The Mariners’ attendance of 15,818 on Tuesday was the smallest since the ballpark opened in 1999. Wednesday’s crowd of 17,173 wasn’t much better.

Armstrong said he might have hoped that the sellout crowds of the glory years at the start of this decade might have created a larger permanent fan base, but he isn’t shocked by the falloff.

“We expected an ebb and flow,” he said. “We have not gotten off to the best start. You see wonderful cities like Cleveland that held the record … for most consecutive sellouts, and their attendance is below ours.”

Through 17 home dates, Seattle’s average attendance is 25,488 – around the middle of the American League.

New York leads the league with a home average of 50,890. Tampa Bay is at the bottom with 18,867.

Armstrong attributed the empty seats – and entire empty sections – to a slow start by the team, a lot of cool rainy home dates, and a problematic schedule that doesn’t bring in the Yankees until September or the Red Sox until a pair of mid-week series in May and July.

“I think once the weather improves here and our win-loss record picks up – we fully expect to be in the race at the end – I think our attendance will be there,” he said.

“We saw that last year. Until (Tuesday) night, I think we were ahead of our attendance last year, and I think on tickets sold to date for the whole season, we’re still ahead of last year. We saw last year, we had the surge when the team started to play well, and I expect that again.”

The Mariners’ payroll grew along with attendance at the start of this decade, and Armstrong said he would have to wait and see if it might decline along with attendance as well.

Asked ever-so-indirectly about bringing Ken Griffey Jr. back from Cincinnati, Armstrong indicated that any such move should be made in the name of winning rather than boosting ticket sales.

“Can a player help attendance? I think for a period of time a player can, but after that you get down to the winning and losing,” Armstrong said.

“We’ve got some very exciting players here now, and ... over the years you’ve seen some players come through here that, boy, I’d sure come out to watch them play. But it seems like more people come out for funny nose glasses or a … bobblehead.”

Short hops

First baseman Richie Sexson was scratched from the lineup Wednesday so he could tend to an undisclosed family matter. … Starting pitcher Miguel Batista, who was bombed Tuesday, is physically healthy but having trouble locating his pitches, manager John McLaren said. Batista and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre huddled Wednesday, fiddling with his release point and looking for answers. … McLaren said that he has moved shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt up from ninth in the order to get him into more RBI situations.

On tap

The Rangers and Mariners conclude their four-game series with a game at 7:10 tonight. Left-hander Kason Gabbard (1-0, 2.18 ERA) will start for Texas, while right-hander Felix Hernandez (2-2, 3.04) will go for Seattle. Approximately 25,000 tickets remain. The game will be broadcast on FSN and 1000-AM.

Don Ruiz: 253-597-8808

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