Mariners Notebook | Morrow returns, throws a perfect inning

TORONTO — Mariners relief pitcher Brandon Morrow insists he isn't losing sleep over his latest bout with a shoulder problem.

But the facts say otherwise.

Morrow is actually having a bit of trouble getting comfortable at night now that the team has told him to sleep flat on his back with his arms at his sides. The aim is to prevent him from sleeping on his shoulder, which could aggravate a biceps tendinitis problem that cropped back up last week.

"I've been sleeping on my back like a pencil," Morrow said Tuesday, before a game in which he needed just seven pitches to toss a scoreless eighth inning. "I've been trying to. I like to sleep on my stomach ... it's tough."

Morrow had been out since waking up last Thursday with soreness in the shoulder. It's the same area that plagued him in spring training and caused him to begin the season in the minors.

"Any time my shoulder flares up, it's always the same spot," he said.

The Mariners finally re-inserted Morrow in the bullpen Tuesday night, and he woke some folks up with his pitching. Morrow retired the Toronto Blue Jays in order on two fly balls and a popout to the catcher by Vernon Wells, who had gone deep earlier in the game.

Mariners manager John McLaren said the team believes the problem is mostly related to how Morrow's been sleeping on the arm. But Morrow isn't totally convinced of that.

Morrow has been used more often in the eighth inning of late, when he's dialed his pitches up to the 100 mph mark and recorded some breathtaking strikeouts in key situations. He feels it isn't a coincidence his arm got sore shortly after and figures it could be a combination of that higher-leverage pitching and his sleep habits.

"That's probably it," he said. "It's probably not just that I slept on my shoulder. I'm just trying to come in and just amp it up a little bit more. That's probably it."

Morrow said he isn't concerned about the soreness becoming more chronic. He's just going to stay mindful of how he sleeps and knows how to take care of the problem once it flares up.

He said the soreness began going away almost after he sat for a couple of days. Morrow had been throwing on flat ground and icing the shoulder to prepare himself for Tuesday's pre-planned return.

Johjima gets night off

Mariners catcher Kenji Johjima got the night off Tuesday ahead of an afternoon game today in which Felix Hernandez takes the mound. Johjima is 5 for 8 off Toronto starting pitcher Shaun Marcum, who will oppose Hernandez in the series finale.

Johjima has caught 12 of Hernandez's 13 starts, with backup Jamie Burke working the other.

"He's been working well with Felix, so that went into the consideration," McLaren said.

Johjima had previously caught all but one of the games pitched by Tuesday night's starting pitcher, Carlos Silva. The other had been caught by prospect Jeff Clement, now back in Class AAA.

A rare squeeze

That suicide squeeze pulled off by Miguel Cairo and baserunner Willie Bloomquist in the 10th inning Monday night turned out to be a rare happening. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last extra-inning, bases-loaded, go-ahead sacrifice bunt by the road team came on July 28, 1976, with Gerald Ford still in the White House.

Kansas City's Dave Nelson pulled off a go-ahead, sacrifice bunt in the 15th inning of that game to give his team a 3-2 win over the California Angels.

Note

• Ichiro has led off the first two games of this series with a single. He entered Tuesday night with a career .351 average against Toronto, the highest among active players with at least 150 plate appearances. He was also a career .325 hitter at the Rogers Centre.

For the record

Streak: L1

Home: 14-19

Road: 9-23

vs. AL West: 10-14

vs. L.A.: 3-6

vs. Oakland: 3-2

vs. Texas: 4-6

vs. AL East: 7-17

vs. AL Cent.: 4-10

vs. NL: 2-1

vs. LHP: 4-12

vs. RHP: 19-30

Day: 7-14

Night: 16-28

One-run: 6-13

Extra innings: 3-2