Mariners
Notebook: Soriano's injury has hurt bullpen

By Bob Sherwin
Seattle Times staff reporter

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Just six major-league teams have given up more runs than Mariners pitchers from the seventh inning on. The bullpen carries a 4.44 earned-run average from the seventh on. That has been a problem all season.

It really comes down to the eighth inning, when the Mariners have allowed 55 runs in 97 games. They don't have a dominant guy to bridge it to closer Eddie Guardado.

"We've had our trouble in the bullpen, for the most part from the right side," Mariners manager Bob Melvin said.

It's the reason the season-long incapacity of setup reliever Rafael Soriano is one of the factors contributing to this lost season. Soriano, who pitched in winter ball, struggled with a tender elbow from the beginning of spring training. He has been on the disabled list twice and is still not 100 percent.

"He is a key to the bullpen," Melvin said. "Granted, Shiggy (Hasegawa) is not having the year he had last year, and neither is (Julio) Mateo. That has something to do with the problems we've had. If Rafael was here, I don't know if they would be having better years.

"If he was pitching, he'd be the eighth-inning guy. Shiggy would be the swing guy, and Mateo would be the long guy. They would probably settle into roles a little easier. Now we're kind of shuffling the deck a little bit, trying to find the right guy, trying to get us through the eighth inning."

Soriano, whose fastball is above 90 mph, will work a bullpen session today and throw again Wednesday. He then likely will be sent out on a rehabilitation assignment to the minors. The club would like him to have four or five outings, including back-to-back appearances, before bringing him back.

Then the Mariners would have about six weeks to utilize a fully functioning bullpen.

"He's definitely a key, a power guy who misses bats," Melvin said. "He can dominate. When he's pitching well, he gives (opponents) that sense that you better do your damage by the seventh inning, because come the eighth, it's going to be very difficult.

"That's the effect you have when guys are in roles that (opponents) have a sense of urgency in the middle innings."
 
More moves ahead

A week from now, the trading deadline may extract one or two more players off the Mariners' roster. There is a buzz over left-hander Ron Villone, utility guy Dave Hansen and even catcher Dan Wilson.

"That's what you guys (reporters) are saying," Hansen said. "I'm wearing a Mariners uniform, and I'm just trying to stay focused on what I have to do."

The Rainiers' relocation also has slowed, although Melvin said, "I think at some point you might see (shortstop) Jose Lopez here."

Lopez, hitting .292 with 12 home runs and 34 runs batted in at Class AAA Tacoma, would have been promoted earlier but was sidelined for five weeks with a strained knee.

Tacoma outfielder Jeremy Reed, whose average has dropped to .269, and outfielder Jamal Strong, hitting .313, are likely September call-ups. Third baseman Greg Dobbs also is a possibility.

Melvin encourages Leone

Melvin spent a few minutes in his office yesterday morning with rookie third baseman Justin Leone. Leone has made seven errors — mostly throwing — in his first 14 big-league games.

"It's nerves," Melvin said. "He's a good athlete. He had mostly throwing errors in AAA, but it wasn't an alarming number (18 errors in 68 games).

"Sometimes, when you first get to the big leagues and you throw a couple balls away, you think about it. Before (the promotion), the last thing in the world you think about is your throwing. It may stay in there a little deeper than you like it to, so you have to dig your way out of it.

"We talked a little bit. I tried to let him know this is a great opportunity and the last thing he should be thinking about is his throwing. Just be aggressive."

Notes

• Anaheim reliever Kevin Gregg unleashed four wild pitches in the eighth inning yesterday, tying the major-league regular-season record for one inning. Walter Johnson (1914) and Phil Niekro (1979) also did it. St. Louis' Rick Ankiel threw five wild pitches in an inning in the National League Division Series in 2000.

• Ichiro extended his hitting streak to 17 games. He is hitting .400 (30 of 75) during the streak. He is the only player with three hitting streaks of at least 14 games this season.

• Randy Winn extended his hitting streak to 10 games. He's hitting .389 (14 of 36) during the streak.