M's suffer third loss in a row

OAKLAND, Calif. - An early wake-up call at his home Thursday morning was followed by another one for Jesus Colome later that afternoon.

The Seattle Mariners did not want to see Colome, their newly installed long reliever, anywhere near a mound as early as the fifth inning. But there he was, pressed into service for three much-needed innings of work in this 6-2 loss to the Oakland Athletics after Mariners starter Doug Fister bowed out just four frames in.

This third straight defeat has sounded a wake-up call of sorts for the Mariners as well - one bound to spur plenty of meetings in which starters will be told they have to go deeper into games and hitters will be implored to be more selective at the plate.

"I thought we felt our way through it and I felt they came out and played," Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said of the four-game series, in which his team won only the opener. "I think they outplayed us this series flat-out."

Wakamatsu could at least take some solace in the fact that Colome, awakened by phone at 2 a.m. Thursday and told to fly here from the Seattle area, gave them three innings of two-run ball on 44 pitches. The addition of journeyman Colome from Class AAA, with Ryan Langerhans designated for assignment, enabled the Mariners to rest most of their other relievers Thursday ahead of what could be a tough series in Texas against the slugging Rangers.

Kanekoa Texeira gave up a pair of runs in the ninth. But otherwise, the Mariners got out of this series finale, played in front of 12,464 fans at the Coliseum, in relatively good bullpen shape compared to where they might have been had they carried on with a six-reliever plan that wasn't panning out.

Wakamatsu didn't want to sound any alarm bells about his team, which trailed 6-0 in the ninth before Mike Sweeney and Matt Tuiasosopo produced run-scoring singles off the Oakland bullpen. But the manager did say there would be discussions within the team to deal with the lack of efficiency by starters and an offense that has sputtered.

"Obviously, we're going to have some dialogue about the at-bats that we had in this series and break down the numbers and try to get better at it," Wakamatsu said.

The offense has scored 13 runs in four games but even that total is somewhat misleading. Seattle's final two runs to win the series opener were both unearned after an error, while their lone run of the second game was the result of a balk and a wild pitch.

Seattle hitters couldn't touch Oakland left-handed starter Brett Anderson on Thursday, summoning just three hits in six-plus innings and not scoring off anyone until down a half dozen runs with two outs to go in the game.

Fister threw 24 pitches in each of his first two innings and had trouble putting hitters away even when he did get ahead in counts. He had Ryan Sweeney down 1-2 in the third but left his next pitch up in the zone and saw it drilled to right-center for a double that opened the scoring.

"I was trying to go up and in on him and didn't get it in," Fister said. "I left too much of it over the plate."

Fister was one strike away from ending the fourth inning quickly and perhaps being called back out for the fifth. But A's leadoff man Rajai Davis made him throw three more pitches after being down 0-2 and ripped a single to right.

Daric Barton then blooped a ball into center to drive in a run on a career-high four RBI day. Fister was at 96 pitches by the time the inning ended and the Mariners had little choice but to go with Colome.

The Dominican reliever needed just nine pitches to get through the fifth inning.

"I was throwing strikes right away," said Colome, who pitched for the Washington Nationals and Milwaukee Brewers last season after breaking in with Tampa Bay in 2001. "When you come in and throw strikes, the hitters are going to hit it sometimes. But other times you get outs that way."

Mariners pitching coach Rick Adair had asked Colome before the game what his longest relief outing in the majors had been.

"I told him I could go three or four innings," he said. "I told him, 'Whatever you need me for, I can give it to you.' "

That at least gave Wakamatsu and company one less thing to worry about. Wakamatsu says he's confident starters will stop nibbling so much and attack the strike zone more as they get a better feel for this opening month.

"As they get more comfortable with their stuff and get out there more, I think you'll start to see a more aggressive style," he said.

But if that doesn't happen quickly, Wakamatsu might not need any more wake-up calls. Any more four-inning jobs by starters this weekend will surely have him wide awake in the wee hours of the morning.

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