M's Notes: Could a pink bat do the trick for Sexson?

Richie Sexson doesn't have an answer for his batting struggles or his team's offensive woes. He does know that the two are intertwined — like on Wednesday.

That's when Sexson went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts and watched his average dip to .186. That's also when the Mariners offense managed four hits in a 1-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Sexson has been putting in the extra work. The offense has had the extra meetings. And here they are, getting shut out for the fifth time, the same number they were shut out in all of 2005 and the most in the majors this season.

"It's starting to pile up," Sexson said. "It's been enough at-bats where I should have turned it around by now. I haven't. So it's frustrating, kind of a man-tester, I guess."

The real man-tester comes on Sunday, though. That's when Sexson and Carl Everett will use pink bats instead of black bats in order to raise awareness for breast cancer, as part of a Major League Baseball campaign under way this week.

Sexson laughed when asked if he ever used a pink bat before (no), but talked seriously about the effect cancer has had on his family.

"We've had a lot of cancer in our family," Sexson said. "My aunt died from cancer. It spread throughout her body. That's why I always try to do something on Mother's Day — this means something to me."

The question still remains. What if Sexson goes on a "hot" streak with a pink bat? Would he adopt it?

"No," Sexson said. "I don't think it would be the bat. And I'm not going to use a pink bat regularly."

Finding new balance

Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said Felix Hernandez threw "a lot" of breaking balls when he was behind in the count during a couple starts earlier this season. Teams keyed on the breaking ball and teed off on young King Felix as a result.

In his win on Tuesday against the Devil Rays, Hernandez had better fastball command than he's had this season, which meant he could throw fastballs and breaking balls while behind in the count. It also meant his breaking balls were more effective and hitters were more off-balance.

"The one thing that he did well last year is that he could throw his changeup or his curveball or his fastball for strikes when he was behind in the count," Hargrove said. "That definitely affects the hitter. It's absolutely key to anybody's success."

Notes

• Ichiro stole third base in the first inning, tying Carl Crawford for the American League lead in stolen bases with 12.

• RHP Julio Mateo threw on flat ground Wednesday and is scheduled for a bullpen session Friday. He's eligible to return to the bullpen Tuesday in Oakland, and appears on target to come off the disabled list as scheduled.

• Willie Bloomquist scratched out two of the team's four hits. It was his second straight multi-hit game, and he finished it batting .394 against left-handers and .333 overall.

• This game featured 43-year-old Jamie Moyer and 22-year-old Scott Kazmir. It was the second-largest age gap between starting pitchers since 1995. The largest? Last season: Felix Hernandez against Randy Johnson.

• Hargrove, on the AL West standings: "There is a lot of baseball left to be played. Where this team is going to settle in and what kind of team we're going to be, we're still determining that. That's why I said at least three weeks ago that you really don't know. For us to start paying attention to other teams this early in the season is a little premature."

Greg Bishop: 206-464-3191 or gbishop@seattletimes.com