Mariners take loss with bizarre walk

Seattle's starting pitcher Doug Fister pitched a beauty but the Mariners offense came up empty resulting in a 1-0 loss to the San Diego Padres. The Padre's lone run came after Fister walked San Diego's center fielder Cameron Maybin on apparently only three balls. The Safeco Field stadium score board showed a 3-2 count but in actuality the count was 2-2. The next pitch was considered ball fall by the homeplate umpire and Maybin walked to first base unnoticed. Alberto Gonzalez would later single in Maybin for an RBI.

Seattle Mariners catcher Josh Bard was frustrated with the team's performance.

At the end of the day, it's easy to sit there and point fingers at people, but we have to score runs, said Bard, who was called up June 29. We didn't score a run. You can't win a game when you don't score a run.

Fister has been perfoming magnificently in the past 5 starts, but the lack of team offense has tarnished his efforts. Seattle manager Eric Wedge commented on Fister's pitching.

Doug was outstanding again, Wedge said. He obviously has been a hard-luck guy in regard to wins and losses, but doesn't take away from the way he's pitched.

Seattle is now 3 ½ games behind Texas in the AL West standings and remains in third place.