There would be no postgame meeting with the media after the Seattle Mariners’ uninspired 5-1 loss to the New York Yankees.

Really, what could McLaren say that he hasn’t already said? What explanation could he provide for his team wasting yet another quality start by a pitcher thanks to a pulse-less offense and a suddenly bumbling defense?

Perhaps McLaren didn’t want to say what he really thought of his team and how it has performed in a stretch that has seen the Mariners lose seven of nine games to fall to 13-17 for the season.

“The clubhouse is open, but the manager is not available,” was repeated by Mariners staffers over and over as the media entered a quiet, cramped clubhouse filled with players who also seemed to be without answers.

“We’re all frustrated,” said backup catcher Jamie Burke, who started the game for a resting Kenji Johjima. “If we could close the same doors right now, believe me we would. It’d be nice to just sit and relax and think about this game for a little bit and then move on.”

With even a minimal amount of self-examination, Mariners players would conclude that their starting pitchers are routinely giving them chances to win, but they simply aren’t taking advantage of it.

Seattle starters have produced 16 “quality starts” this season – six innings and no more than three earned runs allowed – but the Mariners only won 10 of those games.

Erik Bedard became the latest victim of lack of run support.

The left-hander showed signs of being the dominant starter the Mariners hoped he will be, allowing just one earned run on four hits over seven innings.

Unfortunately, the defense behind him allowed two unearned runs as Yuniesky Betancourt, Adrian Beltre and Jose Lopez all committed costly errors that allowed the Yankees to take a 3-0 lead after the second inning.

Despite the mistakes, Bedard (2-1) never flinched and maintained his poker face.

“If you let it get to you, you are only going to give up even more runs,” he said. “You just have to focus on the next guy and move on.”

He did it quite well. After the disastrous first two innings, Bedard settled in, not allowing a hit over his last five innings.

Still, a 3-0 deficit against Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang might has well have been a 300-0 lead. With the way Wang has pitched against the Mariners in the past, and the way he’s been pitching this season, coupled with the way the Mariners have been hitting (now 0-12 in games where they’ve trailed by two runs or more), there was minimal chance of a comeback.

Wang pitched six innings, allowing one run on three hits, while striking out five to move to 6-0 for the season with a 3.00 ERA. In is career, Wang is 7-0 against the Mariners with a 2.39 ERA. He’s held Seattle hitters to a .194 batting average.

“This was the first time I’ve seen him,” Burke said. “He’s got a great sinker. He runs it up there at 94 down the middle and suddenly it’s at the bottom of the zone. It’s easy to see why he’s doing a good job.”

Ichiro Suzuki accounted for two of Seattle’s four hits, and he scored the team’s only run. He led off the sixth inning with a single up the middle off Wang, stole second and third and scored on Raul Ibañez’s sacrifice fly to left to cut the lead to 3-1.

In the eighth, Ichiro singled off reliever Joba Chamberlain and stole second. But Chamberlain got Jose Lopez to ground out to end the threat.

New York tacked on two more runs in the eighth off reliever Ryan Rowland-Smith.

In comments made before the game, McLaren said his team was pressing too much.

“These guys are trying too hard, and they’re trying to do too much,” McLaren said. “They’re trying to hit three-run homers with nobody on base. They’re swinging at balls out of the strike zone with runners on base. It’s hard for us to get big innings going because we do try and do too much sometimes.”

In his own way, Ichiro echoed those comments when asked if he was concerned about the team’s slumping offense.

“The players need to take care of what individuals can do,” he said. “If we are trying to help each other too much, if individuals are trying to do too much, it will result in bigger problems.”

Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483

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