M's Notebook | Up early, out early — Weaver is hit hard

TUCSON, Ariz. — Waking up at 5:45 a.m. to catch the team bus isn't something Mariners pitcher Jeff Weaver wants for a pregame routine.

Surprisingly, though, the Seattle starter actually felt stronger than usual by the time he took the mound. A little too strong, it turned out.

Weaver began overthrowing and missing the strike zone. He gave up an early run, never found his rhythm — or his curveball — and was torched for five more runs in the fourth inning en route to an 8-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

"Sometimes, when you feel good, you want to emphasize it," said Weaver, who yielded a pair of home runs in that fourth inning and has allowed four this spring. "But at the same time, it can backfire on you. Today, it was a 50-50 coin flip where the ball was going to end up."

The Weaver shellacking was a little unexpected, given that Seattle's starting pitchers had been effective lately. Heading into Tuesday's game, the projected Mariners rotation had gone 4-1 with a 2.44 earned-run average the past 14 outings.

The starters had allowed just 14 earned runs over that period. But Weaver gave up six before leaving after four innings, one frame shy of what the team hoped he would pitch.

"I threw 80 pitches today and felt strong throughout, so that's the important part," said Weaver, who was actually at 81 pitches when pulled. "Now, it's just kind of getting better and getting back to my last outing. I want to remember that outing and get back to that my last two starts."

Weaver allowed three hits and two earned runs his previous game against San Francisco on March 15. He has yielded runs in each of his four outings to date, sporting an 8.31 ERA. But Tuesday, Weaver's pitches were down in the strike zone, unlike earlier games when he was missing high.

O'Flaherty keeps on impressing

For all the talk of potential promotions of youngsters Brandon Morrow or Jon Huber to Seattle's bullpen come April, one dark horse candidate continues to impress. Left-hander Eric O'Flaherty pitched a scoreless seventh inning with two strikeouts against Arizona.

O'Flaherty has given up just two runs over seven innings this spring, logging six strikeouts. He had held left-handed hitters to a .238 batting average entering the contest.

"The best way to describe it is he's been quietly effective," Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said. "He just goes about his business and lets his actions speak for themselves."

O'Flaherty, who is from Walla Walla, made 15 second-half appearances for the team last season, posting a 4.09 ERA. Hargrove added that the biggest difference between O'Flaherty this spring and last fall is his strength.

"We were interested in him coming in," Hargrove said of O'Flaherty's chances of making the club. "He's done nothing to make us think that he can't pitch in the big leagues and pitch effectively."

Notes

• RHP J.J. Putz played catch at 100 feet with LHP Arthur Rhodes in Peoria, Ariz. on Tuesday morning. Both pitchers reported feeling great and will do the same catch drill today. Rhodes has a stiff elbow, but Hargrove repeated that it is nothing serious and Rhodes could pitch in a day or two, or when the team returns from Tucson.

• LHP Ryan Feierabend was among the latest cuts made by the team. Feierabend, 21, gave up eight runs and three homers in two innings against the Chicago Cubs on Monday, but the Mariners had already planned to send him to Class AAA Tacoma before that happened. Cha-Seung Baek was also optioned to Class AAA, his chances at landing a fifth-starter's job all but dashed when Seattle signed Weaver before camp.

• Ben Broussard went 3 for 3 with three singles in making his seventh start of the spring in right field. Broussard hopes to be the backup at first base, left field and right field this season, though he could be traded before the opener. A source in the Giants' camp said San Francisco's front office still can't make up its mind whether to give up RHP Armando Benitez, a potential Mariners target.

• Huber is struggling trying to duplicate the success he enjoyed after being called up late last season. He allowed two earned runs on three hits in the eighth inning Tuesday, raising his spring ERA to 9.00.

Tuesday's box score

Seattle						Arizona
	AB	R	H	BI			AB	R	H	BI
Reed cf	3	0	0	0		Callaspo 2b	4	2	2	1
Jones cf	1	0	0	0		Ojeda 2b	1	0	0	0
Bloomquist 2b	3	0	0	0		Young cf	4	1	1	3
Chen 2b	1	0	0	0		Drew ss	4	1	1	1
Johjima c	2	0	0	0		Hairston lf	3	0	1	1
RJohnson c	2	0	0	0		TPena p	0	0	0	0
Broussard rf	3	0	3	0		Carter 1b	4	0	0	0
O'Flaherty p	0	0	0	0		Snyder c	3	0	0	0
Huber p	0	0	0	0		MJohnson c	0	0	0	0
Burke ph	1	0	0	0		Barden 3b	4	2	3	0
Morse 1b	4	0	1	0		Ryal 3b	0	0	0	0
Torcato lf	3	1	1	1		Krynzel rf	2	0	1	0
Dawkins 3b	3	0	0	0		Hammock lf	1	1	1	0
Ordonez ss	2	0	0	0		EdGonzalez p	1	1	0	0
Dominguez ss	1	0	1	0		Jackson ph	1	0	0	0
Weaver p	1	0	0	0		Carrasco p	0	0	0	0
Nelson ph	1	0	0	0		Brown rf	1	0	1	2
Campillo p	0	0	0	0
BJohnson rf	1	0	0	0
Totals	32	1	6	1		Totals	33	8	11	8

Seattle	000 010 000	—	1
Arizona	100 500 02x	—	8

E — Ojeda. DP — Seattle 1, Arizona 2. LOB — Seattle 4, Arizona 6. 2B — Callaspo, Hairston, Brown. HR — Torcato, Young, Drew. S — EdGonzalez.

Mariners	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Weaver, L	4	7	6	6	2	2
Campillo	2	1	0	0	1	0
O'Flaherty	1	0	0	0	0	2
Huber	1	3	2	2	0	0

Diamondbacks	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
EdGonzalez, W	5	4	1	1	0	4
Carrasco	3	2	0	0	0	2
TPena	1	0	0	0	0	0

HBP — by Weaver (Young). Balk — EdGonzalez. T — 2:19. A.