Mariners Notebook | Angels' injury news may be good for M's

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The regular season is still two weeks away, but the Mariners appear to already be gaining ground on their division rivals.

News out of Los Angeles Angels camp Saturday that ace starter John Lackey will miss the first month of the regular season was greeted with guarded reactions by the Mariners. Lackey has a strained triceps muscle in his pitching arm and won't be able to resume throwing for at least three or four weeks.

With 18-game winner Kelvim Escobar already on the disabled list until at least mid-May with a shoulder injury, the Angels' rotation will be without its top two arms for a prolonged period. In an American League West race where pitching is expected to play a major factor, the Mariners just caught the season's first huge break.

"We still have to do what we're supposed to do and stay focused on our game," said Raul Ibanez, who went 1 for 3 with a run batted in during Seattle's 14-8 loss to the San Francisco Giants at Scottsdale Stadium on Saturday. "It's unfortunate for them and really should be irrelevant for us because we should really just focus on our game and what we're supposed to do."

Lackey won a career-high 19 games for the Angels last season and his 3.01 earned-run average led the American League. He and Escobar were factors in the Cy Young Award race until September.

Seattle plays a three-game series against the Angels in Anaheim, Calif., April 18-20 and could have a decisive pitching edge. Lackey went 4-0 with an 0.58 ERA against the Mariners last season.

The Angels' rotation now consists of Jered Weaver, Jon Garland, Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana. Santana struggled badly throughout 2007. The Angels say they'll try to replace Lackey from within, for now. Dustin Moseley gets the first call; right-handers Nick Adenhart, Nick Green and Kasey Olenberger will also be considered.

Seattle has a relatively soft schedule the opening month against a slew of last place and fairly dismal clubs from 2007. The Mariners play the Texas Rangers and Oakland Athletics twice each, not to mention the Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays and Kansas City Royals in one series apiece.

But Mariners manager John McLaren didn't take the bait when asked whether a solid opening month was critical to capitalizing on the Angels' misfortune.

"Injuries are part of the game for all teams," he said. "It's unfortunate. Every team goes through it and, knock wood, hopefully we won't have to. Our mind-set is, we want to come out of the box. We're worried about our self. Our focus is our self."

Bedard's not worried about latest struggles

Erik Bedard's latest run-filled pitching effort Saturday came on a windy afternoon in which any ball hit in the air seemed to carry a long distance. Bedard had his moments, striking out five batters and getting Giants to mis-hit the ball in some key situations.

But he also served up three home runs, yielded eight runs total — six earned — and saw his spring ERA inflate to 9.69.

The first of the home runs, an opposite-field blast to right by Randy Winn, at first appeared to be a pop fly. A second homer, a Ray Durham solo shot to right in the fourth inning, also seemed to carry.

"That wasn't a Cactus League special," McLaren said afterward. "It was a Wrigley Field special out there."

McLaren said Bedard had a sharper breaking ball and did a better job of pitching inside. Bedard said he used his changeup more effectively on a couple of occasions and that the wind did indeed play a factor on some of the blasts.

"Some were hit OK," Bedard said with a slight grin. "Some were hit not so good."

Bedard, who threw 74 pitches and has two more spring starts, pronounced himself on track for opening day on March 31.

As for the gaudy run total, some of it was due to fielding.

An error by Yuniesky Betancourt with two out in the first prolonged that inning and enabled Rich Aurilia to smack a two-run double to left. A pop-up to shallow right center by Durham to open the second inning turned into a double when second baseman Jose Lopez failed to track it down in the twisting wind.

Bedard said he won't lose sleep over the numbers.

"The wind was blowing straight out, so it didn't matter," he said.

Notes

• The Mariners have shut down relief pitcher Brandon Morrow for a few days with what they say is a tired throwing shoulder. Morrow is scheduled to play catch today and resume pitching early next week.

• Greg Norton continued to make a case for being kept on as a pinch-hitter, stroking a solo homer in the sixth and adding a single.

• Kenji Johjima hit a first-inning grand slam to left off Giants starter Barry Zito, who began the game by walking Betancourt on four pitches.

• Mariners reliever Sean Green was burned by "seeing-eye" grounders during a six-run seventh inning by the Giants.

McLaren wasn't too concerned, saying it's the job of a sinkerball specialist to get ground balls. Green's spring ERA swelled to 17.18.

• Giants catcher Bengie Molina reaffirmed his reputation as the slowest man in baseball in the first inning, lining a Bedard pitch into the left field corner, but holding up at first base with only a single. Molina later got booed in the seventh when shortstop Betancourt threw him out at first despite having the ball bounce off his glove.

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

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