turned sloppy — a walk, a wild pitch and an error helped lead to the run.

It was the second time this season that the Mariners lost to Angels starter Paul Byrd, who got the win in a 6-1 victory over Seattle on April 18 in Anaheim. Byrd has allowed three runs in 14-2/3 innings this year against Seattle, but is 0-3 and has allowed 18 earned runs in 24-1/3 innings in his other four starts.

"There's got to be a time where we quit giving credit to the opposing pitcher and start getting it done as a team offensively," Boone said. "We have a lot of guys working, trying to get their swings right. It's just right now, nothing is clicking."

And even though it's only May, one gets the sense that the clock on the season is already ticking.

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com