M's are good enough to keep fans frustrated

The Mariners won't need a bandwagon this season. They'd rather ride in a bumper car.

They like to crash, violently and unexpectedly, and that would just be too much for fans looking to climb aboard a happy vehicle that never swerves. Call them what you want — inconsistent, incomplete, still learning how to win, the same ol' Mariners — but this team figures to remain herky-jerky all season.

This time last week, the Mariners were hope escalators. They had won 9 of 10 games. Six of those wins, including the last four, were one-run decisions. They were becoming kings of the dramatic, and their late-game flair was making you believe someone sprinkled pixie dust on them.

One week later, it seems the pixie dust became lodged in their eyes.

The Mariners return home to Safeco Field today on a five-game losing streak. They've fallen from nine games over .500 to a 35-31 record. They've slipped to third place in the American League West. Their starters are pitching terribly, their bullpen is showing signs of overuse, and even optimists can see chaos looming.

Which probably means they'll go on another hot streak.

You keep waiting for something to give this season, but it hasn't. There are more warning signs than positives, but the Mariners have resuscitated themselves throughout the first 66 games. The All-Star break arrives in three weeks. The Mariners' topsy-turvy ways are beginning to look more like a dominant characteristic than some fleeting behavioral phase.

This season will be better than the past three seasons, but that's not saying much. Texas is clearly the worst team in the AL West, so the Mariners won't be finishing in last place for a fourth straight year. And they will surpass last season's 78-victory total, but the question is, by how much?

The Mariners have 81-81 written all over them. They're hitting .284 and allowing opponents to hit .284. They've scored 335 runs and allowed 337. They're as good as their 9-of-10 winning streak and as bad as their current five-game losing streak.

It's a transitional season for a franchise that finished 63-99, 69-93 and 78-84 the previous three seasons. Everyone wants to be the Detroit Tigers, who went from laughingstock to the World Series last season, but those success stories don't occur every year.

In reality, this team might only be good enough to frustrate the overeager among us.

It has enough talent to get your hopes up. It doesn't have enough pitching to calm your fears. And so you're trapped between what this team is and what you want it to be. For certain, the gap between those two is smaller than it has been. But the closer you get, the more expectations rise. Despite the recent string of losing seasons, you might find, say, an 84-78 record thoroughly unfulfilling.

For now, though, you should hope the Mariners can keep holding themselves together with Scotch tape.

They begin a 12-game homestand tonight against Pittsburgh. In this stretch, the Mariners will play just three games (versus Boston next week) against a team with a winning record.

After the homestand is a three-game series at lowly Kansas City. Then the Mariners have an important four-game set at Oakland just before the break. If Seattle plays competent baseball in these next 19 games, it will be in good position for the second half of the season.

It would help if the starting pitchers did their part. Right now, the starters' ERAs would only be good as scoring averages for a middle-school basketball starting five: 10.97, 5.74, 5.10, 4.58 and 4.38.

Jarrod Washburn, the rotation's glue for a while, is struggling. Felix Hernandez has regressed severely since coming off the disabled list. Horacio Ramirez is injured, and Jeff Weaver is starting again. Put it this way: Miguel Batista might lead the M's in wins this year.

With a 7-5 record despite a 5.10 ERA, Batista has been resilient. But come on — the Mariners won't be contenders if he winds up being the staff's winningest pitcher.

There will come a time when the rotation must carry this team for a period. Otherwise, the Mariners will just be waiting for their bullpen to overheat. If Seattle is in serious contention around the July 31 trade deadline, it must aggressively pursue one more arm.

Much worry exists for a team that is actually four victories better than it was at this point last season. It's a good thing the Mariners seem to like danger. The road will only get more treacherous from here.

Jerry Brewer: 206-464-2277 or jbrewer@seattletimes.com. For more on this column, read "Extra Points" at blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/ brewer.