The Seattle Mariners have arrived in the place where many believed they might land in 2012. Granted, it is still relatively early in the season and the Mariners may eventually climb out of their current position. However, for now, the Mariners find themselves in the cellar of the American League West.

Not terrible, but not good

I don’t see the Mariners as a bad team. They just aren’t terribly good. When you are 15-20, I guess it is fair to say that you are well below average and heading towards dismal. A few more losses may put them squarely in the dreadful category, but hopefully they will at least pull out a few wins every so often. Overall, the team stats aren’t as bad as they have been the last couple of seasons. They just aren’t in the upper half of the league, and the Mariners are still trying to build consistent momentum.

Reason for optimism

There are signs of optimism. The pitching remains solid, and I do like this rotation. Overall, I think it is fair to say that the lineup is improved over last year, and a few of the young hitter pear to be blossoming. If the Mariners were more effective at the top of the lineup, this is an offense that might actually be able to do some damage in the future. Jesus Montero looks like the hitter everyone hoped he would be, and Kyle Seager is developing into a very solid player.

What can we hope for?

As a fan I do have to admit that it is hard to get excited about the reality that a best-case scenario for your team might be a .500 finish. You almost wish that other fan bases could understand what it is like to be loyal to a team and stick with them through long stretches of rough times. For example, if you are a follower of the New York Yankees, it doesn’t take much to be a fan. Who wouldn’t find it easy to follow a perennial contender in a league without a salary c? Talk about being totally spoiled.

Keep at it M’s. Perhs someday you will be a winner again.

Sources:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=320512110

The author lives in Los Angeles, but grew up in Seattle and still roots faithfully for the Mariners even though they are sometimes frustrating to watch. He gets to Seattle whenever he can to see his M’s. You can follow him on Twitter @tpheifer.

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NEW YORK – Felix Hernandez was in another of those low-scoring, tie games when the Seattle Mariners scored for him in the sixth inning Friday.

He never recovered.

Moments after Jesus Montero’s solo home run against his former teammates put Seattle ahead, the New York Yankees rode a two-out, three-run home run by former Mariner Raul Ibañez to a two-run lead that became a 6-2 victory.

It wasn’t as if Hernandez was dominant one moment, lost the next – this one was a battle for him for most of his 62/3 innings. When he got to the sixth inning tied, it was as much a matter of will as control.

Though Hernandez may be one of those pitchers who can get away with subpar games like this – he allowed 11 hits in less than seven innings – he cannot do it without runs.

For five innings against New York and Hiroki Kuroda, the Mariners gave Hernandez one run, that coming on the first leadoff home run of Dustin Ackley’s career.

One batter. One swing. One run.

Six innings later, it was still all the Mariners had, and they would have trailed by then had left fielder Mike Carp not thrown out Alex Rodriguez at plate in the fourth inning.

“It was the first time I’ve really cut loose a throw since I got hurt in Jan,” Carp said. “I came up with the ball, tried to stay on top of it and made a pretty good throw.

“If nothing else, that’ll help my mindset from now on.”

That play was as much a matter of third base coach Rob Thomson’s poor decision as Carp’s arm. Had Thomson held up A-Rod, the Yankees would have had the bases loaded with no one out.

Instead, the game remained tied and a big inning was gutted.

So when Montero silenced Yankees fans with his fifth home run of the season, the Mariners had a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning.

Felix couldn’t hold it.

“I gave up a lot of singles but controlled it until that one pitch to Raul,” Hernandez said. “I started him each at-bat with a sinker but that pitch didn’t sink. That’s the one pitch tonight I want back.”

Hernandez uncharacteristically walked the first man he faced in the sixth, Rodriguez, and gave up one of Robinson Cano’s four hits to put two men on with no one out.

He rallied for a force out, then a strikeout – his seventh – to bring up Ibañez.

The man who came up through the Seattle organization is universally well-liked by those he has played with – the Mariners, Royals, Phillies and Yankees – and against.

After hitting his sixth home run into the right-field stands, Ibañez is still one of Hernandez’s favorite ex-teammates. He just didn’t like him quite as much for a few moments.

“One pitch, game over,” Hernandez said.

After six innings, it seemed that way. After nine, it was hard to argue, even though New York had tacked on two more against the Mariners’ bullpen.

“Maybe he wasn’t quite as sharp as we’ve seen Felix, but you have to remember, he was within a pitch in the sixth inning of taking a 2-1 lead into the seventh,” manager Eric Wedge said.

What beat the Mariners, Wedge said, were two innings filled with opportunity, none of them realized.

“One inning (the second), we had runners at first and second base, no one out; the other (the fifth), we had the bases loaded with one out, and we didn’t score either time,” Wedge said. “You get a run in each of those, different game.”

The Yankees wouldn’t argue.

In the second inning, the Mariners used a Kyle Seager single and walk to John Jaso to create a threat, but Kuroda retired Justin Smoak, Carp and Michael Saunders without allowing the runners to advance.

“I felt better tonight,” said Smoak, who had three hits. “But that first at-bat, I had a fastball over the plate, and I’ve got to do more with that.”

Again in the fifth, the Mariners rallied – singles by Smoak and Saunders, a walk to Ackley – this time with one out. Kuroda struck out Brendan Ryan, then got No. 3 hitter Ichiro Suzuki to ground into a force play at third base.

As a result, Hernandez had no margin to work with. After the sixth, he trailed 4-2, then was knocked flat on the mound by a Derek Jeter single up the middle.

“That was close,” Hernandez said, shaking his head. “I stayed down a minute on that one.”

It was Seattle’s seventh road loss in a row, and the trip gets no easier: two more against New York, then two in Boston, a pair in Cleveland and three in Colorado.

larry.larue@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/mariners Twitter: @LarryLarue

Yankees 6, Mariners 2

NEW YORK — Raul Ibanez tried jumping at the first pitch against Felix Hernandez, and that didn’t work.

Then he tried patience, and that failed, too.

So he went back to being aggressive, and that paid off.

Ibanez hit a go-ahead, three-run homer off his former Seattle teammate with two outs in the sixth inning, leading the New York Yankees over the Mariners 6-2 on Friday night.

“When you’re facing an elite pitcher like him, sometimes the first pitch is the best one he’s going to throw you,” Ibanez said. “Then he gets nasty.”

Hernandez, his teammate from 2005-08, had just been given a 2-1 lead. He started Ibanez the same way in every at-bat.

“I was throwing that sinker for the first pitch,” he said, before detailing the mistake that caused the homer: “That was in the middle of the plate.”

Robinson Cano had four hits for New York, which overcame home runs by Dustin Ackley and former-Yankee Jesus Montero to send the 2010 AL Cy Young Award winner to his first loss in four decisions at new Yankee Stadium. On consecutive nights, New York beat Tampa Bay’s David Price and King Felix, among the AL’s elite pitchers.

“I just think our guys are starting to feel better at the plate,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

Ibanez, who joined the Yankees a week after spring training began, is hitting .268 with six homers and 19 RBIs. That followed a slow exhibition season, which caused Girardi to make some inquiries.

“They said it takes him a while to get going in spring training,” the manager said. “Sometimes you find that with older players.”

Ibanez had faced Hernandez only three times before Friday, saying his most familiar view was seeing Hernandez’s back from the outfield.

Hernandez (3-2) allowed 11 hits — two short of his career high — and four runs in 62/3 innings, his second-shortest outing this season. He struck out seven and walked two, with his ERA rising from 1.89 to 2.29.

King Felix had been 3-0 at new Yankee Stadium, allowing one run in 24 innings. He weakened after Derek Jeter fouled off five pitches during a 10-pitch walk in the fifth, which started a stretch in which seven of Hernandez’s last 12 batters reached.

American League

Orioles 4, Rays 3 at Baltimore: Nick Johnson’s first homer in two years gave Baltimore a seventh-inning lead and the Orioles edged Tampa Bay in a duel for first place in the AL East.

Johnson’s two-run drive off Joel Peralta (0-2) put Baltimore in front 4-3, and the bullpen made the margin stand up.

Red Sox 7, Indians 5 at Boston: Dustin Pedroia had three hits and three RBIs to back an effective outing by Clay Buchholz, and Boston beat Cleveland to sn a three-game skid.

Will Middlebrooks hit a two-run double off Ubaldo Jimenez (3-3) and Daniel Nava, called up from the minors Thursday, made a pair of outstanding defensive plays in left field to help the last-place Red Sox (13-19) win for only the second time this month.

White Sox 5, Royals 0 at Chicago: Adam Dunn hit his 11th homer to match his total from last season, leading Gavin Floyd and Chicago over Kansas City.

Dunn’s long homer to right off Felipe Paulino (1-1) gave Chicago the lead in the first.

Dunn’s sixth homer in 10 games was enough for Floyd (3-3), who allowed five hits, struck out five and walked two in 72/3 innings.

National League

Marlins 6, Mets 5 at Miami: Greg Dobbs’ single with two outs in the ninth inning scored Emilio Bonifacio from second base, and Miami rallied to end New York’s five-game winning streak.

The Marlins scored twice in the ninth off Frank Francisco to win for the ninth time in 10 games.

Nationals 7, Reds 3 at Cincinnati: Roger Bernadina and Danny Espinosa each hit a two-run homer in one of Washington’s biggest scoring splurges of the season.

Washington matched its season high for runs by taking advantage of Mike Leake (0-5), who lasted three innings and remained winless in six starts.

Astros 1, Pirates 0 at Pittsburgh: Bud Norris allowed three hits in six sharp innings, leading Houston to the win.

Brian Bogusevic singled and scored in the second on a double-play grounder, providing all the offense Houston would need. Norris (3-1) struck out eight without walking a batter.

Brett Myers pitched the ninth for his ninth save.

Phillies 7, Padres 3 at Philadelphia: Carlos Ruiz went 3 for 3 with a homer and three RBIs for Philadelphia, and John Mayberry Jr. homered and drove in three runs.

Vance Worley (3-2) struck out nine in six innings to help the Phillies sn a three-game losing streak.

Placido Polanco had a pair of doubles for Philadelphia, which was playing its first game after manager Charlie Manuel’s much-publicized team meeting on Wednesday. The slumping five-time NL East defending champs began the day four games below .500.

Yonder Alonso homered for San Diego, which lost for the eighth time in the last 11 meetings with the Phillies. Clayton Richard (1-5) gave up five runs in 51/3 innings.

Diamondbacks 5, Giants 1 at Phoenix: Paul Goldschmidt hit his first home run since his initial at-bat of the season, rookie Patrick Corbin allowed three hits over seven innings and Arizona ended a five-game losing streak by beating San Francisco.

Read more: NY Yankees, Seattle Mariners, Robinson Cano, Raul Ibanez, Local Pro

() — NEW YORK () – Raul Ibanez hit a go-ahead, three-run homer off former Seattle teammate Felix Hernandez with two outs in the sixth inning, Robinson Cano had four hits and the New York Yankees overcame a home run by Jesus Montero to beat the Mariners 6-2 Friday night.

Hernandez (3-2) lost for the first time at new Yankee Stadium, where the 2010 AL Cy Young Award winner had allowed just one earned run in 24 innings coming in.

Hiroki Kuroda (3-4) improved to 3-1 at home, allowing a solo homer to Dustin Ackley leading off the game and another in the sixth to Montero, acquired by the Mariners in the January trade that sent Michael Pineda to New York.

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NEW YORK — Raul Ibanez hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the sixth inning, Robinson Cano continued his torrid hitting by going 4-for-4 and Hiroki Kuroda threw seven solid innings as the New York Yankees defeated the Seattle Mariners, 6-2, Friday night in front of 37,226 at Yankee Stadium. Mariners starter Felix Hernandez (3-2) bent but didn’t break until Ibanez’s homer, the ninth of the Yankees‘ 11 hits off Hernandez but their only one for extra bases. The Yankees had runners on against Hernandez in every inning except the third but ran into outs in the first and fourth before breaking through in the sixth, when, with the Yankees down 2-1, Alex Rodriguez drew a leadoff walk, went to second on Cano’s single and advanced to third on Mark Teixeira’s fielder’s choice grounder. After Nick Swisher struck out, Ibanez crushed Hernandez’s next pitch over the right-field fence. Andruw Jones hit a pinch-hit two-run homer in the eighth for the final margin. Every starter except Russell Martin had at least one hit for the Yankees. The four hits by Cano gave him 14 hits in his last 26 at-bats (.538), and his seventh-inning double extended his streak of games with an extra-base hit to five. Rodriguez and Teixeira each had two singles. Kuroda (3-4) allowed two runs — solo homers by Dustin Ackley and former Yankees prospect Jesus Montero, whose trade to the Mariners in January opened up a spot for Ibanez — on six hits and three walks while striking out two. Hernandez entered Friday 3-0 with a 0.38 ERA in three starts at the new Yankee Stadium but gave up the four runs and issued two walks while striking out seven in 6 2/3 innings. Justin Smoak had three singles for the Mariners. Hernandez and Kuroda each danced out of trouble in the first five innings. Ackley’s first career leadoff homer gave the Mariners a quick lead, but the Yankees tied it in the bottom half of the first when Curtis Granderson singled, stole second and scored on Robinson Cano’s single. Kiroda allowed the first two batters to reach in the second but retired the next nine in a row. The Mariners then loaded the bases with one out in the fifth via two singles, a fielder’s choice and a walk before Kiroda wriggled out of the jam by striking out Brendan Ryan and getting Ichiro Suzuki to hit into a fielder’s choice. The Yankees chipped away at Hernandez, who entered the game 3-0 with a 0.38 ERA in three career starts at the new Yankee Stadium, and recorded six singles in the first four innings, including three in a row to open the fourth. But Rodriguez was thrown out at home on Teixeira’s single and Hernandez retired Swisher and Ibanez to get out of the inning. “The thing about Felix is he’s not going to make a lot of mistakes,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “He’s got an outstanding fastball, a very good curveball, a good changeup, good slider. He’s going to throw everything at you. So every opportunity you have to score a run, you better take advantage.” NOTES: The Eduardo Nunez Experiment pears to be over after the Yankees optioned the shortstop turned utilityman to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in order to make room for Eric Chavez, who returned from the seven-day disabled list. Nunez, who mostly played shortstop as a minor-leaguer, started at five different positions for the Yankees this year (second base, third base, shortstop, left field and designated hitter) but struggled in the field with four errors — including two Thursday night at third base that led to unearned runs — and several near misses in left field. Manager Joe Girardi said Nunez will play six days a week at shortstop and another day at second base at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. “We asked Nunez to do some things that you usually ask more of a veteran player to do,” Girardi said. “When I look at ‘Nuney’ and ‘Nuney’s” future, I don’t see ‘Nuney’ as a utility guy. I see him as an everyday player. So we made this move.” –Girardi said Friday was day two of outfielder Brett Gardner’s 10-day break from hitting as he recovers from aggravating a strained muscle in his elbow during a rehab assignment this week. Gardner went on the DL with the elbow injury ril 18. –Mariners manager Eric Wedge said right-handed pitcher Blake Beaven, who left his start against the Tigers on Monday after he was hit on the right elbow by a line drive, will start against the Red Sox Tuesday. –Mariners catcher Jesus Montero played his first game against the Yankees since the January trade that sent him to Seattle in exchange for pitcher Michael Pineda. While Pineda underwent season-ending right shoulder surgery before ever throwing a regular-season pitch for the Yankees, Montero has settled in as the Mariners’ cleanup hitter and is splitting time between catcher and designated hitter. “I was surprised (by the trade), but after that I was hpy because I’m here with more opportunity to play,” Montero said.