Notebook | What, M's worry? Felix is OK, they say

Forget the pop psychology and amateur medical diagnosis where Felix Hernandez is concerned. That's the advice of those closest to the Mariners starter, who say his recent struggles are not as awful as they seem.

Mariners pitching coach Rafael Chaves said Tuesday that Hernandez is completely healthy or else the team would not send him out there. But he added the two season-opening wins by Hernandez in early April may have set the expectations bar unrealistically high for a pitcher still only 21.

Hernandez tossed 17 scoreless innings to open the season with two straight wins before injuring his elbow in a game against the Minnesota Twins. In five starts since his return, he's 1-2 with a 6.31 earned-run average.

The team isn't happy with those outings, but Chaves isn't hitting any panic buttons.

"The bar is real high," Chaves said. "He wants to get back to those numbers and we want him to get back to those numbers. But you've got to be honest with yourself. Whatever happened at the beginning of the year is something that doesn't happen too often."

Instead, Chaves said, the team continues to stick to modest expectations of having Hernandez consistently get the basics down. On a game-by-game, pitch-by-pitch level.

"We just want him to be consistent," Chaves said. "We just want him to give us a chance to be in ballgames."

That's why Chaves was thrilled to see Hernandez not give up any more runs after falling behind 4-1 in the second inning of Monday's outing. Chaves had a heart-to-heart chat with the pitcher in the dugout after that frame and told him he had to bear down and give his team a chance.

"I was so proud of Felix after last night's game," he said. "He wasn't living in the past where he said, 'Oh, I just gave up four runs, let me start pouting.' He went out and he gave it everything he had even though it was not his best stuff."

Chaves knows some folks say Hernandez's body language hasn't looked as confident since his injury. He completely agrees, but isn't concerned.

"Anybody who is not having the success they want to have is not going to have the confidence they need," Chaves said. "You're going to get confidence when you have success. And right now, he's not having the success we want him to have. He's not having the success he knows he can have. And obviously, your body language is going to change with that."

Trusting one another

Improved trust between manager Mike Hargrove and his relievers is a key reason Seattle's weary bullpen has avoided any sort of implosion. So said left-hander George Sherrill, one of several relievers pressed into added duty as the team plays 23 games in 23 days at the same time its starting pitchers struggle to last five or six innings.

The Mariners are 28-0 when leading after the seventh inning and Sherrill has been a huge part of it. So has Brandon Morrow, riding a streak of 17-2/3 scoreless innings and closer J.J. Putz, who has nailed all 15 of his save opportunities.

"I think me, compared to last year, they're leaving me in there longer when they need it," said Sherrill, who has been scored on just once in 24 outings this season and also has 16 strikeouts over 11-1/3 innings since May 1. "They're leaving me in there for an inning, or an inning-plus when they need it. Instead of just bringing me in for a matchup, or not even using me, they're bringing me in more this year."

Using some relievers longer, or in different roles, has enabled Hargrove to spread the workload and avoid burning out a bullpen forced to go three or four innings almost every night.

"We've got a bunch of guys who can eat up innings," Sherrill said. "We've got a bunch of guys who can do a variety of roles. And the skipper has the confidence in us to be able to do all those different roles."

Still out of the middle

Jose Lopez might be tearing up opposing pitchers while batting second, but not enough to convince Hargrove to move him to the middle of the order. Lopez entered Tuesday's game 6 for 10 with two doubles, five runs batted in and two runs scored in a pair of games replacing Jose Vidro as the No. 2 hitter.

With Richie Sexson out of the lineup Tuesday with a sore calf, Hargrove thought about batting Lopez fifth or sixth. But instead, he moved Kenji Johjima up to No. 5 and put Vidro — back from his finger injury — at No. 6.

"I felt like, right now, that's such a big difference," Hargrove said of moving Lopez again. "Such a [more difficult] change than going from hitting ninth to hitting second — going to an RBI spot. I'd rather have Vidro do it."

Betancourt to stay put

There are also no plans to move Yuniesky Betancourt higher up in the order, despite him extending his hitting streak to 17 games Tuesday.

Betancourt is tied for the second-best hit streak by a shortstop in Mariners history. Alex Rodriguez, who holds the team record at 20 games, also had a 17-gamer.

For the record

Streak: W4

Home: 17-12

Road: 13-13

vs. AL West: 12-10

vs. L.A.: 2-7

vs. Oakland: 4-1

vs. Texas: 6-2

vs. AL East: 9-6

vs. AL Central: 8-7

vs. NL: 1-2

vs. LHP: 11-3

vs. RHP: 19-22

Day: 9-8

Night: 21-17

One-run: 6-7

Extra innings: 0-0

Home attendance

Tuesday's crowd: 19,287

Season total: 848,447

Biggest crowd: 46,181 (May 13)

Smallest crowd: 16,555 (May 2)

Average (28 dates): 29,257

2006 average (29 dates): 26,238