Mariners bounce Padres 4-3 on pair of homers

A smiling Adrian Beltre confided after his team's latest win that there was a reason why he'd hit the ball so hard.

Beltre collected a pair of hits for the Mariners in a 4-3 win over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday night and was robbed of a third when the opposing third baseman snared his line drive. And while he didn't hit the decisive home run the way Franklin Gutierrez did in the eighth, deliver stellar pitching like the Seattle relievers, or pop a hamstring like his shortstop, he still wound up the day's top story.

That's because bone spurs have returned to Beltre's sore left shoulder and he's now hitting on borrowed time.

"When I hit the ball hard, that's the best thing for it," he said. "I don't feel it when I do that. When I swing and miss, it really hurts. So, all I've got to do is keep hitting the ball hard all season and I won't have a problem."

Beltre laughed when he said this, but his team would gladly take the offer. The way they've scuffled to score runs, doing little the final six innings until Gutierrez took reliever Edward Mujica over the left field wall, it's tough to imagine Seattle going anywhere unless Beltre hits the ball hard most nights.

Russell Branyan had supplied the offense before the eighth inning, tagging Padres starter Josh Geer for a three-run homer in the second. Brandon Morrow had yielded a two-run homer in the second to Kevin Kouzmanoff, then the tying run in his fifth and final inning, before Chris Jakubauskas, Sean White and David Aardsma held the Padres scoreless through four frames to give Gutierrez his home run shot.

And on a day the Mariners also lost shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt to what's likely a pulled lower hamstring — running out an eighth inning grounder — the news about Beltre was sobering indeed. It would have been tough for the crowd of 22,988 at Safeco Field to tell there was something wrong with the third baseman, who walked in the first inning, doubled in the second, lined out in the fifth and singled in the seventh.

But he's in pain every day.

"It's worse than last year," Beltre said.

Last year is when Beltre played through until September before opting for season-ending surgery. He'll need another operation at some point, but has rejected that option in the short-term.

"I'll have to see how far I can push it," he said. "I really don't know right now how it's going to go. But it's too early for me to do it now."

Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik declined to comment on how the latest news might impact Beltre's trade value. The Mariners would likely try to trade the pending free agent by the July 31 deadline if they fall out of the race, though that's a moot point for now since Seattle is still just 2 ½ games behind the division-leading Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels.

"He's going to continue to get treatment, he's going to be looked at every day and monitored," Zduriencik said. "If it's real bad, obviously we have to look at different options. Obviously, if he had to go in for surgery right now he'd miss four to six weeks. But that's not in our plans right now."

Jakubauskas is in the team's plans, especially on nights when Morrow — who needed 88 pitches to go the regulation five innings — works at building endurance.

"It's one of those things where I don't have to focus on at-bats two or three times in advance," Jakubauskas said after tossing two scoreless innings. "I know I'm going to face six to nine guys and that's it. Go in and throw strikes and get out as quick as possible."

White worked a scoreless eighth and emerged with the victory while Aardsma fanned a pair in the ninth for the save.

Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu delivered the bad news about Betancourt after the game, saying he'll have an MRI exam today and is probably headed for the disabled list.

Jose Lopez would simply be activated off the bereavement list in his place since the Mariners already have three other middle infielders on the roster.

But the latest injury makes it all that more imperative to the Mariners that Beltre stay at third base as long as possible.

"I don't think I could do the surgery now, it's too early," Beltre said. "We're winning now and I want to help these guys win. I don't think I could sit out that long and watch them trying to win without me."

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