The Mariners had the day off yesterday to travel home from Arlington, and now welcome in one of only two teams with fewer wins on the year --- the surprisingly dreadful San Diego Padres. Miguel Batista throws against Chris Young in the opener tonight.
You know, every time you turn around an athlete is having a run-in with the law. And the Mariners are no exception. Just because you play baseball for a living doesn't mean you can go out and catch as many clams as you want, Willie Bloomquist. C'mon Willie, the M's are already paying you a million clams to hit .156, do you need more?
MLB.com's Jesse Baumgartner writes that Mariners are honoring the sportsmanship shown by the Central Washington softball players who carried an injured Western Oregon player around the bases after she injured herself running out a home run. All three will be on hand to throw out first pitches before tonight's game.
Jose Lopez is gaining focus as he continues to mature, writes the Times' Geoff Baker. He still doesn't get on base enough, but can largely make up for that if he keeps his batting average around .300 all season.
Around the Minors (truncated)
Today's trip around the minors will be very brief.
Tucson beat Tacoma last night, 5-2. Victor Diaz and Charlton Jimerson were each 2-for-4. Diaz had two doubles and an RBI. Sean White took the loss for the Rainiers.
West Tenn was off last night. They play Mobile tonight.
High Desert finally got a road win last night, 4-1 over Bakersfield. Kuo Hui Lo broke out of a 4-for-30 slump with three hits. Kyle Parker got the win, throwing seven strong innings to move to 4-0.
Wisconsin won for the seventh time in nine games, a 7-2 decision over Burlington to complete a series sweep. Juan Ramirez gave up two runs in seven innings to earn the W. Eight different Rattlers collected hits.