If they could have done more to lose a game over the first three innings, the Seattle Mariners couldn’t think of anything they’d missed on Saturday, July 19.

What they did over the last six innings would have won most games — not that it mattered.

The Cleveland Indians kept it much simpler, scoring nine times in the first three innings, then holding on for a 9-6 victory that most of a Safeco Field crowd of 37,879 would agree was ugly.

“We’ve been playing pretty good baseball,” manager Jim Riggleman said, “but we didn’t play it today.”

There was evidence in abundance.

Start with the obvious — Miguel Batista’s day lasted two innings, during which he allowed eight runs.

Or take the offense, which had chances in the first and second innings and grounded into double plays each time.

Defense? Center fielder Willie Bloomquist lost a fly ball in the sun that fell for an RBI double and — worse — forced the Mariners to get another out in Cleveland’s six-run third inning rally.

“You can’t catch what you can’t see, but I felt bad,” Bloomquist said. “I got there in time, and the ball almost hit me in the head. I just didn’t see it.”

If Bloomquist had the right to feel just a bit unlucky on that play, he could have felt cursed a few minutes later.

With Casey Blake at second base and no one out, and the Indians leading 7-1, Bloomquist caught a ball and threw to third when Blake tried to advance. The throw was perfectly online, but when it and Blake arrived at the same instant, the ball skipped past third baseman Adrian Beltre.

Reliever Ryan Rowland- Smith was alertly backing up the play, but the ball trickled away from him and Blake scored.

“That play really made me mad, because what you want to

do first out there is shut them down, stop the bleeding, and that play let them score,” Rowland-Smith said. “It was in front of me, and then it got away, somehow.”

Once the Mariners got out of their own way, they nearly made a game of it, pecking away at the Indians huge lead.

They pushed runs home on a ground ball and Jose Vidro’s RBI single. They got a home run from Raul Ibañez and scored on a wild pitch. And in the ninth inning, after giving away scoring opportunities — and Cleveland runs — Ichiro Suzuki hit a two-run home run to get Seattle to within three runs.

“Frustrating game,” Bloomquist said.

In some ways, however, it figured to be.

For better, and this year mostly for worse, Batista’s starts all have a touch of the bizarre to them, and this one was no different.

Working deliberately, he walked leadoff hitter Grady Sizemore. When the Indians called a hit-and-run, Jamey Carol hit a one-hop shot at a moving target — Jose Lopez — who made a diving tag on Sizemore, but couldn’t turn a double play.

The third batter, Ben Francisco, hit a looping line drive that dropped into right field. Fielding it on a quick bounce, Ichiro threw Carol out at second base. Almost out of trouble, Batista wild-pitched Francisco to second, then gave up an RBI single to Jhonny Peralta that

Ichiro lunged for and nearly held on to.

If he could have stopped it right there, who knows? But Batista didn’t come in with a 6.22 earned run average by getting off easy.

Former Mariners outfielder Shin-soo Choo homered, and it was 3-0.

Even then, Seattle had a chance, and when Lopez singled and Jose Vidro doubled him home in the second inning, that lead was cut to two runs. Briefly.

Batista faced six batters in the third inning and didn’t retire any of them. Four of those hitters doubled, one singled and one walked.

Five of them scored – and Batista left the game having gotten six outs and given up eight runs.

From there, the Seattle bullpen was asked to pitch seven innings and finish the game before dark. Rowland- Smith worked four of those innings and the man scheduled to start Tuesday’s game against Boston — R.A. Dickey — worked two more.

In the ninth, not having pitched in six days, Brandon Morrow set the Indians down in order. All for naught.