M's Notebook | Lineup miscue helps Mariners

TORONTO — An unusual "trump card" the Mariners played in their favor Saturday initially seemed like the positive omen this team desperately needs.

Instead, it merely became one of the few breaks the Mariners have caught during a losing streak now at eight games. The Mariners figured out before the game that the lineup the Toronto Blue Jays were going with was different from the signed lineup card they had submitted to the umpiring crew.

Teams routinely check the signed cards for discrepancies against lineups posted on clubhouse bulletin boards and, in this case, Aaron Hill was supposed to bat sixth and Lyle Overbay seventh. But Mariners bench coach Mike Goff noticed the Blue Jays had changed things and flipped the two hitters around in the order, meaning anything Overbay or Hill did could be protested.

The Mariners kept quiet about it when Overbay flied out to lead off the second inning, but took action once shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt and left fielder Raul Ibanez let Hill's pop-up drop between them for a double.

"It could have gone on the whole game and in whatever inning one of those guys gets a hit, then we pull out the trump card," McLaren said.

A lengthy discussion took place on the field between McLaren, the umpires and Toronto manager John Gibbons. After it concluded, Hill was declared to have batted out of order, his double was taken away and the play was ruled a putout by catcher Jamie Burke.

"What are you going to do?" Hill said. "You can't change it, so there's no reason to be mad about it."

It was the second time this season the Blue Jays and Gibbons have been penalized for such a mistake. During a July 27 game in Chicago, they listed John McDonald as the starting shortstop on the signed lineup card but later switched to Royce Clayton.

The gaffe prevented the Blue Jays from using McDonald later in the game.

McLaren says there are usually three people who check the signed card — him, Goff and whoever receives it when it's delivered.

"It's a red flag and we look for it," McLaren said.

Call-up cashes in

It didn't take long for one of five September call-ups by the Mariners to have an impact. Newly promoted Charlton Jimerson, an outfielder acquired after his May release by the Houston Astros, entered as a pinch-runner in the eighth and wound up scoring the tying run.

Jimerson stole second, then took third on a throwing error by Blue Jays catcher Gregg Zaun. He later scored when Ichiro punched a single up the middle past a drawn-in infield.

The 27-year-old had 18 games of major-league experience and knows how to handle the pinch-running role. "It's pretty much all I've done in the big leagues," he said.

Jimerson played 17 games in September for the Astros last season, stealing two bases in two tries.

"I think you've got to control the adrenaline because any time you go in to pinch run in a pennant race, in a wild-card race, you've got to be smart," he said. "You can't go out there and make an out, get picked off."

Mariners manager McLaren said Jimerson deserved credit for getting himself into position to score.

"That was impressive," he said. "That's why we brought him up here."

Notes

• 2B Jose Lopez was back in the lineup after missing three of the last four games for issues related to a lack of focus on the field. The team has spoken to Lopez about the need to maintain a proper pregame routine.

Lopez went hitless in three at-bats Saturday, grounding into a double play to end the seventh inning with the game scoreless. He also failed to turn a double play in the eighth, his wide throw pulling 1B Ben Broussard off the bag.

• Ichiro's two singles left him two shy of his seventh consecutive 200-hit season. He would join Wade Boggs and Willie Keeler as the only players to record at least seven consecutive 200-hit campaigns. Ichiro's hit in the first was his league-leading 49th infield knock of the season.

• Richie Sexson (hamstring) looks doubtful for the series at Yankee Stadium that starts Monday.

Geoff Baker: 206-464-8286 or gbaker@seattletimes.com.

Read his daily blog at www.seattletimes.com/Mariners

For the record

Streak: L8

Home: 41-27

Road: 32-34

vs. AL West: 22-22

vs. L.A.: 4-11

vs. Oakland: 10-3

vs. Texas: 8-8

vs. AL East: 22-14

vs. AL Cent.: 20-16

vs. NL: 9-9

vs. LHP: 24-9

vs. RHP: 49-52

Day: 19-19

Night: 54-42

One-run: 21-19

Extra innings: 4-1