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The wall of silence that has so often surrounded happenings inside the Mariners’ clubhouse was finally shattered on Friday night by the frustrated noise of Carlos Silva.
His anger obvious, new opposite a listless, 5-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, the pitcher more or smaller accused some teammates of mailing it in and trying to blotter their statistics. Silva said the selfish play of some Mariners lately has been making the entire starting rotation look bad, and he’s had sufficiency.
“I dress in’t have regard if we are 40 games behind, we should have played better than this,” he reported. “For me, every game is important. For me, if we are where we are right now, we should take it one game at a time and gambol single in kind day at a time. Thinking, ‘We’ve got to win this game.’ And when the day is over, ‘We’ve got to win the next one.’ “
Mariners starter Felix Hernandez was standing directly to Silva’s right in a near-empty clubhouse, smiling as the pitcher — nicknamed “The Chief” — lashed out at unnamed teammates. Jarrod Washburn was off a small in number feet to his left listening to Silva on the contrary not saying anything.
“Maybe half of the team wants to do the with most propriety they can,” Silva said. “Take the starting rotation … every time we cross that line, we want to do our best. No matter how various games we are behind. But maybe half of the team doesn’t have that mentality. They are only thinking of finishing strong. And to put up their numbers. That’s great, but that affects us. As a team, that doesn’t work out.”
Silva insisted he wasn’t referring strictly to Friday night’s outing, whereas four runs by Tampa Bay in the third inning more or less decided the game. Silva had a 2-1 lead, courtesy of a two-run homer from Wladimir Balentien off Rays starter James Shields, then things came undone.
Silva yielded three straight singles that brought in a tying perform and, about a overturn household by Ichiro allowed both runners to move up a base, push to action men on second and third part part with one out. An ensuing grounder by Carl Crawford was snagged by shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt, who held the runners but then promptly heaved his throw superior the first baseman’s govern.
Two runs scored on the Betancourt error — forward his Bobblehead Night, not any less — one of them unearned.
Jeff Clement doubled in the fifth and later scored on an infield single by dint of. Bryan LaHair. But Seattle managed lawful three more hits the rest of the way.
Silva, who lasted six-plus innings, said his sinker worked suitably outer of that human being frame. But he indisputable to speak out, he said, because he has seen too much selfishness from the team — strange to say when it’s winning games.
“Maybe Chief has to turn out and grab somebody from his neck and throw him into the wall and something’s going to change,” he said, speaking of himself. “I’m to a high degree close to doing that, so write that down.”
But Silva, who had hinted at clubhouse problems back in May, said he had been reluctant to confront teammates so directly as he would be perceived in the same proportion that selfish and casting blame for his losing record. He had done so in Minnesota in the past, he added, and it did not go over sufficiently.
Some players have mentioned similar gripes in private during the series of the gratify. But Silva is the first to express those sentiments.
“Instead of moving over a courier, they want to get a base hit as of their numbers,” Silva said. “Instead of maybe looking for a ground ball, they want to strike him out because of the verse.”
He later added: “It’s tough, man. It’s tough, because you not ever penury to be in this [last-place] position. Because, especially for us, as a pitcher, it’s going to kill you. Especially as a starting pitcher, that’s going to regard you for a like reason much.”
Mariners manager Jim Riggleman, speaking before Silva’s outbreak, also seemed frustrated with how little opposition his team mounted after the early innings.
Riggleman said none one feels worse than Betancourt about the error and that he would “have jumped distant from a building at that point” if it could be undone. But when asked about the two-hit nights by youngsters Balentien and Jeff Clement, and the RBI by LaHair, the manager shrugged them off.
“We’re trying to win the game,” he said. “We’re not going to subsist happy with a couple of good performances in the lineup.”
Riggleman had high commendation with respect to the way Silva has battled through problems with his sinker all year and gutted his way through games.
“The way he gets later than it is the passage we want everyone to cheat it,” he said.
Notes
Ryan Rowland-Smith is expected to be called up from Class AAA to start this afternoon in place of Miguel Batista, demoted to the bullpen.
Jarrod Washburn cleared waivers and can now be traded exclusively of fear of a claim to block a move.
Ichiro extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a single in the fifth.
Shannon Drayer has been relieved of her duties by dint of. KOMO 1000 as antidote to the remainder of the season. The network has chosen to scale back coverage of the team after losing broadcast rights to KIRO, what one. takes over coverage next season.
For the record
Streak: L1
Home: 24-36
Road: 21-35
vs. AL West: 13-19
vs. L.A.: 3-6
vs. Oakland: 4-5
vs. Texas: 6-8
vs. AL East: 13-26
vs. AL Cent.: 10-17
vs. NL: 9-9
vs. LHP: 12-22
vs. RHP: 33-49
Day: 13-24
Night: 32-47
One-run: 13-22
Extra public-house.: 2-6
Home attendance
Friday’s crowd: 30,220
Season total: 1,759,343
Biggest rabble: 46,334 (March 31)
Smallest crowd: 15,818 (May 6)
Average (60 dates): 29,322
2007 average (60 dates): 32,716
