But the speedster was uncharacteristically gunned down trying to stretch it into a triple, erasing that chance and striking the first note of a missed-opportunity chord that would ring at Safeco Field all game during a 5-2 loss to Washington in front of a crowd of 32,145.

As manager John McLaren plainly explained the problem: "We couldn't quite get anything going offensively."

The Mariners' scoring chances were not in high abundance Saturday, but those that did appear consistently failed to produce anything but zeros on the scoreboard.

With the score tied in the sixth inning, they put runners on second and third with two outs before the Nationals chose to intentionally walk Adrian Beltre to reach the struggling Richie Sexson. The gamble paid off with a strikeout to end the bases-loaded threat.

"He wants to do well. He's working extremely hard," said McLaren, who also said he thinks Sexson is pressing. "He gets caught up in the situation sometimes, I think."

Then in the seventh inning, the first two batters reached base to put the tying run on first. But shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt was unable to put down a bunt on a 3-2 pitch for a strikeout, followed by a double-play grounder from Ichiro to finish off the inning.

After an unsuccessful bunt attempt on the 3-1 offering, Betancourt chose to try again on the third strike pitch.

"I was trying to get the runners up, no matter what," Betancourt said. "The pitch was a ball, but I couldn't get my bat back in time [to keep it from being a foul tip]. I was bunting on my own."

McLaren said the Mariners wanted him hitting in that situation.

"There is nobody who feels worse than him," the manager said. "He was doing it for the team, not selfish at all. From a team standpoint, he was trying to help us."

The two Seattle runs came with the bases empty, as the Mariners briefly found their long-lost friend, the home run, in the fourth inning off the bats of Jose Vidro and Beltre. The solo homers erased a 2-0 Nationals lead, but Seattle could never capitalize on other chances to climb ahead.

The Nationals' tie-breaking damage came in the seventh off the bat of Jesus Flores, who had three RBIs. Mariners right-hander Miguel Batista, recently demoted from the starting rotation to the bullpen, continued his ineffectiveness by serving up the homer with one on and two outs.

When the ball disappeared over the left-field wall, just beyond the desperate leap of Raul Ibanez, the Mariners found themselves in a hole they would not escape.

Mariners starter Erik Bedard definitely didn't have his ace stuff on the mound Saturday, as he gave up nine hits and a pair of walks.

But what Bedard did have was a feel for the always-helpful strikeout, including a biting curveball that had the Nationals flailing at times. The strikeouts -- eight in all -- kept many of those baserunners right where they stood, allowing him to turn in an effective six-inning, two-run performance despite working from the stretch for most of the game.

"He made some good pitches at the right time," catcher Jamie Burke said. "He got in some trouble, but then he just made his pitches when he had to, and I think that was the key for him."

Bedard's other friend was the defense.

Right fielder Wladimir Balentien gunned Dmitri Young out at the plate to end the first inning. But that might have been upstaged in the top of the fifth, when Betancourt dived to snare a Ronnie Belliard ground ball up the middle before executing a tumble roll of sorts to twist around and throw from the seat of his pants to Jose Lopez for a forceout at second to end the inning.

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.