Devil Rays series only magnifies Mariners' problems

A lot of Mariners fans probably are going to feel pretty good about this Devil Rays series, Wednesday afternoon shutout notwithstanding.

I won't be one of them.

Yes, the M's won the series 2-1. The pitching was outstanding -- including the return of King Felix -- and was culminated by Jamie Moyer pitching eight innings of one-run ball on Wednesday. Even Eddie Guardado worked his second consecutive scoreless inning! Offensively, they scored 14 runs on 24 hits in the first two games, getting the clutch base hits they'd been lacking all season long.

And therein lies the problem.

Don't be fooled by those that would lead you to believe that this was some kind of "offensive explosion." It wasn't. In those two games, the Mariners had exactly one extra-base hit. ONE! Out of 24 hits, 23 were singles. It's almost mind-boggling to consider. (The one extra-base hit? A solo homer by Carl Everett.) A Major League Baseball team simply cannot win consistently if it needs 24 hits to score 14 runs.

Need examples? Consider this game: Yesterday, the Red Sox whalloped the Yankees 14-3. In scoring their 14 runs, the Red Sox needed only 16 hits. Five of them went for extra bases -- three doubles and two homers -- and it was done against Randy Johnson and one of the better bullpens in baseball. Or how about this one: The Twins beat up on the Rangers 15-5, scoring thoe runs on 19 hits. They had eight extra base hits, leaving 10 guys on base in the process.

Yes, the Mariners do a decent job of making up for that with the way they run -- stealing, taking extra bases, etc. -- and the young guys, specifically Jose Lopez, have been a very pleasant surprise. But the bottom line is that it just won't be enough to make up for the aboslute power outage in the middle of the order.

If you're still encouraged by Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday should have driven home the point home for you: How different would that game have been with just a single and a home run? It's the difference between a win and a loss, because that's how you get to a guy who's got his best stuff. The Mariners never were going to get to Kazmir with a four- or five-hit rally in that game -- he's simply not going to miss with that many pitches when he's on. A single, a walk, an error ... and a bomb. I'm not saying you rely on it -- we all know how that worked for most of the '90s -- but you've still got to get one once in a while.

It cost us in the playoffs in 2001, and it will continue to cost us now.

The Mariners front office, Hargrove, and even some of the players will tell you that the team is close, that they just need to put it all together. But the reality is they're only waiting on one thing from three guys. Until Richie Sexson, Everett and Adrian Beltre start doing what they're being paid to do -- hitting some homers (or at least some doubles) -- the Mariners will be what they've been for three years: A bad team that will struggle to score many runs on its way to 90 losses.