Mariners' whiffs weigh on Wedge

Mariners manager Eric Wedge looks at his team's strikeout binge -- hitters have gone down flailing 53 times in the last five games -- and he's just about had it. Seattle led the league last year with 1,280 strikeouts, and the Mariners are ahead of that pace after 26 games. Wedge said that number is not one he wants to approach again. "The strikeouts are ridiculous," Wedge said Wednesday after the Mariners dropped a 5-4 decision to the Tampa Bay Rays, Seattle's fifth consecutive loss after beginning the trip with four wins in succession. "We're better than that. If we have to change personnel or change roles, so be it." Two players whose status on the team remains shaky are the shortstop, Brendan Ryan, and the third baseman-turned-left fielder, Chone Figgins. Ryan struck out in all three of his at-bats Wednesday and is now hitless in his last 26 at-bats dating back to April 20. A dozen of the outs are strikeouts. Figgins is 4-for-32 sin...