"The Mariners still haven't won a series against any AL team other than Oakland in more than two months. Felix Hernandez gave it his best today -- taking a one-hitter into the seventh -- but the Mariners just could not find their bats and take a 2-1 loss.

Seattle put five guys who still qualify for rookie status into today's lineup. They actually outperformed the vets, but still, there wasn't much firepower all around.

"We've got a lot of young position players up here,'' Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. "We've got to keep throwing them out there, have them keep learning on the job and keep working to get better.

"You look at where we were Opening Day and some of the guys we were counting on and where we are now and they're worlds apart,'' Wedge added. "But we've got guys here that are working to get better and we will. We will get better.''

Mike Carp finally got Seattle on the scoreboard with a solo home run with one out in the ninth inning. Prior to that, Ervin Santana, fresh off a no-hitter two starts ago, had scattered five hits over eight scoreless innings.

Had Santana gotten two more outs, he'd have been the first pitcher since Ken Forsch in 1979 to follow a no-hitter with two complete games."