Empty bats, broken gloves

MARINERS 4, RAYS 2 (11): A sorry effort negates a thrilling win the night before.

ST. PETERSBURG - This was not exactly the response the Devils Rays wanted after their dramatic victory over the Red Sox.

A day after clutch hitting and superb fielding did in Boston, both aspects failed Tampa Bay in a 4-2 loss to the Mariners in 11 innings Thursday night in front of a meager announced crowd of 10,442 at Tropicana Field.

Tampa Bay got superb pitching from starter Jorge Sosa, who struck out eight in seven innings to tie a career high. And for the second straight game, relievers Jesus Colome and Danys Baez lent strong support.

But two errors, one by shortstop B.J. Upton, who made his second in as many games, and a crucial one in the 11th by usually sure-handed third baseman Geoff Blum, led to a combined three unearned runs.

More frustration: Tampa Bay was held to six hits, five through eight innings by left-hander Bobby Madritsch, who struck out six in his first major-league start, and sent just 10 batters to the plate in the final three innings.

"Sometimes they score runs, sometimes they don't," Rays manager Lou Piniella said. "But we did get good pitching. Yeah, we squandered good pitching."

"It was," first baseman Tino Martinez said with a touch of sarcasm, "a team effort."

Bright spots with the bat? Martinez's 16th home run, and third in seven games, that tied the score at 1 in the fifth inning. And Carl Crawford's sixth home run in the 11th.

But there was no way to ignore the errors.

Upton was about to start a bases-clearing double play after fielding Jose Lopez's fifth-inning grounder. But he dropped the ball as he tried to get it out of his glove, and Ichiro Suzuki's run-scoring single gave Seattle a 1-0 lead.

Suzuki, whose three hits gave him a major league-high 53 multiple-hit games and a league-best .359 average, was in the thick of it in the 11th. His sharply hit one-out grounder handcuffed Blum. The bobble allowed Miguel Olivo to score from third for a 2-1 Seattle lead.

Run-scoring singles by Randy Winn and Bret Boone padded the lead.

"He did a good job of putting the ball in play," Blum said of Suzuki. "It came off the turf and took a crazy hop. Obviously, I couldn't get a handle on it, and that was the run that won the game."

Blum said the play would have been at the plate.

"That's why we played the infield in," he said. "Our only thought was to get the play at home. The ball just handcuffed me, and I couldn't make a play on it."

"It was a tough play," Martinez said. "It definitely wasn't his fault.

"Sosa pitched great. He gave us a chance to win the ballgame and we just couldn't do it. We didn't score more than one run, period."

Much of that was due to Madritsch, who pitched in just his fifth major-league game and baffled the Rays with a firm cut fastball and changeup.

He was backed up by relievers J.J. Putz and Scott Atchison, who combined to allow one hit and strike out four in three innings to ensure the Mariners snapped a six-game losing streak.

"The only thing missing was him getting the win," Seattle manager Bob Melvin said of Madritsch. "Only one pitch, the home run by Tino; other than that we haven't had an outing like that in a long time."

The Rays got one as well. But not much else.