M's Notebook | Jones set to spend winter playing ball in Venezuela

The Mariners plan to send Adam Jones to winter ball in Venezuela, manager John McLaren said Saturday.

That's fine with Jones, who figures he's missed about 100 at-bats from sporadic playing time since being called up Aug. 3.

"If that's what they want me to do to improve myself, who am I to say no?" he said. "They probably want me to get in there for a month, face some competitive pitching, and get those 100 at-bats."

McLaren said Jones will likely go for the second half of the Venezuelan season. Saturday, Jones started in left field, just his 10th start in 41 games, and went 1 for 3 with an RBI.

"He's learning every day, even though he's not playing," McLaren said. "He gets individual instruction in the cage. He's refining his game.

"In all honesty, when you bring a top kid like him up, you'd like to get him some playing time, but the situation just hasn't presented itself. If you break it down, I just don't know where he'd play. Raul [Ibanez] is going to have 100 RBIs, [Jose] Guillen is going to have 100 RBIs. Replace Ichiro? Not right now."

The Mariners note that Jones has handled the situation well.

"It's not my time right now," Jones said with a shrug. "There's not a set plan for me yet. I'm trying to force the issue here, and have a good time. I'm just trying to take advantage of every opportunity I get, even the smallest opportunity. Any chance I get, I try to relish it."

McLaren said he believes he's succeeded.

"He's worked hard on his game, been very positive, asked questions," McLaren said. "I've watched how he's gone about his job. I'm very impressed. I think it's going to pay off for him when he does get his chance to play."

The Mariners also plan to have pitchers Brandon Morrow and Ryan Rowland-Smith participate in half the season in Venezuela.

Morrow and Rowland-Smith, who have worked out of the bullpen this year, will both be used as starters, grooming them to possibly compete for a spot in the rotation.

Crawford back

The Devil Rays were bolstered Saturday by the return of All-Star outfielder Carl Crawford, who had missed the first two games of the series while serving a two-game suspension.

Crawford, who was suspended for his aggressive argument with first-base umpire Paul Nauert on Sept. 3, watched the previous two games, both Tampa defeats, from his hotel room.

"It's not fun to just sit around while the game's going on," Crawford told Tampa reporters. "I'm definitely ready to get back in the lineup."

McLaren is well versed in Crawford's ability from his seasons as a Devil Rays coach under Lou Piniella.

"Keep him off base. That's the best advice I have for our guys," McLaren said. "He's a pure base-stealer, one of the fastest guys in the big leagues. I think he's the top athlete in the big leagues. He's a special talent."

He showed it Saturday, going 4 for 5 to boost his average to .315 and he stole his 50th base.

Johjima getting it done

When Mariners' catcher Kenji Johjima threw out a pair of attempted base-stealers Friday, it raised his success rate to 37.1 percent (26 of 70), third best in the AL behind Minnesota's Joe Mauer (50 percent) and Texas' Gerald Laird (38.2 percent).

"That's huge when we get double plays like that," McLaren said. "It just kills the inning, any momentum the other team is trying to get going."

Last year, Johjima threw out 27.8 percent (22 of 79) of base-stealers. The first eight stolen-base attempts against him this year were successful, but he's caught runners at a 42-percent clip since then.

NOTE

• Willie Bloomquist started at second for the fourth consecutive game ahead of Jose Lopez. "I'm going with the hot hand," McLaren said. "With him in there, we've been winning. Energy, good-luck charm, you name it, it's been working. I'm going to stick with it."

For the record

Streak: L1

Home: 44-30

Road: 34-39

vs. AL West: 23-24

vs. L.A.: 4-11

vs. Oakland: 11-5

vs. Texas: 8-8

vs. AL East: 24-19

vs. AL Cent.: 21-18

vs. NL: 9-9

vs. LHP: 24-12

vs. RHP: 54-57

Day: 21-20

Night: 57-49

One-run: 23-19

Extra innings: 5-1

Home attendance

Saturday's crowd: 33,793

Season total: 2,476,482

Biggest crowd: 46,377 (Aug. 5)

Smallest crowd: 16,555 (May 2)

Average (74 dates): 33,465

2006 average (74 dates): 31,197