M's Notebook | Lopez again sees more bench time

Making it into the nightly lineup is no longer a guarantee for second baseman Jose Lopez.

Mariners manager John McLaren left Lopez out of the lineup Thursday night, opting to go with Willie Bloomquist at second. McLaren said the move was more about Bloomquist and the "energy" he brought to the team in a victory over Oakland on Wednesday.

But given Lopez's struggles of the past several months — and his recent benching for a lack of focus — McLaren had to fend off plenty of pregame questions about his young infielder.

"I'm sure Jose's not happy about it. I know he's not," McLaren said. "I'm going with the players I think can win that night. That's what I'm doing."

That's quite a statement, considering the team rewarded Lopez with a four-year contract extension in April and named him as a key part of its future. But it's been a rough year all around for Lopez, whose brother was killed in a motorcycle accident in Venezuela in June.

Lopez never left the team and has yet to see his family since his brother's death. He had a .295 batting average and .772 on-base plus slugging percentage the day he learned of his brother's death, but those totals have plunged to .259 and .645 over the past three months.

The team insists Lopez is coping as best he can and officials have stated they don't think there's a correlation between the death and his declining numbers. But when Lopez was benched for some games late last month, his focus and pregame mental preparation were called into question by McLaren and some teammates.

McLaren said Lopez had addressed those issues and that wasn't why he sat out in favor of Bloomquist on Thursday.

"I don't want to build something up with this kid that's not there, so I'm kind of reluctant to talk about it," McLaren said. "He's a good player, and we're trying to make him a better player. Let's leave it at that."

No room for Jones

The game-tying home run by Adam Jones on Wednesday night wasn't enough to earn him a spot in the lineup Thursday. There isn't all that much room in the lineup these days. Left fielder Raul Ibanez is hitting .311 this month with a .511 slugging percentage and 11 runs batted in. Designated hitter Jose Vidro is batting .361 with a .993 on-base plus slugging percentage in September.

McLaren says he's reluctant to use Vidro in the field more than once or twice a week, which could free up a spot for Jones. Jones said he's getting used to his pinch-hitting role and can appreciate the difficult job of former major-leaguers like Dave Hansen and Lenny Harris.

"They played 10-plus years in the big leagues, and they had only one job," Jones said. "They knew their role, and they excelled at it."

Jones said a key for him was being told early by hitting coach Jeff Pentland to "go out and try to hook something" that's pitched to him. In other words, get his head out front and try to drive a ball up the middle or the opposite way to right center.

That's what Jones did on his home run off Alan Embree on Wednesday night, belting a home run to right center that tied the game in the eighth.

McLaren said the ability of Jones to go the opposite way at Safeco Field could help his career.

"When you can go that way as a right-handed hitter, that's good because the ball carries that way," he said.

Talking with Astros

A key assistant in general manager Bill Bavasi's entourage was interviewed Thursday for the vacant Houston Astros GM job.

Mariners scout Dan Evans — a special assistant to Bavasi — interviewed in Houston with Astros owner Drayton McLane and team president Tal Smith.

Evans, 47, is a former GM of the Los Angeles Dodgers and one of roughly a dozen candidates for the Astros position, made vacant last month by the firing of GM Tim Purpura.

For the record

Streak: W2

Home: 43-29

Road: 34-39

vs. AL West: 23-24

vs. L.A.: 4-11

vs. Oakland: 11-5

vs. Texas: 8-8

vs. AL East: 23-18

vs. AL Cent.: 21-18

vs. NL: 9-9

vs. LHP: 24-11

vs. RHP: 53-57

Day: 21-20

Night: 56-48

One-run: 23-19

Extra innings: 5-1

Home attendance

Thursday's crowd: 23,991

Season total: 2,412,525

Biggest crowd: 46,377 (Aug. 5)

Smallest crowd: 16,555 (May 2)

Average (72 dates): 33,507

2006 average (72 dates): 31,361