Mariners Notebook | Struggling pitchers called to duty

NEW YORK — This isn't the revamping of the Mariners' starting rotation some might have expected after a three-day debacle in Detroit.

The team shuffled its pitching rotation on Friday, but some struggling pitchers are being pushed forward instead of pulled back. A lingering calf injury has now bumped Felix Hernandez out of the series here, with Carlos Silva going in his place today and Jarrod Washburn taking his turn on Sunday.

Silva got hammered in his last start at Yankee Stadium a few weeks ago and made it through only four innings the other night in Detroit. Washburn lasted only 2-1/3 innings in his Detroit start.

But both say they'll be ready to go.

"I've thrown bullpen sessions that were longer than that," Washburn said of his most recent outing, in which he threw only a few dozen pitches before being yanked. "My arm will be fine. I'm ready."

Washburn is only 1-4 in five career outings at Yankee Stadium, but he has a 2.78 earned-run average there.

Hernandez was originally scheduled to go today, with Silva to take Sunday's contest. But Mariners manager John McLaren wanted to give the young starter as many days as possible to rest his calf.

The abbreviated outings by Silva and Washburn made that possible. McLaren had raised the possibility after Thursday's game that some starters could be skipped in their next outings because of a failure to go deep enough in games.

But the Hernandez injury is taking priority for now.

"It's still sore," McLaren said. "We don't want to press him."

McLaren could have started knuckleballer R.A Dickey. But with a long reliever being needed virtually every night this week, the manager wanted to protect himself and keep options open on that front.

"Him and Washburn didn't throw all that many pitches," McLaren said. "It might have been a different situation had they both thrown 100 pitches."

Hernandez threw on flat ground on Thursday, then woke up in New York on Friday with the soreness.

"Felix is still sore, and we just want to make sure we get this thing right," he said. "We don't want to put him in a situation where it might lead to another injury of his shoulder or something."

Notes

• Mariners pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre knows a thing or two about slumps and says it often doesn't take much to end them. Stottlemyre recalled a time early in his career, pitching for the New York Yankees, when he had gone 10 consecutive starts without a win.

He was at a loss to figure out what was wrong. That's when Yankees legend Whitey Ford, then working the club's radio broadcasts, suggested that Stottlemyre make a small adjustment in the stride he took toward the mound.

"I tried it and it worked," Stottlemyre said. "After that, I was always able to stay on top of the ball."

Stottlemyre realizes it may take more complex work to figure out why his rotation has struggled all month. Erik Bedard was the latest plagued by trouble, going just 4-1/3 innings on Friday and yielding nine runs.

"I think we're going to have to kick it into gear a little bit," Stottlemyre said before the game. "I've seen it before, as many years as I've coached. ... You don't like to see it."

The coach has seen "a lot of mistakes" by pitchers early on in games, the big reason so many have struggled to go even a handful of innings.

"I don't know if they've been putting pressure on themselves early or what," he said. "But we've got to figure it out."

• A brief experiment at using Jose Lopez in the No. 3 spot in the order has been abandoned for now. Lopez was back at his customary No. 2 spot on Friday night, having gone just 3 for 18 with one extra base hit out of the No. 3 position.

Jose Vidro batted third on Friday, notching two doubles and a triple.

• Ichiro saw his six-game hitting streak come to an end in fiery fashion on Friday. He was called out twice on strikes in the first two innings by plate umpire Mike DiMuro and argued with him both times. On the second occasion, he was pulled away by teammates and McLaren was ejected for furthering the discussion.

• Yankees catcher Jorge Posada will head to the team's minor-league complex in Tampa, Fla., for rehabilitation of his throwing shoulder next week and could rejoin New York in early June. He hasn't played since April 26.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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

For the record

Streak: L4

Home: 11-13

Road: 7-18

vs. AL West: 10-11

vs. L.A.: 3-3

vs. Oakland: 3-2

vs. Texas: 4-6

vs. AL East: 3-11

vs. AL Central: 3-8

vs. NL: 2-1

vs. LHP: 4-10

vs. RHP: 14-21

Day: 6-8

Night: 12-23

One-run: 3-9

Extra innings: 1-2