Despite the din of surrounding noises, including mumbled voices, postgame cleaning and the never-ending serenade of cell phone rings, the Seattle Mariners manager could be heard venting his frustration at his slumping team following its latest loss, a 6-1 defeat by the New York Yankees on Saturday.

The words McLaren used couldn’t be made out and likely wouldn’t be fit for print, but anger and aggravation were apparent after he sat through the Mariners’ fourth straight loss.

A night after not speaking with reporters because he was afraid of saying something he might regret, McLaren issued a message to his team. And it was loud, if not clear: The way Seattle is playing – sloppy errors, shoddy at-bats, lack of concentration, poor execution and general carelessness – is not acceptable.

“Everything he said hit the nail on the head,” right fielder Raul Ibañez said. “He’s absolutely right. It’s time for us to pick it up, and we’re very well capable of picking it up.”

McLaren didn’t mention his tirade during postgame comments with the media. He didn’t much need to. His still-crimson face and the unmistakable tone of exasperation in his voice were plenty.

Even Felix Hernandez couldn’t put an end to the suffering, giving up six runs and 12 hits in 52/3 innings. And the same problems the Mariners have had for much of the season – little offense, little defense – were still hanging around like a bad cold.

“I’m just very disappointed,” McLaren said, rubbing his temples in anguish. “We had a good spring training and now we’re 13-18 and we’re better than this.”

With Hernandez on the mound, hopes were high. But the right-hander didn’t have command with any of his pitches.

“Nothing was working,” he said. “About the only thing that was working was my change-up.”

That’s not a pitch he can rely on for an entire game. Hernandez allowed three runs after three innings as he labored against the top of the Yankees order, specifically Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu, who combined for eight hits. Damon had two doubles and a two-run home run in the sixth that effectively ended Hernandez’s day.

“Felix didn’t throw that well today,” McLaren said. “He just didn’t look right. That wasn’t Felix today.”

While the Yankees pummeled Hernandez (2-2), the Mariners were able to produce a run before the seventh inning for the first time in four games, scoring a run in the third on Ichiro Suzuki’s RBI single.

But as in recent games, the Mariners didn’t produce much else.

Yankees starter Mike Mussina (4-3) kept hitters off-balance for six innings, allowing one run, and the New York bullpen contributed three innings scoreless.

Seattle had runners on base in five innings, but never got much going. The Mariners were 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight.

“We come up here and do (batting) cage work for two hours in the afternoon and don’t have anything to show for it in the game,” McLaren said.

The Mariners have tinkered with the lineup and made personnel moves, but nothing seems to be working.

“We can’t hit for them,” McLaren said. “It’s up to them. We put their names in the lineup and they hit. If not, we’ll look at other options.”

But hitting isn’t the only issue. The Mariners added two more errors to an already long list.

“We’re obviously much better than this,” Ibañez said. “I think it’s something that happens to every club, but it’s really magnified because it’s happening in May.”

Said McLaren: “If you look at our overall game, it’s not very good. We have to get better. I’ve got to take full responsibility. It’s my team. And we’ve got to get it right. Not much I can say. We’re not playing good baseball.”

Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483

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