Sports: One run to tie, one to lose it for Rays

First, they failed to take advantage of repeated scoring opportunities in the early innings against Seattle. Then they blew a chance to win in the 10th when Esteban Yan blew yet another save. Then they lost it in the 11th, the winning rally starting when Jason Tyner and Brent Abernathy collided and John Olerud's broken-bat blooper fell in.

From there, it got worse. Pinch-runner Al Martin stole second, somehow avoiding Chris Gomez's tag. Ichiro Suzuki legged out another infield hit, sending Martin to third. And Martin scored on Stan Javier's infield chopper, giving the Mariners the 3-2 victory.

"It was a tough game we let get away," manager Hal McRae said. "I think it's a learning process, and we've got to learn to close them out. We've been struggling to close them out. It's a game we should have won."

It was the fourth time this season the Rays lost on the final pitch.

The Mariners clinched a playoff spot with the win, though that was as inevitable as the Rays being eliminated last week.

Each team scored a run in the first inning, and each team scored in the 10th. In between: The Rays wasted a handful of scoring opportunities; Paul Wilson pitched a solid seven innings, working out of two bases loaded jams with minimal damage; Jesus Colome was clocked as high as 101 mph during an impressive two-inning stint; and Yan blew his ninth save, tying Oakland's Jason Isringhausen for the American League lead.

"I lost the game, there's nothing you can say," Yan said.

In the 10th, it looked at first as if the Rays were going to win it. Ben Grieve, who hasn't had much to celebrate this season, led off with a home run off Jeff Nelson to put the Rays up 2-1. It was Grieve's first homer since Aug. 13 and his 10th on the season.

Yan came on and struck out the dangerous Bret Boone and the equally dangerous Edgar Martinez. But Mike Cameron reached on a broken-bat single and stole second, and Mark McLemore drove him in with a hard single to right. Yank struck out Dan Wilson to end the 10th, but that just postponed the agony of defeat.

The Rays had their chances before a Safeco Field sellout crowd of 45,728,

They had one in the first, when they got one run but left Randy Winn on second. In the second, they had two on with one out but Gomez lined out and Grieve got doubled off second. In the third, when Steve Cox struck out with Winn on third. In the fourth, when Russ Johnson hit into a double play. In the sixth, when Toby Hall got thrown out at second on the back end of a double steal and Johnson then struck out with Winn on third.

They went down quickly and quietly after that, 10 in a row, until Grieve's blast over the centerfield fence. As tough as it was to see the Mariners scored in the 10th, at least it happened fairly quickly. The 11th was considerably more frustrating.

Olerud's blooper hung in air, long enough that McRae thought it should have been caught. Tyner came in and Abernathy went back, but they hit each other and the ball hit the ground.

"I don't think either one of us was going to catch it anyway," Tyner said.

Martin stole second when Carlos Guillen missed a bunt attempt and was safe when he slid by Gomez, who seemed to be late getting to the base. "If we cover in time I think Martin is out," McRae said.

In the ninth, with the potential winning run at second, the Rays walked Ichiro. But this time, they pitched to him and he beat out a grounder up the middle. Javier than beat a ball into the ground, and it didn't matter that third baseman Jared Sandberg couldn't make a play as Martin scored the winning run.

"What hurts the most right now is that I don't think we put forth the effort that we needed to in the 11th. Put it that way," Abernathy said. "There were some things done that could be second-guessed very easily. I think it's a shame to waste an outing like Wilson had. Este threw the ball really well, there was a cheap hit in there. It all goes to waste. That's what's so sad about the whole situation."

The Rays are 2-5 in their 22-game stretch against the contending Mariners, A's, Red Sox and Yankees.

Having been shut down and nearly shut out Sunday and flying cross-country, the Rays came out aggressively on a cool night. Tyner started the game by legging out an infield single, and Winn, who had three hits, scored him with a double to left-center.

The Mariners came back with a run but Wilson held them to just the one. In the seventh, the Mariners loaded the bases on a single, a sacrifice bunt, a walk and an error by Abernathy on a somewhat routine grounder by Suzuki. Wilson got the second out when Javier hit a weak grounder and third baseman Jared Sandberg forced pinch-runner Charles Gipson at the plate, and the third when Boone flied to shallow right.

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