M's Notebook | Slumping Sexson gets the night off

Struggling Mariners first baseman Richie Sexson got the night off Saturday, a break that could last up to a week.

While he's on the bench, the hope is he'll figure out the cause of the deepest slump of his career, one that has been exacerbated by some team-wide struggles at the plate and had Seattle on a three-game losing streak heading into Saturday's game against the San Diego Padres.

Sexson is hitting just .162 for the season and is hitless in his last 15 at-bats.

But while Mariners manager Mike Hargrove had previously resisted giving Sexson a break, he changed his mind after Sexson struck out three times Friday, the last time taking a fastball down the middle of the plate for strike three. That elicited maybe the loudest boos Sexson has heard since coming to Seattle before the 2005 season.

Hargrove said afterward, "I saw a look in his eyes" that he hadn't been seeing previously, one the manager said convinced him "that it was time to give [Sexson] a rest."

Sexson said after Friday night's game he would accept whatever decision Hargrove made, saying, "There's no excuse for the way I'm leaving guys on base."

Hargrove said the rest is "98 percent to give him a mental break right now," and that once he again saw a look from Sexson "where he looks like he's not trying to hang himself," he would be back in the lineup.

Hargrove would commit only to giving Sexson one day off, but said it could easily last go longer. Sexson had played in all of Seattle's 37 games before Saturday.

Most perplexing about the slump is that no one seems to know the cause.

Mariners batting coach Jeff Pentland said Sexson has been his usual hard-working self in the batting cages and in the film room and has made a few adjustments to his swing, but none of it has produced the answer.

"He feels good," Pentland said of Sexson. "He's seeing the ball good. We thought we saw signs of him coming out of it on the last road trip."

Pentland pointed out that Sexson has always been streaky and got off to a similar start a year ago, hitting .218 at the All-Star break before hitting .322 after it to finish at .264, not far shy of his career average (.269).

"When he's good, he's very good," Pentland said. "When he's not, he struggles. You hate to see someone go through it for such a long period of time. Usually slumps don't last quite as long as his."

The Mariners have a lot invested in Sexson getting it sorted out, as he is in the third year of a four-year, $50 million contract.

Pentland said he had a long talk with Sexson on Saturday, as well as a 15-minute individual session in the batting cage.

"Obviously, he is down," Pentland said. "He feels he's hurting the ballclub by not producing. But he is going to battle his way through it. There is no quit in that guy, that's for sure."

Ben Broussard replaced Sexson in the lineup and as the cleanup hitter, but Hargrove said this wasn't an audition for Broussard to take Sexson's place permanently.

"It's just a chance for him to play," Hargrove said. "Richie is our first baseman."

Ibanez, Betancourt also

take a seat

Sexson wasn't the only regular getting a break — shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt and left fielder Raul Ibanez were also out of the lineup.

Ibanez was scratched after telling Hargrove that his increasingly troublesome back had stiffened up.

Betancourt was apparently benched after again running afoul of orders to lay off high fastballs.

Betancourt has long struggled with that pitch and chased one again for strike three Friday night.

"We had talked about it before the game," said Pentland, noting that Padres pitcher Chris Young was known for trying to get batters out with high fastballs. "He [Betancourt] has been better at that this year than he was last year, but he falls off the horse every once in a while."

Betancourt was replaced by Willie Bloomquist while Ibanez was replaced by Jason Ellison, who had just four at-bats entering the game.

Seeking patience

Sexson and Betancourt (5 for 22 on the homestand) were hardly alone in struggling at the plate of late. The Mariners scored just four runs in the three games before Saturday, going 3 for 29 with runners in scoring position.

"We obviously are not pleased by what we are seeing," Pentland said. "Baseball, especially hitting, is peaks and valleys, and certainly we are in a valley right now. I think we are a good offensive ballclub. Sometimes we are not the most patient hitters in the world and we don't have a whole lot of speed, so we are not great at creating runs without getting hits.

"I would like to see more of that, but the personnel of this team, I don't know if we will see a lot of that."

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

For the record

Streak: W1

Home: 12-10

Road: 7-9

vs. AL West: 8-7

vs. L.A.: 1-5

vs. Oakland: 4-1

vs. Texas: 3-1

vs. AL East: 5-5

vs. AL Central: 5-6

vs. NL: 1-1

vs. LHP: 6-2

vs. RHP: 13-17

Day: 7-6

Night: 12-13

One-run: 4-4

Extra innings: 0-0

Home attendance

Saturday's crowd: 34,287

Season total: 637,529

Biggest crowd: 46,181 (May 13)

Smallest crowd: 16,555 (May 2)

Average (22 dates): 28,979

2006 average (22 dates): 25,922