Richie Sexson stepped to the wall of his locker and ran one long index finger down his magnet schedule for April.
"Colon. Lackey. Weaver," the Seattle Mariners slugger began, reeling off some of the American League's best pitchers. "Zito. Blanton. Harden. Lee. Schilling. Beckett. Detroit's guy that throws 100. Garland. Vazquez."
Those are the pitchers the Mariners faced while going 9-14 and back to the bottom of the AL West division -- their home for the last two seasons.
"We expected to be a little better," Sexson said. "We just ran into some serious pitching."
Seattle has faced the division-leading Los Angeles Angels, playoff contenders Oakland, Cleveland and Boston, surprising Detroit and -- this week -- the Chicago White Sox, the defending World Series champions.
"We think we're a better team than we've shown this month," Sexson said.
They haven't shown much ability so far.
Adrian Beltre is batting .175, mired in the same malaise he's been in since he signed a US$64 million, five-year contract after an MVP-caliber 2004 with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Beltre felt so defeated on Monday, he began running to first base to complete a strikeout after flailing at a pitch in the dirt -- for strike two. He then did the same thing one pitch later for the real strikeout.
Sexson, the cleanup hitter, has cooled to .224. He hasn't hit a home run since April 12.
Jeremy Reed, expected to do more since he arrived in the trade that sent ace pitcher Freddy Garcia to the White Sox two seasons ago, is hitting .207.
Carl Everett, signed from the White Sox last winter to add power, has three home runs in 22 games and is batting .232.
Is the lineup pressing?
"Pressing?" Everett said, scoffing. "We ain't doing nothing offensively -- not even pressing."
Closer Eddie Guardado blew what would have been a nice comeback win at Boston on April 17 when he allowed a two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth. The next time Guardado pitched, he walked the bases loaded and then walked in the winning run in a 4-3 loss to Texas. Then on Monday, he allowed a game-tying home run with two outs in the ninth against the White Sox.
Twice in five days, Seattle manager Mike Hargrove felt compelled to say, "Eddie is our closer. I have complete confidence in Eddie."
The Mariners are 1-6 in one-run games, worst in the major leagues.
They have also given away runs fulfilling Hargrove's promise to be more aggressive running the bases. Last weekend against the Detroit Tigers, Sexson inexplicably rumbled on a stolen-base try against cannon-armed, All-Star catcher Ivan Rodriguez. He was thrown out easily.
Hargrove said afterward that the gaffe, which erased one of only four baserunners in a 2-0 loss, was from a sign mix-up with third base coach Carlos Garcia.
A Detroit sweep left the Mariners 1-5 to start a nine-game homestand entering this week's three-game series with the White Sox, who had won eight straight.
The Mariners responded by taking two of three off Chicago, gaining some confidence against the champs.
"I don't think our record is indicative of how well we've played," said Jarrod Washburn (2-3), who allowed one run in 6 2-3 innings in Seattle's 5-1 win over the White Sox on Wednesday. "I don't think anybody in here is panicking."
There are signs that the Mariners will play better.
Ichiro Suzuki, a career .330 hitter, has raised his average from .177 to .263 in a week.
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