Mariners tagged with a loss

BOSTON — Adrian Beltre watched in disbelief as umpire Rick Reed botched a simple tag play at first base in the first inning Sunday, allowing the Boston Red Sox a second run like a gift from the Easter Bunny.

The Mariners third baseman, who'd made the wide throw across the diamond, later said, "You like to think he'd get it right. You never know — that might end up the winning run."

Well, guess what. Boston went on to win, 3-2. Jarrod Washburn gave the Mariners their third finely pitched game of this series, only to have the Red Sox's Josh Beckett do the same for his side.

This is not to say the game hinged on the call on which Reed wound up with Easter egg on his face. He somehow missed the fact that Richie Sexson had clearly — so clearly you could see his glove bend from the contact — tagged Jason Varitek before he slid into first with two outs and a runner on third.

Sexson said: "I tagged him. When I spoke with him [Reed], he said I missed him. I was stunned by the call because I tagged him pretty good."

Even Varitek confessed: "He [Sexson] made the play. He hit me pretty solid."

Seattle later had a chance on offense to rectify Reed's wrong, but botched it. In the sixth inning, Raul Ibanez tripled to right, a ball that eluded ham-fisted Wily Mo Pena. But Beckett struck out Sexson and Beltre, and the Mariners are now 3 for 12 on this trip with a runner on third and less than two outs.

Asked if that was the biggest part of the game, manager Mike Hargrove, who was careful not to go ballistic on the field or in his postgame dissection, responded: "No, the biggest part of the game was when they scored two runs in the first."

"I asked him [Reed] to get help, because he obviously didn't see it well enough," Hargrove added. "He said the other umpires' attention was other places with runners on base. [Plate umpire Laz] Diaz was the only other umpire who had a look, and he [Reed] said he was focused on the runner coming in from third."

Reed said, "I felt I made the right call." Asked why he did not ask for help, he said, "Because I felt I had the best view of the play. In my mind, there was no need to bring in the other umpires."

Seattle tied the score at 2 in the third. Red Sox second baseman Mark Loretta muffed Ichiro's grounder and Pena missed Jose Lopez's sinking liner in right for a triple and the Mariners' first run. Ibanez blooped a single to left to score Lopez.

Then Washburn, with a wild wind at 21 mph messing with his control, gave up Boston's third run in the fourth.

Varitek grounded a single to left and with one out, Dunstan Mohr walked and Pena was hit to load the bases. Alex Gonzalez popped a single into center to make it 3-2.

From there it was all about pitching, with the Mariners bullpen working the last two innings to keep it a one-run game, and the Red Sox bullpen doing the same job.

When the Mariners had their chance after Ibanez's sixth-inning triple, Beckett struck out Sexson with a superb curveball on 3-2.

"You can't be looking for a breaking ball from him there," Sexson said. "He threw me one earlier in the at-bat to go 1-2, then two fastballs that missed. If I walk, it's no big thing. So he threw the hook and it was a good one."

Beckett then wiped Beltre away with fastball, curve, fastball.

One might wonder what happens in such a game if Ichiro and Beltre are hitting, instead of being off to horrible starts. Ichiro, batting .185, said simply, "I feel the same as ever."

Beltre, who is paying his way these days with solid defense, admitted he was thinking too much at the plate.

"I've struggled like this before," he said, "and when you do, sometimes you start thinking too much and you put yourself deeper in a hole. I've had pitches — a couple today — I should be hitting hard. But when you go to the plate, it looks like you're out before you see a pitch.

"This is only [13] games in a six-month season. If it was 12 games in July, no one might notice, but when you start this way it looks even worse.

"This actually isn't a lot different for me. For some reason, I never get off to good starts. But I have to admit this one is bad."

Bob Finnigan: 206-464-8276 or bfinnigan@seattletimes.com