Notebook | M's pick up relief pitcher in trade with Cleveland

With Julio Mateo's future uncertain, the Mariners made a trade Sunday to add another arm to the bullpen, acquiring Jason Davis from the Cleveland Indians for a player to be named.

Davis had struggled with the Indians this season, and was designated for assignment last Monday.

In his most recent appearance against Baltimore on May 5, Davis gave up five hits and two earned runs in three innings. Three days before that against Toronto, he walked in two runs and allowed three runs in a third of an inning.

But the Mariners said Davis was worth a gamble.

"I don't think you can have too many power arms in the back of your bullpen," said Seattle manager Mike Hargrove. "We don't have Mateo right now so we wanted another hard thrower."

The team suspended Mateo on May 5 for missing a game after he had been arrested for assaulting his wife.

The 6-foot-6, 210-pound Davis has spent his entire career with the Indians, who drafted him in 2000.

He made his major-league debut in 2002 and was 8-11 as a full-time starter in 2003. He split time as a starter and a reliever the next two years before moving strictly to the bullpen. The Mariners' news release on the trade pointed out Davis was 1-1 with a 1.14 earned-run average in his final 17 appearances last season. He was 0-0 with a 4.76 ERA this season and is 18-22 with a 4.69 ERA in 114 games, including 52 starts.

"He was very effective last year after being moved full-time to the bullpen and his ability to work long or short should give Mike [Hargrove] additional options," Mariners general Bill Bavasi said in a statement.

Davis is expected to join the Mariners sometime during the three-game series with the Los Angeles Angels that begins Tuesday, though Hargrove noted that Davis hasn't pitched for a while, "so we've got to get him back in pitching shape."

Tipping them off?

After being blistered by the Yankees for 10 hits and seven earned runs in 2-1/3 innings Saturday night, Mariners starter Miguel Batista said he thought the Yankees knew what was coming.

"I got hit today [Saturday], but it was because they figured a way to find out what I was throwing," Batista said after the game, which was his shortest start since Sept. 1, 2002, when he was with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

"They had a pretty good idea what was coming."

Hargrove on Sunday said he didn't notice the Yankees appearing to know what was coming during the game "but it's entirely possible, so we'll look at it on video. If he felt like they were doing that, then we'll look at it."

What fed Batista's thoughts is he pitched against New York on Monday, allowing two hits in working into the seventh inning of a 3-2 Mariners win.

Hargrove said "there's probably a better chance" of a team learning something that would give it an idea of what's coming when it faces the same pitcher twice in so short a span.

The discussion led Hargrove to recall a pitcher he played against who had a great pick-off move but tended to take a deep breath every time he threw to first base, giving it away.

"Sometimes it's real obvious and you can see it from the bench," Hargrove said. "Maybe they go higher on their windup when they are throwing a fastball. There's a lot of different things you can do to tip."

The job will be figuring out if Batista is doing one of those things before the next time he pitches.

Morrow plays it cool

Asked later if striking out Alex Rodriguez to end the eighth inning was the biggest out of his career, Mariners rookie reliever Brandon Morrow — who has now pitched 14 innings in the majors — said "um maybe, maybe yeah."

Others were more outspoken.

"That was huge," said outfielder Raul Ibanez.

Notes

• Horacio Ramirez said a big reason for his improved outing was better command of his curveball. Catcher Jamie Burke agreed.

"The whole key was that he was able to throw first-pitch strikes with his curveball and his slider," Burke said.

• Felix Hernandez said he's getting over a fever that hit him Friday and will return as scheduled to the mound Tuesday.

• Willie Bloomquist was not available to play as he was with his wife, Lisa, who was set to give birth to the couple's second child.

• Richie Sexson had two singles and has had two hits in three of his last four starts after not having had a multi-hit game this season.

• Several Mariners players used pink bats Sunday as part of a major-league-wide effort to support breast cancer awareness, including Jose Lopez, Yuniesky Betancourt, Jose Guillen and Jose Vidro.

Among the Yankees using the bats were Rodriguez and Jason Giambi. The bats, home plates and pink dugout cards will also be auctioned off on MLB.com to raise funds for Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

For the record

Streak: W1

Home: 10-7

Road: 7-9

vs. AL West: 7-5

vs. L.A.: 0-3

vs. Oakland: 4-1

vs. Texas: 3-1

vs. AL East: 5-5

vs. AL Central: 5-6

vs. NL: 0-0

vs. LHP: 6-2

vs. RHP: 11-14

Day: 7-6

Night: 10-10

One-run: 4-4

Extra innings: 0-0

Home attendance

Sunday's crowd: 46,181

Season total: 499,123

Biggest crowd: 46,181 (May 13)

Smallest crowd: 16,555 (May 2)

Average (17 dates): 29,360

2006 average (17 dates): 26,376