M's Notebook | "Pitcher" Bloomquist gives Broussard a hand

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The first person Ben Broussard thanked after securing his place in baseball's record books was, not surprisingly, a pitcher.

No, it wasn't Scot Shields, the Los Angeles Angels reliever who yielded the third pinch-hit grand slam of Broussard's career in the eighth inning on Saturday night. According to the Sporting News record book, that tied Broussard — who had two pinch-hit slams in 2004 — for the all-time lead with Rich Reese (Twins), Ron Northey (Cardinals) and Willie McCovey (Giants).

Broussard instead heaped platitudes on "pitcher" Willie Bloomquist, his multi-positional Mariners teammate. It seems that in order to help Broussard stay loose come the latter innings, Bloomquist has gone into batting cages and pitched to him from behind a protective screen.

"About the sixth or the seventh inning, he goes in there with me, pulls the screen in real close to me and pitches like he's a real pitcher," Broussard said. "I can barely foul a ball off because it's right on top of me. And he throws curveballs and sliders and splits. And he feels good about himself because he thinks he's a nasty pitcher. But for me, he keeps me as sharp as I can be in the situation that I'm in right now."

Bloomquist appeared in games at seven different positions for the Mariners last season — all except pitcher and catcher. He pitched for South Kitsap High School in Port Orchard up until his senior year and wouldn't mind giving the mound a whirl should the Mariners ever need him in a blowout situation.

For now, he'll settle for helping make Broussard a better hitter.

"I usually take underhand flips or whatever, hit off a tee or off a machine," Bloomquist said. "Ben likes a live arm. So I throw to him. It's kind of a way to get my arm loose in case I've got to go in."

The routine began in Seattle about 10 days ago.

"I started throwing to him and he liked it," Bloomquist said. "He was like, 'Man, you've got me locked in. So I'd throw to him whenever he wants. Then I'd start mixing in some at-bats where I started busting out some splitters and some sliders, curveballs and power curves, changeups and whatnot.

"I'd like to think they were good pitches, but obviously he managed them pretty well. I told him if he could hit me, he could hit anybody."

Shaking up the offense

Not all of the Mariners have piled on the offense when it counts, despite the late runs being piled up in recent losing efforts. Seattle finished the weekend a mid-range eighth in American League batting average (.258) and tied for fifth in slugging percentage (.414).

But the team was also 13th in on-base percentage (.302) and dead last in runs scored (64) and walks (27). Some of that has to do with having played fewer games, but the Mariners' walks-per-game rate is also last in the league, and 22 of their runs came in just a pair of games against Texas last weekend.

Manager Mike Hargrove shuffled his lineup around Sunday, bumping Adrian Beltre down to No. 7 in the order and installing Bloomquist in the No. 2 spot.

Hargrove said the move was only temporary, designed to get Bloomquist up higher in the order, and that Beltre would be hitting second again tonight against Texas.

Bloomquist was in for Jose Lopez at second base, while backup Jamie Burke got the catching assignment so Kenji Johjima could have a day off.

Johjima bruised his calf muscle on a foul tip and left Saturday's game, while Lopez stayed in the contest after being shaken up diving for a pop fly. But Hargrove insisted both are fine and would have had Sunday off in any case.

Notes

• Despite his wishes, Bloomquist likely wouldn't be the first position player the Mariners would trot out to the mound if caught short on pitchers in a long game. That honor would probably go to backup OF Jason Ellison, another South Kitsap High product who went 20-0 as a starting pitcher in two years there.

Ellison pitched a little in junior college, but had already converted to a full-time outfielder role because "I guess I was too short — I never got drafted."

His repertoire consisted of a low 90s fastball and an overhanging curve, just like his idol, longtime closer Tom Gordon. "If we ever need it, I'll definitely volunteer," Ellison said.

• SS Yuniesky Betancourt had the first two-error game of his career, with both miscues coming in the fifth inning. Betancourt began the inning by throwing a ball over 1B Richie Sexson's head for a two-base error, then bobbled a Vladimir Guerrero grounder in the next at-bat. Both runners came around to score.

• Felix Hernandez will play catch on Tuesday and Wednesday in Texas to test his elbow, in which he felt stiffness in his flexor pronator muscle last Thursday. If all goes well, he will toss a bullpen session on Wednesday before the team decides whether to place him on the disabled list.

For the record

Streak: L6

Home: 4-5

Road: 1-4

vs. AL West: 4-5

vs. L.A.: 0-3

vs. Oakland: 2-1

vs. Texas: 2-1

vs. AL East: 1-1

vs. AL Central: 0-3

vs. NL: 0-0

vs. LHP: 0-2

vs. RHP: 5-7

Day: 3-3

Night: 2-6

One-run: 0-3

Extra innings: 0-0