Even some of the postgame optimism expressed about Silva, about how his bread-and-butter sinker was the sharpest it has been, won't carry much weight with a fan base that just wants to see him win. And that's been the frustrating part of Silva's story: a pitcher who desperately wants victories as a Mariner and can't make it happen.

"I felt great with my mechanics and everything," Silva said. "Besides those two change-ups that I threw, I wouldn't take anything back."

Those change-ups wound up impacting the game's outcome. Left-handed slugger Justin Morneau drilled one into the upper deck in right for a two-run homer in the first inning, and fellow southpaw Denard Span repeated that feat in the second.

The Mariners picked Silva up, with Russell Branyan tying it 2-2 in the second inning with his first homer a monster shot over the 408-foot sign in dead center off Twins starter Kevin Slowey. And then, trailing 4-2 after Span's blast, Jose Lopez led off the fourth with a homer, followed by a run-scoring double from Yuniesky Betancourt.

Seattle took a 5-4 lead moments later when Betancourt scored on a wild pitch. But Silva couldn't hold on against his former team, yielding back-to-back doubles in the fifth to Morneau and Jason Kubel that put the Twins ahead to stay.

Even the talk about a couple of bad pitches ruining Silva's night sounds like a worn-out recording to folks impatient for a breakthrough. They heard similar tales last year, when a 3-0 month of April by Silva was followed by a 1-15 mark the rest of the season.

Of course, none of that should matter now.

On the only scorecard that counts, Silva is merely a pitcher who lost his first start of 2009. But to many fans keeping their own score, Silva remains a $48 million pitcher who can't win.

The stats say he should have won more in 2008, had he enjoyed better defensive and run support. And Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu sounded after this game like he believes Silva will turn the corner.

"With Silva, I thought we saw a lot more sink than we saw before," Wakamatsu said. "It was similar to the last [spring-training] outing. It's just too bad that two bad pitches cost us the ballgame."

Wakamatsu seemed to question catcher Kenji Johjima calling for the change-ups which he described as Silva's "third-best pitch."

Johjima explained that with the count 3-1 in both situations, he felt Morneau and Span would be sitting on Silva's improved sinker. He had hoped to catch both off-balance with change-ups, but neither pitch stayed low enough to avoid getting golfed.

It was after the second homer that Johjima and Silva at Silva's insistence used the sinker more. But that couldn't prevent the decisive doubles by Morneau and Kubel.

"I gave up nine hits, and there were like six ground-ball hits," Silva said. "Anytime that happens, I'd [usually] be very happy. But those two homers cost me four runs, so it pretty much cost me the game."

Chris Jakubauskas kept Seattle close with two stellar innings of one-hit, shutout relief in his major-league debut. Mark Lowe added a perfect eighth inning.

But it was a familiar ending for Silva, who has done almost all he can to distance himself from last year.

Silva dropped 30 pounds, then altered his mound stance and delivery step. He has worked on controlling his emotions better when things go wrong.

On the clubhouse end, he held a team party last Sunday at his home in this city's suburbs. He knows that, with three years left on his contract, he's going to be a Mariner for some time and wants desperately to fit in.

"My team gave me a good opportunity to win the game," he said. "So, it's too bad I couldn't keep that score where it was."

Geoff Baker: 206-464-8286 or gbaker@seattletimes.com

Today

Seattle @ Twins, 10:10 a.m., FSN