With Wiki Gonzalez sidelined with a pulled left hamstring Saturday night and Dan Wilson already gone for the year and no catcher at Class AAA Tacoma ready for the big leagues, the Mariners dug into their organization and promoted Rene Rivera, 21, from AA San Antonio.

However, this setup may not be for long. The extent of Gonzalez's injury is still uncertain — he said the doctors will let the leg quiet down before making a prognosis — but if he is gone for an extended period, Seattle will go shopping for a backup.

If the M's want a veteran, they could call on Benito Santiago, 40, released last week by Pittsburgh.

If they want to make a major move, they could ask the Red Sox about Kelly Shoppach, a top prospect with power, currently at Class AAA Pawtucket and not about to make the majors with Jason Varitek a fixture in Boston.

Two former Mariners, Pat Borders and Ben Davis, are playing in Class AAA in the Milwaukee and Chicago White Sox organizations, respectively.

If Seattle puts less emphasis on defense and more on big-league experience, there may be others. Todd Greene, with Colorado, and Shawn Wooten, at Class AAA Pawtucket of the Boston organization, both came up with Anaheim during Bill Bavasi's tenure.

If the Mariners are open to dealing in the division, Texas has Gerald Laird at Class AAA Oklahoma City.

400 Club for Ramirez

Manny Ramirez's three-run homer in the fifth was the 400th of his career, making him the fifth-fastest to reach that number and 39th overall on the all-time list, breaking a tie with Al Kaline and Andres Galarraga.

Mark Black of Seattle was the fan who caught the ball and traded it for an autographed bat and ball, instead of the exorbitant return some fans seek. "It means more to him than to me," Black was quoted in the Boston media.

Ramirez's homer was his 33rd against Seattle in only 101 games. Rafael Palmeiro has the most against the Mariners, 49 in 209 games; Juan Gonzalez, 35 in 132 games; and Frank Thomas 33 in 142 games.

Here's the hangup

With San Antonio at Frisco, a suburb of Dallas, Rivera got the word in a wee-hours phone call from Missions manager Dave Brundage — and he hung up on him.

"I was asleep," the 21-year-old catcher said. "I thought it was someone playing a joke. I told him, 'Don't call me no more.' "

He said Brundage came and knocked on the door and woke him and told him so he understood. Part of the confusion was that Rivera, hitting .273 with two home runs and seven RBI in 28 games, never expected a call-up.

He said he was as excited as his first call-up last September.

"It's always the same," he said. "It's the big leagues."

Ichiro at the Improv

The Mariners lost a run in the fourth inning when plate umpire Bill Miller took a fake from Boston catcher Doug Mirabelli — when Ichiro made an amazing athletic move to elude a tag — and called the runner out at home.

Ichiro, trying to score from first on a double to right by Randy Winn, was a certain out at home. But Ichiro slid to a stop before he reached home, and with Mirabelli sprawled on his face after missing the original tag, Ichiro dove over the catcher and touched home with his hand.

Miller, who was fooled, thought Mirabelli had reached up to tag Ichiro with his glove before Ichiro touched the plate — except that Mirabelli's glove was empty and the ball, which was in his bare hand, never tagged the runner.

Note

• Seattle first baseman Bucky Jacobsen said Dr. Larry Pedegana found a raised rough spot on his surgically repaired kneecap during last week's exploratory procedure.

"It was like a rock in the joint," Jacobsen said. "It was causing the discomfort that was keeping me from doing everything I needed to do."

Active home-run leaders
Manny Ramirez's 400th career home run ranks him 39th all-time and 10th among active players:
No.	Player	HRs	Rank
1.	Barry Bonds	703	3rd
2.	Sammy Sosa	578	7th
3.	Rafael Palmeiro	554	10th
4.	Ken Griffey Jr.	506	19th
5.	Jeff Bagwell	449	28th
6.	Frank Thomas	436	31st
7.	Juan Gonzalez	434	32nd
8.	Jim Thome	424	35th
9.	Gary Sheffield	421	36th
10.	Manny Ramirez	400	39th