The Seattle Times: Mariners Blog

Podcast: Mariners season hits crucial point

Wed, 22 May 2013 06:00:34 PDT

Needless to say, the Mariners could use a victory later this afternon in this finale of a road trip that began so well and then went south on the team in a hurry. The Mariners are 2-6 on the trip after losing five straight, the most recent of those defeats a 12-0 thrashing last night.

This is where a coaching staff becomes so important. The Mariners simply cannot allow this recent string of setbacks to ruin everything they've built up over the past month. But for a few breaks, they'd have won most of the games in Cleveland and then last night's Aaron Harang debacle would not seem to be as catastrophic as it does.

The coaching staff has to communicate what Raul Ibanez tried to last night. That this team appeared to be on the verge of a breakthrough in Cleveland, but just ran into a red hot squad.

This is a huge test for the Eric Wedge staff. They have to convince players not to aandon their approach at the plate. That the offense had run a .348 OBP on this trip heading into last night despite all the ate defeats and that one terrile outing in Anaheim doesn't change that.

We'll see. Because the future of this staff might depend on it. If the Mariners can't pull out of this tailspin in time, it does not bode well down the road.

This is an area where Wedge excels more so than in-game mangement. He has to use that veteran player support network as well and get the Mariners to realize they should have won many more games on this trip and the process appears sound.

We'll see whether they are up to the task.

Mariners need to help themselves out this time

Wed, 22 May 2013 03:16:04 PDT

Sometimes, as in what happened this past weekend in Cleveland, there isn't much a coaching staff or front office can do. Players are the ones who play and when they lose games because of walkoff home runs, or dropped balls, or whatever, that falls under the guise of on-field stuff and we all know that stuff happens.

But sometimes, there are things a team can do to help. The back end of this Mariners starting rotation has been a shaky loose link for most of the season with a few points of stability. Tonight wasn't one of those stable moments. The Mariners lost 12-0 and were down 7-0 by the fourth inning when starting pitcher Aaron Harang gave an extra-base hit clinic -- and not from the side you want to be giving one of those.

Nope, he was on the mound, unfortunately. By the time that inning was done, he'd given up a home run, two triples and two doubles -- in the same inning.

That's not the kind of pitching a winning team needs. The Mariners, unfortunately, need better than that every five days. They need it because the bullpen is going to get torched otherwise before the season is even halfway over and this clu's shot at a winning record will go out the window as well if it keeps punting games at one or more rotation slots.

Thursday is an off-day, so the front office will no longer have the continuity of games as an excuse for inaction.

They can make a switch and bring back Hector Noesi, or promote Jeremy Bonderman. Neither option is really all that thrilling. But neither is the prospect of watching any more of this.

At this stage, Bonderman makes sense because a DFA of Harang would free up the 40-man roster spot needed to add Bonderman to the roster. The Mariners have to make a call on Bonderman by June 1, or he can become a free agent if not added to the big league club.

Noesi isn't going anywhere. He got hit hard in AAA tonight and can still be added at any time without 40-man roster worries.

“We’ll have to talk about that,’’ Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. “You can’t keep putting this kind of heat on the bullpen. You want to give everybody ample opportunity, but having said that, you can’t keep doing what we’re doing and expect to compete.’’

And this is exactly what it all boils down to -- giving the Mariners a chance to win. Harang didn't do that tonight. The back end of the rotation hasn't done that on too many nights this season.

You have guys in that cluhouse busting their tails and taking gut-wrenching losses in Cleveland. Just throwing this game away was like a kick in the gut for them.

You can't point fingers at an offense when it trails 3-0 after one and 7-0 after four. A major league team needs major league pitching. The Mariners cut some corners in the rotation this winter and are getting what they paid for at times.

Now, they have to try to fix it. If they send Harang back out there, they'd best pray he turns it around. If not, they will have set themselves up big time with the bullseye smack dab on their forehead.

For Harang's part, he feels he has more left to show the Mariners.

“I think it’s just a matter of getting the repetition,’’ he said. “I had the stints off and as a pitcher you have to stay sharp, to keep throwing. Obviously, that hinders you. So, I think it’s just a matter of being out there and throwing my pitches and getting my feel back.’’

He added: “It’s tough to get into game speed when you just keep throwing bullpens. So, I’ve got to keep grinding and I know I can get back to where I need to be. It’s just a matter of getting the repetition in there and getting that muscle memory back.’’

Harang may be telling the truth. It just may be that he does have more left to show. But he might be showing it someplace else.

At this point, after tonight, he has no reason to expect the Mariners will keep sending him back out there.

Mike Trout hits for cycle; Mariners hit rock bottom...again

Wed, 22 May 2013 01:46:04 PDT

Start spreading the news...we're not in New York City anymore. Tales of the Mariners' exploits in the Big Apple have been long forgotten and they now face a brand new crisis in both confidence and their season.

This 12-0 loss tonight to the Angels was just one game. But the Mariners have now lost five in a row, play here again tomorrow and then face the Rangers this weekend. In other words, yeah, a long, long losing streak could be just around the corner if the Mariners don't figure some things out.

Some of it, the players can control. They did nothing offensively tonight, again, though, in their defense, the pitching by Aaron Harang was brutal and left them little chance in the game.

Other changes are entirely up to management. There is no rule that says Harang has to keep being sent out there to get lit up. There's an off-day Thursday and that's usually when roster changes come. If the Mariners stand pat, they will be writing their own epitaph.

Mike Trout hit a home run off Lucas Luetge in the eighth inning, making him the youngest player to hit for the cycle since Mel Ott of the New York Giants in 1929. Trout becmes the sixth player to hit for a cycle against the Mariners, the most recent being Aaron Hill of the Diamondbacks last June.

This road trip has gone from heartbreaking to ugly in a hurry.

The Mariners and their front office can no longer keep their fingers crossed and hope to get by. The dam has broken in the back end of the rotation. It's time for a fix before the season gets washed away.

Game thread: Angels 11, Mariners 0, top 5th

Tue, 21 May 2013 23:31:04 PDT

Honestly, who cares how the Angels got four more runs? There should be some good OTA coverage on TV from Seahawks camp. I'm going to find me a souvenir Mike Trout pint glass.

8:33 p.m.: That could be the last we see of Aaron Harang, who just walked off the mound -- and maybe into the sunset -- in the fourth inning after allowing a home run, two triples and two doubles to fall behind 7-0. The Mariners are getting what they paid for here and it isn't much. Time to look at Plans B and C rather than continue to toss games away like this.

Hector Noesi should probaly get another look in the rotation. Jeremy Bonderman is in Class AAA as well and could take Harang's roster spot if the latter is DFA.

7:39 p.m.: Aaron Harang is single-handedly reviving the Angels offense and trails 3-0 after an inning of play. Harang yielded a leadoff double to Erick Aybar on a pitch up in the zone and saw shortstop Robert Andino forget to cover second base on what might have been a close play. Albert Pujols collected the one-out RBI single shortly after, followed by a two-out, two-run homer to left by Josh Hamilton.

Yep, not the start the Mariners were looking for out of Harang so far.

6:57 p.m.: Aaron Harang isn't quite the stopper you want out there when trying to snap a string of four consecutive losses. Then again, he's making his "return" to the Los Angeles area, where he pitched for the Dodgers, and at least is making his start this time -- period.

Harang skipped his last start in New York with lower back stiffness. Hector Noesi filled in admirably in that contest against the Yankees. So, if Harang gets lit up tonight, it should make for some interesting discussion about what happens next.

Mariners hitting coach Dave Hansen on all those strikeouts

Tue, 21 May 2013 20:31:05 PDT

Tough not to notice all the strikeouts the Mariners have taken of late. Hitting coach Dave Hansen is hard to pin down, but we got him for a few moments today and one of the topics that came up was the team's strikeout rate. The Mariners have struck out at least 11 times in four of the first seven games on this 2-5 trip.

They have struck out 13 times on three occasions and are averaging 9.3 strikeouts per contest.

Then again, if you crunch the date, the Mariners also have a .348 on-base-percentage and a .474 slugging mark during those seven games for an .814 OPS and are averaging 4.7 runs per contest. The team's walk rate has also gone up. So, on the surface of it, the team is still putting up some impressive offensive totals despite the whiffs.

Hansen said what you're seeing now is the team going through the process of "refining" its strike zone. The Mariners are still striking out, ut they are also taking more walks and generating more offense by swinging at hittable pitches and doing some damage with them.

"We're still working on it,'' Hansen said. "We're still getting our strikeouts. But when you're consistent with your approach, you refine your strike zone. It's a byproduct, I think. You just don't chase as many. We still chase. But we don't chase as many pitches. We're looking for more specific pitches and that's real important that we do that -- stay focused that way.

"You will see the walks. We're still working on the other part, but I do see that we're in it every pitch. And that's real important.

Hansen said that Justin Smoak is a good example of a player who has refined his strike zone while working to maintain his aggressivness.

"He's got a really good eye, but he would chase outside of that zone because he can drive the ball out of the ballpark,'' Hansen said. "So, being able to control that aggressiveness -- still staying on-the-hunt, but refining that strike zone so that we can have some discipline at the plate -- that's the bottom line.

"These guys are all good,'' he added. "Pitchers are good at this level. The hitters are good. Wat's the difference, really? It's discipline. We're still working on it. It's a daily process, for sure.''

Hansen was asked whether the power numbers might be the last thing to come for Smoak, as he carries a team-high .366 OBP, but only a .367 slugging mark into tonight's game.

"Yeah, it is,'' he said. "Smoakie's a unique guy, because from both sides (of the plate) he's pretty disciplined with his strike zone. For a big dude, that's pretty unique. But keeping him within himself -- because he does have that power -- that can get you in trouble. So, we just constantly preach about being a good hitter. Being a good hitter and not worrying about where the ball ends up. If it ends up in the seats, great.''

Late home runs? Mariners OF Endy Chavez has been there, done that

Tue, 21 May 2013 19:01:05 PDT

Several jokes were flying yesterday about Cleveland Indians closer Chris Perez after 170-pound Endy Chavez popped a ninth-inning, go-ahead homer off him. It was the first homer of the season by Chavez and the fact it came in a pinch-hit appearance was even more impressive.

According to Mariners PR and history maven Jeff Evans, the last Mariners pinch-hit home run was by Franklin Gutierrez on June 20 of last year. It was the first pinch-hit home run to give the Mariners a lead by the seventh inning or later since Dan Wilson hit one on May 5, 2001. The last pinch-hit homer that gave the Mariners a lead in the ninth inning or later came when Ken Griffey Jr. hit one on Sept. 16, 1990.

So, that was a pretty rare feat by Chavez

Turns out, though, this isn't Chavez's first go-around with this late-homer stuff.

"I never did it in the minor leagues but I did it in the majors once with the Mets,'' Chavez said. "It was the same situation. I was leading off an inning, the game was close and I hit a home run to keep the game going.''

Well, not exactly the same situation, but pretty close. I looked it up -- not tough to do when a guy has just 27 homers in 12 years -- and there it was, five years ago this month on May 28, 2008, with Chavez going deep off Kevin Gregg of the Florida Marlins at Shea Stadium. The Mets were down 5-4 and Chavez led off the bottom of the ninth with a line drive deep beyond the right field wall to tie it.

Florida actually regained the lead in the 12th inning of that game, but the Marlins scored twice in the bottom of the frame to win it. No, not off Chris Perez. It was actually off former Mariners spring training hopeful Justin Miller, known as baseball's tattoo king. Anyhow, I digress.

Chavez said there is no real secret to going deep in a situation like that. It's not like he's trying to hit a home run.

"Oh, no, no,'' he said, laughing. "I was just trying to get on-base and put the ball in-play. I guess I hit it pretty good.''

He didn't think the ball had any hope of going out.

"I was pretty sure that I'd hit some balls harder than that in that stadium and they stayed in,'' he said. "Plus, the wind was blowing in the whole series and keeping balls from going out.''

As for mental preparation, Chavez is used to the whole late-game sub routine by now. He also went to the plate with an idea of what Perez might show him, then unloaded on an 0-1 pitch.

"He's very aggressive with the fastball and he likes to attack the strike zone,'' Chavez said. "I'd faced him before, so I knew what he might try to do, but I wanted to see how his fastball was running first, then after I took my swing.''

A few things to take away from this heartbreaking Mariners series

Tue, 21 May 2013 21:19:16 PDT

Justin Smoak may have said it best yesterday when he opined that any time a team loses three walk off games in four days, it's not going to be a good thing. Tom Wilhelmsen had the other great observation of the day that his club seemed about ready to catch the first plane out of town.

I know there was plenty of teeth-gnashing, hair-pulling and all-around second, third and fourth-guessing taking place in the blogosphere after the game and that's fine. It's what sports fans do everywhere and the fans of Seattle are no different. We all need time to vent and there was certainly some vent-worthy baseball on display late. But a part of me wonders what we all would be saying had Wilhelmsen just caught the danged ball that Smoak flipped to him in the ninth inning.

Because a big part of me thinks -- knows -- that we'd be hearing a whole different storyline about resiliency and the team's improved power and ability to come back and stay in games.

About how Hisashi Iwakuma grinded it out on a day his best stuff was missing. Or, how Smoak is starting to find his power stroke. So, if we're going to play that game, then let's at least do it properly. Because we can't plan a season around Wilhelmsen catching or not catching a routine toss. Stuff happens. But once the anger dissipates, and the venting subsides, we all have to take a deep breath, use our heads and think and then try to come to some rational and objective analysis about what is actually going on.

And if we were going to conclude some things were looking OK had Wilhelmsen hung on to the ball, that doesn't all change because he dropped it.

Look, I know that some things went wrong in Cleveland. I know that things have gone wrong in other points of this 20-25 season.

Want to argue that there is a bit too much mixing and matching going on in the bullpen at times? Hey, I'm with you. I'm getting tired of these three-hour, 20-minute games we're seeing, even for routine, low-scoring affairs. The games this year have taken longer to play than any season I've covered in my 15 years of working a major league beat. And I do blame all the bullpen shuffling by manager Eric Wedge. But I also understand the difficulties Wedge faces in melding together a bullpen of largely inexperienced pitchers who are being thrust into new roles because of injury and the decision to dump Kameron Loe one week into the season.

That part is still being worked on and sure, Wedge has made some missteps along the way. But yesterday's loss is on Wilhelmsen, not Wedge.

If Wilhelmsen catches the ball, there is no debate about whether Wedge should have usedhis closer in a second inning of work rather than Charlie Furbush. I heard groans the other night when Wedge went to Oliver Perez -- a guy who had been striking out every batter he'd faced going on a week -- in the ninth inning of a non-save situation. Those fans doing the griping have to understand that most managers won't use their closer in a non-save situation on the road, while the majority will do it with their closer at home with the game tied because there is no such thing as a save situation once a tie game reaches the ninth inning inyour own ballpark. So, yeah, Wedge has his ways of doing things.

Fire him and another manager will have his own set of quirks and ways that you won't like. What you want is a manager who believes in what he is doing and has the conviction to stand behind it even when it inevitably fails from time to time.

This whole business of blaming the manager, or the umpires, anytime something doesn't go the Mariners way is getting a bit tiresome, and frankly, it's a sign of immaturity in terms of the analysis being done locally. Wedge makes mistakes. So did Joe Torre. So does Joe Maddon. The Mariners aren't going to change all that drastically as a team with a new manager. Get over that notion, please, for the sake of your own sanity. We've had years of this blogosphere griping for a new manager every five minutes, getting one every other year, then seeing the same losing baseball.

It's.Not.The.Manager.

On to how this team is constructed, yeah, I've had problems with it going on several years in terms of the time it was taking to build a young core that still is not really showing any signs of being anyplace close to completed. Sure, there are some bright spots, but there is also underachievement and uncertainty going forward. For all the talk of a "Big Three" I've heard the past two years, I'd settle for a "Big One" right about now.

The young arms are still a ways away and it was obvious two or three years ago that this club would not seriously contend for anything until at least 2015 or even longer without bringing in some bats from outside the organization to help speed things along. The Mariners have finally done that and they look better on offense as a result. The fact that they just got swept in Cleveland doesn't change that.

During my weekly Talkin' Baseball segment on Sports Radio KJR, host Mitch Levy asked me about all of the recent strikeouts by the Mariners and suggested my "bar" for OBP was set rather low, given how poorly the Mariners had performed in that category the last few games. I told him you can't use a sample size that small to gauge anything and offered up, just for kicks, that had he checked the stats from the beginning of the road trip, he'd find the club doing OK.

Well, as of yesterday, the offense had struck out 11 times or more in four of the first six games of the trip. Yet, it had produced a .260 batting average, .332 OBP and a .447 slugging mark for an OPS of .778 against two first place ball clubs. So, no, the strikeouts were not adversely impacting the offense. Teams can live with an OPS of .778 in any prolonged stretch.

Yes, the Mariners did go just 2-4 to start the trip off. But if they'd gone 4-2 and finished the trip 5-2, would you have greater faith in the offense? If so, why? What does Wilhelmsen catching a ball have to do with the offense? You either trust in the numbers and the process, or you don't.

I hear a lot of talk about process around here, but I also see scores of fans jumping ship on it, even when it has started to play out.

This offensive process is working and has been for a full month now, building off a solid OBP, with some home run power mixed in. What the Mariners need are a few more timely hits, because you will gladly take the .330 OBP they've been running for four weeks now and you know this team can hit for home run power. To me, they appear very close to putting it all together on a more consistent basis.

Will changes need to be made? Sure, at some point. What Jesus Montero and Dustin Ackley have done is disappointing and I would not mind seeing one or both go to AAA at this point because it's been long enough that we've seen them struggle like this. It doesn't have to be permanent, but again, an offense can only withstand so many black holes.

And naturally, if the team wins only 72 games, or 75 or even 80, I will not be pleased with the product because frankly, I don't see how this team could finish with such a low win total based on what the offense has been doing for a good while now, combined with pitching that I believe to be good enough for a .500 team or better once the back end of the rotation gets sorted out a bit.

The bottom line? Now is still not the time to panic. Not after a series against that quality of opponent and given how the losses came.

Offense was always going to make the difference this year and it has indeed gotten better with numbers that should continue to grow and widen the gap between the 2013 stats and those of prior years. It takes time to do that when you start off as slowly as the Mariners did in most of April. But things have been coming around for a while now after players returned from injury, and despite all the losses in Cleveland, that fundamental OBP base is still there and looking intact.

The trick now is for the Mariners to stick with their approach and keep hoping it pays off more frequently. It should, with a little luck and a few changes in personnel. It already is working. The Mariners just went tooth and nail with two of the league's best teams. What they can't do now is abandon their approach. They had a very tough April and May schedule and if they can survive it and get to July a .500 team, then that's what most of us said would be key topossibly sticking around with the big boys after that.

We are a long way from July. This offense is much better than it was before. The pitching is at least decent and could improve. Let's give this more time to play out, make some changes where they can be made and see whether this team lives up to expectations.

If not, then I'll be the first to say that this plan isn't working and should have accomplished more in five years of time. I won't string you along for another five years based on my baseball politics or my own personal beliefs on the best strategy for roster construction and team design. If it appears to be working, there are a number of different processes that can accomplish the job.

This team improved over the offseason and we've seen it on the field of play in terms of how the games have gone, if not in the wins and loses. Let's give the season time to play out and leave the hand-wringing for when the Mariners actually start playing like a 72-win team and not one that just went toe-to-toe with two of the games finest in their own backyards.

Mariners can't close Indians out, lose it 10-8 in 10th

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:16:04 PDT

Twice, the Mariners had the Indians down to their final outs, but couldn't close it today. Charlie Furbush gives up the three-run homer in the 10th to Yan Gomes and the Indians hand the Mariners a 10-8 loss in 10 innings.

Justin Smoak had homered to give the Mariners an 8-7 lead in the top of the inning, but then Furbush allowed a leadoff single, then saw Drew Stubbs reach base when Smoak dropped a ball at the bag. Gomes then hit his second home run of the game.

The Mariners are swept in four.

Game thread: Mariners 7, Indians 7, top 10th

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:46:03 PDT

The Mariners were one squeezed toss from Tom Wilhelmsen away from winning this one, but he could not hold on to the lob by Justin Smoak at the first base bag and enabled the Indians to tie it up 7-7 with two out. Wilhelmsen gave up an infield single to Jason Kipnis, then a two-out single to right by Nick Swisher in the ninth to put runners at the corners.

With Smoak holding the runner on first, Carlos Santana sent a chopper towards the hole in the right side of the infield. Smoak made a great diving stop to his right, then tossed the ball to Wilhelmsen. The closer reached the bag in time, but appeared focused on getting his footwork right so he didn't miss the base. In doing so, he took his eye off the ball and dropped it.

The runner was safe and we're all tied up.

In the top of the inning, Endy Chavez hit his first homer of the season, to right center, off Chris Perez to give the Mariners a short-lived 7-6 lead. It's the third ninth inning homer allowed by closer Perez in his last two games facing the Mariners here.

Tough break for Wilhelmsen and the M's there.

11:56 a.m.: Well, we just got done discussing how important it was for Yoervis Medina to limit the Indians to just the one run last inning. And we saw why in the top of the eighth as Kyle Seager led things off by ripping a Vinnie Pestano offering into the right field bullpen to tie the game 6-6. That's the sixth homer of the season by Seager as the Mariners fight to avoid the four-game sweep.

11:48 a.m.: Yoervis Medina came on to pitch the seventh in relief of Hisashi Iwakuma and made a ig mistake by walking the speedy Michael Bourn. A passed ball by Kelly Shoppach enabled Bourn to go to second base and he quickly took third on a groundout by Jason Kipnis. Asdrubal Cabrera then chopped one towards the mound to Medina's left. He looked once at the plate, realized Bourn was too fast and would score, then tried to throw to first and had the ball slip out of his hand.

So, the Indians took a 6-5 lead.

Then, Medina walked Nick Swisher to put two on and then fell behind 2-0 to Carlos Santana. Shoppach did a good job at that point of going to the mound to settle Medina down. He came back and fired a 95 mph fastball for a called strike, then yielded a long drive to the center field warning track. The ball was caught for a huge second out and then Medina got Mark Reynolds to fly out to left to end the threat.

The Mariners trail by a run, but it was nearly much worse.

10:52 a.m.: The worst news the Mariners got in the fourth inning, in which they tied it up again 5-5, is that Scott Kazmir will no longer be pitching for the Indians. Kazmir's work is the only thing allowing the Mariners to endure a sub-par Hisashi Iwakuma performance thus far. Kelly Shoppach opened the inning by drawing a walk and then Robert Andino ended Kazmir's day with a double to right that put runners at second and third with no out.

Brendan Ryan then tied the game with a groundout, Andino taking third. But Andino then broke for home on a contact play and first baseman Nick Swisher made a nice glove stab of a Michael Saunders smash while playing in. Swisher easily threw Andino out at the plate and the inning ended moments later when Saunders was caught stealing.

10:23 a.m.: Hisashi Iwakuma gave the lead back to the Indians in the bottom of the third as Nick Swisher led off with a double, then took third on a flyout. Mark Reynolds walked and Michael Brantley followed with a single to give Cleveland a 5-4 lead. Iwakuma got out of the two-on jam with a 5-4-3 double play.

10:17 a.m.: The Mariners came right back and tied it 4-4 with a pair of third inning runs. Jason Bay led things off with his second hit of the day, then took third on a ground-rule double by Kyle Seager. Kendrys Morales got one run in with a single to center and then the tying run scored when Michael Morse grounded into a double play.

9:56 a.m.: After all that pregame talk about hitting with runners in scoring position, the Mariners did some of it early on. But Ryan Raburn and Yan Gomes just erased a two-run Seattle lead with back-to-back homers to left in the bottom of the second inning off Hisashi Iwakuma.

So, it's now a 4-2 Indians lead.

The Indians got a one-out double by Carlos Santana, then a walk to Michael Brantley before Raburn unloaded to left to give Cleveland the lead. Gomes then followed with a towering shot to left on an 0-2 pitch marking the second straight game in which Iwakuma has yielded two homers. He'd given up just one in his prior five outings combined.

The Mariners had entered the day 1-for-23 (.045) with runners in scoring position this series. But they doubled their hit total in that regard in the first inning when Kendrys Morales doubled to left to bring in Jason Bay from second base and then Michael Morse followed with a single to give the Mariners a 2-0 lead.

8:55 a.m.: Hisashi Iwakuma will try to snap this skid of three straight losses by the Mariners, taking the AL's best ERA (2.24) among starters since last year's All-Star Break into today's contest.

Iwakuma has started to go seven innings more frequently as he moves beyond the blister issue that plagued him throughout April. He still has to monitor the blister, which is why we've yet to see him go eight or nine innings like the aces on some other teams. If he can do that, he'll start seeing his name mentioned right up there with some of the game's best.

Eric Wedge: hitting with runners in scoring position a different animal

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:16:03 PDT

ADDITIONAL NOTE: Be sure to join me at 8 a.m. PT for Talkin' Baseball with Mitch Levy on Sports Radio KJR.

We've got a real early 9:05 a.m. PT start time today, so Mariners manager Eric Wedge held his pregame chat first thing this morning and it almost felt like we were back in spring training. Wedge said his players have to be aware of the fact they've played tough in five of the six games on this trip thus far -- up until yesterday -- and could have won each of those despite having a 2-4 record.

Wedge was asked about his team's performance with runners in scoring position and he said that improvement in this area would indeed turn some of these close losses into wins. It being a dull Monday morning and all, I could not resist asking Wedge about his thoughts on hitting with runners in scoring position. As you may know, for years, many have attempted to quantify whether such hitting is indeed a skill, or whether it boils down mainly to luck.

The Mariners are batting .239 overall and .209 with runners in scoring position.

I know exactly how Wedge feels about it, since he mentions runners in scoring position hitting very often. But just for fun, I asked Wedge to spell out exactly what it takes to hit in such situations and whether he subscribes at all to the "luck" theory. It's an interesting answer he gave -- regardless of where you fall on the whole RISP thing -- because I think it reminds us once again that no matter how many numbers we try to crunch, these are still human beings playing the game and subject to all types of variables we will never be ale to entirely quantify.

"It's just different,'' he said. "Those same (luck theory) people argue that the ninth inning is the same as the seventh and eighth inning. It's different. If I have to explain it to you, then you don't understand. I can't. I don't have enough time to explain it to you, because if you don't know, then you don't know. And you're never going to know. If you don't get it, you don't get it and you're not going to get it.

"The ninth inning is different because we're human beings and we're not widgets. OK? It's no different than when you're doing regular human being things and your heatbeat speeds up a bit from the things that you're doing in regular life. That's what happens with these guys when they're playing and millions of people are watching and there are 30,000 people in the stands.

"So, it's a situation where it's a little bit more important. You know the outcome's going to be more important. So, you feel that. So, it takes some time to be a clutch hitter. It takes time -- more time than not -- to end up being a closer. But that's what you love about the game, too, as far as I'm concerned. The human element, as far as I'm concerned. The success and the failures that you have in this game are more extreme than you have in other sports.

"One, because you play it every day and two because there is just more failure in this sport. That's why the human element and the heartbeat and everything is such a big factor.''

In other news, Aaron Harang appears good to go for tomorrow night's start, though the team has yet to officially confirm it.

Wedge was asked about Erasmo Ramirez and Danny Hultzen and said it's going to take substantial time for both to recover from their shoulder injuries. Neither is to the point yet, Wedge added, where the team can hope to count on them being added to the major league squad this season. That may change as their rehab progresses, but for now, the Mariners are not counting on it yet.

Mariners seeing what that crucial speed element looks like

Sun, 19 May 2013 17:46:04 PDT

We've written many positive things in this space about the Mariners and their offense this season. But it's safe to say, this team is far from perfect offensively. And one of the shortcomings that gets mentioned a lot is the lack of athleticism and speed in the batting order.

Heck, let's drop the athleticism part of it. The Mariners are just slow at times.

They can really start clogging up the bases when the middle of the order gets on and we saw today what a team with real speed -- like the Indians have -- can do with it when it comes to manufacturing runs.

Today's game was a 6-0 loss and some of the sluggishness in the field is what caused that. The Mariners looked bad on four different defensive plays the first four innings and it cost them three runs. The other three came on a Felix Hernandez sinker that didn't sink and resulted in a Michael Brantley homer.

But the other aspect to today's game was how the Indians took advantage of pure speed up top and at the very bottom of their batting order to make things happen. This Indians squad did a fantastic job of remaking their offense both via some trades and in good free agent signings this winter. They didn't do it all with youth.

And now, they have the American League's most dangerous-looking offense both in terms of power and speed. They can beat you in so many different ways. Plus, they are versatile. They have a bunch of switch-hitters they can flip around and use to stack their lineups from both sides of the plate depending on the handedness of the pitchers.

I see a lot of misdirected criticism being aimed at the Mariners and GM Jack Zduriencik for the fact they signed some veterans this winter and let go of some mid-to-lower-level role players like John Jaso and Casper Wells. Needless to say, I've never agreed with that criticism.

In the end, I think this is a better team with Michael Morse, Kendrys Morales, Jason Bay and Raul Ibanez on it. And in the end -- regardless of this losing streak, now at three games and counting -- this is still a good team that should win more than it loses and can stay in contention.

But all that said, there is still room for criticism here. Not because the Mariners got rejected by Josh Hamilton. Not because they were turned out on what would have been a good trade for Justin Upton.

No, there is criticism because the Mariners did not do all they could to maximize their own offense this winter. The Indians weren't the first choices of guys like Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn. Those players fell to the Tribe because of a lack of interest expressed by other clubs, some of them more worried about losing a first-round pick and spending some money than they were in the quality of those players.

Now, I've said it before, I'm not really that upset about Swisher. I think the Mariners have seen some good things from Justin Smoak so far at first base, they have Morales who can play there for now as well and some right fielder types. But some people may disagree with me on that, feeling Swisher is a better overall player, more proven and with the pedigree of having played important games for contending teams.

Hey, that's fine. I don't claim to always be right or have all the answers. Just saying I won't personally sweat that one.

But the Bourn thing, for me, is a classic example of how this rebuilding process has played out for the Mariners. It's taken a long time to get where we are and I do think we could have seen some better baseball a bit quicker had the Mariners spent some dough this winter and in prior ones to shore-up where they were lacking.

Being a rebuilding team does not mean having to suffer through a bunch of 95+-loss seasons.

Yeah, these Mariners could wind up a .500 team or better this year.

But the Indians are now a first-place team with one of the best offenses in baseball. Last year, they were a horrific team in the second half.

The Mariners knew going into this winter they had a hole at the leadoff spot atop the batting order. They knew they had a center fielder in Franklin Gutierrez who had not stayed fully healthy since midway through 2009.

And they knew that Bourn was out on the open market, having trouble finding suitors because of the first-round compensation thing and that his agent, Scott Boras, was probably going to have to cut a deal. The Mariners had conversations with Boras, but kept putting him off as they waited for other things to take hold -- like the Upton deal that came apart.

Still, finally, when all was said and done, they did not manage to land Bourn.

The Indians did and we see the results.

The Mariners stuck with Gutierrez and will now have him for about four more months maximum once he comes off the DL. Then, they can exercise their option on him for 2014 at $7.5 million or walk away.

That was the call the Mariners made. In the end, they opted to keep payroll where it now sits and keep their 12th overall pick in June and the slot money that goes with that.

When you evaluate overall what type of impact that decision might have on the team both this year and in the next few years to come, it's impossible not to conclude the Mariners might have made a big mistake. Or, at the very least, that they just prolonged the end stages of this "plan" by at least another year.

Casper Wells? John Jaso? That's forgettable fodder.

There were potential impact moves staring the Mariners in the face this winter beyond Josh Hamilton that they opted not to make.

This isn't an "I told you so!" because I also wanted Hamilton and that might not be looking so good right now if that move had been done.

But next winter, when we see a bunch of guys on the market and we hear the usual groaning from people who argue that free agency isn't the way to build a team, or that guys are too old and we should be building through youth alone, or that this guy looks like the second coming of Chone Figgins, just stop and think. There were plenty of guys out there who could have helped the Mariners be even more than they are right now.

Sure, part of it's a crapshoot. But the good teams can often spot the crapshoots that will turn sour ahead of time. Sometimes no, but you've got to take the chance. The Indians could have spun their wheels for five more years fielding low-budget, young squads full of little else but empty promises of hope to smaller and smaller crowds.

Or, they could have tried to significantly better themselves.

Right now, it looks like they have. And if they finish third, that's not going to change the fact they went out and tried and -- more importantly -- did actually sign some true impact guys long-term.

The Mariners also bettered themselves. Just not in the same way. They'd hoped to have more speed, but that's tough when Gutierrez gets hurt and Dustin Ackley and Brendan Ryan can't get on base.

It is what it is for now. The Mariners went with the money-saving and the draft pick. And they are now living with the results of that decision. It may not matter one bit when the season is done if they get back to winning games. But all of this has to be taken into context when evaluating the moves and progress of a team.

Right now, in terms of offense, the Indians have a critical speed component the Mariners lack. And they are the more dangerous team as a result. You don't need track team speed if you're the Mariners, but a few less base-clogging blunders like what we saw in Saturday's loss -- with the Jesus Montero pick off at second on the non-bunt by Endy Chavez -- would be welcome.

The speed game, leadoff spot and permanent center field role long-term were not adequately addressed by the Mariners this winter. And if that problem is still here this winter, it's an area well worth focusing on beyond the too many words spilled already over Jaso and Wells.

Mariners don't show up, clobbered 6-0 by Indians

Sun, 19 May 2013 18:31:05 PDT

The Mariners have the ability to stay competitive in most games, but they usually have to bring their "A" game to do it. Today, Felix Hernandez and his teammates brought their "C" level stuff and the result was a rather predictable 6-0 loss to the Cleveland Indians.

Justin Masterson is going to be tough to beat most days and he fanned 11 batters in this one. But when Hernandez and a bungling defense spots the home side five runs the first two innings, the rest of it becomes moot. We saw two poor defensive plays by Michael Morse lead to a run in the first, an error by Justin Smoak lead to another run that inning and then a poor play by Hernandez, who forgot to cover home when his catcher went to field a bunt, allow yet another marker to scorein the fourth inning.

An all-around forgettable day, for Hernandez, who yields five earned runs in five innings. And a woeful day by the offense, which mustered only four hits -- one of them a Jesus Montero double (well, it should have been, since the ball hit the wall, but alas, he stopped at first base) in the ninth -- and did nothing in the fifth inning when the first two runners reached base.

The Mariners are better than this.

But they have to do more than just show up to prove it. The actually have to show up.

Game thread: Indians 6, Mariners 0, bottom 4th

Sun, 19 May 2013 14:16:04 PDT

The Mariners are playing with thier heads someplace other than at Progressive Field today and it cost them another run in the fourth inning. Cleveland now leads 6-0 after a leadoff double by Mike Aviles and then a chopper in front of the plate by Drew Stubbs. Jesus Montero fielded the ball and made a strong throw to first for the out, with Aviles going to third.

But Montero was a good 15-20 feet from home plate after the throw and Felix Hernandez was busy watching the play instead of doing what he should have been, which is covering for Montero. Aviles saw that nobody was close enough to the plate, so he took off and scored the run.

Time for the Mariners to hit the "reset" button. For the second day in a row, they really don't look like they're in this game and I doubt we're going to see a flurry of late homers like we did yesterday.

10:48 a.m.: Felix Hernandez caught a bad break in the second inning on a grounder to second that Michael Bourn legged out for an infield single with two out. The inning could have been over right there, but Hernandez didn't do himself any favors after that by yielding a line drive single to center by Jason Kipnis that left runners at the corners and then an absolute bom of a three-run homer to center field by Michael Brantley to make it a 5-0 game.

The Mariners needed more in this game than Hernandez has given them so far. The Mariners have gone six up, six down on offense, so it's not looking good.

10:19 a.m.: Sure hope that 12th overall draft pick (and the saved slot money) winds up being worth it for the Mariners in a few weeks. The Mariners used that pick as an excuse not to go after free agent Michael Bourn this winter and the Indians have reaped the benefits -- signing him to a lower-than-expected deal. Bourn entered today batting .311 with a .363 OBP and a .473 slugging percentage -- and that's for a center fielder and leadoff man.

The comparisons of him to Chone Figgins this past winter by some were bordering on the ridiculous. The biggest comp between them is speed, which Bourn displayed in the first inning with a leadoff double on what should have been a single to right-center that Michael Morse was slow getting to.

Bourn would score on a single to right by Michael Brantley that Morse made an ill-advised throw home on (see "speed" and "Bourn) which allowed the runner to take second on the throw. That proved big when Justin Smoak "Bucknered" a Nick Swisher grounder, enabling Brantley to score easily.

So, it's now a 2-0 game, Indians in the lead after one.

I've been a fan of what the Mariners did offensively this winter, but felt they really could have bettered themselves even more with a Bourn addition. Now, instead of an outfield with Bourn in center and Michael Saunders in the corners for years to come, we get another sub-$90 million payroll and get to wait for Franklin Gutierrez to come off the DL again so the team can squeeze every last dime out of the remaining money owed to him for a few more months. And we get to watch the Mariners keep juggling fifth outfielder/center fielder types in Class AAA to use as emergency insurance in case of another Gutierrez injury.

Oh, and the draft pick. The Mariners still have that.

9:55 a.m.: Felix Hernandez hasn't always had the easiest time of it in Cleveland, where he's 3-4 with a 4.02 ERA in eight career outings. Today, he'll be taking on Indians ace Justin Masterson, so he'll have to limit the damage and give the Mariners a chance to score some runs and snap their two-game losing skid.

Hernandez hasn't pitched at home since April 27, making this his fourth consecutive road outing. He's 4-1 with a 1.29 ERA in four road starts thus far this season.

Jesus Montero in Mariners lineup catching Felix Hernandez

Sun, 19 May 2013 11:16:05 PDT

Jesus Montero will get a quick shot at redemption today after his tough day yesterday on the bases and behind the plate on that decisive ninth-inning play. Montero usually has big games when catching Felix Hernandez and the Mariners are going to go with that attery today.

Mariners manager Eric Wedge had a chance to review yesterday's key play on video and is convinced Brendan Ryan's throw would have made it in time to Montero had the latter kept his foot on home plate.

"He just came off the plate,'' Wedge said. "He just released too early. You've got to keep your foot planted. You're not going to turn two on that, so you've just got to keep your foot planted on that.''

I asked Wedge whether that was something that comes with experience, or whether it's a more basic fundamental that the Mariners teach all their catchers and that they are expected to already be adept at.

"That's what you see us do in spring training,'' Wedge said. "The home-to-first, or the force out or the tag play at home. Those are things you work on.''

Ultimately, he said, Montero's findamentals of foot and glovework on the play got all messed up.

"I've been there,'' Wedge said. "It's the game-on-the-line situation. You've got to be under control and kind of be in your first baseman's mode. But not to where the ball could be anywhere. Understand that , one, you're only going to get one out. So stay put and get one out.

And two, just work your feet accordingly. He probably should have gone out with the other foot and caught the ball like this,'' he added, demonstrating by twisting his hand in an upright position rather than to the side. "He just put himself in a tough position to where he kind of pulled himself off.''

So, anyway, like I said, it was a bit of a rough day for Montero. After Wedge was done speaking to reporters, he went out on the field and had an extended conversation with Montero behind the batting cage, going over the technical aspects of the play and how the catcher should have handeld it. You can see it in the photo above.

Jesus Montero in Mariners lineup catching Felix Hernandez

Sun, 19 May 2013 12:16:05 PDT

Jesus Montero will get a quick shot at redemption today after his tough day yesterday on the bases and behind the plate on that decisive ninth-inning play. Montero usually has big games when catching Felix Hernandez and the Mariners are going to go with that battery today.

"That's what you see us do in spring training,'' Wedge said. "The home-to-first, or the force out or the tag play at home. Those are things you work on.''

Ultimately, he said, Montero's findamentals of foot and glovework on the play got all messed up.

In other news, Aaron Harang is feeling better and threw his pregame bullpen session today. If he feels OK tomorrow, he'll start on Tuesday in Anaheim.

As for the hitters, Wedge is feeling better about the progress made by Justin Smoak and Ryan. Smoak has been building on that foundation -- as we've discussed on the blog -- of being more selective in which pitches he decides to unload on.

It hasn't led to big power numbers, but you really can't argue with an on-base percentage of .374. Like Smoak, Wedge remains convinced that if the first baseman keeps the fundamentals of his approach in-line, the power will eventually show up once he gets better pitches to hit.

"If you do have a good eye, which he does and (Dustin) Ackley does too, then you've got the best of all worlds,'' Wedge said. "You're aggressive when you need to be on pitches to hit and you can aggressively lay off pitches too. But you're in a hit mode where you can see the ball better. Again, if they don't come to you, you lay the bat down and go to the next batter. He's done a nice job of that.''

I asked Wedge whether Smoak was still missing some hittable pitches. After all, with just two home runs in seven weeks, you'd have to think there were a few more offerings a first baseman could have cranked by now.

"Everyody misses pitches at times,'' Wedge said. "But I think he's done a lot better job with that. He's done a lot better job of hitting pitches he should hit.''

As for Ryan, who hit his first homer of the season yesterday and is on a five-game hitting streak in which he's 8-for-19, Wedge said the coaches have worked on some fundamentals with him to create more balance at the plate and help him stay behind the ball better.

Ryan has also done a better job of controlling his emotional side.

"I think that's part of it,'' Wedge said. "I've always said that's been part of it. It's been better. He's more more even-keeled and not so emotional like he has been. And I think that's helped him.''

Mariners run gamut of emotions in this latest walkoff loss

Sat, 18 May 2013 17:16:04 PDT

We've discussed the lack of athleticism by catcher Jesus Montero before and it came into play at a couple of key moments in today's 5-4 loss to the Cleveland Indians.

The biggest play was the one in the bottom of the ninth, when Brendan Ryan made that diving snag of a Mark Reynolds shot that appeared headed into left field. With the bases loaded and none out, Ryan had to come home with his throw and made a pretty stellar effort to get the all there.

But catcher Montero -- wanting to catch the ball before the runner touched home -- took his foot off the plate in making his stretch. To be fair to Montero, catchers don't practice stretching for balls the way a first baseman would and it was pretty evident on that play.

“That’s the reason right there,’’ Montero said. “We usually block the plate. But in that moment, I was thinking ‘Just touch the plate and catch the ball.’ But the ball was a little far.’’

Mariners manager Eric Wedge had not viewed a replay yet, but said he felt Ryan's throw would have beaten the runner had Montero stayed put.

"You have to stay on the plate,'' Wedge said. "If the throw pulls you, that's fine. But if there's a spot to stay on the plate, you have to do it. And then either he's out or he's safe. You have to give yourself a chance there.''

Montero also didn't help matters in the third inning when he was the lead runner with men on first and second. Endy Chavez squared to bunt, but held up and Montero -- having strayed too far off second in an attempt to cheat towards third -- was nabbed in a rundown by catcher Yan Gomes.

Once again, the lack of athleticism and speed by Montero played a part.

"That's happened to me before,'' Montero said. "I tried to get t third base and I never made it to third base because I'm so slow. I tried to cheat a little bit and when I saw Endy was not bunting, I was like 'Oh, God!' So...I gave up, because I'm not fast.''

No, he is not and the Mariners know full well about Montero's limits as a baserunner and as a defensive catcher. They are trying to work on those aspects of his game ut there is only so much that will wind up being accomplished.

He's here to hit and at some point, he'll either have to do that or the team will have to make some decisions.

As somebody pointed out, even had Montero kept his foot on the plate, there still would have been bases loaded and only one out.

The Mariners, as we pointed out earlier, took far too long to wake up on offense today, mustering only four hits the first seven innings and entering the eighth down 4-0.

That they came back on a late homer by Ryan in the eighth and then two more by Raul Ibanez and Justin Smoak in the ninth was as much a testament to the pitching by Seattle as anything else. Danny Farquhar had a stellar debut, retiring all eight batters he faced -- five via strikeouts.

Prior to that, Joe Saunders had toughed it out for 5 1/3 innings on 120 pitches. He escaped jams for the most part, but got hurt in the sixth when he allowed two of his four runs. Saunders had trouble finishing some innings off after good starts and could have used a reak or two along the way.

But he hasn't had many this season on the road, where he's still winless.

"We're going to sacrifice a live chicken before my next road start,'' Saunders quipped. "Just bad breaks. I threw some great pitches, they made some good swings on great pitches and I didn't get the breaks again. I battled my (butt) off today and tried to keep us in the game as much as I could. I told Wedgie (Eric Wedge) and I told (pitching coach) Carl (Willis) after the fifth, 'I'll throw 150 if I have to.' ''

Saunders said he had nothing left by the time he was pulled.

"That was everything I had,'' he said. "Everything humanly possible to keep us in the game today. I battled my tail off and tried to make as many good pitches as I could.''

In the end, it wasn't enough.

But it did prove enough to allow the Mariners to tie it with those improbable late home runs.

Smoak now has his team-leading OBP up to .374 after drawing his 12th walk in the last 12 games. Smoak leads the club with 24 walks and says the power will eventually be displayed if he keeps swinging at hittable pitches and lays off the rest.

“In the past, I’ve gotten too pull-happy trying to be a homer guy and it’s not good for me as we’ve seen in the past,’’ Smoak said. “So, I’m trying to have good at-bats and hit the ball where it’s pitched. It’s a long season and good things are going to happen.’’

The emotion in the dugout when Smoak hit his home run was there for all to see. The Mariners erupted like they'd just won a World Series. But that only turned out to prolong the wait for a final result many in the stadium had seen coming since the early innings.

"Oh, man…that was pretty awesome,’’ Ryan said of Smoak's tying blast. “He hit it off the closer, with two outs. That was pretty awesome. That was a big knock for him and we felt good about our chances after that. Again, momentum was on our side and it’s too bad.’’

Mariners make stunning comeback, but can't finish it off

Sat, 18 May 2013 15:46:04 PDT

Oliver Perez picked the wrong time to have a rare off day, giving up a leadoff single and then a double to Asdrubal Cabrera in the ninth. The Mariners intentionally loaded the bases with none out after that and brought Yoervis Medina on to pitch.

But Mark Reynolds then hit a shot to the left side that a diving Brendan Ryan made a stop on. But Ryan was off-balance when he threw home and had no chance to get the runner. Well, actually, it looks like Jesus Montero might have taken his foot off home plate too early. I'll have to see some replays on that and there's no time now because I'm off to the clubhouse.

Mariners take their second straight walk-off loss, 5-4.

The loss came after the Mariners had tied the game in stunning fashion in the top of the inning.

After spending most of the day going through the motions, the Mariners were down to their last out, trailing by two runs and with nobody on base.

But Raul Ibanez kept hope alive with a solo homer to right and then Justin Smoak tied it up moments later with his own solo homer to right-center. That's two hard hit balls by Smoak today, an earlier double nearly going out to left field before striking the top of the wall.

That's a welcome sign for the Mariners. Unfortuantely for them today, they waited too long to get untracked. Had they actually done anything on offense prior to the eighth inning, they might not have still be tied in the bottom of the ninth.

Game thread: Can 'Safeco Joe' expand his Mariners contribution?

Sat, 18 May 2013 12:01:12 PDT

This is a big start for "Safeco Joe" Saunders today. His home-road splits have become a bit of a running joke, but nobody on the Mariners is laughing and Saunders sure isn't.

Saunders is 9-0 with a 1.72 ERA in 13 career starts at Safeco Field. He's 3-0 with an 0.94 ERA in four starts there this season.

Problem is, he's 0-4 with a 12.54 ERA on the road.

For the Mariners to be a winning team and contend this season, they need more stability after the top two guys in the rotation. Saunders is being paid $6.5 million to provide some of that stability, but, so far, as you can see, he's been rather unstable.

That has to change. A mid-rotation starter doesn't have to win every game. But he does have to deliver quality innings on a routine basis regardless of the ballpark. Otherwise, he's just fourth or fifth starter material. The Mariners right now have too many guys delivering those performances. They need Saunders to do more. He can start by delivering a good performance in a road game.

Game thread: Mariners 4, Indians 4, bottom 9th

Sat, 18 May 2013 15:46:04 PDT

Wow, did not see that coming. With one out to go, nobody on and the Mariners down a pair, Raul Ibanez and Justin Smoak hit back-to-back jacks off of Chris Perez to tie the game. Smoak's homer was to right-center and the crowd here knew it was gone the moment he connected.

So, it's 4-4.

The big hero if the Mariners come back to win this thing could be Danny Farquhar, who retired all eight hitters he faced in his Mariners debut. Oliver Perez now on to pitch the bottom of the ninth.

12:26 p.m.: Better get the pantry stocked because the Apocalypse might be upon us. Brendan Ryan just hit a home run -- yes, a real one, not in a video game -- to cut the Cleveland lead to 4-2 here in the eighth inning. Justin Smoak had just missed a home run off Zach McAllister earlier in the inning on a blast off the left field wall. Then, Ryan unloaded into the wind (blowing out, we assume) and all of a suden, the Mariners are back in a game they'd previously shown zero signs of wanting to be a part of.

12:05 p.m.: Joe Saunders is going to stay winless on the road, having needed 120 pitches to get through 5 1/3 innings today with his team now on the short end of a 4-0 score as we start the seventh. Saunders kept it close until the sixth, but then allowed a leadoff double to Mike Aviles and then a single to left by Yan Gomes in which Aviles somehow failed to advance. No matter as Drew Stubbs bunted both up by a base, then speedy Michael Bourn hit a slow hopper to shortstop. Brendan Ryan decided his best play was to the plate, but Aviles beat the throw for the run.

Jason Kipnis then singled to left for the fourth run of the day and that was it for Saunders.

The Mariners have been nearly invisible on offense with just three hits so far. They aren't moving guy over when they do get men on base. They'd best show up soon, or this one is done.

11:30 a.m.: Joe Saunders caught a break with the wind here, then did not. First, a huge break when what looked like a two-run homer to left by Nick Swisher in the fifth got blown back towards the field of play where it was caught by Raul Ibanez. Indians baserunner Asdrubal Cabrera sure thought the all was gone because he wound up doubled off first base by about a half mile. Shortly after, though, Mark Reynolds hit a two-out fly to left that Ibanez tried to camp under -- only he couldn't, because the wind must have shifted and this time, the ball left the yard.

So, it's 2-0 for the Indians. But it could be worse.

10:25 a.m.: Not a good start for Joe Saunders or the Mariners, who trail 1-0 after an inning of play. Saunders got two quick groundouts to begin the bottom of the first, but then yielded a single to Asdrubal Cabrera, walked Nick Swisher, then allowed a single to right by Mark Reynolds that brought the run home.

Endy Chavez began the game with a double to center, but the Mariners were then retired on three straight flyballs to left field.

9:50 a.m.: This is a big start for "Safeco Joe" Saunders today. His home-road splits have become a bit of a running joke, but nobody on the Mariners is laughing and Saunders sure isn't.

Saunders is 9-0 with a 1.72 ERA in 13 career starts at Safeco Field. He's 3-0 with an 0.94 ERA in four starts there this season.

Problem is, he's 0-4 with a 12.54 ERA on the road.

Franklin Gutierrez to be used often in right field during rehab stint

Sat, 18 May 2013 11:31:05 PDT

We're a couple of hours from gametime and Michael Saunders is getting a rare day off for the Mariners, having played 15 games in a row. Saunders has looked tired at the plate his last two games, so the rest comes at a good time. You can expect to see Saunders playing a lot of center field going forward, perhaps even once Franklin Gutierrez is ready to return off the disabled list.

Gutierrez was slotted to play right field last night for Class AAA Tacoma prior to being moved to the DH spot because of slick field conditions. He's 2-for-8 with one RBI and one walk in two games thus far but has yet to play the outfield. I asked manager Eric Wedge this morning whether we should read anything into Gutierrez being slotted in right instead of center.

"We want him to play some right field as well as center field for a couple of reasons,'' Wedge said. "One...I think it's easier to stay healthy if you're playing left field or right field versus center field. Two, Saunders has been great in center field.

And three...if he's not 100 percent, then we're better off with him in right field. Now, if he's the Guti of old, 100 percent, then of course you want him in center field. But he just hasn't proven that he can do that. So, we're going to give him some time down there to work things out.''

Wedge said it's critical that Gutierrez comes back fully healthy, meaning he could very likely use all 20 days of allotted rehab time before the team calls him back up.

"Like I told you (media) guys and I told him, too, I need him to be not just able to play up here, but able to come up here and play every day, steal a base and do some things. Because otherwise, we're going to end up right back where we are right now.''

There's another big reason the team needs to be able to count on Gutierrez daily.

"The fact of the matter is, there's a good chance we'll lose a player when we activate him, too,'' Wedge said. "That's real, too.''

Indeed it is. As we've mentioned before, Wedge has no plans to carry six outfielders. I asked him about that again this morning.

"No, we can't do that,'' he said. "You just can't do it.''

So, that leaves a tough decision ahead. It also leaves the team extremely vulnerable going forward if Gutierrez or Saunders gets hurt again.

Right now, there is no way the team is about to release Raul Ibanez or Jason Bay given how they're playing. The odd man out, if things stay as they are, would be Endy Chavez.

Now, if Chavez gets through waivers, then great. He can be outrighted to AAA. But there's a good chance that won't happen. We all saw how even an unproven Casper Wells kept getting claimed on waivers. A seasoned outfielder like Chavez, who can bat leadoff and is hitting .282, is going to be looked at by plenty of teams.

If the Mariners lose Chavez, their center field insurance becomes Corey Patterson, 33, signed a couple of weeks back to a minor league deal. Patterson didn't play at all in the majors last year after hitting .239 for Toronto and St. Louis back in 2011.

Though he has big league experience, it isn't as recent as what Chavez gave the Mariners and there appears to be a clear talent dropoff between the pair.

So far, he's hitting .194 with a .533 OPS for AAA Tacoma.

That's the guy the Mariners would have to call up to the big leagues if Gutierrez goes down again after the Mariners lose Chavez to a waiver claim.

Now, Wedge isn't about to say who the odd man out will be once Gutierrez returns. But I asked him whether he'd be comfortable going forward with just Gutierrez and Saunders as center fielders in the majors.

"Yeah, I'm comfortable with that,'' he said. "I mean, those are two fine options for us. So, I'm comfortable with that. Now, if something happens, then you might get a little bit thin. But again, you can't cover everything. You know? You try to hedge your bets as best you can and go from there.''

In other words, if things stay the same, look for Chavez to be on-the-move and the Mariners being one Gutierrez misstep away from putting a big league uniform on Patterson again.

Latest loss shows Mariners indeed improving, still not there

Fri, 17 May 2013 23:31:05 PDT

This game looked on paper beforehand like the Cleveland Indians might swing and bash the Mariners and Brandon Maurer into submission. You had the team with the best OPS in the league stacking its lineup with lefties to face Maurer, a pitcher who struggles against opposite-handed bats.

Instead, it was the Mariners who did most of the hitting in this game. They wound up outhitting the Indians 10-7 and really, it was 10-5 with two out and none on in the 10th inning. The Mariners had run up the pitch count of Indians starter Ubaldo Jimenez just five innings in and forced him from the contest by working counts, getting on base and making his life difficult.

They just couldn't finish the job...again.

Instead, the Indians saw Jason Kipnis hit a three-run homer off Lucas Luetge in the 10th inning after two batters got on via a walk and a slow chopper. So, it's the Mariners taking the 6-3 loss here even though they were the ones doing the most offensively all night.

Seattle pitchers actually had retired 16 batters in a row before Drew Stubbs got the walk off of Luetge in the 10th.

So, once again, the fundamentals are there. The Mariners just need to build off that base.

“We had plenty of chances,’’ Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. “We’re playing good baseball. We still have to do a better job with runners in scoring position. We’ve got to do a better job of stringing hits together and putting to together innings.

“We’ve shown signs at times, of that, but we’ve yet to be consistent with that. That’s why there’s so much reason to believe that we’re going to be a much better offensive club when we start to get to that point.’’

Tough to argue with that contention. The Mariners have spent the past three weeks getting on base and winning more games than they lose. But when they do lose, it's usually because they don't capitalize on the many chances they set themselves up for.

The Mariners stranded seven runners the first five innings and 1o on the night. They went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

But on the plus-side, they put 14 runners on base. When you do that and you hit two home runs in the game, you usually wind up with more than three runs.

As Wedge said, when the Mariners start to get some more timely hits, they will be scoring more than this with all those runners on the bases.

These are good teams the Mariners have played lately in some real tight games. I like the vibe I'm sensing off the club. So does Raul Ibanez, who hit his fourth home run in four games tonight.

“I think it’s a great attitude,’’ Ibanez said. “There’s a lot of energy in here before the games and there’s a good, confident vibe on everybody’s part.

“This team seems to really be coming together nicely and battling,’’ he added. “Games like that, those (opposing) guys are battling too. And there’s nothing to hang our heads about. We’ve got to keep fighting. And if we keep playing like that, good things are going to happen.’’

You can see what a little power in the lineup can do. There were times when it was a 3-1 game in the fifth inning and Maurer was struggling a it with two on that it looked like the game might be lost.

But then Endy Chavez makes that nice catch on a hard liner to right and doubles the runner off first base. All of a sudden, Maurer is through the fifth and then -- boom! -- Ibanez ties it with one swing in the sixth. When you have some bigger bats in the lineup, it gets dangerous for the other team when they put runners on base. That wasn't the case here in Seattle the past few years.

From there, it was a completely different game. The Indians couldn't buy a hit and Maurer found an extra gear and kicked it in during that sixth inning.

“That was awesome,’’ Maurer said of the Chavez catch. “A great play. That helped out huge right there.’’

Maurer said he sensed some extra adrenaline in that sixth as he knew the game was tied and he had to keep it that way. He finished with a 1-2-3 inning and a pair of strikeouts.

He said he felt more comfortable than in prior outings and used a bunch of two-seam fastballs and a sharper curveball to offset the string of lefties the Indians sent up there against him.

Anyhow, the Mariners still lost. If they want to win tomorrow, they'll have to play a more complete game and finish more of the rallies they start. But if they can keep up this foundation of hitting and putting runners on, it will e a good place to start.

Mariners take a 6-3 loss in 10 innings on walkoff homer

Fri, 17 May 2013 22:16:05 PDT

The Mariners had plenty of chances to win this game, but just could not get a big hit when they needed it the final few innings. Come to think of it, the Cleveland Indians couldn't get one either until the very end, with the Mariners retiring 16 in a row at one point.

But Lucas Luetge walked Drew Stubbs with two out in the 10th, then saw him steal second. Michael Bourn then hit a slow roller past Lucas Luetge for an infield single that put runners at the corners.

Jason Kipnis came up next and hit a walkoff three-run homer to hand Seattle a 6-3 loss. Luetge had Kipnis 0-1 in the count, but the next offering was lined clear over the wall.

The Mariners had outhit the Indians 10-5 by the time the ninth inning was halfway done. But they'd also stranded nine runners on base to just three for Cleveland by that point. Those missed chances, especially early on in the game, once again loomed large as the late innings arrived.

It's the first loss by the Mariners on a walkoff homer since Dayan Viciedo did it against Kameron Loe the first weekend of the season back in April.

Game thread: Mariners 3, Indians 3, top 9th

Fri, 17 May 2013 21:01:04 PDT

Raul Ibanez did it again, taking Rich Hill over the wall in right for a two-run homer in the sixth that has tied the game 3-3. That's the fourth homer in four games for Ibanez, who now has seven on the year and is on-pace to top the 19 he had last season with the Yankees.

Justin Smoak had started the rally with a single.

5:35 p.m.: Drew Stubbs took Brandon Maurer the opposite way to right field for a solo homer in the bottom of the fifth. Cleveland now leads it 3-1.

5:10 p.m.: Kendrys Morales just hit a one-out rocket into the second deck in right field, a blast estimated at 429 feet. Mariners now trail 201 in the fourth.

4:40 p.m.: Brandon Maurer was throwing almost all fastballs and sliders in the second inning and the lefties got to him, with Carlos Santana ripping a pitch off the right field wall to put runners at second and third with none out. Jason Giambi then brought the run home with a sacrifice fly to right in which the trail runner advanced to third. One out later, Maurer uncorked a wild pitch and Santana scored to give the Indians a 2-0 lead.

3:55 p.m.: The Cleveland Indians went out and signed two free agents -- Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher -- that many thought the Mariners might take a run at this past winter. Cleveland now has the best offense in the AL in terms of OPS and Bourn and Swisher are a huge part of it.

Bourne is batting .281 with a .343 OBP and .469 slugging percentage out of the leadoff spot -- no, he isn't Chone Figgins reincarnated -- while Swisher has hit .273 with a .374 OBP and a .492 slugging percentage.

Mariners starter Brandon Maurer struggles against left-handers and the Indians have stacked their lineup with lefties and switch-hitters. So, either Maurer starts throwing his curveball with some effectiveness or it could be a very long night.

No Michael Morse for the Mariners. A late scratch with an irritation in his eye.

Mariners reliever Stephen Pryor appears to have setback in recovery

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:01:05 PDT

Some breaking news here, as Michael Morse has been scratched from tonight's lineup with an eye irritation. We'll post new lineups shortly, but Endy Chavez will be in right field.

Mariners relief pitcher Stephen Pryor suffered a torn lat muscle just over a month ago and we hadn't heard much about him since. Until today, that is, when Pryor was placed on the 60-day DL. Now, that can be backdated to when the injury first occured, so technically, it could last only another 3 1/2 weeks or so.

But it doesn't sound like that will be the case. It sounds like Pryor will still be out for a while yet. Mariners manager Eric Wedge was asked about Pryor moments ago.

"It's just been slow coming,'' Wedge said. "He tried to play catch the other day and he didn't feel great. So, we kind of backed him off that a little bit. For a guy that size, that injury, with the way he throws, it's just not the best scenario, let's put it that way. You know what I mean? We knew when we started out, it was going to be some time. But I don't think we know how much right now because he's kind of on his own timetable.''

The Mariners do miss Pryor in a bullpen that has three left-handers in it but looks a little short at times from the right side. Carter Capps and Yoervis Medina handled the big work late in the seventh and eighth innings for the Mariners at Yankee Stadium last night and got the outs they needed, but the team appears to need more than that, which is one reason Danny Farquhar is now here.

As for some other players recovering from injury, Aaron Harang remains on schedule for now to make his Tuesday start in Anaheim. He got treatment from a chiropractor on his stiff back, so the Mariners are crossing their fingers.

They could call Hector Noesi back up to replace Harang, but under MLB rules, Harang would have to go on the 15-day DL for that to happen since Noesi just got optioned to AAA.

Franklin Gutierrez went 1-for-5 in his DH stint for AAA Tacoma last night, but was a bit sore afterwards. The Rainiers will see how he feels today. If he's good to go, he will be used in the outfield.

Danny Farquhar up from Class AAA to join Mariners bullpen

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:46:05 PDT

After Hector Noesi threw those 4 1/3 innings last night, it was clear the Mariners would need some extra bullpen help. So, they're getting that tonight as Noesi has been optioned to Class AAA and Danny Farquhar has been called up.

To clear a roster spot for Farquhar, the Mariners placed Stephen Pryor on the 60-day DL. That move likely won't delay Pryor's return to the big leagues, since it can be backdated to when his injury occured just over a month ago.

Farquhar, 26, got himself noticed with a strong showing for the Mariners this spring and had been used in a closing role by AAA Tacoma. His outings have been better of late after he mixed in his curveball more to offset a 95 mph fastball and 91 mph cutter.

"The curveball definitely is a big offspeed pitch that I need to continue to throw for strikes, continue to mix in there,'' Farquhar said. "Just because I have the cutter and the fastball -- they're two hard, hard pitches. Even just showing a hitter the curveball...it's so much easier and more fun to pitch when you have extra weapons like that.''

Farquhar has had a taste of the big leagues before, getting into three games with Toronto in 2011 and allowing three runs on four hits over four innings.

He got the news last night after an extra-inning loss by Tacoma. He was "starving" and waiting in the clubhouse food line with his teammates when he got called into the manager's office and was handed the news he'd be en route to Cleveland.

Farquhar promptly forgot all about the food and went to tell his wife the good news.

The velocity Farquhar can generate is impressive, given that he stands just 5-foot-9 and weighs only 180 pounds.

"It's funny because growing up, I was actually a bigger kid,'' he said. "And I think that's why I don't have any issues whenever somebody makes fun of me because I'm short. And I never have any problems, I don't have Little Man's Syndrome, because I was always a bigger kid. And then, when I was 12 I just stopped growing. I think I was about 5-foot-8 when I was 12 and I grew maybe another inch after that.

"So, I always had a good arm. I played outfield growing up. I played center field. And I always had a good arm from the outfield. Pitching really started becoming my craft at the end of my high school career. And that's when my velocity started going up.''

Mariners have been here before, but this feels different

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:31:06 PDT

The Mariners could be a .500 team again as early as tonight. Not that this is all that unusual, or late in the season.

Remember, it was only two years ago that the Mariners were a .500 team on July 5 after a win in Oakland. What happened after that was a 17-game losing streak that scuttled the season.

Could that happen this year, too? Sure, it could. But I don't think it will. No, I suspect this current shot at .500 will lead these Mariners to a place they found themselves in 2009 when they won 85 games. Maybe this team can even exceed that, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Here's why I think this year will be different.

The biggest is that this team has an offense that is already more or less set. The 2011 squad was running on fumes and needed at least two big bats to be imported at the trade deadline to have even a remote chance. That squad was batting Adam Kennedy cleanup at times and he simply hit the wall from overuse at the midway point.

This year's team has no such problems. Despite the continued inability to get any offense out of the shortstop position, the Mariners still have enough bats to go toe-to-toe with any team on most nights. And the offense has yet to even reach its peak and fully click. We'll see whether Franklin Gutierrez can eventually be counted on for anything and if he can be, what a bonus that would feel like.

This team also has young bats like Nick Franklin and Mike Zunino that can be added mid-season if need be with no additional cost to the team.

There are some needs the Mariners will have to address if they stay .500 by mid-season and hope to make a late run. Another starting pitcher seems critical and I'm not just talking about the addition of Danny Hultzen. Maybe Joe Saunders emerges into a dependable mid-rotation guy, but right now he's not it. He's pitching like a fourth starter at best. The Mariners, if they want to extend this run beyond July, will eventually need to acquire a rotation piece.

The bullpen has also been a mess of sorts at times, largely because of the injury to Stephen Pryor. Right now, the team is too lefty-heavy, but again, if Pryor returns, that problem could be solved.

I suppose you could say the biggest difference between now and two years ago is that the Mariners will no longer have to rely as heavily on ownership to step up. Back in 2011, owners would have had to step up big, add heavily to mid-season payroll and resist the urge to trade away Erik Bedard. That was never going to happen. The Mariners were hell-bent on dealing Bedard that season and the 17-game losing streak gave them the perfect excuse to make that deal -- saving millions in the process -- and trade away Doug Fister as well.

In other words, the Mariners were never going to get their needed bats that year. And they certainly were not going to be able to keep their stellar rotation intact. There was a budget that needed to be met and the Mariners weren't going to let a little thing like surprise contention stand in their way.

This year? Ownership won't be needed as much. The team has pieces it can deal, both in the minors and maybe the majors if they want to acquire another rotation arm. There should also be some money room left in the budget as well since Michael Bourn was never signed, nor Nick Swisher, nor some other potential free agent acquisitions.

Again, the adds this team would need to stay a winning club won't be as ample. For me, that makes all the difference.

Mariners agree this was 'playoff' type win tonight

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:31:04 PDT

I've been in Seattle quite a few years now and I've also covered plenty of playoff games at Yankee Stadium over the years, including the two fabled ALCS against Boston in 2003 and 2004 and numerous World Series here and at other places between 1998 and 2005.

And I've got to say, watching this game in this park tonight, it felt like a playoff game. I'm not the only one who thought so, either. I asked Brendan Ryan about it post-game.

"Absolutely, that's what I was going to say,'' Ryan told me, when he heard the word "playoff" mentioned. "I mean, every guy was in it. On the bench and on the field. That was playoff stuff right there. Everybody was ready to make a defensive play and our bullpen was coming in and executing pitches. That’s as fun as it gets there at the end with Tommy (Wilhelmsen) on the mound. I looked at Ack (Dustin Ackley) and I was like ‘This is awesome, this is truly awesome! This is good baseball here’.''

What gave the game its playoff feel was the way every pitch seemed to matter from about the fifth inning on. And every play, too, like Kendrys Morales diving to snag a Ryan throw in the seventh inning on an infield hit that scored one run. The tying run would have scored on the play as well had the ball gotten by Morales. But it didn't and Carter Capps got the final out of that frame.

The Mariners would never yield again and the score stayed 3-2 until the final out was recorded.

"I don't know if you get a Web Gem on something like that but that was the difference in the game,'' Ryan said. "I don't think I could bear hug him strong enough, It's hard to get my arms around him but I mean, that was one heck of a play.''

The pitching down the stretch, in high-leverage, high-stress moments was just remarkable.

You had Oliver Perez getting out of that jam in the fifth with runners at the corners and one out. Perez struck out three more guys and was credited with the win.

“I think we’re doing a pretty good job,’’ Perez said of the bullpen. “We’re like a family right there. We support each other, we have fun. It’s a long season and we treat everybody like family because sometimes we spend more time together than we do with our families.’’

Yoervis Medina got the final out with two on in the sixth, then Capps did a great job in the seventh and eighth with the tying run at second each time. With Curtis Granderson on second and one out in the eighth, Capps got David Adams to pop out and then struck out Ichiro on an 85 mph slider one pitch after showing him a 98 mph fastball.

That type of pitch alternating is what Capps worked on all winter and spring. You now see how effective it can be in throwing hitters off balance.

In the ninth, Tom Wilhelmsen admitted he was so amped-up, he wasn't even paying attention to Brett Gardner as he stole second and then third. No matter, as he struck out Jayson Nix and then got Robinson Cano to ground out to end it.

“There was no way we were going to lose that game,’’ Wilhelmsen said. “We’d just got momentum and I certainly wasn’t going to be the guy to do it. Emotions were high and no matter what side you’re on, that’s a baseball game.’’

Mariners manager Eric Wedge, ejected for arguing that Ichiro catch in the second inning, managed the rest of the game from his office. He had a team employee racing back and forth between him and bench coach Roby Thompson relaying instructions.

Wedge later told me it was tougher for him to watch the game on TV than to be in the dugout, because the stress of the late innings was indeed playoff-like. He feels this was an important win by his squad.

“They should derive a great deal of confidence,’’ Wedge said. “When you’re facing these guys here in their backyard and you play to win the way we did and finished it off and do what you need to do, it should be a great lift for them.’’

Mariners bullpen puts up great effort in clinching series

Thu, 16 May 2013 21:46:06 PDT

Now that's the type of game the Mariners will be thrilled to prevail in and the kind of series that can be a real confidence-builder for this team.

The Mariners held on to win 3-2 tonight in a game that saw both sides throw some serious pitching at one another, especially in the late going. For Seattle, this first series win in New York since 2010 gives them a 5-0-1 mark in series since that disastrous road trip to Texas and leaves them just one game under .500.

Michael Morse was the difference tonight with his 10th home run of the season -- a solo shot in the sixth off Shawn Kelley -- giving the Mariners a cushion they really needed late. Morse becomes the first Mariners player to reach double figures for home runs, something that didn't happen for this team until June 2 of last year when Justin Smoak hit his 10th.

But tonight's win was all about the bullpen, from the spot start by Hector Noesi to the relief work that came after.

Oliver Perez gets the win after logging three more strikeouts and pitching out of a key jam in the fifth with runners at the corners and only one out. You know Perez has to be happy with this victory, coming as it did in New York -- a city that became a personal hell for him while he toiled with the Mets a couple of years back.

This game had all the feel of a playoff contest at times. By the final few innings, both teams were making a plethora of mound changes and each at-bat took on added significance. Mariners fans, I'm sure, were holding their breath with each Carter Capps pitch in the seventh and eighth innings.

Capps was reaching 97 and 98 mph with consistency in both frames with the tying run in scoring position. He also did a great job of holding lead runner Curtis Granderson at second base while notching the second out, then did the same before striking out Ichiro on an 85 mph slider.

The pitch prior to that was a 97 mph fastball to Ichiro, so Capps was getting some serious differential pitch-to-pitch.

And then, in the end, the Mariners finally had a chance to use closer Tom Wilhelmsen in a save situation again. He'd gotten so rusty that the Mariners brought him in to mop up the ninth inning of Wednesday night's 12-2 rout.

Wilhelmsen gave up a one-out single to Brett Gardner, who stole second and then third. But Wilhelmsen came back to strike out Jayson Nix and then got Robinson Cano to ground out to shortstop.

Whew!

So, the Mariners take a series here in which they lost the game started by Felix Hernandez and came a few non-strike calls away from a sweep. The Yankees are not as strong offensively as in the past, to be sure. But they were also pretty hot coming into this series and had won seven of eight after taking the opener.

They aren't hot any more.

Mariners bullpen puts up great effort in clinching series

Thu, 16 May 2013 21:46:06 PDT

Now that's the type of game the Mariners will be thrilled to prevail in and the kind of series that can be a real confidence-builder for this team.

But tonight's win was all about the bullpen, from the spot start by Hector Noesi to the relief work that came after.

The pitch prior to that was a 97 mph fastball to Ichiro, so Capps was getting some serious differential pitch-to-pitch.

Whew!

They aren't hot any more.

Game thread: Mariners 3, Yankees 2, bottom of 8th

Thu, 16 May 2013 21:01:05 PDT

What a nailbiter this one is turning into as the Yankees scored a run in the seventh to cut Seattle's lead to 3-2. Yoervis Medina gave up a single and a walk to start the inning, then, after a strikeout and a groundout, Robinson Cano came up with runners on second and third. Lucas Luetge came on to pitch and got the grounder he was looking for. But shortstop Brendan Ryan really had to range for it and his throw was offline. The play was ruled a hit and first baseman Kendrys Morales did a great job of keeping the ball from bouncing any further away as just the lone run scored.

Carter Capps came on and got Vernon Wells to pop out to end the inning. The Mariners could really use another run. Three doesn't seem like it will be enough.

5:58 p.m.: Shawn Kelley keeps striking guys out -- he now has all four outs tonight via the "K" -- but Michael Morse tagged him for a leadoff solo homer over the center field wall in the top of the sixth to give the Mariners a 3-1 lead. The homer was the 10th by Morse and the 27th by a Mariners outfielder this season, leading all of baseball.

Oliver Perez replaced Hector Noesi in the bottom of the fifth and did some stellar work to escape a jam with runners at the corners and one out. First, Perez struck out Brett Gardner, then he got Jayson Nix to pop out and preserve a one-run lead.

That lead is now two runs and the Mariners have Perez largely to thank.

5:42 p.m.: Andy Pettitte just left the game after striking out the first two batters in the fifth inning. No word on an injury. This could be a huge break for the Mariners because Pettitte seemed to be getting into a groove. Then again, he's been replaced by ex-Mariners reliever Shawn Kelley, who has 25 strikeouts in just 15 innings already this season.

5:10 p.m.: The Mariners loaded the bases with one out in the fourth and managed to get one run home on a two-out infield single by Brendan Ryan. So, it's a 2-1 game, the Mariners leading. But this is starting to remind me of the series opener a bit. Seattle is by far getting the better chances in this game, but not doing a whole lot with them as this could be a much bigger lead by now.

4:44 p.m.: Hector Noesi got the first two outs of the second but then couldn't finish and allowed the Yankees to tie it 1-1. Curtis Granderson swung into a little nibbler in the grass to Noesi's right. Noesi bounced the throw by first baseman Kendrys Morales and Granderson wound up at second on the error.

David Adams -- yes, the guy who held up the Cliff Lee trade to New York three years ago before the Mariners wound up dealing the pitcher to Texas instead -- followed with a double to right center to tie it.

4:37 p.m.: Mariners manager Eric Wedge just got ejected between innings by first base ump Hunter Wendelstedt for arguing -- we think -- about that Raul Ibanez checked swing. It could be a combination of things since this umpiring crew hasn't exactly distinguished itself this series. The Mariners took a 1-0 lead in that second inning after a walk by Kendrys Morales and a single by Michael Morse put two on with none out.

The Ibanez checked swing strikeout call came after that and it looked to me like the hitter held up in time. Plate ump Greg Gibson made the quick call and there was no appeal. Jesus Montero flied out after that but then Dustin Ackley delivered the two-out double to right to bring a run in.

The Mariners nearly had at least one and likely two more runs, but Ichiro made a catch of Brendan Ryan's sinking liner to right. A very tough play for Ichiro to make but he did it.

3:55 p.m.: Well, it's safe to say Hector Noesi never expected this opportunity, so let's see what he does with it. It's not like the back-end of the Seattle rotation is flawless. A strong showing here by Noesi, he might see some more opportunities down the road.

Eric Wedge says Hector Noesi needs to stay 'aggressive' for Mariners

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:16:04 PDT

Raul Ibanez will be back in the lineup tonight despite the presence of left-handed starter Andy Pettitte on the mound for the New York Yankees. Ibanez has three home runs his last two games, nine homers in his last 11 games at Yankee Stadium and is now a career .283 hitter at the new Yankee Stadium with 19 homers, 50 RBI and a .953 OPS in 75 games.

That means Justin Smoak will sit out tonight's game as Ibanez assumes the DH role.

"I wanted to play them all,'' Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. "But I couldn't do it. It's just so we can keep Raul in there.''

Wedge has a lot on his mind today, with Aaron Harang a late scratch and Hector Noesi now starting. The Mariners could have started Brandon Maurer on his normal rest, but Wedge said he "didn't think that was fair to him'' at this stage of his career, given the change of day, opponent and venue involved.

As for Noesi, Wedge said he has to keep doing what's made his successful as a long reliever so far.

"When he's aggressive and aggressive on the plate with all his pitches, then it plays for him,'' Wedge said. "When he picks a bit, or tries to guide the ball, that's when he gets into trouble. Because you fall behind, have to come in and then it doesn't matter what you're throwing.

"But when he goes out there and really gets after it, that's when he's effective.''

In other news, Franklin Gutierrez is beginning his injury rehabilitation assignment as a DH with Class AAA Tacoma today. Josh Kinney will also be starting his rehab assignment there tomorrow night.

Wedge is on record saying Gutierrez will have to show he's ready to play every day before he returns. In other words, the Mariners could take the entire 20 days of his rehab before calling him back up.

"He has to play, but I'm not looking for him just to be to the point where he can play up here,'' Wedge said. "He's got to be further than that so we can count on him. You now what I mean? 100 percent? I don't know what 100 percent is any more. I don't think there is 100 percent. But I know he's got to be further along than he has been in the past before he comes back.''

Wedge said he'll be in contact with coaches and trainers in AAA to hear about what they see from Gutierrez. For now, he's not putting any timetable on his return.

"Of course we want him back,'' Wedge said. "But we want to know we can count on him, too.''

Eric Wedge says Hector Noesi needs to stay 'aggressive' for Mariners

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:16:04 PDT

That means Justin Smoak will sit out tonight's game as Ibanez assumes the DH role.

"I wanted to play them all,'' Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. "But I couldn't do it. It's just so we can keep Raul in there.''

As for Noesi, Wedge said he has to keep doing what's made his successful as a long reliever so far.

"But when he goes out there and really gets after it, that's when he's effective.''

Wedge said he'll be in contact with coaches and trainers in AAA to hear about what they see from Gutierrez. For now, he's not putting any timetable on his return.

"Of course we want him back,'' Wedge said. "But we want to know we can count on him, too.''

Aaron Harang out, Hector Noesi in for Mariners tonight

Thu, 16 May 2013 16:01:07 PDT

Aaron Harang began feeling some lower back stiffness yesterday and by today, it had not gone away. As a result, he's been scratched from tonight's scheduled start here in New York and Hector Noesi will take his place.

Noesi, as you may recall, used to pitch for the Yankees before coming over with Jesus Montero in the Michael Pineda deal. Last May, in a May 12 start here against the Yanks, he gave up four runs the first two innings and was down 5-0 by the fourth in taking the loss. That game saw Noesi make it through seven frames without allowing any further runs in what some pointed to as a moral victory of sorts for him.

Turned out, any victory was short-lived. Noesi continued a pattern of getting lit up early and often and was eventually Class AAA-bound. He was in AA this year before the Mariners needed a long reliever and his outings to-date have actually been better than many expected.

So, tonight, a key might be Noesi survivng the first couple of innings.

As for Harang, he's had these back issues crop up a couple of times over the years.

"Just from it getting out of allignment,'' he said. "I've had regular chiropractor treatments. Just with all the flying, you're on the plane and sitting-- I've got my legs spread out and can't put them straight forward because of how long my legs are -- it's just the little stuff I've got to keep doing. Obviously, with the last long trip and then a couple of days at home and we turn around and go on another long trip. Changing hotels...I spent the whole first month of the season in a hotel pretty much too. It's just been hard to stay on that stuff.''

Harang received treatment from team therapists today and figures that with some additional sessions, he could be good to go by the time his next scheduled start comes around next Tuesday in Los Angeles.

Harang was looking forward to pitching here at Yankee Stadium. He's never faced the Yankees before and they would have been the 30th club he's squared off against in his lengthy career.

"It was pretty frustrating, the fact that this has happened,'' he said.

That prior time against the Mets had been a scheduled July 4 outing.

"It was tough,'' he said. "We couldn't even find a chiropractor in the city because everybody took off for the long weekend.''

Eric Wedge, Raul Ibanez and playing a managerial hunch

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:16:06 PDT

We've seen Raul Ibanez hit three home runs in two games at Yankee Stadium after Mariners manager Eric Wedge openly stated that his outfielder's prior success at this ballpark was one of the reasons he'd see game action. Another reason given for Ibanez starting on Tuesday night against left-handed pitcher C.C. Sabathia was his track record of success against the southpaw.

But when Ibanez lived up to those expectations -- taking Sabathia deep on Tuesday and then popping two more homers on Wednesday -- the results were dismissed as "lucky" and a "fluke" by some of my readers on Twitter. When I tried to explain to them that Wedge was playing a hunch in giving Ibanez the rare lefty-on-lefty start against Sabathia and had it pay off, one reader expressed horror that an MLB manager would conduct himself that way.

The reader, it seemed, was shocked at the discovery that MLB managers allow hunches to dictate many of their in-game and pre-game decisions. In fact, I'll put forward -- as I did last night on Twitter -- that managers at this level are paid for their expertise and with that expert knowledge comes the ability to make educated guesses that will often exceed the thought process of the average fan. Or even the above average, self-professed thinking fan.

For me, this might represent one of the biggest disconnects I see between some who favor a more stats-oriented approach to baseball versus what those who work in the sport actually deal with on a daily basis. It's right up there along with a failure by some fans and analysts to grasp the nuances of full-time players versus part-time players, or realistic, true-life "sample sizes" versus the ideal theoretical ones that play out over hundreds, even thousands of at-bats.

There are hundreds of variables that go into every baseball game. Once you accept that reality and understand how every one game in a season of 162 can change the course of how decisions are made, it becomes much simpler to grasp why even the most stats-savy of managers will never make all of their decisions on auto-pilot based off some pre-calculated computer projections.

They can't do that. They are paid to be different from the next guy. And from the average fan sitting at home pumping out stats for every situation beforehand.

If every manager in baseball managed every game based off what the computer projections told him ahead of time, we'd have some very predictable patterns unfolding that some intelligent manager looking to buck the trend could easily exploit.

Now, back to hunches.

The easy call on Ibanez would have been to sit him against the left-hander the other night based on what the generic stats said. But the much tougher call was to view this as an opportunity to get Ibanez going against a pitcher he's seen success against before. Yes, I am aware that a lot of the success had by Ibanez against Sabathia came when he was younger and a full-time player and that Sabathia has since blossomed into a more mature, ace-like version of his younger self.

On the surface, that would appear to lessen the case for playing Ibanez.

But Wedge kept taking about the "knowledge base" Ibanez had built over the years by seeing Sabathia firsthand as both an opponent and a teammate. Wedge also knows Sabathia's pitching style very well -- having managed him for years in Cleveland -- and liked the matchup against the style of hitter Ibanez is. Wedge has spoken before about hitting styles versus pitching styles in explaining his decision-making process. That we have no real way to validate that statistically might bother some people. It doesn't bother me. The Mariners aren't paying those worried fans or pundits for their expertise. They are paying Wedge for his. And they will keep paying him for his firsthand knowledge of what goes into hitting and pitching and managing until he clearly isn't good enough at the job based on the team he's given.

So far, since I arrived in Seattle in 2006, I've seen the team deploy Mike Hargrove, John McLaren, Jim Riggleman, Don Wakamatsu, Daren Brown and now Wedge as managers. And I've seen the same complaints from the usual suspects about every in-game tactical decision and roster choice that gets made. I even see those complaints from people who previously spent years championing the cost-cutting moves by the organization that left Wedge saddled with the equivalent of a Class AAA squad the first two seasons he was here.

This team has gone through enough managers of varying styles over the years that it should be evident by now that no one field boss would have fixed what ails the Mariners. The troubles have originated much higher up the food chain than the field boss, even though he is usually the one with the highest degree of accountability -- as witnessed by the rash of recent dismissals.

This 2013 team is arguably the best one we've seen in Seattle -- at least on paper -- since 2007.

Let's see how it plays out and then decide whether Wedge deserves to stay on. Right now, after a horrific, 2008-style opening, he's got the Mariners within two games of .500 despite continued injuries and struggles by the back of the rotation. I don't have an axe to grind with Wedge or anybody else in the front office. If this team shows marked improvement, they should all get a chance to stay and keep building it -- hopefully, with added resources from ownership.

I've already set my minimal standard at a .500 season for them. If the Mariners can't reach that, then all bets are off as far as changing the folks who run the squad. The mere fact the Mariners are already back near the .500 mark so quickly demonstrates this is clearly a better team than we've seen before.

Don't believe me? Need some statistical backup?

Here you go.

2013

OPS+: 98

ERA+: 97

2012

OPS+: 89

ERA+: 99

2011

OPS+: 84

ERA+: 97

2010

OPS+: 79

ERA+: 100

Which of those teams would you go into battle with? The 2013 Mariners are clearly a much better offensive squad, even with the numbers dragged down by an April stretch in which the entire outfield was injured at one point in time. The pitching remains abut where it's been for years. The Mariners are better. Our expectations should therefore be higher and for some of us, they are.

But it's not merely about getting a computer readout and posting whatever lineup the bits and bytes tell you to shove out there every day. It's taken a lot of educated guesswork and some "hunches" to get the Mariners where they are today -- which is, back to a point where their season is more than the writeoff it looked to be three weeks ago.

Players like Jason Bay had to be expertly guided into their new roles, getting just enough playing time and trust early so they could produce if needed later. As he has.

When Blake Beavan and Kameron Loe weren't getting it done early, there were decisions made to replace them without further hesitation. Some players, like Brendan Ryan and Robert Andino, have been given much more ample rope.

There are decisions being made daily about how to bring Jesus Montero along so as not to disrupt the pitching staff with a catcher still learning the game and who may never be even a part-tume guy behind the plate. Part of those calculations have to do with Kelly Shoppach and the team's desire not to run him into the ground. Believe me, if the Mariners could, they would have Shoppach catch each and every game. But if they did that, his numbers would plummet.

It's like John Jaso a year ago. He puts up an OPS of .850 in 294 at-bats and everybody screams and yells at the Mariners for not playing him more (we'll leave his defensive liailities out of it for today).

Fast forward to 2013 and Jaso is on-pace for 420 at-bats with the Oakland Athletics, yet his OPS has dipped to a lowly .668.

Again, managing a baseball team of human beings is not like running a team of robots. In order to manage effectively, you have to know your players, see their limitations and play your "hunches" based off the knowledge base you have of how to get them where you need to be.

With Ibanez, Wedge saw the chance to kickstart a player who needed it and give his team a chance to win the game. Wedge explained his thought process and it played out the way he hoped it would.

And if too many of his hunches don't play out? The team will lose more than it wins and he will very likely be gone.

That's managing. Everybody's favorite statistics-oriented manager, Joe Maddon, plays his hunches, too. His team is a game above .500. Toronto Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos -- widely praised for his process and boldness -- is in charge of a 17-24 squad.

No one guy or "process" has it all figured out. Every one of these managers and GMs is paid to think within their own heads -- not inside some stats-laden box others want to limit them to. These guys are all paid to think. The ones who do it with greater success will stay employed. Those who fail too often at it will be looking for work elsewhere.

But yes, hunches always will be part of running a team. And sample sizes won't always matter as much as winning the next few games in front of you.

Raul Ibanez says he isn't sure the ballpark has anything to do with homer barrage

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:16:04 PDT

Raul Ibanez was asked post-game about his performance at Yankee Stadium last year and now, in the first tewo games here this season. Ibanez hit two more homers tonight in a 12-2 win by the Mariners and now has three in the two games so far. He also has hit nine in his last 11 games at this park dating back to last season, including the playoffs.

His play here is one of the reasons Eric Wedge put him in the lineup last night against left-handed starter C.C. Sabathia, although Ibanez's career numbers versus the southpaw had much to do with it as well. But asked about the park afterwards, Ibanez still would not submit to the obvious.

“I’ve been feeling better at the plate coming into this series,’’ Ibanez said. “I try not to make too much of it. I try to grind out every at-bat. I think I’ve been feeling better late at the plate and it’s carried over.’’

So, um, it's not the park?

"I try not to think about it too much,'' he said. "It's too much information for me, personally, to think about. They're all valid questions. I just don't really have an answer.''

In Ibanez's defense, his two homers tonight went to right-center and to left field. So, it wasn't the short porch coming into play this time.

Ibanez says he'll never forget his late-season heroics for the Yankees last year, with season-saving homers in September and then the two big ones in Game 3 of the AL Division Series against Baltimore. But the fans here might have forgotten a bit.

They'd greeted Ibanez with the familiar "Rauuullllll!" seranding at the game's start and last night as well. But after the second home run he hit tonight, those were boos mixed in to the cheers.

“It sounds the same,’’ Ibanez said, with a slight grin. “I don’t want to say that because I don’t want it to get louder.’’

Yankees starter Phil Hughes heard his share of boos after the Mariners chased him just two thirds of an inning in.

"I thought the guys did a good job, and not just in that first inning,'' Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. "In the middle part of the ballgame. You never know in this ballpark. So, scoring a couple of more runs in a couple of different innings and doing some things. So, to keep going is important. You score a lot of runs in the first inning, you like to think it should be enough but you never know. You don't want to be complacent with it, so you keep going and our guys did a good job with that.''

Wedge was pleased to see Ibanez finally start to produce on the field for the Mariners the way he has off of it since spring training began.

"You saw him start heading back in the right direction when we gave him that time off,'' Wedge said. "The guy works so hard. You could see his swing start to come around in BP. We gave him a couple of at-bats and it starts to leak into the game. He gets a chance to play and he keeps going with it. He's had a lot of success in this ballpark and he's the consummate pro. He doesn't worry about anything. He knows he's ultimately going to be where he needs to be at the end.''

Kyle Seager, who had the three-run blast that capped Seattle's scoring in the sixth, said Ibanez is someone the entire team looks up to.

“He’s absolutely everything you look for in leadership,’’ Seager said. “He’s a guy you can talk to, a guy you can watch. He does absolutely everything you can ask. His work ethic is second to none and we all get to see that behind the scenes a little bit.’’

Raul Ibanez and Mariners destroy the Yankees in New York

Wed, 15 May 2013 21:31:05 PDT

The Bronx Bombers were running for some shelter underground in the first inning and never really found it as the Mariners pounded them throughout in a 12-2 victory.

Hisashi Iwakuma won't have it much easier than that. The first of two homers by Raul Ibanez, a grand slam in the first off Phil Hughes, helped Seattle to a 7-0 lead and the Mariners never looked back.

Iwakuma went seven innings, allowed a pair of solo homers and improved to 5-1 on the season.

Ibanez later added a two-run blast for his third homer in two nights here. Kyle Seager had a three-run homer as well.

When Brendan Ryan legged out an infield single in the ninth, every Mariners starter had at least one hit. The Mariners hadn't done that since just under a year ago in Texas during a 21-8 rout of the Rangers.

The Mariners needed a game like this after last night's tough 4-3 defeat to the Yankees in a game they led 3-0 in the sixth inning. In that game, the Mariners failed to capitalize on numerous scoring opportunities both early and late and stranded 11 runners on base.

That wound up costing them when some late-game strike calls failed to go their way.

In this game, the umpire calls didn't mean a thing. The game was already over before Iwakuma even took the mound because the Mariners didn't miss when Hughes gave them a shot in the first.

That was all the difference.

Game thread: Mariners 12, Yankees 2, bottom of 8th

Wed, 15 May 2013 21:01:05 PDT

Kyle Seager just continued the Seattle onslaught with a three-run homer to right-center in the sixth inning, giving the Mariners 12-2 lead. A slight correction from earlier: the seven-run first inning by the Mariners was the most they've ever scored on the road against the Yankees in a first inning. They had nine runs off them in the first inning of a 1979 home game at the Kingdome.

5:45 p.m.: While some fans continue to gnash their teeth over Raul Ibanez, he just popped his second home run of the game and third in two nights to give Seattle a 9-2 lead here in the bottom of the fifth. Chris Stewart just got the Yankees a run on a solo homer this frame off Hisashi Iwakuma, but it's a bit late for the home side.

As for Ibanez, the decision to use him in this series looks good on the Mariners so far. As for those calling it "lucky" or whatever, it's not sound argumentation to deride every managerial decision when it goes bad and then dismiss it all as "luck" when the choices turn out as planned. That kind of nonsense has been allowed to permeate internet debate for far too long. Those who make a stats-based argument that doesn't pan out will still attempt to justify it by saying the "process" was sound, or that the "sample size" is too small to be conclusive, or that those pointing out the flawed logic are making a "strawman" case.

Believe me, we in the media have seen it all, know all the default catchphrases and know enough never to question anybody who makes an argument based on stats and process. All I'll say -- and continue to say -- is that each MLB game is approached by each team and each manager in increasingly small samples as the pressure to win gets ratcheted up.

If the Mariners felt they had a better shot at winning tonight, or last night, with Ibanez in the lineup and he delivers, you can't just dismiss it as a fluke simply because you don't feel that move would keep panning out over a 162-game, or 300-game sample size.

That's not how real life works. These players are human beings and the managers in charge manage them likewise. They don't take a computer program that spits out every managerial decision ahead of time. You can't manage like a robot when you're in charge of a team at this high a level. The teams pay these managers for their expertise and their hunches. Not to do the same thing every armchair manager sitting at a computer terminal would have them do.

So, when a hunch pays off, we give them their due. Because when too many of their hunches don't pay off, they get fired. That's how it works in real life.

4:50 p.m.: Vernon Wells got the Yankees on the board in the bottom of the first by taking Hisashi Iwakuma deep to left for his 10th -- that's right, 10th -- home run of the season. Arte Moreno is smacking his forehead in Anaheim right now wondering whether Wells was put on this earth to torment him. Very few people in baseball saw this Wells revival coming.

Mariners still lead it 7-1.

4:28 p.m.: The Mariners are doing their part to ensure the umpiring crew doesn't decide tonight's game. Raul Ibanez just hit a grand slam to right center off Phil Hughes and Michael Saunders added an RBI double to right-center to give Seattle a 7-0 lead in the top of the first inning. A one-out walk to Dustin Ackley got the rally started, then Kyle Seager singled to put runners at the corners. Kendrys Morales and Michael Morse followed with run-scoring singles after that.

Justin Smoak then drew a walk and Ibanez unloaded on an 0-1 pitch to blow the game open. Jesus Montero singled after that and then, following a fielder's choice groundout by Brendan Ryan, Saunders doubled to the gap in right center to end the night for Hughes right there.

All I can say is -- wow. The Mariners are still batting and many of the fans who paid hundreds of dollars for a ticket to this game are just arriving at the ballpark and staring at the scoreboard in shock.

3:55 p.m.: You usually haven't arrived as a player until you get noticed in New York and there has been some subtle buzz going on about Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma ahead of tonight's scheduled start against the New York Yankees. By now, a good part of baseball is aware that much of the Mariners' success this year has been due to the tandem of Iwakuma and Felix Hernandez.

Right now, it's tough to imagine where the Mariners might be without either.

Iwakuma is 4-1 with a 1.74 ERA in eight starts this season. He leads the AL in walks-plus-hits-to-innings-pitched-ratio (WHIP) at 0.74 and is second in the league in opponents' batting average with .167.

Hernandez and Iwakuma as a duo have allowed just five runs in their last seven starts. That's pretty impressive. And the Mariners will need it to continue tonight after letting last night's game get away from them.

Michael Morse says early homer barrage may not have been the best thing for him

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:16:05 PDT

We've seen Michael Morse collect five hits in his first two games since being pushed back from the No. 4 spot in the order to No. 5. So, was the move a stroke of genius? Or maybe Morse used a different brand of detergent on his game jersey? Point is, it's too soon to tell. You can't base anything off two games and Morse is not about to.

The one thing Morse does say, however, is that his torrid start -- when he clubbed six homers the first week of the season -- might not have been the best thing for him. I brought this up in my Talkin' Baseball segment on Monday with Mitch Levy on Sports Radio KJR. The point that perhaps Morse had so much early success that he began swinging for the fences every time up.

"I've never started out hot,'' Morse said. "And when I don't start out hot, it helps me. It keeps me humble. Keeps me down.''

Morse says he needs to be kept humble from time to time.

Lately, he added, he's been swinging at too many bad pitches that are extremely difficult to do anything with.

"I've got to stop swinging at balls in the dirt,'' he said. "You don't swing at the ball that's on the ground rolling.''

Morse says he probably got into that habit because "I felt like I could hit everything.''

Again, that would appear to boil down to the fast start that he had, which perhaps fed his confidence a little too much. Morse says his recent success has nothing to do with being bumped one spot down in the order to No. 5 and that he could pretty much hit anywhere in the middle -- from No. 3 to No. 6 -- without it changing anything he sees in a game.

"I'd love to hit seventh,'' he said, half-joking.

The reason?

"I'd see a ton of fastballs,'' he said.

Morse has indeed seen a ton of breaking balls and off-speed pitches so far this season. The double he stroked last night on a first-pitch curveball from C.C. Sabathia gave him a nice confidence boost more so than any new role as a No. 5 hitter.

One thing we've seen from Morse this month, even as his overall hitting numbers are still stagnant, has been a surprising number of walks. He's got five already in 38 plate appearances in May, compared to only four over 104 plate appearances the entire month of April.

Morse attributes it to his trying to be more selective at the plate.

"I figure if I don't swing at the balls in the dirt, maybe I'll get some walks,'' he said. "I don't walk much, but I'm trying to.''

Morse then clarified his statement.

"I try to be aggressive,'' he said. "But at the same time, if I'm not getting the pitches, I'll take take the walk.''

After all, Morse is here to do some damage with his bat -- not to walk his on-base percentage up to more respectable levels. He knows that, in the end, he'll have to do more with the hittable pitches when he does see them and they won't all be fastballs.

But at least this way, he won't be burying himself in 0-2 counts right off the bat by chasing stuff that's impossible to hit.

Why the Mariners are handcuffed in their middle infield

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:01:05 PDT

There has been plenty of justifiable discussion of late pertaining to how the Mariners can continue to carry both Brendan Ryan and Robert Andino on the same roster when Ryan is batting .129 and Andino .169.

It's certainly a valid question for any team hoping to win more than it loses. And there is a valid answer that I'm sure very few fans and pundits want to hear: the alternative could be far worse.

First of all, bringing up one or both of Carlos Triunfel or Nick Franklin will require dropping either Ryan or Andino.

Now, if you drop Ryan from the team, you throw away any of the defensive value he brings. Don't forget, Ryan has more value defensively than any of those other infielders I just mentioned. So, any improvement you get on offense will automatically be docked a bit by the value you are throwing away on defense. In other words, if you add Triunfel or Franklin, you will have to guarantee they can be substantially better at the plate (at least doubly as good as Ryan) for the net gain to mean anything.

The more logical approach would be to drop Andino, who costs less than Ryan in any event and is not as good at shortstop with his glove. Here's the catch, though: the flexibility Andino brings at being able to play multiple positions and play on a more regular basis (at least in theory, if not in reality so far) is what led the Mariners to carry only one backup infielder this year.

Drop Andino, and the club will most likely have to go with two backup infielders. And where would the extra spot come from? An outfield where the Mariners don't really have any spots to spare.

Think about it. We still don't know when Franklin Gutierrez will be healthy again and even when he is, the Mariners will always feel he is one bad step away from disaster. That knowledge means the team cannot afford to try to ram Endy Chavez through waivers and risk losing him. They will most likely have to keep Chavez on the team all year as center field backup insurance.

What that means is, for the foreseeable future, the Mariners could be placed in a position where they have to carry six outfielders for some time. We saw Raul Ibanez hit a home run last night. The Mariners don't want to give up on him when they still feel his bat could be revived. Jason Bay has been a success story to date and validated the team's decision to keep him out of spring training. Michael Saunders is emerging into an impact player. You have Michael Morse still batting in the middle of the order. Then, there is Gutierrez and Chavez.

In other words, the Mariners are already worried enough about who to drop once Gutierrez returns. As I just said, they may not drop anybody and could be forced to carry six outfielders.

What they really don't want to do now is drop one of their current outfielders so they can bring up an extra backup infielder in the event they have to dump Andino.

It gets a little confusing, but I can tell you this is likely a big reason the team hasn't already made a middle infield move. They really are handcuffed by the current roster setup. Not so much in the outfield, as some suspected they might be. But seriously impacted in the infield.

Sure, I suppose you could try to bring up Franklin or Triunfel and make them the one-man utility infielder the way Andino is.

Two problems with that: No. 1, you don't know whether either of them will be capable of playing in the majors every day. And No. 2, you don't know how either would react to not playing daily, or being bounced around the infield sporadically.

The biggest reason you could put Andino in that lone backup role is that he's been seasoned in the majors already, has put the whole learning curve thing behind him, and knows how to prepare for the role he's needed in. It clearly hasn't worked out, but that's a whle different story.

It has worked out for Bay in his transition to a more sporadic role, but read his comments from yesterday and you can see that he had some adjustments to make. And he's a guy who has already spent a decade in the majors.

Taking a raw recruit and throwing him into a backup, utility infield role probably isn't what the Mariners want to do right now...or ever, really.

Another option would be to make Triunfel or Franklin the starting shortstop and keep Andino as the backup. Again, though, we have no evidence Triunfel or Franklin can be an everyday major league shortstop without their numbers taking a serious hit. That would be a concern because -- remember -- they have to significantly out-hit Ryan to make up for the obvious lack of defense.

And if you roll the dice on that gamble and your young guy flops big, you've lost Ryan and ruined the confidence of a young prospect in the process.

I'm not saying the Mariners will never call up Franklin or Triunfel. At some point, I'd expect to see one or oth up here rather than continue with this sub-Mendoza sideshow we've been forced to witness from the team's two shortstops.

But there's a reason the Mariners are reluctant to pull the trigger. I just outlined it for you: the alternative could be even worse and have long-term reprecussions.

My guess is that the team will ride this two-headed bat monster into the month of June at least and pray that one of either Ryan or Andino finds some bat.

At some point, the Mariners will be forced to act. But at three games under .500 and 10-6 in their last 16 games, they haven't reached that point just yet where they're ready to play some Russian roulette in the middle infield.