M's Notes: O'Flaherty here and gone

OAKLAND, Calif. — Eric O'Flaherty's big-league visit was too short to qualify as a cup of coffee.

O'Flaherty is a minor-league pitcher who is left-handed. He was in the Mariners' clubhouse only for an afternoon Tuesday, and he was gone without ever suiting up for a game.

O'Flaherty was flown in from Class AAA Tacoma because there was consideration of putting reliever Rafael Soriano on the disabled list.

"We wanted to get someone in here if we did," manager Mike Hargrove said. "We decided not to."

Soriano gave up the game-winning home run to Nick Swisher in the eighth inning of Monday's loss in Oakland. The velocity on Soriano's fastball was less than normal.

"When Soriano threw, he had a little bit of pain in his neck," Hargrove said.

Hargrove said the pain is ongoing from Soriano's last visit to the disabled list for arm fatigue. Soriano was activated from the DL on Aug. 4.

The decision to keep Soriano on the active roster left O'Flaherty with no place to go but back to Tacoma. He was on the field at the beginning of workouts, and Hargrove said by the time the game began, O'Flaherty would be out of uniform and watching the game in the stands or back at the team's hotel.

Hit parade

The Mariners haven't won in Oakland since Sept. 6, 2005, but the visits haven't been entirely successful for the Athletics by at least one measure.

Ichiro had two hits in Monday's loss, giving him 13 base hits in 29 at-bats at the Coliseum this season. That's better than normal, which is saying something. Entering Tuesday night's game, he had 90 hits in 234 career at-bats in Oakland, the highest opponent batting average at the Coliseum for players with 120 or more plate appearances.

Ichiro has had two hits in each of the past two games, and the Mariners have lost, which is unusual because Seattle had won 11 of the 16 previous games in which he had multiple hits. Seattle is 31-21 this season when Ichiro has two or more hits, 35-19 in games when he scores once and 19-0 if he scores multiple runs.

Not unfamiliar feeling

Willie Bloomquist had gone 23 months and 153 games without a home run entering Monday's game, but his solo homer in the fifth inning wasn't entirely a shock.

He had a pretty good idea where the ball was headed once he hit it.

"I still know what it feels like when it comes off your bat," Bloomquist said. "Yeah, I had a pretty good idea it was going out when I made contact."

It was Bloomquist's first homer since Sept. 27, 2004. He had gone 419 at-bats since then, and according to the Elias Sports Bureau it was the fourth-longest active streak for any major-league player, excluding pitchers. The only players with longer streaks as of Monday: Minnesota's Jason Tyner (948 at-bats), Kansas City's Joey Gathright (525) and Luis Ordaz (440).

Pretty in pink

Mark Lowe's attire headed into the bullpen is pink, and his results out of the pen have been completely pretty.

Lowe is the right-handed reliever who hasn't been charged with a run in the 17-2/3 innings he has pitched. He's also the rookie who was given a pink backpack with toy dolls on it by reliever Julio Mateo, and Lowe must wear it to the bullpen before every game.

Lowe pitched two scoreless innings on Monday, and his fastest pitch was against the first batter he faced, Marco Scutaro. That pitch was gauged at 101 mph on the scoreboard in Oakland, the second time he has reached triple figures since coming to the Mariners. He was clocked at 102 in Baltimore.

Danny O'Neil: 206-464-2364 or doneil@seattletimes.com

How the runs scored

Athletics second: Payton singled to left. Swisher doubled to right, Payton to third. Scutaro doubled to left, Payton scored, Swisher scored. Ellis grounded out, shortstop Betancourt to first baseman Broussard, Scutaro to third. Kendall infield single to third, Scutaro scored. Kotsay singled to right, Kendall to second. Bradley grounded into a double play, shortstop Betancourt to first baseman Broussard, Kotsay out. 3 runs, 5 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Athletics 3, M's 0.

Athletics third: F.Thomas struck out. Chavez walked. Payton singled to left, Chavez to second. Swisher singled to right, Chavez scored, Payton to second. Scutaro grounded into a double play, pitcher Pineiro to second baseman Lopez to first baseman Broussard, Swisher out. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Athletics 4, M's 0.

Athletics fourth: Ellis singled to right. Kendall grounded into a double play, third baseman Beltre to second baseman Lopez to first baseman Broussard, Ellis out. Kotsay walked on a full count. Bradley walked on a full count, Kotsay to second. F.Thomas singled to right, Kotsay scored, Bradley to third. Chavez doubled to left, Bradley scored, F.Thomas to third. Payton walked on four pitches. Woods pitching. Swisher doubled to left, F.Thomas scored, Chavez scored, Payton scored. Scutaro struck out. 5 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Athletics 9, M's 0.

Mariners fifth: Dobbs grounded out, second baseman Ellis to first baseman Swisher. Betancourt homered to left on a 1-2 count. Bloomquist singled to left. Ichiro grounded into a double play, second baseman Ellis to shortstop Scutaro to first baseman Swisher, Bloomquist out. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on. Athletics 9, M's 1.

Mariners sixth: Lopez doubled to center. On Saarloos' wild pitch, Lopez to third. Beltre singled to center, Lopez scored. Ibanez struck out. Broussard grounded into fielder's choice, second baseman Ellis to shortstop Scutaro, Beltre out. Johjima grounded out, pitcher Saarloos to first baseman Swisher. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Athletics 9, M's 2.

Athletics sixth: Bradley walked on a full count. F.Thomas walked on four pitches, Bradley to second. Perez pinch-running for F.Thomas. Chavez grounded out, second baseman Lopez to first baseman Broussard, Bradley to third, Perez to second. Payton was intentionally walked. Swisher struck out. Scutaro walked on a full count, Bradley scored, Perez to third, Payton to second. Ellis popped out to first baseman Broussard. 1 run, 0 hits, 0 errors, 3 left on. Athletics 10, M's 2.

Athletics eighth: Jones in as center fielder. Morse in as third baseman. Perez in as first baseman. Bloomquist in as left fielder. Putz pitching. Perez flied out to right fielder Ichiro. Jimenez pinch-hitting for Chavez. Jimenez struck out. Payton singled to right. Melhuse pinch-hitting for Swisher. Melhuse walked on four pitches, Payton to second. Scutaro singled to left, Payton scored, Melhuse to third. Ellis flied out to right fielder Ichiro. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Athletics 11, M's 2.

Mariners statistics

For the record

W/L streak: L-6

At home: 31-29

On road: 25-34

vs. AL West: 10-27

vs. Angels: 7-5

vs. Oakland: 1-14

vs. Texas: 2-8

vs. AL East: 18-14

vs. AL Cen.: 14-18

vs. NL: 14-4

vs. LHP: 16-19

vs. RHP: 40-44

Day: 19-21

Night: 37-42

1-run: 12-19

Extra innings: 4-7

The week ahead

W

@ Oakland

7:05 p.m., FSN

RH Gil Meche

(9-7)

vs.

RH Dan Haren

(10-9)

Th

@ L.A. Angels

7:05 p.m., FSN

LH Jamie Moyer

(6-11)

vs.

RH Kelvim

Escobar (8-10)

F

@ L.A. Angels

7:05 p.m., FSN

RH Felix

Hernandez (10-10)

vs.

RH Jered Weaver

(8-0)

Sa

@ L.A. Angels

7:05 p.m., FSN

LH Jarrod

Washburn (6-11)

vs.

RH John Lackey (10-8)

Su

@ L.A. Angels

12:35 p.m., Ch. 11

RH Joel Pineiro

(7-11)

vs.

RH Ervin Santana (12-6)

M

Off

Tu

N.Y. Yankees

7:05 p.m., FSN

RH Gil Meche

(9-7)

vs.

RH Jaret Wright (9-6)